Tiger's Den

A Night on the Rideau Canal

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 04:13:09 GMT

I'm certain I will be paying for the work I'm not going right now.

We didn't really plan anything this time. Didn't have to go to Sugar Mountain or see the campus or go out to a particular place for food or go shopping. So we just walked. And along the Rideau Canal in the black of night, a light, fluffy snowfall coming down, with a few street lamps and some wonderful trees behind us, we walked. And we watched.

Life is just completely beautiful sometimes.

I'm actually getting misty eyed thinking about it. If that were one of the last things I happened to remember from my existence here, I don't think I'd be too unhappy.

Lonely Nights

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 06:35:21 GMT

I have been arm-wrestling with this wireless connection at my house ever since I got home, so apologies if I disappear at times. It took me about 5 tries to even get in to post this.

I hate nights like these. On the cab ride home, the cabbie mentioned about the rain instead of stow, and made a passing comment about how the climate is changing. Which, of course, made me thing about climate change, then global warming, then how our species is kind of screwed, and maybe this is how far we'll advance, and we could very well have reached the pinnacle of human civilization, and it's all downhill from here, and death is inevitable, and I started thinking about what happens when you die. Yes, all of this happened in a span far too quick and before I could tell my brain to knock it off I was a paranoid mess.

I hate nights like these. I hope I reach the point in my life at some point that when my mind shoots off on some tangent I can just roll over in bed, shake the person next to me, and talk about it, or get a hug, or something.

Instead, I get home with an incredible urge to talk to my girlfriend, but the wireless gets in the way, and now I'm here in bet alone with my thoughts, my mom's snores across the hall.

This sucks.

I wish I was elsewhere, somewhere else, or I could pick up the phone and wake someone up at 2:30 am, or go for a walk in the park, or whatever. And here I was going to post a wonderful response to Ed's previous comment (and I still will sometime), but for now I wish I could just go to sleep, have a nice dream, wake up, and think about how simple life is, and how much fun I have at Justin's, and how nice it's been to be home, and all these other wonderful things that should be in my head right now but aren't.

Miss you.

Bah.

Belief

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 02:23:34 GMT

So, I had an interesting experience the other day.

I guess I should preface this my saying one of the main ways my girlfriend has changed by life. It could easily be summed up into two words; "I believe". I believe that my tiger, Hogosha, is real. I believe that trees have feelings. I believe the world is an amazing place.

I told her one day of an experience that I had walking home from the park one day in the summer and looking at this truly majestic tree on my street. I began wondering a lot of strange things upon seeing that tree; does it know that I'm here in some way? Do trees have feelings? Do they hurt when they lose a limb? Do trees cry?

I would imagine that if I confided these thoughts to your average person they would see me as quite silly, and maybe a little crazy. This was part of her response (I hope she doesn't mind me sharing it but I thought it was amazing):

"(Trees) are wondrous creatures with wisdom and spirit. You saw that tree as something more then what you have been told that it is. You can apply that to everything. The world can be anything you want it to be, and it can be real."

I think she's really changed the way I look at and appreciate the world in such an amazing way. I can say that I fully understand why people turn to and believe in religion. I don't at this point (maybe someday I will?), but belief is such an amazing and powerful thing. And it's real. It may seem silly and out of touch or whatnot, but you can turn your belief into real things. If I close my eyes and she tells me she's lying next to me, I don't have to reach over or question it, she simply is.

My interesting experience was in another conversation we had the other day. Something that we made up between us, but I believed in it, so it became real. We started talking about it, and I actually started crying. Real tears over something that doesn't exist, but because I believe in it, it does.

I imagine this sounds a little crazy to the non-believer, but I think everybody probably believes in something that other people think is silly. Do you have an imaginary friend? Do you think there is an afterlife? Are you optimistic things will turn out ok, for no reason other than that's the way things are?

This believing thing is powerful. Thank you for bringing it into my life. I can't believe how much I have to learn from you.

I'll be home in two days, and I can't wait to see all of my family and friends again ^^ For those of you who I won't see, have a Merry Christmas!

Matholoplis and Boy it's mathy and Hey I'm tired

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 00:28:39 GMT

Well, turns out everyone and their dog (ok, maybe just everybody) has actually updated their blogs, so I suppose I'd better do something. Of course, I have a wackload of work to do for tonight, and I just got in half an hour ago from all the school related junk of the day, but hey, what are you going to do.

The job is going great, even though my evaluation was not all that hot. Get this ... I'm a messy person! So, wait, it gets better ... I'm totally disorganized! Shock! :O I guess the benefit this time was it was moreso "these are things you can do to fix it", as opposed to "you're a disorganized person; fix it". I guess we'll have to stay tuned and see what transpires.

Yeah, on a completely unrelated note, I've been getting my ducks in a row to attack this master's thingy. I don't know why I decided to use ducks to do this, but they just seemed to fit the bill. So I thought I'd give them a quack at it. Ok, I'll stop.

