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2月26日 Radio Show! Alas, although my Space is public again, I will not be writing in it that often. I hate typing. I invite you to check out my online "radio show" instead. It is called "The STEAMROLLER Hour" but it is only about 10 minutes. I know, I know... Y'all can't get enough of me, but I'll try to update it often. Enjoy! ~ Jonas Going public (again)FYI: After several months of requiring permission to view this Space, I've decided to make it public again. I made it private mainly because I was worried about the potential effects on employment. However, I have decided that it is just not worth it. I have so many good ideas to offer the world that it is worth offending some narrow-minded potential employers. In fact, I think this might even help... Dear potential employer, if you do read my blog, you will gain insight into my life:
1月28日 January 28th, 1988Today marks the 20th anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen vs. Henry Morgentaler. This landmark Supreme Court decision struck down Canada's remaining abortion law and since it was not replaced, Canada has been one of the most abortion-permissive countries in the world. Canadian law allows abortion to take place anytime during pregnancy. Even after the baby’s heart starts beating. Even after the arms and legs are formed. Even after the baby can suck its thumb, feel pain, and survive outside the womb. No medical reason needed. To my "pro-choice" friends: A foetus is a living human being from the moment of conception. This is not a religious opinion. This is a scientific fact. As for whether or not it is a "person", that is a matter of opinion, but whenever we excluded certain humans from the definition of person (Jews, African-Americans, Aboriginals, etc.), we have seen horrible consequences. Shall we make the same mistake again? The point is: A foetus is a living human being. It is wrong to kill a human being. Abortion does just this. Therefore, abortion is wrong. This is not about imposing patriarchal laws on women's bodies or anything like that. This is about telling women that abortion is wrong because they would be killing their own babies. To my pro-life friends:
9月7日 Liberals and their Lies #1: Just be yourselfAround last December, I thought of three lies that I hear all the time and really irritate me. I meet a lot of people that strongly believe all three lies and base their entire world view around them, usually these people tend to be at the left-side of the political spectrum... The three lies are:
Today, I am going to talk about the first one. It seems that many people seem to think that you should remain faithful to who you are rather than try to be someone else. To a certain extent, they have a point. If you always pretend to like music you don't like or wear clothes you don't like, just to impress other people, you are not going to be very happy. However, there's nothing wrong with changing certain aspects of your personality. I have, for instance. I did not like my Canadian accent so I started talking differently. I pronounce the 'h' in 'wh' words like who, what, when, where, why, etc. Or how about if you're an alcoholic or, just simply, an asshole, should you just be yourself then? No! I say! Be who you want to be. Be all you can be. Sometimes you won't live up to who you want to be. Do not content yourself by saying "I am just being myself". Instead, recognize that you have failed and work harder next time. It's funny that liberals who whine about how hard it is to rise in class and how criminals get stuck in a cycle of crime, because of us branding them criminals, are the same people who discourage people from changing themselves even when it's for the better. If people hate you for who you are, you can change. Or not. You have to look at what you want and determine whether it's worth it to you. If you don't change, people might hate you, but you might still love yourself. If you change yourself, you might not like who you've become. But just don't rule it out as an option. Perhaps, if you change yourself, you might even like yourself more. And you might even hate yourself for who you are. Or you can just pretend to be someone you're not in order to gain certain advantages from a particular person or group. Remember: you are in control and you can be whoever you want to be! Besides, once you've set the pattern, you ARE being yourself by being a new person. For example, I AM myself when I talk in my southern drawl. That is me: a self-hating Canadian who, for some reason, talks kinda like a southerner. Also, there's nothing wrong with joking about your stance. I do that all the time. I will jokingly adopt a much more extreme-conservative position than my own. Psychologically, it creates some distance between me and what I'm saying so when people attack my arguments, I don't take it as personally. It also gives me room to back down to my real stance. Further, it makes it difficult for other people to take me seriously which causes them to not take the debate as seriously and reduces the likelihood that they'd get angry or use personal arguments. Plus, it's more fun that way. Now, I know there are times to be serious and I am. I am pretty good at adopting the right attitude for each situation, but the point is, I am OK with not quite being "myself". Sure, I spend a lot of my life "playing a role" I guess. Sometimes, I change myself permanently, because I think the change is positive and it is who I truly want to be. Sometimes, I will be who you want me to be. Sometimes, I will just pretend to be who you want me to be. I realize that for the people that I am closest to, I have got to be sincere about who I am because I expect the same from them, so I might not pretend as much. I will be who I am now, I will tell you who I was and who I want to be. I will not pretend. But at first, I might pretend to be someone I am not in order to avoid confrontation or provoke it, or sometimes just for kicks. We can all do that, so I don't see why we shouldn't. Come on, who hasn't pretended they were a serious professional at a job interview or something? It's only natural that we all hide a bit of who we are sometimes or even change who we are sometimes. At first, we might have to pretend a bit. For example, at first, I pretended to have a southern accent. But the trick is to fake it till you make it! Now, it's such a habit that I always talk this way. I pretend to talk Canadian when I'm with my parents because for some reason, the drawl offends them. But it's OK. It's all good! I know who I am. I may or may not let you know who I am. I realize you might not be who you seem. But I accept this as part of the complexity of life. It makes things that much more challenging and fun. You can even make a game of trying to guess whether someone was born with the accent they speak in or are they faking it. It's awesome! Anyway, yea... I've said all I have to say about that for now. Just remember, don't just settle for being yourself. That's easy and boring. Be who you want to be. Be all you can be! Have fun, y'all! Post-FroshTGIF, y'all! As I am writing this, it's Friday afternoon. I actually slept in till 11:20 this morning. So rare of me. In case y'all didn't know, I'm living in the 514 now. I'm living in NDG. It's such a great part of town. It's quiet but there are so many stores and stuff around: a bank, a grocery store, a video store, a SAQ, etc. What more could I ask for? Plus, I take the Metro next to Villa-Maria, a private Catholic High School for girls. ;p I'm starting a second B.A. in Economics, at Concordia University. Since I already have a B.A., I only have to take 60 credits but because of the sequence of courses I will probably have to do it over 3 years, anyway, but I will only have to do 5 terms, so I'll get an 8-month break at some point. And I've been conditionally accepted to co-op so I'll get some work experience while I'm at it. So far, so good, although it's only the first week. For the first week, I lived it up at Frosh week. It's pretty awesome. It's also a way better deal than uOttawa's 101 Week. For $70, it included free BBQ's, free beer, a pub crawl (with free booze), camping (summer-camp style, not tents) at B'Nai Brith (with free food and booze), a day at Mont St-Sauveur waterpark, a boat cruise and admission to a fancy club. Interestingly enough, unlike at the U of O, Frosh Guides are not only allowed to drink, they're encouraged. I met some really awesome people at Frosh week and had plenty of good times dancing it up, playing the cleavage game (Joel, you know what I'm talking about), getting trashed, going on an obnoxious rant at Ben & Jerry's about how Ben and Jerry are a bunch of Dirty Fucking Hippies, dirty dancing, etc. GTs, GTs... (GTs means more than Giant Tiger now, it also means Good Times) That last one, I feel, deserves a bit of an explanation on my part. I mentioned before that I don't like "clubbing" and grinding and stuff. Well, first of all, I don't like grinding on a girl's backside but frontside is different. But, I do think that alcohol somehow lowers my libido. When I drink, I become less aroused, oddly enough... That's what I noticed during the booze cruise. However, I noticed during the club night, that, well, what the hell. It's not really about sex, it's about doing something crazy. I guess it's like when straight girls kiss each other hwhen drunk. Or something like that... Speaking of drinking, I got some more Alcool. There's only one SAQ Depot on the Island and it took me forever to find it but I eventually did and got some! Boo-yea! So now I'm stocked up for the Semester! Anyway, back to the people I've met... There's one guy from BC who's the same age as me and in my program. There's a girl from Florida who is conservative like me. There's a girl from South Ont who has short hair and not so conservative but a lot of fun, nonetheless. Then, there's the girl who, like me, was born in Montreal, but spent a lot of her life travelling because of her dad's job. She's a bit of a hippie but it's fun playing off her (i.e. pissing her off with my comments like "The only good hippie is a dead hippie" at Ben & Jerries). Then, there's a girl who works as a nanny who's soooo sweet. She gave me a ride home during Frosh week, twice! My roommates are pretty cool too. I live with 2 Korean girls and a white guy. The Korean girls came here to learn English (in Montreal of all places). Well, actually, Montreal is a very English Town. Everybody can serve you in English, especially in NDG. In fact, when I walk into a store, the staff are often talking to each other in English so I just speak to them in English. And even downtown, the Maudits Anglais control all the money so, you know... Anyway, more about these Korean girls, there's one who I often watch TV with and stuff and the other one is an amazing cook and she often lets me have a taste! Sweet! Then, there's the white guy who is in Political Science at Concordia. We talk about a bunch of things: politics, Concordia, religion, etc. But it's always fun cause I'm usually never serious. I have decided that I might want to start an audio blog because typing is sooo lame. And reading sucks too! I think I might do one more non-personal entry in this blog first, though. 