tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86967499105689793692024-03-13T03:58:29.387-06:00Socializing EngineersUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-36627008665693526632014-02-07T17:52:00.001-06:002014-02-07T17:52:23.470-06:00Adventures with Grad Studies<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>"Back to school, Back to school, To prove to my Dad that I'm not a fool"</i></span></blockquote>
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~Billy Madison </div>
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While I have different reasons than Billy Madison, I am nonetheless back in school. Specifically, a M.Sc. program at the U of A. I have been there for just over a month now, and am finally getting used to it. I was working for a consulting company over the last 4.5 years, and the switch back to academia has been a little strange.</div>
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First off, I had to move to Edmonton which is a big change on its own. But I found a nice place, in a quiet neighbourhood that is conveniently close to the LRT (train system). So I can get to an from without driving, and paying for parking, and all that hassle. I am also close to most other essentials (grocery store, bank, coffee shops, etc.).</div>
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School itself has been mostly good. It is weird going back to classes, and lab work, and lab reports, and tutorials. Normally I would probably be on or around a drill rig, logging samples, in rougher, colder conditions. Don't get me wrong, field work can be fun, it is just very different than being in a classroom. </div>
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It is also a different experience from my undergrad. In undergrad there was a lot more structure. You had x number of classes; for each one the prof would show up an talk about one specific thing, and at the end of the week you would have an assignment about that stuff; crunch the numbers and hand in. And there were labs thrown in there too. </div>
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In the grad program it feels more open. You have less classes, but a heavier workload, as you are responsible for more. Professors do still lecture about specific stuff, but I find that there is a lot more from them just talking about experiences and how stuff really works and all the fun, cool, little things in between. And there is also discussion. And there are papers! So when it comes time to do a tutorial, or lab report, you need to do some research and really think about stuff. Information is rarely spoon fed to you. Part of this is probably also due to the fact that I have been out of school for years, and a lot of the theory is not fresh in my mind. </div>
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Classes are generally interesting, and I have actually had eureka moments, and whispered things like "woah", and "that's cool". To clarify, this never happened in undergrad (or at least I don't remember it). I do have one class that I am still unsure about, as it is very heavy on theory, and I don't have a strong background in it. But I think I am slowly putting it all together, and it actually is interesting, just very heavy (as in writing equations for 1.5 hours during class). </div>
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So to summarize, grad school so far is mostly good. It is busy, but mostly interesting. I am sure there is more to tell, and probably a clearer way to tell it, but, I have school work to do, and no time to revise this.</div>
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Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16264427389188270447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-82531722259962982702013-12-01T00:00:00.000-06:002013-12-01T00:00:10.554-06:00December Topic!Hi everybody!<br />
<br />
To wrap up the year, we're doing <b>second chances</b> month. The idea here is that you can write either specifically about second chances OR you can write about any of the topics we've previously covered. Maybe pay special attention to the topics that we completely ignored, listed here for your convenience:<br />
<ul><li><a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/search/label/body%20mods">body mods</a></li>
<li><a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/search/label/coworkers">coworkers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/search/label/the%20sea">the sea</a></li>
<li><a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/search/label/trades%2Fmanual%20labour">trades/manual labour</a></li>
</ul><br />
<i>Contributors</i>: You can interpret this any way you want, and you can write as many posts as you want (within reason, obviously, not like 200 posts over the course of the month, but I don't think any of us have that kind of time on our hands). When you write your post, make sure you tag it with the topic ("second chances" and, if necessary, the old topic you're writing about) and your name/blog identifier, so that if any potential readers like you and hate the rest of us, they can find your posts easily.<br />
<br />
<i>Everyone</i>: I am scheduling this post a month in advance and have no idea whether I'll be able to create a poll between now and then or not. Stay tuned, I guess?!<br />
<br />
Comment on this post or the <a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/2012/05/theme-ideas.html">topic ideas</a> post if there's anything you'd like to see added to the poll. As far as I'm concerned, any topic is fair game, so suggest away!<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-75350733304037315532013-11-02T14:23:00.000-06:002013-11-02T14:23:30.836-06:00November Topic!Hi everybody!<br />
<br />
I hope you can forgive me for the late post, it's been a very busy week/month.<br />
<br />
It's <a href="http://nanowrimo.org/">NaNoWriMo</a> this month, so let's make our topic <b>creative writing</b>.<br />
<br />
<i>Contributors</i>: You can interpret this topics any way you want (but mainly the intent is to post some of your own creative writing, if it exists), and you can write as many posts as you want (within reason, obviously, not like 200 posts over the course of the month, but I don't think any of us have that kind of time on our hands). When you write your post, make sure you tag it with the topic and your name/blog identifier, so that if any potential readers like you and hate the rest of us, they can find your posts easily.<br />
<br />
<i>Everyone</i>: We might as well do something creative in December again. Woo!<br />
<br />
Comment on this post or the <a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/2012/05/theme-ideas.html">topic ideas</a> post if there's anything you'd like to see added to the poll in September. As far as I'm concerned, any topic is fair game, so suggest away!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-24174976605566066382013-10-01T00:00:00.000-06:002013-10-01T00:00:06.885-06:00October Topic!Hi everybody!<br />
<br />
The September poll closed with the following breakdown of votes:<br />
<ul><li>0 votes: cacti, colours</li>
<li>1 vote: reunions, the sea, body mods</li>
</ul><br />
Once again I'm going to just decide what we'll write about in that case. I'd like to save "reunions" for a few months from now, so this month, we'll have two topics: <b>the sea</b> and <b>body mods</b>. These don't have much in common besides the popularity of <a href="http://fuckyeahoctopustattoos.tumblr.com/">octopus tattoos</a>.<br />
<br />
<i>Contributors</i>: You can interpret these topics any way you want, and you can write as many posts about one, both, or none of them as you want (within reason, obviously, not like 200 posts over the course of the month, but I don't think any of us have that kind of time on our hands). When you write your post, make sure you tag it with the topic and your name/blog identifier, so that if any potential readers like you and hate the rest of us, they can find your posts easily.<br />
<br />
<i>Everyone</i>: We might as well do something creative in November again. Woo!<br />
<br />
Comment on this post or the <a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/2012/05/theme-ideas.html">topic ideas</a> post if there's anything you'd like to see added to the poll in September. As far as I'm concerned, any topic is fair game, so suggest away!<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-76638311678308200552013-09-23T12:00:00.000-06:002013-09-23T12:00:01.063-06:00The World's End Discussion, Part 4<i>On September 8, Dave, Jeff, and Megan got together to talk about the latest Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg/Nick Frost venture, </i>The World's End<i>, based on some notes from Cat. (So far she hasn't given permission to publish those notes, so for now you'll have to reconstruct them for yourself based on our references to them and deductive reasoning.) This is the thrilling conclusion of that discussion.<br />
<br />
Beware, though: absolutely no effort was made to avoid spoilers.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Ok, so finally, the ending!<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Loved it.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I also loved it, except for the very very end where they show what Gary is doing.<br />
What actually is he doing? Straight up murdering people? I didn't get that.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Yeah, I agree with you Megan.<br />
I loved that he had a sword though.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I loved that there wasn't a magic "win" button that made everything okay again.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I agree. Like Peter and Oliver are still blanks in the end, they don't magically come back to themselves.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
And the world is messed up.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Did either of you wonder for a bit if Gary was simply high and was imagining the blue bloods? Then I was wondering if he had drugged all of his friends too and they were seeing it.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I don't think I ever doubted that what they were seeing was real.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Yeah the movie becomes a whole lot darker if they are all mass murderers.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Another side note: I looooooved the creepy lights coming out of the blanks' faces. omg so good.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
That made for some cool scenes.<br />
