Question #1Yesterday, I went with my family to the finale of Vancouver's annual fireworks display. Last year's pictures turned out awful, so I didn't bother taking any this year. But if I did, you'd see clouds and clouds of smoke. There was so much smoke that it got me thinking: Are fireworks bad for the environment? I assume the smoke has to ( Read more... )

Within 36 hours of release, at least 7 people on my f-list have finished Harry Potter #7. The earliest recorded victory post goes to aoimidori, who I now suspect may actually be a robot. Meanwhile, Saturday's evening news showed a dozen kids who had just finished, and Amazon.com already has over 300 reviews ( Read more... )

Yesterday, I received a letter from Simon Fraser University informing me that I had been accepted to its teaching programme! I couldn't have been . . unhappier? Perhaps it was because I was only given one day to respond to a decision of epic proportions. Perhaps it was because the committee still insists that I can only teach high school English ( Read more... )

EVERY DAY when I was a kid, I was asked, "Whatcha wanna be when you grow up? Whatcha wanna do when you grow up?" And even today, those questions that have been kickin' me in the shins for 26 years still show up all the time: "So whatcha wanna be? So whatcha wanna do? SO WHATCHA GONNA DO ( Read more... )

. . of our planet being created just the right distance from a star to support life ( Read more... )

In my Uni days, I coined a term called the "Wheelchair on a Bus" effect. Basically, whenever a wheelchair user boards a bus, nearly everyone on the bus lifts their head and silently stares at that person until the person is buckled in. At that point, he/she becomes just another passenger and everyone returns to looking somewhere else. I've ( Read more... )

A few months ago, I bookmarked this to discuss here and promptly forgot about it. :P Basically, the study implies that (pre-Myspace anyway) more Asian people choose Xanga, and more White people choose Livejournal. Of course, measuring ethnicity on either Xanga or Livejournal is about as accurate as the Nielsen ratings, but I do notice that 90% of ( Read more... )

It's been a year now since my contract ended with Hirono-machi. For one year, I could have made a cool tax-free $36k if I had re-signed. Instead I resigned, and for one year, I made $0. It's definitely not something I'm proud of or like to admit, but maybe admitting my shortcomings will empower me to overcome them. I feel the power as we speak ( Read more... )

Well, I've been watching the World Figure Skating Championships on-and-off this week and suddenly, I realized something interesting. But also potentially offensive so . . .

( CAUTION: Clicking this may ruin your viewing experience of figure skating forever! )

Well, the Olympics are done, sent off by Avril Lavigne, Ricky Martin, and Madonna's "Hung Up." I'm questioning these song choices, but then I realized they wanted to get people OUT of the Stadium fast. Ok ok, I gotta admit I do like "Hung Up," but I could almost hear dannofive_0 banging his head on the table in Montreal when he heard that ( Read more... )