8月12日 An analogy as American as Apple PieI love analogies... I thought of this one whilst ummm... "having a constructive dialog" with a super lefty guy on the bus to Montreal. It describes my views on the distribution of wealth, especially in the face of calls for all wealth to be distributed equally. Frank and Joe are both presented with a bunch of apples, some sugar cane, an oven, flour, etc. Frank just eats the apples raw and chews on the sugar cane whilst checking the time on the oven. Meanwhile, using the same goods and tools that Frank got, Joe refines the sugar, makes the flour into dough, cuts the apples... and makes himself a delicious apple pie. Both were able to eat. But, come on... Who ate better? Joe, of course! Given the same opportunities, resources and capital, Joe was able to create more wealth by investing more labour and intelligence. Should he not be able to enjoy the fruits of his labour and intelligence? Of course he should! In the real world, it's often the same. Some people are simply wealthier because they do more with their opportunities and whatever is given to them. Granted, some people start off with more and get more opportunities, but all I'm trying to say is that perfect equality is unwarranted in a society because some people create more wealth in relation to what they are given than others so they should be allowed to enjoy at least most of the benefit of their efforts. Now, if Joe had used some of the wealth he created in order to buy up all the apples and sugar, or if Frank didn't start off with as many apples, perhaps then he'd owe Frank a piece of his pie or at least a couple of apples, since everyone should be able to eat, even if they can't eat as well as others. Perhaps it would be reasonable for Joe to demand that Frank help him in the kitchen in return for a piece of his pie, though. But he shouldn't just let Frank starve even if Frank was kind of dumber than him. My point is: Although everyone should be provided with enough wealth to survive, the wealth of a nation need not be divided equally since some people earn that wealth more than others. This is the conclusion I came up with until I heard the bible reading at Mass: Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.” ~ Luke 12:13-21 So what does this mean to Joe and Frank? Joe can enjoy his apple pies but he shouldn't get carried away by producing a huge surplus that he really doesn't need... God doesn't care that if he makes a lot of extra apple pies. So he can go ahead and make a few for his enjoyment but his focus should be on loving and serving God, not himself. Creating wealth is not bad, in and of itself, nor is enjoying that wealth, but stockpiling way more than you need is wrong because it is greedy. God is not impressed. Joe must focus on loving and serving God. Joe should make some apple pies for him and his family to enjoy, perhaps he should sell a few to generate money to buy other things his family needs, perhaps he should give some of his pies to charity or to Frank, even. Loving and serving God entails showing compassion towards his neighbor. Joe could spend all of his time baking pies and thus accumulate more of them, but he shouldn't. The point is that he puts God first. God may want him to make pies but God doesn't want him to be greedy. After a while, he should maybe stop and do other things to serve God. Perhaps he could teach Frank how to make apple pies, for example... 7月14日 Mid-summerJust a quick personal update after a huge non-personal update and months of nothing... After almost 2 months of unemployment, I am now working for "the Man" at Patrimoine Canadian Heritage. I'm moving files and stuff. It's kinda fun, I guess and I get valuable government work experience and stuff, not to mention: loads of cash! In September, I'm going to Montreal to study Economix at Concordia. I'm really looking forward to that. It looks like I might not get all that money from the government, though, on the account of I've only got a 3-year Bachelor's degree from Ontariario. But hopefully, I can get into co-op and I can work part-time and get a bank loan. Also, my program might take 3-years, after all, instead of two, but there would be an eight month gap, two light 12-credit terms and one Part-time term. I'm going to try to find a way of doing my MBA in Québec too, like at Concordia, or in Newfoundland. If I do it in Québec, though, I would be entitled to loads of money from the government. I am liking the summer, although, it's a little cloudier and rainier than I was hoping. I had a gf, briefly, but I found we didn't have much in common, and I just wasn't into the things she was into and I was just not that into her, so I broke up with her. I'm more confident about getting chix though. It might take time, but I've got time! Anyway, I'm prolly not going to write in this blog as often as I was hoping because each time I write a major entry, I take it sooo seriously and write sooo much. Like my last entry was over 2000 words, which is more than I usually write for school. Well, Keep trucking, y'all! ~ Jonas "THE STEAMROLLER" Graham, B.A. The Cynical Ethic and the End of CivilizationIn the early 20th century, a Sociologist named Max Weber wrote a book called "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" where he explores the influence of religion on productivity and economic success. Calvinists, who believe in pre-destination, saw financial success as a sign of being of God's elect, and so, people wanting to be of God's elect work hard so that they do well. Plus, they saw laziness as an affront to God. Using one's wealth to buy luxuries was frowned and so was giving to charity so the natural use for all this hard-earned money was investments. This hard work and sacrifice did much to fuel capitalism in many Calvinist countries and thus allowed them to be more economically successful than other countries, like Ireland, for instance. Today, I think that, as a society, we deal with a mass of cynics whose lack of work ethic leads to seriously low productivity. It seems that in a lot of my jobs, I have a lot of co-workers who are just so darn lazy. Then, they tell me off for working too hard and making them look bad. It seems that, rather than giving it 110%, their attitude towards work is just to get away with as little as possible. It's a race to the bottom. Part of the problem is that many people do not believe in God anymore so he does not notice when they slack off. So, as long as their employers don't notice/care, they can get away with being as lazy as they want. This lazy attitude is nothing new. In fact, Friedrich Taylor, theorized that most employees hated work and didn't really care to work hard. They just wanted what Sprint Canada used to promise: "The most for the least". He witnessed miners taking every opportunity that they could to slack off. They were paid by the hour and once the mine ran out of resources, they were out of a job, so, for an hourly-wage worker, there was a strong incentive towards low productivity. Thus, they tried to accomplish as little as possible, per hour so they could get the most hours possible and make more money. Well, could you blame them? Taylor called this phenomena "soldiering". The solution, according to Taylor, was close supervision, coercion a piece-work system, where workers were paid per unit of work accomplished rather than per hour. There was also a quota system which encouraged employees to exceed specific production targets set by management, by paying them more per unit, for every unit, once they exceeded the quota. For example, if Jack produced up to the quota of 100 Widgets per day, he might make 5 Pesos per widget for a total of 500 Pesos per day, but if he gave it 110% and made 110 Widgets, he might get 6 Pesos per Widget, for a total of 660 Pesos per day. (Not bad!) This seemed to work well and inspired a lot of thinking about Human Resources for the early part of the century. So what happened? The Hawthorne experiments. In the 20s, researchers studied the effects of varying the intensity of lighting on productivity at a certain factory. They tried increasing and decreasing the lighting but they found that whether they turned up the lights or dimmed them, the productivity would increase anyway, because the employees would feel they were part of something. Although, perhaps it was just because they knew they were being watched. This lead to a whole revolution in terms of thinking about motivation. Employers now tried to pay more attention to employees and made them feel like they were part of something. They now began to think that employees cared about the organization and did like work, sort of. This resulted in a less emphasis on a piece-rate pay structure and more emphasis on other forms of motivation which involved more attention being paid to the worker. Yet, through my experiences, I am finding more and more that perhaps Taylor was right. Often, I find that my co-workers do not like their jobs, they try to get away with doing as little as possible in order to make a task drag on. In my work, there is a finite amount tasks and once they are done, we might have no more work to do and so we will no longer be necessary so yea, I suppose that does provide an incentive towards soldiering. However, maybe I'm just young and naïve but somehow, I believe that my hard work would pay off somehow because, eventually, I would get recognized for it and that would help me land another job. Yet my co-workers seem so cynical. It's almost as if they believe that productivity doesn't even matter. The fact is: not all workers enjoy their jobs. So they try to get away with actually doing their job as little as possible. It makes sense. Not all jobs are all that enjoyable. So, you've got to look for ways of getting workers to do more of this lousy work. Perhaps if at least part of their pay was based on productivity, they might want to get more done so they can make more money. Also, use the new approach as well. Pay attention to the worker. Recognize when they do a good job and record it so that when management is looking to fill a higher position, that employees accomplishments will stand out and they might have a greater opportunity of getting a promotion. I think part of the problem is that many employers saw the Hawthorne experiments as an excuse to not reward the employees for high productivity. Alas, this is not the case. Although the experiments found that employees are motivated by attention being paid to them and feeling like they're part of something, they still would enjoy a little more money when they do a good job. Also, you must not forget to actually pay attention to employees and make them feel like their part of something, otherwise this is just not going to work! Also, Marx was right! Workers are alienated from their own labour-power. People often do not see how their task matters in the grand scheme of things so this is actually quite discouraging. Even when you have some idea of what your doing and how it helps, having more information would allow you to take more pride in your work. For example, I am currently working for Canadian Heritage and I realize how my task is saving the department money and thus benefiting the department but I don't really quite understand what the department does and how it benefits Canadians. If I did, I would be certainly more motivated. That is, if I liked what they were doing. i.e. If I found out that certain tools that I made were mainly used for abortions, I would certainly take less pride in my work and probably quit. Also, sometimes at a job, you have to impose silly rules required by other departments. It would be nice to see those other departments in order to realize why they have those rules. Task rotation is another good idea because, by letting employees try other tasks, they would be able to see more of the picture and realize how everything comes together to make the finished product. Mainly, though, I think that the problem is that workers do not see how their job really matters in their life, especially when they're not really doing their "dream job". Employers should interview employees to find out what they want out of life and how they think this job will help them achieve it. For example, I hope to eventually get an MBA and move out of Canada. I'm hoping I can work hard and get a good reference out of my job, which will allow me to eventually get a better job that's more relevant for business school which would give me a good reference. This interview could be part of the job interview at the selection stage where it could help employers select the ambitious people. (Ambitious people probably work harder.) However, candidates may not be completely candid as they might be afraid that revealing how they think their job will help their long term plans may hinder their ability to get the job, in the first place. However they could just ask them about their long-term plans in order to find the most ambitious people then after they start working, they could have a discussion about how the employee hopes the job will work into their long-term plans and also how the employer thinks the employee helps with their plans, in order that they might feel like part of something. The key is to have open dialogue. Employees should be able to talk with their employers about equipment or information they might need to do their job properly. They should be able to request training or guidance when they need it and suggests improvements that management can make to improve safety, efficiency or quality. They should