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<b>Dave</b><br />
Yep, great effect.<br />
In the end Gary got his friends back. He gets his glory days back, but also finally gets to grow up as a person and move onto new things. And the ending also shows the duality of humanity. You have the bigoted assholes, and the compassionate folks who believe in equality.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
But he isn't with his friends, is he? And I'm not sure that killing bigots is ... a great route to take.<br />
Everything about the ending worked for me except him.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Without the network, the blanks have the opportunity to become real humans. So Gary and his group are on a quest to make the world a better place.<br />
Yeah it was a bit of a stretch.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Did Gary move on to new things? Weren't those other four guys he was with the kids that they beat up at the beginning? If they were, then he was fitting himself into another group in a similar role.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
No it was the young version of their crew.<br />
Andy, Oliver, Peter, and Steve.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I think it made sense that he would still not really be doing what everyone else is, in terms of survival, but to have him just wandering around killing dudes seems.. so weird.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Yeah it was a little heavy handed.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
It seems like a sort of wish fulfillment thing (does he tell the guidance counsellor at the beginning that he just wants to "have fun" or something? I can't remember exactly what he says), except that it's presented in a strange way.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I like that he is roaming around with his old crew, but the extreme violence aspect is a bit much.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
It seemed like they had to end off on some kind of explosive high note and Gary was the best one to do that. But yes, it did seem somewhat out of place.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Like going in and trashing the place? I'd take that.<br />
Even like burning it down or something, which would be more theatrical.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Well I guess they were expecting the audience to buy into the violent post apocalyptic world that we all know from so many other sources.<br />
But it wasn't really set up in this film.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
He just didn't really seem like a killer to me, I think?<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Yeah, it took a pretty big jump, expecting the audience to fill in the gaps.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Yeah, he was there for a good time, not to slay people. Unless he considered that a good time.<br />
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<b>Dave</b><br />
Well if you look at the end as if it was set in <i>Mad Max</i>, then it makes more sense.<br />
I am guessing they wanted the audience to make that sort of jump.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Everyone else seemed to be trying to rebuild, but Gary was out there being wild.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
It’s what Gary does.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I suppose. It does have some cues to that effect, like these guys in the bar he goes into are like neoneo Nazis.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
He seemed to have found a purpose in life again.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Yeah, killing Nazis!<br />
Always a good cause, haha.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Woot!<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I dunno if you guys have seen <i>X-Men First Class</i>, but I 100% believe and am on board with Magneto Nazi Hunter at the beginning of that movie, but putting Gary in that position at the end of this movie didn't work.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I know Cat didn't like the musketeer moment, but I got a kick out of it.<br />
They played with the musketeer motif throughout the movie, and I thought it worked well at the end. <br />
You have the three survivors meeting up, very drunk, surviving the end of the world, crazy with adrenaline. I think it was natural that they would laugh about that!<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Did anyone catch how Gary said that the five musketeers works because if two die, you still have three? That is precisely what happened with Oliver and Peter.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Apparently I missed everything musketeer-related in the movie because I have no clue what you're talking about.<br />
I do sort of remember the five musketeers comment because of that old <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHLJDs9jAvk">Albert the Fifth Musketeer</a></i> cartoon.<br />
Other ending thoughts? I think I already went into mine above.<br />
I just really like having my expectations subverted.<br />
I was really hoping that Oliver and Peter would come back to life (mostly because I just love Martin Freeman and can't separate actors from their roles very well), but I was so happy when they didn't.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Yeah I like that they defeated the aliens but that there was a heavy cost to pay. I like that the blanks got a chance to be real people.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
And I loved that their actions brought on the end of the world (as we know it).. that never happens.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I like that Sam and Steve shacked up, in a rather nice shack.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I wanted to know how they scored that shack. It was <i>super</i> nice.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Built it, Steve was a home builder, remember. Started his own business.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Yeah, I was just about to say that I remembered him in a hard hat at some point. But building a shack with your own hands is a bit different!<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
He would still have the knowledge.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I also liked Oliver's ball head.<br />
And the eyes on it.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Reminded me a bit of Wilson from <i>Castaway</i>.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Me too.<br />
Any other overall thoughts on the movie? What would you rate it on the letter grade scale?<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
A for awesome. It had good cinematography, good effects, good acting, good story, and was overall really fun to watch.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
A- , I think. It didn't totally blow my mind apart like <i>Shawshank Redemption</i> or <i>The Sixth Sense</i>, but it made me think and I laughed a lot.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I'll go with A-.. the weirdness at the end didn't put a good button on things for me, and like Jeff I didn't have my mind completely blown.. but while not as jam-packed with amazing as <i>Hot Fuzz</i>, everything in this was well done, I laughed multiple times.<br />
I wonder if maybe I'm just not familiar enough with the whole body-snatcher genre and ended up missing some of the jokes?<br />
Good show all around in any case!<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Yep. Solid, enjoyable entertainment!<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-27513198672934017612013-09-21T12:00:00.000-06:002013-09-21T12:00:03.578-06:00The World's End Discussion, Part 3<i>On September 8, Dave, Jeff, and Megan got together to talk about the latest Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg/Nick Frost venture, </i>The World's End<i>, based on some notes from Cat. (So far she hasn't given permission to publish those notes, so for now you'll have to reconstruct them for yourself based on our references to them and deductive reasoning.) This is the third part of that discussion. Keep your eyes peeled for Scott's cameo appearance.<br />
<br />
Beware, though: absolutely no effort was made to avoid spoilers.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Well let's jump over to the setting<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Sure!<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Creepy small town? A+<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Totally. I wonder if they are any places in Saskatchewan like that.<br />
I thought it was interesting that the town was called Newton Haven. It sounded a lot like "New Haven," an idealized conformist utopia (that turns out to be a dystopia).<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I wanted to say it was called "Sleepy Hollow" cuz I couldn't remember the name of it but it certainly implied peacefulness.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I love how this and <i>Hot Fuzz</i> completely lampoon the stereotype of the small town being somewhere where things are perfect.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I liked how Newton Haven had "UK's First Traffic Circle." I wonder if this was intended to be one of the 'improvements' that the blanks had introduced (I wonder if there actually are any traffic circles in England). In the end, Sam actually makes a remark that the traffic circle confused her, an indication again that the 'improvements' introduced by the blanks aren't so great, aren't so 'human.'<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Hahaha I forgot that traffic circle joke.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Good observation Jeff.<br />
I did like that line!<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Oh yeah, and Gary tells her to go right through it! Down with conformity!<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I have <i>so much trouble</i> figuring out the actual size of towns and stuff in movies.<br />
Because here in SK, when I think small town, I think pop. 2000 people or less.<br />
But the rest of the world is usually talking about somewhere with like 50 000 people in it or something.<br />
<br />
<b>SSB</b><br />
I remember learning in elementary school that the population requirement to be a city was 5000, but in Ontario and stuff it's 75 000.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Serious!?<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Holy crap!<br />
That’s huge!<br />