Other than that, it's pretty much been girlfriend/job, with a side order of conference. This week and last week in particular were crazy, but things should be returning to normal in the very near future. Juggling prep for three different classes is pretty time consuming. I specifically remember having a conversation months ago with one of my friends and telling them I was busy a lot, and she informed me that there was no idea how I could be busier than she (a student) was, and I was just making stuff up. So, let me reinforce this concept right now: teaching is a time consuming job. Teaching math in particular, while running three extra-curricular activities and going away for math conference on weekends, takes a lot of time. I just have a feeling I'm going to be on the receiving end of some bad poetry soon and thought I'd launch a pre-emptive strike ;)

What else. Christmas is coming soon, and I have only two people left to mentally buy for, so I'm in pretty good shape that way. Oh wait, three. Thanks a lot Jana.

Hmm, this was pretty irrelevant stuff it seems. Well, my uber-weird gf who I miss terribly is gone for another two hours or so, so I think I'll compensate by doing something relevant, like buying some pineapple and making awesome smoothies.

Mmmm, pineapple.

-Mmmm, Tiger

How dreadful!

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:52:02 GMT

Well, I suppose it has been quite sometime since I have updated. Last time that happened, I was in Ottawa, so I guess it was three provinces ago.

Well, some minor updates:
* I presented at a conference last week, was the youngest guy there, and supposedly may have "rocked". Of course, all the people who attended that I know save a few have been eerily silent about whether I rocked or not, so it's possible I did not.
* Watched Naruto. It seems good. I didn't like the manga all that much. I was surprised. I will watch more.
* Going to visit my uber-weird gf again next week. I don't know that my brain has even registered that fact yet. It's so soon it seems surreal.

Well, I guess that's about it. Hummm ...

I have had this unfortunate feeling of dread lately. I'm worried that something bad may be on the horizon. Now, I don't want to sound too much like a psycho. Ali seems to get these feelings of dread every few days, they always end up being nothing, and we all have a good laugh at her. Ho ho ho. Well, I now get to be in the dreaded category of "dread". I'm worried. Weird things seem to be happening in the lives of pretty much everybody I'm close to. Friends are breaking up or randomly becoming sad. I don't really know what to do about it. Life is kind of chugging along to near perfection right now. But I just feel less important and relevant all of a sudden.

I'm thinking I might need extra protecting in the days to come, so I might start taking Hogosha around with me. Except even *he* was in a bad mood today!

Maybe I'll just go hide in the corner for awhile until everything passes.

Save me Naruto!

My life in 48 hours

Sun, 22 Oct 2006 05:59:27 GMT

Well, I'm in Ottawa.

This has been the first time I've had a chance to see my uber-weird girlfriend in over two months. There's so much I could write here but she's off getting ready for bed so I guess I have to make it shortish.

To say I'm having an amazing time with my Chevana would be an understatement. We walked around Ottawa at night for hours and hours on end, and didn't end up getting to sleep until 5-6 AM on Saturday. This city is absolutely breathtaking in the middle of the night.

Describing how it feels to be here is surreal. It feels like this is my life, and my time teaching in NS seems like some distant memory from a lifetime ago. It sure as hell doesn't feel like "yesterday".

I mentioned the price of the plane ticket to somebody, and their response was, "Do you really think it's worth it to spend all that money for two days?"

The answer is a resounding, unquestionable, emphatic, yes. I can't believe how many memories, experiences, and how much love got crammed into these moments in Ottawa. Time is standing still right now, and I hope it continues to do so.

She's back, time to go ^^

PS: Shaved my goatee.

PPS: My tiger has a name now (well, he has for a week or two), Hogosha.

First ever "Happy You're Not Dead Day!"

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 12:46:01 GMT

Well, this trip to Halifax turned out to be a pretty good idea. This might end up being one of those recaps but I'm not sure yet.

I frantically got my things together for the bus ride at 2pm, which if you think about it shouldn't require me to be quite so frantic, but what can I say? I procrastinate. And, of course, with about 20-30 minutes left to make the bus, I called my girlfriend. Yeah, I know.

So I eventually got on said bus. I took my tiger, but I could tell he was _not happy_ at first, so I had to take him out of the bad. I think he might be claustrophobic. Well, at any rate, the bus started crossing the Mackay bridge in Halifax, and I remember thinking, "You know, maybe today's not that big of a deal." I also do remember the trees looking pretty breathtaking below that bridge.

So for the most part, nothing eventful happened for awhile. I was picked up my Jus and Ali, who greeted me with a manly hug (you can try and pick out who did that). We then went to pick up Eddie, who decided to bring a friend along. So, for the most part it was just rudimentary hanging out for awhile. We played Wizard (well, maybe "played" Wizard is more appropriate), hung out a bit, and went out to eat. I am missing the part where I came in and there were balloons absolutely everywhere(and party hats!). Well, considering the two of them only have the lung capacity of a small child (between them), that was astoundingly impressive.

We went out for food, which ended up being a much longer endeavour than I thought. The original plan was the Economy Shoe Shop, but that place was packed like a shoe shop when we went into it (I am fully aware that this analogy makes no sense). So, we wandered. Justin and I soon realised if we were ever going to eat, it was going to be up to us to find somewhere (the two non-Haligonians at that). So, we wandered around randomly and Fate took us to the Henry House. Oh, somewhere around here, I may have been flashing my wallet at random people saying "I'm a teacher." And the Freak Lunchbox as well. I got some peach penguins, which aren't really orange and only moderately peach. Ali got Smarties (wtf?), and Eddie picked up some Skattles.