also be able to discuss advancement opportunities withing the company and their work goals. Employers should discuss their productivity expectations with employees, as well as their constraints (i.e. corporate financial difficulties requiring cut-backs), suggestions for improving performance, etc. The idea is that employees and employers should be more open with each other. That way, they would be able to understand each other better and be able to co-operate more in achieving each-other's goals. Now, I understand that some jobs, especially in retail, emphasize "looking busy" but this is actually counter-productive: i.e. employees cleaning the same counter over and over again, or moving something back and forth between one place and another. So, companies should emphasize actual productivity. They should clearly identify what actually needs to be done and when they assign a task, they should set a goal for when they expect the work to be done. This goal should not be absolute, as in, if it is not done by that time, the employee is fired. But, they check in on the worker's progress from time to time and if they are going ahead of schedule, congratulate them and make note of it and perhaps reward them and if they are running behind schedule, ask them why and try to figure out how to improve productivity. When an employer finds an employee doing nothing, instead of immediately reacting with anger, they should enquire about how their task progress is coming along and only reprimand employees if it is unsatisfactory. It may even be possible that the employee is already done and they're just waiting for the employer to assign another task. There is no need for them to do unnecessary tasks just to "look busy". But, the bottom line is most of the above is BS and lazy employees are just... lazy. The only real way to deal with it is to keep a close eye on them and punish them by giving them less money or firing them. What has this got to do with the end of civilization? A great civilization would get as much productivity out of people as possible. But, then again, maybe I'm a "fascist" for thinking that. I just think that when you're paid to work you should work. If you don't want to work then don't. But our system is too inflexible for that. If our pay was more related to our job, then things would be a lot easier. If you don't want to work a 40 hour week, then you wouldn't have to. Just do enough work fast and then be done in, like, 3 days and stay home the other four days per week. Or, if you want to make more money and you don't mind working 50 hours per week, you could go ahead and take on more tasks and make tonnes of money. People also want steady incomes though, so, that should be a possibility. Perhaps, the ideal is a job that combined a small steady income with more income depending on how much work they actually do. But to pay people for work that they're not actually doing will hinder us in the long run, especially in the face of an increasingly competitive global marketplace. The more time we waste, the more things cost and the less gets done. If we keep going along that path, everything will cost too much and nothing will get done. Wouldn't you rather live in a world where things actually got done, products were more available and cheaper? Well, keep trucking, y'all! ~ Jonas "THE STEAMROLLER" Graham, B.A. 4月30日 The "God Hates Fags" peopleHave y'all heard of the Westboro Baptist Church? I'm not talking about the baptist church in Westboro, in Ottawa. Rather, I am talking about the group, based in Kansas, that preaches that "God Hates Fags" and stuff. But they don't stop there. They are so desperate for attention, they will do just about anything to provoke people even if it means alienating potential supporters. For example, they love to picket soldiers' funerals with signs like "Thank God for dead soldiers!" because they believe that dead soldiers are God's righteous retribution for America being so tolerant of sodomy and such. They could have won the support of the far-right bible-belt" support our troops" types but no... They had to go out and piss them off as well. Anyway, they're mainly made up of one family: the Phelps. There is also a documentary filmmaker, Steve, who converted. They believe that God also hates America (for being a "fag enabling" nation), God hates Canada, God hates Sweden, the Catholic Church is evil and depraved, etc. They believe in the Calvinist doctrine of Unconditional election, that is that God chose to save some people but not others and this is God's own choice, there is nothing we can do to influence our own salvation. They don't believe that God loves all humans. They believe that God actually hates certain people, such as fags (homosexuals). As a Catholic, I beg to differ. I think that God does love us all. He may hate the sins we do but he loves us anyway, through his infinite mercy. Even if you are gay, he loves you. I do believe that Sodomy is a sin but God still loves sinners. I don't think God is all about vengeance and all of the tragedies we experience are a result of the wrath of God. Sometimes bad things just happen. Sometimes people do bad things. The patriarch of the church is Rev. Fred "gramps" Phelps, a former lawyer who was actually famous for fighting for civil rights for black people. His tactics were harsh and even back then, he was famous for "bullying" witnesses and defendants but he won a number of cases and was a real champion for civil rights. Today, "gramps" makes videos condemning just about everybody from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert for making fun of his views at the Emmy awards to "Fag Pimp" President Bush. In what I believe is his latest video, he thanks God for the Virginia Tech massacre because it was a just punishment for America's sins. Check it out: Anyway, you can find out more about the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) by checking out their websites:
Anyway, my point is: Love 'em or hate 'em, they've got a lot of attention, lately. But despite everybody saying the media is supposed to be fair and balanced, I find that it often isn't. It is very easy to disagree with these people, it is very easy to prove that they're wrong, using rational means. But instead of doing that, so many journalists just resort to personal attacks and using the bully pulpit, something the Phelps are all too familiar with... For example, check out the interview with Shirley Phelps and her daughters on the Tyra Banks show. At one point, Tyra is just like "I didn't come here to fight with you on my stage" Umm... Yea you did! Tyra's an idiot! I actually got a lot more respect for the Phelps after seeing this interview... Then, there was the BBC 2 documentary: The Most Hated Family in America. (It's divided into 6 parts on You Tube so look in the "related" sidebar.) At one point, in the 2nd part, the journalist, Louis Theroux, talks to Jael Phelps and asks her about boyfriends and stuff. He seems to heckle her and asks her really personal questions, like about whether she's ever sinned and he seems to try to make her feel bad about not having many boyfriends. OK, this is really personal and totally unrelated or maybe slightly related but does not affect the validity of their premise at all! I can personally relate to this cause, as y'all know, I'm pro-life and when trying to have a purely rational discussion about the morality of abortion, somebody once said something like "you've never even been with a girl" which does not have anything to do with my stance. They were just trying to attack me personally. There is a word for this: Ad Hominem. Anyway, depending on his definition of "been with", he's either right or wrong but like Jael, I don't want to talk about it (but then again I've talked about it enough already in this blog). My point is: this is waaaaaaaaay too personal for objective journalism and it has little or nothing to do with the issue. Louis also, routinely states his own opinion (not only on voice-over but he actually tells his opinion to the Phelps) and it shows his bias. And then there are those political talk shows like Hannity and Colmes and all that. But I don't blame them for being biased and such on the account of I don't really expect them to be fair and balanced. But some talk show host had the brilliant idea of bribeing them with airtime on his radio show in exchange that they don't picket the funerals of the murdered amish schoolchildren. And now, he had to do it again, to stop them from protesting the funerals of Virginia Tech students. And this is all just playing into their plan. For a church with just 71 members, they're getting A LOT of attention and that's really what they want: attention! And why don't these people ever do their homework? Why don't these people ever talk about Fred's work in the Civil Rights movement (by the way, the WBC has produced a documentary that talks all about this and other stuff - check out hatemongers.com). Why don't these people mention quotes from the bible that prove that God doesn't hate fags? Well, one journalist does... She still gets too emotionally involved, but at least she did her homework. Check it out: But, also, why can't they just debate them in purely rational terms? Why do they have to get all angry? Why can't they just show them that they're wrong or just show America who they are, without making any sort of judgement and let them decide for themselves? Try being objective for once. Here's an interesting thought experiment: Imagine you were just as you are - I'm assuming that's a reasonably intelligent person, not naïve or anything (you're welcome) - except that for some reason, up until recently you knew nothing about Christianity, Judaism (the religion of the old-testament) or homosexuality and you just learned in purely academic terms the rudimentary facts about these things. i.e. Christianity is a mono-theistic religion that sees Jesus as the messiah promised to the Jews who were a group of people that believed they were chosen by God and stuff... Homosexuality is when two people of the same sex have sex. Imagine you just knew basic facts like this and you really didn't know what to believe... Does God hate homosexuals or doesn't he? You turn on the TV and they are talking about the Westboro Baptist Church. You can clearly see that the WBC has a certain agenda. But so do the journalists! The Phelps seem to be very angry and think homosexuals are despicable but the reporters seem to be angry and think the Phelps are despicable. Who should you believe? There seems to be a whole lot of hating going on but not much reason! Why don't they present the facts? i.e. Here's what the WBC believes and here's why. And here's what critics of the WBC believe and here's why. Just present this objectively. That's what the media is supposed to do (or maybe I'm just naïve). Or why not have an intellectual debate? Perhaps they could have "gramps" debate some intelligent bible scholar about what the bible actually says about God's opinion on homosexuals. Perhaps they could have someone from Harvard Divinity School or something. Or you know what? If they hey really crave attention so much, maybe we really should just ignore them and they'll go away... I'll leave y'all on a lighter note. Parody is often a good way of dealing with conflict (although it doesn't really solve the conflict, it tones it down a bit) and if the Phelps are the most hated family in America, check out the second most hated family in America: God bless, y'all! ~ Jonas "THE STEAMROLLER" Graham, B.A. 4月28日 So this is rock bottom?Good evening, y'all! I've been feeling great lately! Technically, I "hit rock bottom"! My job finally ended so I'm "between jobs" and I've been spending a lot of time drinking and stuff, but despite that, I'm holding up all right. I had a little money in the bank and I got my federal income tax refund so I'm doing alright, financially. I also applied for E.I. so I should get a few benefits from that. That might take a while, though... I've decided to make this blog friends-only because I tend to say things that are a tad controversial and I tend to be very open about things that perhaps prospective employers and stuff should not be aware of. This was actually a bit of a difficult decision on the account of I love to be very open about myself and I don't care what people think, but perhaps I shouldn't say so much when I have something to lose. But some