There were definitely some small towns when I was in the UK, but Newton Haven did seem quite large, though not 'developed.'<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
But the area that they're navigating to go to the different pubs looks fairly small.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Yes, it does. The pub map does illustrate a rather small area.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Downtown core, with cottages all around.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Actually, most UK towns/cities have a very small, olden-times feel in the downtown. Often called the 'old town ' e.g. Old Canterbury.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Yeah, you're totally right about that, Jeff.<br />
Actually it just occurred to me that this is sort of similar to the way that <i>The X-Files</i> treats rural America i.e. weird shit happens out there.<br />
There aren't as many people around to see it.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Totally true Megan!<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Let’s jump into the plot, though.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Cool<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Cat thought the plot didn't go anywhere, but I think it just sort of got a little mired in fighting blanks.<br />
I really liked the fight choreography, by the way.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Even throughout all of the fighting, Gary still tried to satisfy his unfinished dream of all 12 pints.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I know, I loved that.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I think it progressed and was important to telling Gary's story. Even in the face of the invasion, losing friends, and being in mortal danger of being "mulched" he still had to complete the Golden Mile.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I loved how he got pissed off when that blank made him drop his beer!<br />
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<b>MR</b><br />
I think the thing that really encapsulated his character for me was when they get kicked out of the one place without being able to have a drink (because <i>he’s</i> banned for life) and he drinks the ones that people left outside on the patio.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
It really shows how that challenge was all he had. And helped illustrate how his friends fit into his life.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Yes!<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I loved that scene Megan!<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Is the Golden Mile the course of our lives? Our dreams and ambitions?<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
The plot definitely wasn't, like, extremely complicated or anything, but I think it's better that it wasn't.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Yeah, I think it had its story to tell, and it did that effectively.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
True, a heavy plot probably would have obfuscated the theme of the movie.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I'm going to reveal my criticism nerdiness right now, but Film Critic Hulk just wrote an excellent article not too long ago about <a href=" http://badassdigest.com/2013/06/12/film-crit-hulk-smash-the-age-of-the-convoluted-blockbuster/">how many blockbusters are way too complicated these days</a>, which I generally agree with so much.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I agree! Any of the latter instalments of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is a prime example.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Yeah, it’s an alien invasion, in the end how much do all the motives and methods of the bad guys really matter to the everyman? They would have been mired down trying to tell that story too.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
In this case there could've stood to be more development of the characters besides Gary King, but his character arc (or lack thereof) alone makes the movie worth watching. <br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I think that some characters could have been developed more, but didn't really need to be.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I think they might've been able to combine Oliver and Peter or something.<br />
But then they couldn't've had Oliver turned into a blank and Peter get his revenge on his bully.<br />
So maybe not<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I am glad that you wrote your article on Apocalypse and Armageddon Dave! Newton Haven was Armageddon and the Apocalypse was the revelation about what makes us human.<br />
Sorry, getting ahead of myself again.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Haha thanks Jeff.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I'm not good at finding plot holes, but did you see any?<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
None were obvious to me.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I think the plot was pretty water tight.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
And it probably helped that they didn't have a convoluted plot either!<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
The only thing I can think of is: do their families still live in the town? What’s going on with them?<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Do you mean their parents and siblings, Megan?<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Yes.<br />
You'd just think that if they do still have family there, they would have visited them before now.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I think Oliver might have had parents in town, but since he was the first convert it makes sense that he wasn't worried about them.<br />
And maybe they did, but you generally don't bring your five old friends along to visit your parents.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
No, I mean like haven't they been there in previous years to visit? This has been going on for a while.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Oh right...<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I actually don't think it's a big deal or anything, and you can probably explain it away... like they might have only been back for short visits and not noticed anything.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Yeah, they never really noticed anything until Gary pulled that first kid’s head off.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Yeah, exactly.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
You’re right<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
So moot point, haha.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Tune in next time for the thrilling conclusion!</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-46786102393789728592013-09-19T12:00:00.000-06:002013-09-19T12:00:03.770-06:00The World's End Discussion, Part 2<i>On September 8, Dave, Jeff, and Megan got together to talk about the latest Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg/Nick Frost venture, </i>The World's End<i>, based on some notes from Cat. (So far she hasn't given permission to publish those notes, so for now you'll have to reconstruct them for yourself based on our references to them and deductive reasoning.) This is the second part of that discussion.<br />
<br />
Beware, though: absolutely no effort was made to avoid spoilers.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Characters?<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Yessir!<br />
I thought that the Gary King characterization was awesome. They did such a great job of setting him up as someone who would take the trouble to still keep forging ahead and drinking pints in the face of killer robots.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Yeah, he was well done.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
He was certainly a layered character. Like duplex stainless steel.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Someone who is just clinging to his glory days.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
It's all he had.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Interesting how one of the beers was called "Crowning Glory."<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I think they had that at several of the pubs.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I wonder if the character of the flavour of that beer was supposed to mirror the flavour of how they were reliving some of their memories and days together.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I think you are probably right.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Haha, you guys both have way better memories for details than I do. I barely remember any of the characters' names.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Peter, Andrew, Gary, ... crap can't remember the others.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Oliver!<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Oliver?<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Was he the one that chuckled at 'King Gay'?<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Oliver was the one with the birthmark.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Oh yeah.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Played by *fans self* Martin Freeman.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Right.<br />
Then there was Peter, he was the King Gay chuckler.<br />
And Steve the lover of Sam.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Do you think there was some significance with how the 'blanks' were free from the blemishes of their injuries/aging (in reference to the birth mark)?<br />
Perhaps since they were perfect, free of errors, that that made them inhuman, given the 'to err is human' thing.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Well on the surface it is because they are made from DNA, and aren't shaped by experience as real people are.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Excellent point!<br />
We are more than just our DNA... I love that insight Dave!<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I'm not sure about blanks being free from blemishes, but I do think there was some significance to the fact that the "blanks" were the robots, and the "empties" were the people who had been turned into robots, and that those words have very similar meanings.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