The Henry House was most impressive, I must say. They had micro-brewery beer, which I normally can't stand but these were most impressive. I started with the "Peculiar" (well, I figured it was fitting) and moved on to the "Ringwood". The meal was haddock, aka the special, aka it was awesome. So we ate that and left.

Well, I finally hear rumbings from the other room, so I'm going to have to contintue this later. DOn't worry, I'm only leaving out the best parts ^^

I'm Immature

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 03:46:10 GMT

So my first post in weeks, and what do I post? Do I finally recap my trip? Talk about my uber weird gf? My crazy friends? My awesome job? No, I post some stupid webtest that tells you what you all already knew. (of course, it did hurt to find out I was only 50% fun)

You scored as Immature. You're immature. Please rate my quiz!

</td>

Immature

88%

Outgoing

75%

Dramatic

63%

Fun

50%

Nice

50%

Shy

38%

mean

13%

what kind of person are you? (shy,outgoing,fun,mean,immature,dramatic or nice?)
created with QuizFarm.com

Tiger vs. The Common Cold

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 22:03:23 GMT

And I'm losing x_x

I've been sick the past few days. Something seems to be creeping through my classes like wildfire. I did a poll in my classes today asking how many people were sick. 70% of them put up their hands o_o. I always seem to be one of the first casualties when flus start going around. I don't know whether what I have is a cold or a flu, but whatever it is it sucks. I don't like being sick. You know, as opposed to all those people who love being sick.

Hmm, I guess I should rephrase that.

I hate being sick _alone_. I think I am pretty self-sufficient otherwise. Well, at most things. OK, at some things. When I was healing from the broken neck and leg, I wanted to do as much as I could alone. Sure, I can get in the van by myself. No, I don't want your help. Yes, I realize it took me 5 minutes to hobble out here. Likewise, when it comes to my work, studies, or whatever, I tend to be a bit proud. "I can get this on my own."

But I turn into a big baby the moment I get the sniffles. I wish there was somebody around to do absolutely everything for me. I don't want to cook, clean, do laundry, or pretty much anything at all. I just want someone to get me some juice, tell me what to do ("Make sure you drink lots of fluids and get some sleep"), tuck me in bed, get me wet facecloths, make me soup, make me food, and pretty much wait on me ever-so-lovingly hand and foot. I know it's pathetic, but I'm hoping the fact that I dragged myself to school and demolished half a box of tissues in class gets me at least a little pity.

Of course, the worst is when I went down to do laundry. I filled up the cup with liquid detergent, walked to the door, and sneezed.

Yeah, it went absolutely everywhere.

I feel defeated :(

Weird math party

Sat, 16 Sep 2006 03:39:47 GMT

Well, here's what I learned after "partying" with the math dept:

-Chocolate covered bananas? Huge hit.

-Terry's guessing ability at charades? 9/10. Terry acting ability at charades? 2/10.

-If I am drinking a beer, someone will find some way to spill it.

-My tolerance for alcohol is getting anoyingly high.

-Not being able to talk endlessly about your girlfriend really sucks.

-I have a reputation in the department which may involve being (a) a geek, (b) weird, and (c) disorganized.

-People think I am good at cooking.

-Being absolutely anywhere makes me miss Vera.

-I wish I was in Ottawa right now.

A tiger stirs in his slumber

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 06:17:44 GMT

Well, it's 2:45 AM so I suppose that's as good a time as any to restart a new blag.

Classes are going to start in about 6 hours I guess, but I'm really not in a sleeping mood. Well, I slept earlier today so I should be ok. At worst, I'll be even stranger than normal.

Maybe I'll try to keep this blog completely anonymous this time, and make up cool codenames for all of my friends. That would be entertainingly arduous to keep track of. Curses, most of them already have codenames though. We have Ashdate and Hippychickali in Halifax, one of whom has apparently been hypnotized into giving imaginary blowjobs (no, really). Why, there's Kirbycat (aka Cat McHatticans), who I am having 0% success getting a hold of in Fredericton. And both Ghast, who makes some awesome coffee, and g026r, who is as big a board game geek as I am. And in Sydney, god ... uh, Ace ... Hockeyman? I give up.

So what inspired this actual re-beginning? Well, my girlfriend, the uber-weird Chevana Wolk (that one was taken care of!), called me tonight just after 1AM (midnight her time). It's officially been two months since we've started dating. Wow, thinking back to it at this moment, it just all seems like a complete whirlwind. All of these amazing thoughts and memories and experiences are buzzing around in my head. This has been the only two-month anniversary I've ever celebrated. It's making me look forward to many more one-month-a-versaries.

Why did I need to post just to talk about that? So odd. Guess I just miss her, and I wanted that in writing ^^

Hmm, I think I could get used to this den. I'm going to have to clean it up a bit though. And kill off some of the deer.

-Tiger