of my ideas are so awesome that I want to share them with the world and have randoms search it, but for that I might want to have a separate space that's public but that will be for later. For now, I'll just feel free to say what I want! Yee-haaaaaw! Anyway, I don't smoke weed, anymore. I just find it boring and stupid and it makes me itchy. Anyway, I love the springtime! I'm starting to think that if I was feeling kinda blue before, it has more to do with the weather than with y'all-know-who or my job or whatever. I've actually been looking back at old blog entries and I've noticed a pattern. I often feel pretty blue in the winter and then great in the springtime. Perhaps I have what they call "Seasonally Affected Disorder". But I don't think that's really a disorder. I think the real disorder is the fact that our ancestors moved to cold countries like this, in the first place. Many animals only live in certain climates. For example, there are no monkeys in Canada or Québec. (Could you blame them?) And it's only natural we feel a little helpless in the winter-time - in Agrarian or hunting-gathering societies, there is a period between the last possible harvest and the first possible plantation where you really can't do much to affect your outcome. You're basically relying on your skills from the year before. If you were a good farmer, you'll live. If not, you'll starve! So, it's only natural that you kind of feel retrospective during this season. i.e. Did I save up enough food? Did I even plant enough crops? Oh! If only I hadn't been so lazy all summer... You can only pray that you make it through the winter before you can change anything so you feel helpless and scared. Now, in modern times, we work all year round so there are things we can do to affect our survival in the winter, but I believe that this feeling is instinctual by now so that we naturally tend to feel this when we see the winter sky or feel the cold winter air. Of course, there is such a period in every climate, but in colder climates, it's longer. I seriously want to move down south somewhere. Y'all can have Canada if y'all want, but I'm out of here... Oh! I've also got a new friend now who drags me out to go clubs and stuff. It's fun to go out and do stuff and have fun. OK. Admittedly, that was a stupid comment. Anyway, so I've been "clubbing" a bit lately. I like clubs that play pop music especially 80s tunes and "glam" rock because I can really get into it. I'm not that into modern pop because it's mostly hip-hop and stuff. Hip-hop is all rhythm and no melody. Also, basically, the only thing to do with hip-hop music is to find a girl and "grind" with her. That's basically what everybody else is doing and that seems like the only way you can really have fun. I don't like it when the only way you can have fun is just to hook up with some random And I think "grinding" is stupid. I don't like to rub myself against a girl's ass. It just doesn't appeal to me. I don't find it arousing at all and I prefer to see her eyes anyway. It's just soooo boring. I probably won't find a chick that I really like at a club anyway. I'm more likely to find a girl by doing something I really like and then noticing a girl doing the same. I like to get to know a girl's personality more. I'm not that picky about looks but if that's all I have to go on, shucks... But I like to be pushed into trying new things. Like Techno Music. Last night, me and my friend went out to this concert and had a lot of fun. Techno dancing is different. It's all about expression. There's less pressure to hook-up. You just go out and try something and yea... sometimes you'll look like a dork but everybody does and it gives you more of an opportunity to see people's personalities. Anyway, I never really thought I would enjoy it that much but fancy that! I did. Who would have thunk it? Anyway, I got accepted to Concordia. So it looks like that's where I'll be going next year. I'll be doing another bachelor's degree since my first degree wasn't honours, I cannot get into grad school. This time I'm doing Honours in Economics. There's a co-op program. Alas, I don't know if I was accepted yet. I think even if I'm not accepted straight off the bat, though, they'll probably give me a chance to prove myself in first year by achieving a certain average or something. I really want to do co-op because it will be easier to get a high-paying summer job and I'll gain some great relevant work experience. I plan to maintain a GPA of at least 3,7 (A-), anyway. Speaking of which, Concordia, like many Québexican universities, uses a standard GPA scale like universities in the best country in the world. A is 4, B is 3, C is 2, D is 1 and E and F are both 0. Plus or minuses are given by +/- 0,3. uOttawa used it's own 10-point GPA system. My GPA was 7,5, which was between B+ (7) and A- (8) so it's basically equivalent to 3,5 on a standard GPA scale. I'm really going to enjoy this. It's going to give me another chance to really shine and impress professors and co-op employers and I'll really get involved in a lot of activities and stuff. Plus, I'll get a season's pass to 6 Fags La Ronde and go almost every weekend. I love amusement parks! It's a pretty good deal. $92,58 with taxes (about 905 Mexican Pesos). I can't wait! This is going to be soooo much fun! By the way, I'm starting to look for a room, so if anybody knows of any good rooms available in NDG (within 10 minutes walking distance to Loyola) for $400 per month all-inclusive (or $300 per month w/o hydro or furnishings in the room or $250 with absolutely nothing included), keep me posted. Also, since I've already got a Bachelor's degree, I'm considered financially independent so my parent's income isn't taken into account when I apply for loans and bursaries. Tuition at Concordia is under $3k and I stand to get about $3500 in bursaries alone so that should cover my tuition and then some. Basically, I just have to pay for living expenses. But apparently, tuition in Québec is going to be unfrozen so it will increase by $50 per semester starting in Fall 2007 but that's not so bad. I would only have to pay $650 more for my degree (if they count the summer) and I'll probably be able to get more money from the government, anyway. Anyway, my plan is now to do another Bachelor's at Concordia (which should take about two years) and then an MBA at St. Mary's, Dalhousie or Memorial (2 years) and a Graduate Certificate in Systems Science at the University of Ottawa. So, in total, I'll be spending another 5 years in school so I should be ready to emigrate and start my career before I'm 26, so that's not so bad. I may get a little bit of debt. MBAs are expensive and if I do mine outside Québec, I just get loans - no bursary. By the way, have y'all heard of Mika? He's an amazing pop singer that my mom introduced me to, oddly enough. Some of his music videos are on Youtube so I suggest y'all check them out! I've embedded them here for your enjoyment (and so I could try out embedding video in Live Spaces)! Grace Kelly Love Today Anyway, enough about me! I might write a non-personal entry tonight or sometime soon so y'all can look forward to that... Have fun, y'all! ~ Jonas "THE STEAMROLLER" Graham, B.A. Philosophy of LifeDear y'all: Recently, I have made a decision to radically alter my way of life. I have decided to commit to a philosophy of living that I'm kinda inventing as I go along. I did a project on Nietzsche once, so it's inspired by that, in a way... I am inspired by Nietszche's concept of the Ubermensch and Will to Power and his outright rejection of Nihilism. Basically, I've decided to commit to making certain changes. Granted, I'm not perfect so I may slip up, but I am very serious about a few fundamental shifts in my life. I will elaborate on each of the aspects later, but for now I'll just list a bunch of the elements:
Shucks I'm worried, though, that I may be just doing this for my own sake and not serving God. I'm wondering how God fits in to all this, actually, and my faith is actually pretty dry now. I'm not sure I even believe in God anymore. I try to and I try to go through the motions and follow all the rules but sometimes I think I am just doing that for the challenge... Shucks! Pray for me, y'all! Sincerely, Jonas '''THE STEAMROLLER'' Graham, B.A. 3月11日 The coming of summer...Dear friends, The title of this post is inspired by a book I was supposed to read for school called "The Coming of Winter". It's about miserable people living miserable lives in New Brunswick. (Figures). Winter is often represents depression, despair and misery so if winter is coming, things are getting worse. But if summer is coming... things are looking up! Indeed things are looking up. It's starting to get slightly warmer and Easter is only a few weeks away. I feel much happier about my future. I will probably study economics a bit at Concordia then go on for an MBA at St. Mary's or Dalhousie in Halifax. Neither university requires management experience which is great because how am I going to get two or three years of management experience within the next couple of years?! Also, I don't really feel like going to law school. Many lawyers don't actually make all that much money because everybody wants to be a lawyer and the market is saturated and it's not a particularly ethical profession. So now I'm excited about my future and I can look forward to that rather than looking back at my past because I can't stand to face my future. I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I talk differently now. Many people who know me from before might not understand but I talk in a slight southern drawl now. I like it. It's who I want to be. Shucks! It's who I am. Some people are like: "You should just be yourself! You should not try to change who you are!" but I beg to differ! You can change who you are. Why not? Think about it: imagine if you are an alcoholic - should you just "be yourself" and accept your alcoholism as part of "who you are" or should you try to change? Just "being yourself" is a dangerous game. If people don't change, they can't improve. I say, instead, "be who you want to be" and just like the US air force says: "Be all you can be!" Of course, you should not try to be someone else just to please others but if you really want to change for your own sake, go for it! I try to live by this philosophy. The accent is part of who I am. I'm not trying to escape my Canadian heritage nor am I doing it to impress people but this is the way I like to talk. This is the way I chose to talk. Not many people understand this but, MJ, this girl from work, understands this completely. She actually verbalized this in such an awesome way. I wish I had thought of that myself. She says that it is like I create myself like a work of art. I read a little bit on Kierkegaard and this seems to correspond to his concept of the aesthetic life. Now, Kierkegaard did not think this was the highest form of living and neither do I but I believe there's nothing wrong with expressing yourself the way you like by changing certain aspects. I mean: people dye their hair all the time... Why can't you change your accent? Stephen Colbert did that but he did the opposite of me. He was ashamed of his southern accent so he started talking like a northerner. Of course, my parents don't like it so out of respect for them, I talk Canadian with them. I guess it's just like immigrant families who get offended when kids speak English at home. It's understandable and you've got to honour your father and mother (it's the 4th commandment)... I took some caffeine earlier and it was great. I love caffeine! It's just such an innocent drug but soooo fun! I think I'm going to take it more often. I'm not going to get gluttonous or abuse it or anything but I enjoy being so energized so I'm going to do this more often. I went to a CCO event earlier. It was great. There was Eucharistic adoration. I think a lot of people don't get this. I've heard people saying that it's kinda like idolatry but alas it's not. Jesus did say that the bread was indeed his body! So Christ is actually present in the Eucharist. Now, this is not to say that Christ is not present outside the Eucharist. Jesus is with you all the time. But the beauty of Eucharistic adoration is that it is a great opportunity to focus on Jesus and direct your thoughts and your heart towards him and to really feel his presence, in a very concrete