What did you guys think of Sam, the lone female character with a significant role?<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I liked her, I liked how she had matured but hadn't necessarily conformed.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I think I agree with Cat that she wasn't terribly well-handled. She does get to do some ass-kicking and such but I didn't know much about her. In some ways she actually blends in with the "other guys" in terms of her actual personality. Maybe there were just too many characters in the ensemble?<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Yeah she was a little underplayed, but again so were Oliver, Peter, and Steve.<br />
Even Andy was close to minimal.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I loved when his hand went through the door of that one pub!<br />
But you are right, Andy didn't seem to be as developed as he could have been, given the fact that at the beginning Gary makes a point of mentioning their fraternal love.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I thought Andy was quite well done, actually. He's a man who could have gone the same way as Gary, but instead turned his life around and became successful... except that we learn later in the movie that he actually isn't so successful.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
... Suggesting again that we're all fuckups...<br />
Interesting point Megan.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I think all the characters were handled well, but that Gary was the true "main" character.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
On that note, Steve was a fuckup because he didn't act on his feeling toward Sam earlier. That was his great regret.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Speaking of that, I wish we had gotten more of the two of them because I didn't really feel any connection to their love story, if you will.<br />
Like, why did they care about each other?<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
You see how Sam has grown up from her party girl ways. Peter still has some issues with being bullied, Steve can finally stand up to Gary, etc.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I was wondering if Sam also had regrets because of not capitalizing on the romance that never was.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Ugh, this is why I wish that beginning bit hadn't been so rushed!<br />
I didn't have enough connection to their younger selves to really see the progression.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
In fact, I don't think it even registered with me that Steve liked Sam in the old days.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I think she had regrets too, and you do see that. She tried to reciprocate to Steve when he first tells her, but he interrupts her to keep drunkenly talking. Then later in the dance club they almost have a moment before he gets pulled in by the crazy old man.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Yeah, you're right.<br />
I loved Basil!<br />
And his 'crazy' straw.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
It was fun seeing the <i>Spaced</i> cameos. I didn't see Daisy or Twist in there.<br />
But there was Brian, Marsh, Tires.<br />
When Peter confronts his bully, I thought for a minute that it was actually going to be the guy, and he would be beating up a human.<br />
That would have been funny, but it would have been out of place.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I love how he just runs off crazily after that scene.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Grabs the stick and keeps hitting him.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about him possibly being human, Dave. Haha! I loved how he got his revenge!<br />
Thinking back, Oliver was the one that most obviously was connected into modern technology, with his bluetooth device. Perhaps there is some commentary that modern social technology turns us into blanks. Just hazarding a wild ass guess.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Jeff I think there was definitely an undertone of that... and an overtone, as the network tells us that they have increased connectivity across the world. And at the end Andy talks about how life is simpler after the lights went out.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
You could be right, Jeff. I don't know when you guys noticed that Oliver had been turned into a blank, but I definitely didn't notice right away.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I had suspicions pretty quickly. He was too calm and happy.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
At least the characters took more time to notice than I did.<br />
But it was also partly just that Oliver maybe had the most conformist personality?<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
That's true. He didn't seem to have any regrets like the others did.<br />
Any fuckups per se.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Yeah he just seemed very okay with everything, and was being a very good enabler for them all. And before he was the one they had to drag along.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Tune in next time for more thrilling discussion on... the setting and plot!</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-50718117024564073242013-09-17T12:00:00.000-06:002013-09-17T12:00:01.123-06:00The World's End Discussion, Part 1<i>On September 8, Dave, Jeff, and Megan got together to talk about the latest Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg/Nick Frost venture, </i>The World's End<i>, based on some notes from Cat. (So far she hasn't given permission to publish those notes, so for now you'll have to reconstruct them for yourself based on our references to them and deductive reasoning.) The discussion itself will be posted over the next few days.<br />
<br />
Beware, though: absolutely no effort was made to avoid spoilers.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Ok, so should we just jump right in?<br />
First of all, have we all seen the movie, and what are everyone's basic opinions? E.g. did you enjoy it and so on?<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I had no idea what it was about going into it - I didn't see any trailers or read about it ahead of time. I was pleasantly surprised.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I saw the movie yesterday afternoon. I went by myself in between a wedding and a reception. I knew the basic premise, but stayed away from other spoilers. And I really liked it.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I also went to see the movie alone between other stuff, a week or two ago or something. I really enjoyed it a lot.<br />
Jeff, have you seen any of the other Wright/Pegg/Frost movies? <i>Hot Fuzz</i> or <i>Shaun of the Dead?</i> Or the TV show <i>Spaced</i>?<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I have seen all of them except <i>Spaced</i>.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
<i>Spaced</i> is incredible. I watch the series once a year!<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I've only seen a few episodes of <i>Spaced</i> so far when my sister and I started watching it as a way to feel less angry after episodes of <i>Breaking Bad</i>. I don't think I'm really into it yet.<br />
And I've seen the other two Cornetto movies. But I actually just rewatched <i>Shaun of the Dead</i> because I couldn't remember anything about it.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Well good to hear that we all had positive experiences with the movie!<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I overheard someone at work talking about some 'end of the world' movie that they thought was terrible - "they just hang out in the mall and talk; they do nothing at all to save the world." I was relieved that they must have been talking about something else.<br />
Cornetto?<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
"Cornetto Trilogy" is what they call the movies that Wright/Pegg/Frost make together, i.e. this one and <i>Shaun of the Dead</i> and <i>Hot Fuzz</i>. I don't exactly know why.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Oh, I did not know that name.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I do know that apparently the Cornetto ice cream treat shows up in all three movies.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Ah yes, it does.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Now I remember seeing the wrapper at the end of the movie.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
And in <i>Shaun of the Dead</i> he buys an ice cream before slipping on some blood.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Oh yeah!<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
And in <i>Hot Fuzz</i> they buy it from the shop and get a brain freeze.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Ok, let’s just run through some of the points Cat made.<br />
She found the pacing of movie a bit slow at the beginning.<br />
Did you guys think so?<br />
I actually found the initial montage of their first attempt to do the Golden Mile (was that what it was called?) a bit too fast.<br />
I wasn't really clear on who the three “other guys” were, and it just flew by.<br />
And then it does seem to slow down to actually get them back to the town.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
It did seem like a rushed backstory to me.<br />
But that may have been in keeping with the spontaneous character of Gary King (that is, the way his mind works).<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I still couldn't figure out which guy was which for a long time.<br />
Side note: casting of the young Nick Frost actor was right on.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I guess I agree that it was slow, but not in a detrimental way. At that point in the film it was telling a different story. It was about the old days and trying to relive them. I think it worked well with the story it was telling at that point.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Yeah, I don't think I found the pacing a problem aside from the rushing at the very beginning.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Also I think the editing was well done. I know Edgar Wright has a very fast cut style, but his cuts always serve a purpose. During the intro there aren't a lot of reasons for these domesticated adults to have the jump cuts. The bit with the beer and water was a nice little touch.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
I loooved that.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