way. I also had the opportunity to go to confession. It feels like quite a relief. There are plenty of things I was ashamed of in my life but it feels good to just let go and start fresh. I've put some more money towards my mutual funds. I took the opportunity to invest a huge lump sum shortly after losing a bit of money. That's the way to go: buy low - sell high! Shucks! I'm quite passionate about saving money and stuff but I hope y'all don't think I'm idolizing money or anything. I just realized that it's important to handle finances well because even if you make lots of money, it's so easy to lose it all. Some people manage to live well on less money than others do on more money. One thing I've learned is to buy quality things even if it costs more. For example, I used to buy headphones (the type that cover your whole ears) at about $20 per pair and they kept breaking on me. Now, I bought a pair for $70 and I got the extended warranty. They did break once so far but I just walked in and gave them my earphones and phone number and got a new pair within a few minutes. It's great. Also, last year I bought a laptop for $700 but it's slow and does not have all the features I want and most importantly, it's BROKEN and the warranty is expired. I just ordered a new laptop from Dell that will be faster, have a longer lasting battery, be able to burn DVDs and I got the Complete Care package. It costed $300 more but it means that if it breaks within the next three years, EVEN IF IT IS MY FAULT, they will fix it. This is incredible. If I spill something on it or I drop it, whatever... I'm covered! But do you always come out ahead by spending more money? Of course not! A lot of companies charge more for "image". Take Nike for example: they spend millions on advertising to tell you that you're cool if you wear Nikes and then pass the cost on to you so that you're paying Nike to tell you that you're cool. I don't need Nike to tell me I'm cool. Do y'all? Also, sometimes if you wait and buy a quality product once they've come out with something better, you come out ahead. For example, I bought a first-gen iPod Nano for about $130 once they released the second-gen Nano. It's still a quality product but they've just made an even more high-quality product now but I don't need the best. I'll just settle for great. Thank you! Also, food is never really an asset. Once you've eaten it you're not going to be that disappointed that you got the cheaper no-name brand stuff. Even if the premium stuff is better, for something that you'll only enjoy for a few minutes anyway, is it really worth it? Also, I've done some thinking about girls. (Could you blame me?) I find I have been too desperate in my life. I shouldn't just take any opportunity that I get. I should do us both a favour and only go out with girls that I really like. This is kinda difficult, though, because once it seems like a girl likes me, I try to think of excuses to like her and then I can't tell whether I really like her or whether I like her just cause she likes me. It's really confusing. Maybe I should just go for a girl that I like and be bold even if she shows no interest in me (at first, hehe). Another thing that's been on my mind: I wish I had impressed more people. I need references to get into grad school (both academic and job references) and I've realized that I haven't really "wow"ed anyone. I always seem to have chosen the path of least resistance. I never really put in a lot of effort to do well in anything. I'm naturally quite smart but instead of using my intelligence, working hard and excelling, I've often just used it to get by with as little effort as possible. I've often not participated in classroom discussions because I had not done the readings and stuff and so I haven't really gotten noticed by professors. Now, I regret this. There's still time though but this has been a real wake-up call for me. It should also be a warning to y'all. Whether y'all are in school or working, remember: everything counts! Put effort into a class that you don't particularly like or a job that isn't exactly your dream job. Try to impress people. Don't settle for just "getting by". If things come too easily, try to excel at what you do or try to do something more challenging! It's kinda like the parable of the talents. Don't be the wicked slave! Do all you can with what you've got! Actually, this reminds me of something: there's nothing wrong with ambition. I used to think that wanting to do something big was really selfish. But no! God wants us to "be all we can be". He wants us to do the most with what he has given us. Don't be afraid of doing something that is going to benefit you because of the great talents God has given you. Just remember that these talents come from God and you've got to give back by doing God's will with the gifts you earn with your gifts. Being rich, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. I love this line in the ad for St. Mary's U: "I want to make gazillions and give it all away!" Why would you sell yourself short and then you won't be able to do as many good deeds for others? Anyway, y'all... I've got to go to bed soon. I'm already losing an hour's sleep because of Daylight Savings time and this caffeine is starting to wear off... G'night! Sincerely, Jonas "THE STEAMROLLER" Graham, B.A. 3月4日 Looking forward / Looking backDear interweb friends and/or stalkers, A lot has happened for me recently... In case I haven't mentioned it already, I have (finally) moved out. I am now living with my friend Sean in Hull along with Emma (a roommate we found through Craigslist). The place is great! The building isn't the prettiest (from the outside) but the apartment is great. The living room is pretty big (for an apartment). It's about 10 minutes by bus from downtown Ottawa or old-Gatineau and they come rather often. I can take the 67 or 77. I remember when I lived in Aylmer and I had to wait for the bus downtown and I would see two or three 67s or 77s go by before the 42 or 43 would come. Now I'm taking advantage of that! There are beautiful hardwood floors (that are fun to slide across) and concrete walls so the sound is pretty isolated. Appliances, heat and hard water are included. We've also got hi-speed cable interweb. There's a dépanneur right next door and I think one of the clerks kinda likes me. (Could you blame her?) I used to think living on my own would be so difficult but now that I'm actually doing it, I realize that it's really easy! We keep the place clean and even though I have to take the bus to go grocery shopping, it's not too difficult because I can usually fit all my groceries in my pack-sac and one re-usable shopping bag. It's more expensive than living at home because I have to buy my own groceries and stuff but I manage. I'm financially independent. I have enough money to cover all my expenses, still have fun (I'm not a big drinker or an avid cinema-goer or anything) and still put some money away towards mutual funds and give to charity. I'm still working at the CSB call centre. I'm It is getting kinda boring but I think that's ending pretty soon and now that I have a security clearance, it shouldn't be too difficult to find a new job (I'm already looking) and I have enough savings to cover next month's rent at least and I'll file my taxes soon so I can get my refund ASAP and I am eligible for EI. I am still very interested in finance. I met with a financial advisor who inspired me to invest long-term in hi-risk equities so now, in addition to my balanced fund, I've taken out a new Global Titans fund that invests in USA, Canada, Europe, Asia and the world. My fund is currently down but in the long-term, I stand to gain (A LOT). The financial advisor told me that the key is to own the means of production (Marx would hate me!) and to start young (which I am doing). Equities are always better than bonds because with bonds, you own someone's liabilities but with equities, you own someone's assets. However, it seems that a lot of financial planning is geared towards other people's dreams which are, generally, retiring young and spending years and years traveling and stuff. I am not that big on traveling and I plan to retire at 68 at which point I would have maybe 5 years and then I'd die. I would like to take a few 3-month breaks in my 50s and 60s to travel a little bit with the wife, but I am not going to put everything off until I retire. It seems that a lot of people want to get things over with so they can get a break. I want to find a job that I enjoy doing so that I wouldn't mind working there well into my 60s. And I want to find a job with lighter hours so I can work a 4-day week. I also find it silly how Canadians often save up their money so they can escape the cold and go to Cuba or something for ONE WEEK per year. Why not live somewhere that's decently WARM all year round so you don't have to put up with such constant misery for ONE SMALL BREAK? I'm still planning on leaving the People's Republic of Quebexico and Soviet Canuckistan and moving to somewhere warm. I will consider many possibilities. I'm not too fond of Europe (it's the old world) I will not limit myself to "first world" countries. I could probably learn Spanish and I wouldn't mind living in Mexico just so long as, between me and the wife, we could earn a million Pesos a year, which is not that difficult. By the way, Pesos are now the official international currency on this blog instead of US Dollars. Remember: a Peso is worth just under 10 cents US. I want to leave before I'm 30 but immigration is sooo difficult. Even poor countries are picky. It seems like nobody wants immigrants and you're stuck in the country that you're born in, usually. Immigration quotas are often credential-based and I know that a General B.A. just isn't going to cut it. So it looks like I have to go back to school. I now have two paths before me (I already applied to both): Law/MBA at Université de Sherbrooke or Economics at Concordia then a Graduate Diploma in Systems Science from the University of Ottawa. The Law/MBA thing is probably a better path career-wise but it would take soooo long (4 years + 1 year for my law license) and I would be soooo bored and lonely. I'm worried that because I don't speak French as a first language, I would have trouble communicating with my peers and so I wouldn't fit in. Plus, I don't really want to be a lawyer. I never did. I don't think it's a very ethical profession and I think EVERYBODY wants to be a lawyer so the market is saturated, but then again, in the best country in the world and in Mexico, lawyers are still paid a fortune. I could easily make a starting salary of half a million (Pesos) and with that money I could easily start a family but I might have to put that off till I'm 27 or 28 or so. I don't know if I want to put that off so much though. I'm all about chastity and all that but geeeeeeeeeze! I don't want to be a 30-year-old virgin! This seems to be my mom's preferred plan for me. She says that even if I don't want to do something, it may be best to do it anyway for the greater good. That's kinda true. I mean: just look at the biblical Jonah... He sure didn't want to go to Ninevah... But alas, that was his mission. Shucks! Still, this is different. My mom's not God. Yea, I'll consider it, but I'm 20, I'm living on my own and I'm financially independent. I don't have to listen to my mother anymore. The other option is the Economics / Systems Science thing. This would only take me about four years and the last year is kinda part time, but it's humiliating because they are probably going to make me take another Undergraduate degree just so I can get into the Graduate program. But perhaps I can switch into an M.A. program in Economics at Concordia and then I'll have a Master's and a Graduate degree. Shucks! I just thought of that just now but it's too late to apply for that now for Fall admission but I can probably apply in the fall. We'll see how that goes... Shucks! My goals are to get out of Canada and get married. My dad's saying that I should be flexible and stuff. Even if it takes a long time, I should stick it out. But WHY? So I can be a good lawyer? I don't care. That's not my goal! That's just a means to an end. I won't give up the ends to suit the means! Of course, as a Christian, I should be responsive to what God wants but I don't know what he wants. Somehow, I think I am destined for something big