And I think it would have lost its appeal, if there were jump cuts everywhere.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Yeah, I wasn't ever bored or wishing to move on at any point.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
No I rather enjoyed it, and think that it could have been an excellent movie if it continued without any of the invasion stuff.<br />
I think they did a good job of portraying a group of old friends getting back together; playing on old jokes and stereotypes, while seeing how they have grown up and evolved (except Gary).<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Wow, I wouldn't have thought of that, but you're totally right. It obviously would've been a much different movie, and probably waaay darker. I also thought the depiction of the dynamics between old friends who don't see each other often was right on. But just that alone could have gone right through and been entertaining to watch. They actually do still manage to hit some of the same beats, but obviously it's set aside for the robot storyline. Although I really would have liked the three "other guys" to be more fleshed out.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
It's funny, I had a totally different encounter with a group of old friends last Labour Day weekend. I thought we would relive the glory days of high school but instead I realized that I didn't actually like most of them.<br />
It was really weird to find out most of my oldest friends were fluff friends.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Jeff, I know what you mean. Not from a similar experience per se, but just looking back on my past and realizing that I don't quite have a group like that.<br />
Never had a close core group of buds.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I would consider our group of friends to be closer to the film's group dynamic compared to my high school friends.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Yes I agree, we all found each other at a later stage in life.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Re: old friends, a lot of it is just growing apart. Your friends in school have a lot in common with you in terms of what you all do together all day, responsibilities, etc., but adults have such varying lives. Even people that you work every day with can have totally different things going on in their personal lives.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Any thoughts on how the end of the world played into the 'aging' theme of the rest of the film?<br />
Something to do with our fragility?<br />
I liked the association between these two facets but I haven't been able to place my finger on exactly why.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
Ooh, I like that.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I didn't quite see it as our fragility but more of a conformity thing. Grow up, be the same as everyone else, there is no conflict in uniformity. And Gary is the complete opposite. And he is trying to break his friends out of that existence. You see it in the set pieces too, with the first few pubs being "Starbucked" to be the same, and generic.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I totally agree with that - very insightful.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
But Gary's not really presented as being correct. One of my favourite things about the ending is the way it subverts a lot of the tropes of this type of story. Usually the humans would tell off the all-powerful beings, convince them we're singular, and then the all-powerful beings would leave and everyone would live happily ever after.<br />
In this case, we get totally effed. I also like how the argument for why humans are special here boils down to "we're fuckups."<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
I really liked the ending<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
I loved that!<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
A traditional happy ending would be less awesome.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Yes, our 'human condition' is to err.<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
So... errr.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
By that logic, Gary was the most human of them all. Interesting.<br />
<br />
<b>MR</b><br />
We shouldn't skip ahead to the ending too much yet, though!<br />
<br />
<b>Dave</b><br />
Agreed.<br />
<br />
<b>JK</b><br />
Indeed.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Tune in next time for more thrilling discussion on... characters!</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-79445790000507038262013-09-07T11:09:00.001-06:002013-09-07T11:09:26.753-06:00Apocalypse - The Misunderstood Cousin of ArmageddonI remember learning about the origins of the word Apocalypse years ago, and was recently reminded about it on a radio program on CBC 1. Apocalypse gets a bad wrap. It has garnered a bad reputation by being associated with much darker events.<br />
<br />
The word apocalypse originates in Greek, with a literal translation of "to uncover" or "to reveal". So it begins its life as innocent, and even hopeful. To uncover facts and reveal truths, are inherent to learning about the world around us and expanding our knowledge. So far Apocalypse seems like a pretty awesome character. But, "to reveal" can also be called a revelation; and long ago someone wrote a book about revelation, and called it Revelation, and put it in the Bible. <br />
<br />
This book of Revelation turned out to be a chronicle of the end of days. It describes the eternal battle between good and evil, Heaven and Hell, Judgement Day, The Seven Seals, The Four Horseman, the cleansing of the earth, and its inheritance by the chosen. Most of these themes are pretty dark, and have become associated with apocalypse, and the end of days. <br />
<br />
So the moral of this story is that at its core apocalypse is an act of revelation, of uncovering new truths. And not all revelations are bad, I would argue that most are in fact good, and many are freaking awesome! So maybe the Apocalypse is something to be celebrated, rather than feared. Unless it's a zombie apocalypse... that would still suck.<br />
<br />
PS - with a little further research, it turns out Armageddon gets a bit of a bad wrap too. Armageddon is a location where the final battle between Heaven and Hell takes place. Totally not Armageddon's fault. Armageddon was just there, being a location, and then Heaven and Hell decided to duke it out on the front lawn. Now Armageddon also gets to be associated with the end of days.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16264427389188270447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-24764640044823790542013-09-01T00:00:00.000-06:002013-09-01T00:00:06.455-06:00September Topic!It's September!<br />
<br />
As I mentioned <a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/2013/08/august-topic.html">last month</a>, I didn't have the energy to create a new poll for this month's topic.<br />
<br />
Instead, I'm just picking the topic for this month, which is... <b>THE APOCALYPSE</b>.<br />
<br />
This topic is mainly inspired by the fact that we'll be getting together early in the month to review <i><a href="http://www.focusfeatures.com/the_worlds_end/">The World's End</a></i> together, which will be posted on the blog. I haven't seen the movie yet and I know that it involves a pub crawl but not necessarily the literal end of the world, so the topic might be unrelated, but whatever.<br />
<br />
<i>Contributors:</i> this topic any way you want, and you can write as many posts about it as you want (within reason, obviously, not like 200 posts over the course of the month, but I don't think any of us have that kind of time on our hands). When you write your post, make sure you tag it with the topic and your name/blog identifier, so that if any potential readers like you and hate the rest of us, they can find your posts easily.<br />
<br />
<i>Everyone:</i> There is a poll in the sidebar (not visible on the mobile site) with new topic options, as well as an "Other" category in case none of the topics in that list appeal to you. You can vote until a minute before midnight Saskatchewan time on the 25th of this month. Whichever topic gets the most votes gets written about next month.<br />
<br />
Comment on this post or the <a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/2012/05/theme-ideas.html">topic ideas post</a> if there's anything you'd like to see added to the poll. As far as I'm concerned, any topic is fair game, so suggest away!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-4998859125336271412013-08-30T13:04:00.002-06:002013-08-30T13:04:39.597-06:00Brothers and SistersWhile it would’ve been easy enough to write about my own siblings and how awesome I think they are, this summer I took a trip out to the west coast and thus am in the fairly uncommon position of having seen all of my dad’s siblings within a three month period, which got me thinking about some other things.<br />
<br />
I find siblings (and I suppose more broadly, family dynamics) really interesting. It’s always cool to meet a friend’s brother or sister and find out that some of the things you find unique about your friend exist in a similar way in a stranger. Some mannerism or turn of phrase or cadence in their laughter, even the shape of their smile. Family resemblance is pretty cool, too, and picking out which parts of which parent made it into each child's appearance.<br />
<br />
My dad has <i>six</i> siblings, meaning that there's a larger sample size in his family for this sort of observation than in most others currently kicking around the modern world (I'm looking at you, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiverfull">Quiverfull Movement</a> *shudder*). Also they all get along, which seems to be rather rare.<br />
<br />
So, here are some thoughts I had about my dad and his brothers and sister.<br />
<br />
Only my auntie and my uncle #3 are under six feet tall as far as I know, but my dad is built the tallest and "broadest" of all of them (he is the oldest, by the way). My youngest uncle, #5, is also very tall, but has a slimmer frame than my dad's. Oddly enough, I think he's also the one who looks most like my dad, tending toward my grampa's looks. Uncle #5 just told me the most adorable story about how he told my dad that he was looking for driving music, and my dad suggested he try Ennio Morricone. Uncle #5 told Dad that he liked some of the stuff, and Dad sent him a burned CD of some more Ennio Morricone music for Christmas last year. And now apparently every time Uncle #5 listens to the CD he thinks of my dad. Awww.<br />