and I don't mean that in the way like we are all destined for big things but I mean seriously, that I will be responsible for a HUGE change in the world. I don't mean that to boast. I think there will be a lot of challenges ahead of me and I won't necessarily enjoy them but I feel that I have to do something BIG. There are all sorts of signs pointing towards this but I just don't know what it is yet. I have a feeling it will involve living a very public life, though. Somebody at work even mentioned it to somebody else, about me. He said that they had the feeling I am going to do something big in life. Maybe that's why I should spend so much time in school. I need a lot of preparation for this. Whatever it is. I wish I knew what this was but I shall find out, in time, I guess... And I realized that whatever I do in life, I will be happy. I realized this when praying. I decided that I will do whatever God wants of me but I was questioning: "Is it too much to ask that I can be happy?" and I got my answer: No. No it isn't. So I shouldn't worry about it... I'll gather as much information about these programs as I can, for now, and I will make my decision, this summer. Either way, despite "wasting" my time by doing a general B.A. first, now that I have a B.A., I am considered "financially independant" for student aid purposes so my parents' income would not be factored in when the national Government decides how much bursaries and student loans I get. So if I go back to school, I am bound to get at least $5k (or about 47,5k Pesos) in bursaries and another $4k (or 38k Pesos) in Student loans. Tuition in Quebexico is less than $3500 (or 33 300 pesos) per year, so that's not bad. And I'm not afraid of taking on debt as long as it will help me secure a good financial future. In the meantime, there's no reason why I can't enjoy the ride. I should get a new gf. I almost went out with this girl from work. It was pretty clear, at first, that she was obsessed with me, but we disagree on practically everything! Shucks! She is cute, though, and eligible for Mexican citizenship! I just have got to meet more girls. I just shouldn't be so shy. I should think of any excuse to go talk to a girl and w/e. Probably, 90% of girls I won't like enough to go out with but the more attempts I make, the more likely I am to succeed... It's going to be difficult though because I'd have to have a girl follow me along for such a looong ride. I wouldn't mind getting married before I'm done University but I still want to finish whatever I have to do to get out of Canada. I am sticking to my guns about the whole pony tail, glasses and silliness thing though if I fall in love with a girl who doesn't meet the description, I might be willing to compromise. It might be easier to get married once I get out of Canada because then I don't have to convince a Canadian girl to pack up and leave (and all Canadian girls foolishly LOVE the Winter for some odd reason - I suppose it's Masochism). Once I leave Canada, I might find a local girl who is quite content living in the south. Still, if I find a girl willing to share my journey with me, why wait? I am ready for marriage NOW. Just, I am not settling down any time soon. Oh. In case y'all are wondering, I still miss Teresa. But just as a person. I think I might write her soon. I realized that I am sad about it, because I was looking for marriage and I knew that she was marriage-bound but maybe just cause her mom was pressuring her so much. Perhaps she wanted to go out with me specifically so she could avoid marriage for now. I don't think she wants to get married anytime soon. I still do. But just not to her. At the time, I realized this and it was just a matter of time before I broke up with her, anyway. But I still think she's gorgeous though. We're just not going down the same path. I should not worry about getting a girl so much that it holds me back from goals (especially leaving Canada). If I keep on going down my path, I am bound to find someone along the way. I shouldn't worry so much about being single and start a serious relationship with a girl that I couldn't see myself spending my life with just so that I don't feel lonely. I should just focus on finding a girl who is right for me and it won't be easy (especially with the emigration thing). So, it is pretty clear now: I am shifting priorities. Emigration is my FIRST priority. Marriage is now second. It WAS vice-versa before. Well, anyway, bring it on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Looks like I'm in for the long haul now but it will be fun and there's definitely light at the end of the tunnel. Pray for me! ~ Jonas "THE STEAMROLLER" Graham, B.A. 12月31日 ClosureI realized I've been doing a lot of whining about Teresa, lately. I've decided I'm not going to carry this into the new year but I have a lot to say so I'm going to speak now and forever more hold my peace. Why did I go out with her in the first place? Well... Y'all have seen the pictures. mdr! Truth is, I did like her. I really enjoyed the times we had. When I first met her, she had a bf, but even if she didn't, I honestly didn't think I was good enough for her. I mean, I'm no George Clooney. Also, girls tend to like older guys but she's almost 3 years older than me. Anyway, I found out that she kinda liked me, but she thought I was immature and so she wanted to wait till I was 23... So why didn't we? We actually kinda got into a fight. I was feeling more and more uncomfortable with the fact that I liked her but had to wait. I wasn't waiting till I got more mature and I didn't need to wait for her to become more mature because at the time, I thought she was kinda mature. I wanted to know what I should expect. At first, she told me that, if we were both single, I could go out with her when I turned 23, but later she backs off and says "we'll see"... It made it kinda difficult to have feelings for her because if I did, I'd have to hold them in until I'm 23 which would be hard on me. The only thing that would give me the strength to do that would be a guarantee of a "sure thing". I needed something more re-assuring than "we'll see". Ladies! Don't do this! You might hear dating advice experts tell you to play tricks on a guy to make him like you more... Actually, this is good advice! It does work! But watch out! Look at what type of tricks you're playing and don't go too far. Don't try to be controlling and once you tell a guy you like him, the gig is up! Give him a chance to like you back or not rather than avoiding his answer by delaying it until 3 years down the road. This sort of BS will not make him mad about you but it might actually make him mad at you! In any case, that's what happened with Teresa. I was mad and the next time I saw her I just kept insulting her and throwing bottle caps between her breasts. Mia Culpa. I know. But we reconciled and I reconciled myself with the fact that we were just going to be friends with a slight possibility in something happening when I turned 23 but I wouldn't get my hopes up. So we go back to just being friends and she changes her mind. This was totally unexpected by me but she wanted to tell me straight up that she liked me and that she thought she didn't want to wait anymore! Fucking A!!!!! I was on top of the world for once. I spent my summer looking for a job but, well, hardly looking and so I spent a lot of time hanging with my friends and stuff and I must say: I really had the time of my life! And then, to top it off, I manage to score a hot gf! Things were good... But trouble was a-brewing... Here's an exclusive revelation that y'all might not know: She was not my first choice! I actually had a crush on another girl at the time. But I liked Teresa enough to go out with her. So what if she wasn't my FIRST choice?! She was my SECOND choice. I was happy to have her and I was determined to make things work between us! The more time I spent with her as my gf, the more I liked her, the more I loved her... But it seemed like she was liking me less and less. I think she could tell that I didn't like her as much as she liked me... And it would be a lie for me to say that that wasn't the case. But I was getting there and I wish she would have given me the chance. I mean, WTF did she expect?! You can't expect that everyone who you have a crush on has a crush on you! Or that you're your first pick's first pick! But is that so important? No. If I was in the same situation, I would have been a little disappointed for sure, but I would have made it clear: "Tough! You're with me, now! So, forget about him!" So many people think they find the perfect one, yet our divorce rate is SOOOOOO high. Honestly, I don't really care about finding the perfect one. I just want someone to love. I think the success of a relationship has more to do with the effort you put into it than having found the perfect match, in the first place. This is why I'm so mad at Teresa! She didn't put any effort into making this work and to overcoming our problems. I made it clear, from the very beginning, that I wanted her to give me a chance, to give me several chances because I knew I was bound to screw up. She didn't. She told me all about how her past boyfriends were such pricks but she gave them more of a chance than she gave me. And maybe I didn't love her from the very beginning, but I wanted to and I was starting to... And I try to find things I didn't like about her to justify our breakup:
But despite all this, I still like her. I can't justify not liking her. She made me smile. Being with her made me feel awesome! Anyway, she wanted to break up with me after our second date. I was actually considering breaking up with her because things didn't feel quite as I expected them to. But I still wanted to give this a chance so I talked her out of it. Things kinda didn't go so well, like we really couldn't get into the club we wanted to go to but things between us we're really heating up. I was actually kinda concerned that she wasn't attracted to me but I found out that in fact, she was. And things seemed to be going really well and well... too well, in a sense. So I was ready to slow things down... Again, she got scared and said she wanted to break up. Out of all the reasons, that's why?!! WTF?!! This girl is messed up! This might be a little cryptic because I still have too much respect for her to mention what happen on my blog, but I'll just say ummm... we got to 2nd base. And this is the reason she chose for breaking up! Because we went TOO FAR! This did NOT make sense to me AT ALL. It still doesn't. Yea, that is a problem that as a good Catholic couple we would have to deal with... But TOGETHER! If that is TRULY her reason for breaking up, she's got serious psychological issues and she is undateable because of that. I tried to talk her out of it, again... but it wasn't working. I tried to understand her reasons but she just babbled on about something and she didn't really make any sense. Like she didn't actually give a reason. I think she just kept on repeating "it's for the best" or variations of that phrase. Going out with Teresa was the most wonderful thing that happened to me at that point in my life (and a lot of wonderful things happened for me). It was hard to get used to going out because I was so scared that I'd lose her and it would crush me. I did and it did. It still hurts. Sometimes, I have dreams that we get back together. Not day-dreams, but actual dreams. And I think it's real. Like I'll dream that she e-mails me and tells me this and then later I wonder if that actually happened and so I rush to check my e-mail but no... But do I want to get back together with her? I could find happiness with another girl, I'm sure. I just haven't met any. There's one girl at work who's kinda cute but she's also kinda taken, kinda vegetarian and kinda 24. I don't really have much of an opportunity to meet girls. And I'm feeling kinda lonely and it sucks. I would rather have a girl now who's not perfect for me but who makes me happy than wait in loneliness for a long, long, time and eventually find the perfect girl years down the road! I do not like being single. Apparently, Teresa does. And she said this before we were going out, like in reference to being single after breaking up with her previous bf. Well, maybe she should become a nun then and be lonely for the rest of her life. Not me though, I don't want to be lonely! But what about the other girl? The more I hung out with her, the more I realized I couldn't stand her and I eventually lost interest. I have no feelings for her. At all. But I'm avoiding the question... Do I want to get back together with Teresa? I'm going to be really honest with y'all. I miss her. I could probably find another girl and move on, but until then, if she wanted to get back together, I would be lying if I said I would refuse. Anyway, that is all I'm going to say about her in this blog. I've got to hurry up. I've got a New Year's party to go to. But I wanted to write this first because I want to leave this in 2006, before I go. My slideshow pictures on my computer at work are now 95% Teresa free and I can be happy if I don't think about her. If I do, it still kinda hurts and I realize it still will. But I'm ready to move on. I will find somebody else and I'll be happy and the painful memories of Teresa are no longer going to stop me from being happy with my adventures and my future relationships. There. I think that's it... Amor, Salud y Prosperidad! God bless, y'all! ~Lic. Jonas "LA APISONADORA" Graham, esq. 12月26日 South of South of the Border... Down Mexico Way...Buenos días y Feliz Navidad, todos! As y'all might recall, a couple of weeks ago I went to the UMS (United Mexican States). I met up with Joel there and we proceeded to have a blast! Fucking A! I love Mexico! Anyway, this is how it went: My passport arrived on Tuesday, November 28th, 2006. Thank God I applied for it in November. I had lost my previous passport but it was bound to expire in April 2007, anyway. This way, I didn't get caught in a rush. Apparently, now, the passport offices are really busy because you will need a passport to enter the Best Country in the World by air, as of January 1st, 2007. I had booked my tickets through fareconnect.com, a travel site based in the Pride of the Confederation which I highly recommend! I got round trip tickets from Ottawa to Mexico city via Atlanta for CAN $531,86 (all taxes and fees included)! On Monday, December 4th, I arrived at the McDonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW) in Ottawa, Ontariario, Soviet Canuckistan at around 5h. I talked with some really interesting people whilst waiting for my flight. One woman was heading to Louisiana for business (she worked for Proctor and Gamble). Another was headed to Ecuador to travel and to recruit students to come study English in Soviet Canuckistan, or something like that... The US Customs agent was a real Stiffly-Stifferson, but whatever... Our flight left around 7h to Atlanta, Georgia, Best Country in the World. It was a small plane. There were only 50 passengers and one flight attendant. The airplane was operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines as a "Delta Connection" flight. No meals, no movie. I got to look out the window and I noticed how much empty space there was in the world. It made me realize that the whole "overpopulation" thing is total B.S. I arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) at around 10h30. There was a really nice sista who greeted us as we entered the airport and told us how to get to our next flights. H-J is HUGE! There are several different terminal buildings which are connected by an underground train. I ate lunch with the lady who was going to Ecuador and then went to the gate for my flight to Mexico D.F., UMS. Of course, they changed the gate! Anyway, this time, the plane was quite a bit bigger. It was a Boeing 737 operated by Delta. There was a meal and a movie. But the movie was "Scrooged" and I got sick of it after about half an hour. One of the radio channels was playing the soundtrack from Hannah Montana, a children's show on the Disney Channel. It has some good songs that The announcements were in Hespaniol first and then in God's Language. Upon arriving at Juarez International Airport (MEX) in Mexico D.F., I went through Mexican customs and stuff. They were rather nice. I also chatted a bit with a girl from Ohio. By the way, Spanish is the official language of the UMS. I thought this was common knowledge, but some people have to ask... Joel was supposed to meet me at the airport but he was late and I got really nervous. I went to find an interweb thing so I could check if he e-mailed me to say there was a change of plans. I eventually found him. Apparently, he and Oregon Rob and Yin Hei, the Chinaman girl, arrived whilst I was on the Interweb and we just missed each other. Anyway, we took the Metro to the bus station. According to my travel guide, you can't get on the Metro in DF if you have a lot of luggage, but oh, you can... Then, we took a bus to Acapulco. It costed 300 Pesos. A Mexican Peso is worth about CAN $0,106 so 300 Pesos is about $31,80. It was a 6-hour ride but 90 minutes of that was spent just getting out of D.F. The traffic is ridiculous but the bus was rather comfortable. The seats could recline quite a bit and there were curtains. We arrived in Acapulco around midnight and we took a rather expensive registered taxi to get to our Hostel. Hostel Kingdom was kinda far from downtown. The rooms were half decent and it included water and breakfast which one had to make themselves and wash their own dishes. There was also a computer room with interweb and air hockey. But I don't think it was worth 200 Pesos per person per night. Anyway, that night, we just slept. The next day, we went to a beach close to the hostel. Along the way, we past by some rather run-down neighborhoods. Some people do, indeed, live in shacks, in Mexico. They're not made of garbage or anything but they're shacks, nonetheless. At first, I kinda thought it was pitiful, but then I realized that these were people's home sweet homes. They live a simple life, but they are happy and who am I to judge. What was unfortunate, though, is that there is quite a bit of pollution in the woods. I don't think these people have garbage pickup at their homes, so garbage gets left by the sides of the roads and stuff. Also, when people do construction on the roads, it seems that they leave old pieces of concrete just lying on the sidewalks and stuff. Anyway, we got to the beach. It was nice but kinda shallow. Me and Joel went out at first and charged into the waves with a dedication each time. Later, we went out a little further and me and the Chinaman girl went a little too far and the undertow started to get a little strong. I started to head back and I thought I was making decent progress but these "lifeguards" came at us and told us to get on their raft things and they didn't give us much of a choice. When we got back to shore, they told us we should pay them 200 Pesos for saving our lives. They argued with Joel and Oregon Rob for a bit, as me and the Chinaman girl couldn't speak Hespaniol very well. We only brought 40 Pesos with us, but they wanted us to go back to our hostel and come back with more money. I'm grateful for their help, but they shouldn't EXPECT any money, especially not 200 Pesos. Perhaps the City should charge a fee for using the beach and hire lifeguards rather than there being these greedy freelance lifeguards. Anyway, we gave them 40 Pesos and Rob's sunglasses (which he paid 10 Pesos for) and told them that's it. They swore at us. I think the only thing they know how to say in God's language is "son of a bitch". We left. We went back to the hostel and then downtown for lunch. I had some sort of beef dish and a beer. We then bought some souvenirs (I bought a T-Shirt for 20 Pesos) and walked along this really nice beach. Alas, I had left my bathing suit back at the hostel. I sat down and relaxed though. A lady came by selling juice in bags. They were 6 Pesos each but she didn't have change for 10 so I got her to sell me 2 for 10 Pesos! That's a major problem in Mexico: there seems to be a serious lack of change. I don't know why, but If you carry around bills of more than 100 Pesos, you're going to have a hard time using them anywhere. That night, we stopped at Botega Gigante (a huge supermarket owned by Wal-Mart) and bought some snacks and liquor. We had some of that liquor, that night. Me and Rob went out and tried to find a club. We asked a taxi to take us to the nearest Entro (club / disco) but he takes us 3 blocks down to some really weird bar where the owner and her daughter pressured us into buying drinks for them. The owner, a 40-something woman sat with me and the daughter sat with Rob. They tried to teach me some Spanish - mainly the Mexican slang words for "dick" and "pussy" by having me touch each one. I got them mixed up and really embarrassed myself when they asked me which one I preferred. Anyway, I found out that "pepita" means vagina and I remembered that really well for next time. *Awkward!* Anyway, I convinced Rob to leave and then we had some Tacos and talked about religion and stuff. The next day, Rob had to fly back to Monterrey. Me, Joel and Yin Hei took the bus to Taxco. We almost missed it! In Taxco, we got some silver for X-mas presents and stuff and had spaghetti (about 35-40 Pesos)at this restaurant with a spectacular view! Taxco is really pretty. It's in the mountains and there are cobble stone streets and the houses all look really nice and very traditional and colonial. They look just like you'd imagine a Mexican style house to look like: white stucko with red roofs. Anyway, we took a bus to DF where me and Joel found free accomodation at a French church in Polanco, the Jewish quarter. Yin Hei split from us. She would meet some friends there, the next day. We got settled in, that night. By the way, there was a 24-hour supermarket next to our church called Superama. It is owned by Wal-Mart. They often had apple slices as free samples, so me and Joel would binge on that. And the next day, Friday, December 8th, we went to Tepito. Tepito is a huge "self-regulated" flea market. It is, allegedly, the most dangerous part of D.F. Police may patrol the streets but they don't dare venture into the stalls or else they would risk getting shot. Güerros (white people) are warned not to go. We left our passports, cameras, etc. at the church and went with about 500 Pesos each, in cash. We spoke to each other in Freedom, whilst in Tepito to avoid looking like total Gringos. Tepito is really funny: you will often see a stall selling porn right next to another stall selling Christian music! Anyway, we got these fruit drinks (1 litre) for 15 Pesos each. I had a mix of Pineapple and "Jamaica" flower. It was delicious. We then did some shopping. I got a gangster T-Shirt (70 Pesos), a Pocket watch (75), a cowboy hat (70 Pesos!) and a Sombrero (50). For lunch, we split an order of hamburgers (2 for 10 Pesos). The hamburger stand said "Hamburguesas! A chinga!" Apparently, Chinga is like the F-Word, so they were basically saying "Fucking Hamburgers! 