<br />
Somehow, I just for the first time ever noticed a couple of weeks ago that Uncle #1 and Uncle #4 look a lot alike. Uncle #1 wears coke-bottle strength glasses and Uncle #4 has very curly hair, so maybe those things concealed the likeness for a long time.<br />
<br />
Uncle #1, #4, and #5 tend toward my grama's appearance, but Uncle #3 looks just like her. Uncle #2 has the most unique facial features.<br />
<br />
My dad has worked in the sheet metal trade for basically his entire life, though not "on the tools" so much anymore (the fraction of it that he spent doing other things like being a baby and going to school is getting ever more insignificant). Uncles #4 and #5 are both working in that trade now, too. Uncles #2 and #3 are white collar, Uncle #1 and my Auntie are farm types.<br />
<br />
The posture in my dad's family is out of this world. Not a single one of them slouches. Everyone has very dark brown hair, except my auntie, whose hair is more medium brown. My dad is the last one of them with a permanent moustache, although Uncle #2 tends to flirt with various facial hair configurations at various times.<br />
<br />
When I drove out to BC this summer, my dad insisted on checking out the fluids in my car and the pressure in my tires to make sure everything was ok for the drive. In BC, before I left to come home, Uncle #5 basically insisted on doing the same thing.<br />
<br />
The younger three uncles are the ones who live far away, everybody else lives in Saskatchewan.<br />
<br />
I suspect most of this is largely irrelevant and uninteresting to most readers. But if you've never thought of doing it, I strongly urge you to observe a set of siblings with an eye to their similarities and where those might come from (and the differences, too).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-38615549208183526222013-08-20T06:37:00.001-06:002013-08-20T06:37:33.665-06:00Pippa Middleton's Fashion ChoicesMonarchy, hey? Weird stuff.<br />
<br />
Over the weekend, I heard a presentation that referred to this sketch by Hari Kondabolu about diamonds and the Queen of England, and I thought I should share it:<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />catherine annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12117990719059012147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-75468693917602734772013-08-01T00:00:00.000-06:002013-08-01T00:00:06.627-06:00August Topic!Hi everybody!<br />
<br />
The July poll closed with the following breakdown of votes:<br />
<ul><li>0 votes: writing, colours</li>
<li>1 vote: monarchy</li>
<li>2 votes: travel, siblings</li>
</ul><br />
<a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/2013/06/june-topic-and-happy-birthday-to-us.html">Last time we had a tie</a>, I made an executive decision. This time, I'm feeling more like a maverick, so we're going to write about all three topics that got votes: <b>monarchy</b>, <b>travel</b>, and <b>siblings</b>.<br />
<br />
<i>Contributors</i>: You can interpret these topics any way you want, and you can write as many posts about one, two, all, or none of them as you want (within reason, obviously, not like 200 posts over the course of the month, but I don't think any of us have that kind of time on our hands). When you write your post, make sure you tag it with the topic and your name/blog identifier, so that if any potential readers like you and hate the rest of us, they can find your posts easily.<br />
<br />
<i>Everyone</i>: I'm too lazy to create a poll for the sidebar this month (not visible on the mobile site), so we'll have to do something creative in September.<br />
<br />
Comment on this post or the <a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/2012/05/theme-ideas.html">topic ideas</a> post if there's anything you'd like to see added to the poll in September. As far as I'm concerned, any topic is fair game, so suggest away!<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-90084867465957834522013-07-27T09:36:00.002-06:002013-07-27T09:36:20.619-06:00CountingRemember <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/planking">planking</a>?<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsjoFrrlX0sQ4vz0jfAf-PhlpbYT5O2SdyDxwurSsW3AfC3Sy9TPtyMawAQGS4y5ip_nbHdC9NyVi2_LMkgQl-JzYQFurvYx8_ronXfibPtXb_DE3nAIWuU4tquHN6ek1Jov7EvjZMvoF/s1600/planking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsjoFrrlX0sQ4vz0jfAf-PhlpbYT5O2SdyDxwurSsW3AfC3Sy9TPtyMawAQGS4y5ip_nbHdC9NyVi2_LMkgQl-JzYQFurvYx8_ronXfibPtXb_DE3nAIWuU4tquHN6ek1Jov7EvjZMvoF/s320/planking.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/owling">owling</a>?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwspnOs0o58842vFnB8w-hS2XfxoZVUw77YiHbKN_bYFYkX_u7NVCaOSmv7A-PnmkJzY4EYkLX7OjyYaW_cv82bw5U45JuQ_nfMTrZz6WEY4Bmg7Si4h6L9OhjA4kNKC242iqowq6WcgBM/s1600/owling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwspnOs0o58842vFnB8w-hS2XfxoZVUw77YiHbKN_bYFYkX_u7NVCaOSmv7A-PnmkJzY4EYkLX7OjyYaW_cv82bw5U45JuQ_nfMTrZz6WEY4Bmg7Si4h6L9OhjA4kNKC242iqowq6WcgBM/s320/owling.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Well, reading the topic for this month's posts made me think of Sesame Street, and then I realized the potential for <b>counting </b>(lesser known and more unwieldy name - Draculaing).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8HvQfav3NI3cES_79U3uhKVFAbhVq89TqTwVsy7eEXm5ISLUofpG-i3wrCPLeQeVOmYP8snk6aRMYht31GXAlnES2IS1_fw5h3x3fHAYullwIhQM7lcxdYR8UghqKWAf19zIksWNbBVh3/s1600/draculaing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8HvQfav3NI3cES_79U3uhKVFAbhVq89TqTwVsy7eEXm5ISLUofpG-i3wrCPLeQeVOmYP8snk6aRMYht31GXAlnES2IS1_fw5h3x3fHAYullwIhQM7lcxdYR8UghqKWAf19zIksWNbBVh3/s320/draculaing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now that's a photo trend I can really get behind. It would probably work best with photobombing, but in the background, instead of smiling or what-have-you, you'd be counting. Preferably with imposing eyebrows. </div>
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<br />catherine annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12117990719059012147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-26179075299560716152013-07-01T00:00:00.000-06:002013-07-01T00:00:09.147-06:00July Topic!<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Happy Canada Day everybody!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
The June poll closed with the following breakdown of votes:</div>
<ul>
<li>0 votes: colours</li>
<li>1 vote: writing, travel, siblings</li>
<li>2 votes: counting</li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
So the topic for this month is <b>counting</b>.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<i>Contributors</i>: You can interpret this topic any way you want, and you can write as many posts about it as you want (within reason, obviously, not like 200 posts over the course of the month, but I don't think any of us have that kind of time on our hands). When you write your post, make sure you tag it with the topic and your name/blog identifier, so that if any potential readers like you and hate the rest of us, they can find your posts easily.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<i>Everyone</i>: There is a poll in the sidebar (not visible on the mobile site) with new topic options, as well as an "Other" category in case none of the topics in that list appeal to you. You can vote until noon Saskatchewan time on the 25th of this month. Whichever topic gets the most votes gets written about next month.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
The topics have been shuffled in with old ones that were kicked out over the course of the last year, and there will only be five per poll from now on. Comment on this post or the <a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/2012/05/theme-ideas.html">topic ideas</a> post if there's anything you'd like to see added to the poll in August. As far as I'm concerned, any topic is fair game, so suggest away!</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-20403946975031260192013-06-24T12:42:00.001-06:002013-06-24T12:42:59.170-06:00What's in your lunch box?Very quickly, because my lunch break is almost over: <b>what do you eat for lunch?</b><br />
<br />
One of the perks of work in The North (or at a camp, anyway), is that you don't really have to worry about feeding yourself, except for overeating (or, if you have any sort of alternative dietary needs, you just have your baseline worries). I have hated packing lunches <i>forever</i>, and now that I'm out on my own again, but working out of town with no hope of buying anything, I've been really struggling getting back into the whole bagged lunch thing.<br />
<br />
Last week I had a bit of a brainwave and realized that the best way to deal with my current schedule, with a chance of actually dragging my increasingly out-of-shape self to the pool after work occasionally, would be to distribute food throughout the day so that I'm not starving to death when I head home. So this week I'm trying to figure that out.<br />
<br />
Today I packed:<br />
<ul><li>a sesame seed bagel<br />
<li>strawberry flavoured light cream cheese<br />
<li>a banana<br />
<li>an apple<br />
<li>cheese and crackers<br />
<li>plain Greek yogurt (accidentally bought this instead of vanilla, but it's not as inedible as the last plain yogurt I bought, so maybe I'll get into this) with fresh raspberries<br />
<li>a granola bar</ul><br />
I've eaten most of that so far, with half the bagel saved to eat at afternoon break, and the granola bar for my drive home. It doesn't seem to be quite enough food, but I don't feel as starved as usual, so I think that's a good sign.<br />
<br />
Leftovers are no good because I have some strange aversion to hot lunches. Lunch is easily my least favourite meal of the day, although I do have one very fond memory of a sandwich mixte (ham, emmental, and butter on a baguette) eaten at a sidewalk cafe by the water in Nice a few years ago.<br />
<br />
In short, lunch is my least favourite meal of the day and I am really inept when it comes to feeding myself.<br />
<br />
And my lunch break has been over for a little while now, so this post is, too.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-56817554691722949702013-06-22T19:23:00.001-06:002013-06-22T19:23:23.633-06:00Sicilian Pizza<br />
For the longest time, I have been the “pizza guy” in my
family. By this I mean the guy who makes
the pizza. When I was really young my
mom did it. Eventually I started helping
her, and learning how. And even more
eventually I took it over completely.