2 for 10 Pesos!" Only in Tepito... Hehehe... Then, we went back to the church and slept. Later, we got ready to go clubbing in the Zona Rosa. We didn't know exactly where we were going to go or how much it would cost so we did a bit of pre-gaming. Bad idea. We got to the Zona Rosa and after looking around a bit, somebody (he must have worked for the bars) showed us a couple of places. We went to a club called Light. It was an open bar (unlimited drinks) for 250 Pesos. But I don't think they had a Vagina discount so it was a total sausage fest. I don't really like discos, unless I arrive with a girl, but Joel had fun. I had a bit to much and ended up with some regrets. Joel told me a funny story about me (that I couldn't remember on my own) in the cab going back: apparently we were doing Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who got dibs on the WC. I won the first one and then Joel won the second one but I kept saying "I won! I won!" And Joel said "Fine! You win!" and I was just like "Yes! Yes!!!!!! Take that, Joel! I won!" The next morning, we cleaned up my vomit in the bathroom of our room at the church (the church people never found out) and we went to the pyramids. The pyramids were kind of pricey. You had to pay for a bus to take you there and pay admission at the grounds. All in all, for me it was about 100 Pesos. Joel got in free because he's a student. Some of the pyramids were really steep and high. The climb is exhausting but we made it! Boo-yea! I got a few souvenirs and gifts, there. I bought my dad a whistle in the form of a statue of some Aztec god for 30 Pesos and I got myself a poncho for about 70 Pesos. That night, we went to the Villa Basilica. I bought some gifts for my mom and a gangsta' Virgen shirt. It has Our Lady of Guadeloupe standing on top of a souped-up towncar with Mexican and American flags and a banner that says 'Raza Unida'. We also hung out in the Zocalo. The Zocalo is a trendy square in the downtown core. At night, it's lit up by Christmas lights and there are always buskers, of sorts. We had some Quesadillas and Ponche (a hot fruit drink). Street food in Mexico is usually quite good, safe and cheap. If you're spending more than 15 Pesos for a meal, you're splurging! What's odd, though, is although they make the food on the spot, they're not afraid of making some form of pork, even though that's a rather risky meat. We went to the Hostel that Joel was staying at before and met up with these Lithuanians and a Swiss woman and went to this bar Many of them had been to Canada before and some of them had been to the weirdest places like Abitibi-Témiscamingue in the People's Republic of Québexico. Anyway, we then took pictures of some of our favourite Metro Stations including Zapatas, La Raza (where they have a series of posters depicting fetuses at various stages - no wonder Mexico is pro-life) and Normal (¡No hay nada de especial, allí! ¡Es normal!) Speaking of the Metro, it is really cheap in D.F.: 2 Pesos per ticket and you can transfer as much as you want. The only thing is they can be EXTREMELY crowded at times. Some weird guy started telling Joel about his Nazi philosophies on the Metro. He was a big fan of Adolf Hitler and he said that Hitler killed the Jews because they mixed races with the Latin American Indians. *Awkward* The next morning, Sunday, December 10th, we went to Mass in Freedom. They didn't have a good speaker system so we had difficulty hearing the priest. We talked with some of the people who went to that parish, including a girl who comes from the north of the French Republic, near the border with Belgium, unfortunately. They had free Ponche and Tamales. I don't really like Tamale. We then went back to Tepito for a bit and then to El Bosque de Chapultapec, which is like D.F.'s Central Park. We went to the Zoo and this castle. Along the way, we saw this Totem pole donated by the government of Canada. Who would have thunk it? We also went to the Diego Rivera mural and Museum. I think we went back to Zona Rosa and went on the interweb. At the Insurgentes Metro Station in Zona Rosa, it's kinda neat: they have this market square below street level. It's a big circle with stores all around. Above the stores are the streets. Fancy that! We also tried to find a DVD box set for Noah's friend who lives in Mexico. Noah had asked me to. We couldn't find it. Monday, we went to the Mercado de los Dulces: the candy market! You could get candy in bulk there for really cheap. I got some Ferrerro Rocher for Noah's friend (but we were never able to meet up with her, so we gave it to the church people). I also got some hot spice-covered candies that I've been daring everybody to try since I got back, some chocolate bars, gummy scorpions (gummy candy tastes a little more like Jello down there) and 500g of Chicharron (pork rinds). I kinda regret getting those pork rinds. The shop clerk gave us a free sample and I liked it so I bought 500g at 14 Pesos per Kilo. We never managed to finish them and I think they're the reason I got sick, the last few days in Puebla. We went to the Palacio de Bellas Artes. We also went to Alameda Central. It's a park that doubles as a market, but then again, so does every park in Mexico and every street and every Metro. Believe it or not, Mexico is a rather consumerist society. Everything is always: "Buy! Buy! Buy!" It's fun at first, but eventually it drains you. But I found a few deals. For example, I got a nice yellow tie for 30 Pesos on the street. This wasn't even in Tepito! Anyway, we tried, unsuccessfully, to meet up with Noah's friend again so we just took it easy. We went back to the Villa Basilica that night, as it was the eve of the feast of Our Lady of Guadeloupe. The people at the Church recommended that we avoid going during the day to avoid the crowds. They shut the Metros down rather early and we had to cab it back for 100 Pesos each! The next day, Tuesday, December 12th, we left for Puebla. The ride was 100 Pesos but ADO only accepts cash. (Bastards!) Anyway, when we got to the Bus Station in Tepito, we noticed a poster from the mayor of Puebla, he wrote his title as Lic. (Licensiado) meaning that he has a Bachelor's degree. Joel remarked that he is just as educated as I am so maybe I should be the mayor of Puebla. A cabby offered us a ride. Joel told him no thanks, we'll take the bus and then asked him for directions as to how to get to the bus stop and he told us how to get there. That's what I like about Mexicans. They are usually really helpful even when they don't stand to benefit from it, financially. We then got a double in a Hotel for 120 Pesos per night. Not bad. We went out and had chicken with Mole Poblano, a traditional sauce from Puebla made from chocolate, sesame seeds and stuff. We also got some beer at the Oxxo (a Mexican dépanneur) and watched a bit of the festivities for Puebla's 475th anniversary where somebody was rallying the crowd: "How old is Puebla?" "Cuatro ciento setenta y cinco!" "I can't hear you!!!" "Cuatro ciento setenta y cinco!" They had a camera positioned behind the crowd and they were showing it on the screen. There was a kid in his mother's arms that you could see on the camera. I positioned my cowboy hat so that it looked like it was on the kid's head and we all had a good chuckle. We also got interviewed by these high school girls for their God's language course. My last full day in Mexico, we just bummed around Puebla, mostly. We went to the store to get some things and then we just mostly walked around town, sat in the sun and relaxed whilst watching cute Poblana girls go by. But they were rather short, for the most part and usually taken by Poblanos (guys from Puebla). They like to put a lot of gel in their hair to make their bangs stick up, just like Ginos! We also saw the site where the Mexicans defeated the French. Silly French! They lose to everybody! For lunch that day, we got some Tortas (nice big sandwiches). My Torta was with Pata, a gelatinous meat made from cow's hooves or something. We had this wonderful 4 course meal for supper: vegetable soup, macaroni salad, beef stew and jello... all for 28 Pesos! I also got my hair cut for 30 Pesos. That was about it. Well, that and we got really sick! The next day, Thursday, December 14th, I took the airport express bus from Puebla to the Airport in D.F. I actually arrived at the airport rather early. I waited for hours by the gate for my plane but they switched the gate again! I was listening to my iPod so I must have missed the announcement but about 10 minutes before my flight was supposed to leave, I went and asked the guy at the info desk if they were boarding yet. He said yes but at the other end of the airport! "Run!" I just barely made it and I got to watch "The Illusionist". 'Twas a very good film. I highly reccomend it. Upon arriving in Ottawa, I got selected for a more thorough search at customs, but the lady was really nice and friendly. I chatted with her about my trip and my adventures. Thank God we had a warm front or I would never been able to re-adjust. A few things I noticed about Mexico:
12月3日 Next stop: El DF!Guess which mofacko is heading to Mexico? I'll give you a hint: his name starts with a J and ends with onas "THE STEAMROLLER" Graham and he's FABULOUS! I really can't wait!!! I am soooooo happy about this. Somehow, I used to feel that even this wasn't enough to make me happy but now that it's almost here, I feel absolutely ecstatic! A few months ago, I was thinking that maybe I would go to Mexico, but now, well, I'M LEAVING TOMORROW!!!! That's right! Tomorrow morning at 7! I will be back on Thursday, December 14th at around 22:30. In case I haven't told y'all already, I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! Fucking A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ~ Jonas "LA APISONADORA" Graham, B.A. 11月26日 The Santa Claus myth and the joe-job conspiracyI was thinking about Santa Claus and stuff the other day... I came up with this theory that the whole "Santa Claus" myth is fueled by the young adult under-achiever demographic. There are many young adults between 20 and 30 who live at home because they don't have the money to live on their own and they don't have enough self esteem to really try to accomplish anything in life. They don't go to school. They work. But they work at really shitty "joe-jobs": paper routes, etc. They don't believe in Santa Claus but "Santa Claus" is really working for them. It may seem that the primary market for toy companies would be children. But no: children's toys are expensive to make and fads such as "tickle me Elmo" and such go out of style so quickly... The real money maker for toy companies is these loser young adults. They have a lot of disposable income because they don't have their own expenses. They don't save up because they don't have any ambition. They spend their money on collectible action figures and stuff so they can, sort of, buy imaginary friends like Oppo Rancisis, Star Wars or Sgt. Savage or Peter Criss. These action figures are cheap to make but are highly valued by their target market so toy companies sell these toys at ridiculously inflated prices and turn a HUGE profit. This is where the toy industry gets most of it's money. The biggest threat to these underachievers continued support of the toy industry is losing their jobs. The biggest threat to their job security is CHILDREN. Children can often do the same jobs just as well as them and there are a lot more children than underachieving adults. So if more children entered the market, they would face more competition and they might lose their jobs. The toy companies, not wanting to lose their best customers, practices a little quid pro quo. They use their marketing to perpetuate the Santa Claus myth. Thanks to Santa Claus, kids don't have to buy whatever they want themselves. Santa will get it for them. Since they don't have to buy anything themselves, they have no incentive to earn money. This keeps them out of the job market and keeps the underachievers employed! This is how the whole Santa Claus myth is perpetuated. It is all because of these adult under-achievers! And the evidence is right there under your nose. Santa ClAUs? AU = Adult Underachiever. Think about it! Crack CocaineI don't usually post full lyrics to songs on my blog because it is copyright infringement but this time, I'd like to provoke the creator. There's this song and the creator seems to be keeping his identity secret. I think the P2P network I originally downloaded it from claimed that it was by Necro. But Necro's discography on his website doesn't list it and it doesn't really sound like him. Others claim that it is an unreleased track from Eminem, of all people, but it doesn't sound like Eminem. Anyway, if the creator tries to sue me, I will at least be able to find out his identity. If not, well at least y'all can check out this song. I can e-mail it to y'all if y'all wish. Drop me a line! Note: I do not consume Crack Cocaine myself nor do I condone the use of this drug. So what the fuck you trying to pull, pigs? Cause my shit right here is clean! Dig? At least I'm selling to the felons who don't know no better! Beat me down, pull me over when I'm driving... I'm just a regular guy with a business that's thriving! Cause it's hard to make it in this life, it's a world of heartache and pain! That's why I'm selling "Crystal Love" to the people, That's why I'm selling them Crack Cocaine! Crack Cocaine, Crack Cocaine... Crack Cocaine, Crack Cocaine... Got my gat, got my bitch, got my shit on... Fuck the policeman: they always get my gig wrong! I ain't no criminal, no thief and no liar. There's a market, man: I'm just a supplier! I don't give a fuck how you get the cash to buy it! And if it's your first time, it's free just to... try it. Cause this here sugar is much sweeter than Mary Jane... This here, bitch, is the motherfucking Crack Cocaine! I want that... Crack Cocaine... I want that... Crack Cocaine... ... Give me some, Give me some Crack Cocaine... yea... |
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