Everyone agreed that I make awesome pizza. Perhaps this is true, or perhaps it was a
good way to keep me making pizza, so they didn’t have to, haha. It is from a kit after all.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I use these Kraft pizza kits from the store. The kit provides ingredients for dough, sauce
and spice. Then you still need to make
the dough, and add your toppings and cheese of choice. It is pretty easy, and takes about an
hour. It yields a good result. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the longest time I wanted to tinker with making the
dough from scratch, but for whatever reasons I never got around to it, until
recently. My brother and his fiancé have
introduced me to Sicilian Pizza! This is
a great way of having pizza. It is still
recognizable as a pizza but is different in a lot of ways that are great for
changing up your pizza experience.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First off the dough is hand made, which is a nice
touch. Then instead of a tomato sauce
you use olive oil to lightly coat the dough.
Then you add your toppings, which usually include more interesting deli
meats than your standard pepperoni or ham.
It is also a good idea to use some different cheese like swiss, or Havarti,
or something smoked. Then add some
tomato’s and basil, salt and pepper, and any other little flairs you would
like.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then comes my favorite part.
Take the whole concoction and put it on a pizza stone, and put that on
the barbeque. A pizza stone is a flat
round stone, that is used to cook pizzas.
It is great for summer cooking as you can use the barbeque, and keep the
heat out of the kitchen. The pizza is
ready when the crust gets crispy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once you remove it from the barbeque, you have a light, thin
crust pizza covered in delicious and non-traditional toppings. And it tastes fantastic! I highly recommend this method to anyone who
is tired of the same old pizza. It is
also a great meal for hosting an event.
Everyone can help in different ways as you prepare and cook the pizzas. Add some cocktails to the mix, and it is the
start of a great evening with family/friends.
<o:p></o:p></div>
Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16264427389188270447noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-8361644839105153472013-06-12T20:10:00.000-06:002013-06-12T20:10:26.634-06:00Year Two IdeaWhile I do still plan on writing a post about food, I wanted to put an idea out there too.<br />
<br />
Since we have reached the one year mark did we want to try something new? I was thinking it might be fun to try a podcast. I know you might be thinking that we are no where near fancy enough for that. But, a podcast is really just a group of people (usually friends) having a conversation, and sharing it with the internet. I think it could be fun to try, and it might be a good way for us to actually all participate. We would have to get together and chat for an hour or so once a month. That could lead to us discussing things that have been written in the blog, or inspire us to write new things. And I am sure there is available technology to help us do this without actually all being in the same room.<br />
<br />
Anywho, just an idea. Let me know what you think.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16264427389188270447noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-75027950224189739252013-06-01T17:49:00.000-06:002013-06-01T17:49:41.567-06:00June Topic! and Happy Birthday to us!Hi everybody!<br />
<br />
Socializing Engineers is officially one year old! And although it's occasionally neglected, everyone seems interested in keeping the project going into another year. We've discussed a bit behind the scenes and should have some interesting stuff coming up.<br />
<br />
However, since no one was proactive enough to notice the anniversary of the blog approaching, June will just be a regular month where we write about a topic of everyone's choice.<br />
<br />
The May poll closed with the following breakdown of votes:<br />
<ul><li>0 votes: body mods, something you love, something you hate, character</li>
<li>1 vote: religion, food</li>
</ul><br />
I'm going to make an executive decision and say that the topic for this month is <b>food</b>. It seems more appropriate for a laid-back summer month, and I expect to see some recipes!<br />
<br />
<i>Contributors</i>: You can interpret this topic any way you want, and you can write as many posts about it as you want (within reason, obviously, not like 200 posts over the course of the month, but I don't think any of us have that kind of time on our hands). When you write your post, make sure you tag it with the topic and your name/blog identifier, so that if any potential readers like you and hate the rest of us, they can find your posts easily.<br />
<br />
<i>Everyone</i>: Blogger polls are kind of sucky, so I decided to try something new this month. You shouldn't notice any differences to your voting experience other than the fact that your vote will hopefully actually show up this month. Also, there is a new "Other" category that should allow you to suggest new topics within the poll itself. The poll is in the sidebar (not visible on the mobile site), and you can vote until the 25th of this month. Whichever topic gets the most votes gets written about next month.<br />
<br />
The topics have been shuffled in with old ones that were kicked out over the course of the last year, and there will only be five per poll from now on. Comment on this post or the <a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/2012/05/theme-ideas.html">topic ideas</a> post if there's anything you'd like to see added to the poll in July. As far as I'm concerned, any topic is fair game, so suggest away!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-82751153591302272062013-05-22T11:07:00.000-06:002013-05-22T11:07:32.536-06:00Homemade FashionReplying to <a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/2013/05/uncrafty-solutions.html">Cat's post</a> got me thinking about another blog that I follow that's sort of fashion-related, which may only be interesting to me, except whatever, I'll share it with you guys anyway.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://cationdesigns.blogspot.ca/">Cation Designs</a> is a sewing blog by a lady in California who is super geeky and super good at sewing, as far as I'm concerned. She simultaneously makes me want to get better at it, and throw in the towel while I still have a chance. I originally saw her <a href="http://cationdesigns.blogspot.ca/2011/11/superman-cutout-back-dress-completed.html">Superman dress</a>, and have been following her blog ever since. She seems like a super cool person, posts sweet pictures of costumes and things, has an adorable cat, and occasionally writes serious posts like <a href="http://cationdesigns.blogspot.ca/2012/06/interview-with-former-garment-factory.html">this interview with her mom</a>.<br />
<br />
And now I'll get back to work.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-7517306001151053092013-05-21T16:13:00.001-06:002013-05-21T16:13:49.052-06:00Uncrafty SolutionsI've spent the past few weeks thinking on and off about fashion - sometimes because of this blog, sometimes because of other reasons like seeing something pretty in a store window - and I keep coming back to<a href="http://lightbox.time.com/2013/05/08/a-final-embrace-the-most-haunting-photograph-from-bangladesh/#1"> this image</a>.<br />
<br />
I don't really have anything to say about it that hasn't already been said, and likely in a better way than I could put it, but I've been thinking about how hard it is to be an ethical consumer of fashion when on a pretty strict budget. And when craft-ally challenged, like me. (That one week I tried to learn how to knit, I hurt my hands more than I thought possible). The saying I remember hearing in engineering a good many times - that, of the three options of "cheap," "good," and "fast," you get to pick two - seems applicable here, though maybe with some changes.<br />
<br />
When it comes to buying clothes, I mostly try to get things second-hand, but I admittedly have a weakness for online shopping and for H&M. Plus, places like American Apparel may manufacture clothes in the U.S., but their advertising leaves such a gross taste in my mouth that I don't really want to have anything to do with them. In short, it feels like there aren't many good options out there.<br />
<br />What do you folks think about fashion and ethics? What kinds of choices are important to you?<br /><br />catherine annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12117990719059012147noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-28274521072460411302013-05-20T10:19:00.001-06:002013-05-20T10:19:49.591-06:00The only thing I do fashionably is arrive lateI am, like, terrible at fashion. I can tell what's fashionable on other people, but God help me when it comes to dressing myself. I could write this post about all my insecurities when it comes to clothes and how much I'd prefer every single workplace to have its own uniform (also maybe my personal experiences with uniforms and individuality), but instead I'll tell you about the one and only fashion blog that I read.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://alagarconniere.wordpress.com/">À l’allure garçonnière</a> is written by a person from Quebec City, and instead of being solely "look at this cute outfit I wore today," the writer actually delves into issues such as how fashion shapes culture and vice versa. The blog is updated infrequently at the moment, but I feel like I learn something valuable from each post.<br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-28408542792444994512013-05-05T20:32:00.001-06:002013-05-05T20:32:58.519-06:00May Topic!Hi everybody!<br />
<br />
We didn't do too well with the <a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/search/label/coworkers">coworkers</a> topic (not to mention posting the new topic on time, oops), but it's onward and upward. So!<br />
<br />
The April poll closed with the following breakdown of votes:<br />
<ul><li>0 votes: counting, cacti, body mods, personal finance, religion, something you love, something you hate, food, character</li>
<li>1 vote: fashion</li>
</ul><br />
So the topic for this month is <b>fashion</b>, in a landslide!<br />
<br />
<i>Contributors</i>: You can interpret this topic any way you want, and you can write as many posts about it as you want (within reason, obviously, not like 200 posts over the course of the month, but I don't think any of us have that kind of time on our hands). When you write your post, make sure you tag it with the topic and your name/blog identifier, so that if any potential readers like you and hate the rest of us, they can find your posts easily.<br />
<br />
<i>Everyone</i>: There is a poll for the June topic in the sidebar, and you can vote until the last day of this month. Whichever topic gets the most votes gets written about next month.<br />
<br />
Counting, cacti, and personal finance were kicked off of the poll this month. If you really want to see what we have to say about them, you'll have to suggest those topics again.<br />
<br />
Comment on this post or the <a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/2012/05/theme-ideas.html">topic ideas</a> post if there's anything you'd like to see added to the poll in June. As far as I'm concerned, any topic is fair game, so suggest away!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-66782381215740773862013-04-01T14:07:00.001-06:002013-04-01T14:07:50.299-06:00April Topic!Hi everybody!<br />
<br />
The March poll closed with the following breakdown of votes:<br />
<ul><li>0 votes: the sea, cacti, body mods, personal finance</li>
<li>1 vote: counting</li>
<li>2 votes: coworkers</li>
</ul><br />
So the topic for this month is <b>coworkers</b>.<br />
<br />
<i>Contributors</i>: You can interpret this topic any way you want, and you can write as many posts about it as you want (within reason, obviously, not like 200 posts over the course of the month, but I don't think any of us have that kind of time on our hands). When you write your post, make sure you tag it with the topic and your name/blog identifier, so that if any potential readers like you and hate the rest of us, they can find your posts easily.<br />
<br />
<i>Everyone</i>: There is a poll for the May topic in the sidebar, and you can vote until the last day of this month. Whichever topic gets the most votes gets written about next month.<br />
<br />
"The sea" got kicked off of the poll this month. If you really want to see what we have to say about it, you'll have to suggest that topic again.<br />
<br />
Comment on this post or the <a href="http://socializingengineers.blogspot.ca/2012/05/theme-ideas.html">topic ideas</a> post if there's anything you'd like to see added to the poll in May. As far as I'm concerned, any topic is fair game, so suggest away!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696749910568979369.post-63857776354420754682013-03-30T13:03:00.000-06:002013-04-29T13:28:14.861-06:00It was the best of dates, it was the worst of datesFor a 26 year-old, I've been on comparatively few dates (maybe? sometimes this is hard to determine). For the purposes of this blog post, I'm defining date as a one-on-one outing that happens prior to the establishment of a serious/committed romantic relationship, because it's sometimes hard to determine what a date is, too. So, with my limited experience, I don't have any real horror stories along the lines of "he got way too drunk and then vomited on me when he leaned in for a kiss" or anything. But I do have a personal best and worst--excluding from consideration my most recent experience, because that wound is still very tender--and now I will tell you about them.<br />
<br />
<b>Best</b><br />
<br />
I think the best dates combine chemistry with novelty or atmosphere to become fun and memorable.<br />
<br />
I spent a lot of my first year of university with a giant crush on a boy who ultimately ended up rejecting me halfway through the year. I started my second year of university resigned to never speaking to him again, until we reconnected halfway through <i>that</i> year. He was the first male of the species that I met who was <i>like me</i>. <br />
<br />
Both shy, and in my case having been burned before, we had to get a bit creative with our suggestions for hang out time, neither of us willing to initiate a conversation about what would turn out to be our mutual attraction. Anyway, imagine my luck when I had an English assignment that took me to the main library on campus, a place I previously hadn't visited except for internet access on my lunch breaks, but which he happened to be very familiar with!<br />
<br />
So one way or another, we ended up meeting at the library. I arrived first and was so nervous that I almost ended up hiding and not speaking to him, except that somehow I managed to psych myself up to say hello after all (in case it's not clear yet, I was terrible at social interaction when I was 19).<br />
<br />
Once we were talking I was glad I hadn't flaked out, but my heart was pounding the entire time that we spent wandering through the library, from the microfilm room to the place where they keep the books about Shakespeare. We teased each other, or at least I remember him teasing me. I was just generally thrilled to be surrounded by books, with the boy I liked much more than I was willing to admit yet, except to myself.<br />
<br />
That date and a few others turned into a little spring romance and then disproportionate heartbreak. In spite of that, the time I spent with him, including our library excursion, holds pride of place in a few different categories of my past.<br />
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<b>Worst</b><br />
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My worst date experience was one that I never should've agreed to in the first place, which was one of the elements that made it bad. I could've easily avoided it! I'll keep details to a minimum about the gentleman in question. He was a random dude that I had really awkward sexual tension with, but his personality put me off on the several occasions we'd been in group situations. The invitation was made under questionable circumstances, the venue was his choice (a bad one), and the conversation was lacklustre. I'm kind of a terrible conversationalist at the best of times, prone to getting distracted by anything in the vicinity that's moving, but I was in especially bad form that night, and strangely he made almost no effort to draw me out.<br />
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I spent the lead up to the date just dreading the experience, and for the only time in my life I arranged an excuse to leave early. Maybe predictably, this was much more of a learning experience for me than any date I actually enjoyed. In particular: if you really don't think you're interested in someone, don't go out with them. It's a waste of everyone's time.<br />
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He asked me out again and I turned him down, and eventually I think he gave up on me.<br />
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*** <br />
And now I can't help wondering whether these two dudes read this blog. Eep. My apologies to both of them, anyway.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0