over qualified

I used career days as an excuse to go and have a chat with a couple of companies who had come hunting for co-ops. There were also people from CSIS, the police force, the army ... and Cactus club!

Despite everyone making fun of me, I know that I want the be a waitress at least for a short period in my life, at least part time. As I was walking out, I stepped to their booth and asked whether they have any restrictions about the people they hire. The lady explained that there are many students who work there and it is fine if I am a student. I told her I was in engineering and her reply was "You have far too much character to be an engineer". I told her that we engineers aren't dull people ... You really don't want to know what she said when I told her I was a PhD student ... I won't say anything about my education if I really do decide to work as a waitress elsewhere, I just have to find the perfect place!

the man

How do you know who the perfect man is for you? After seeing so many fairy tale weddings end up in the dumpster, I really can't force myself to believe that you just know when he's the one. And how do you know what your feelings mean? Or maybe I am saying this because I haven't felt that strong pull towards anyone yet. Hmm, I think I am confused. Not much like me not to know to make of it ... or maybe you should just wait for these things to happen ... although you might end up waiting for ever! I guess it's past my bed time, I'll think about that tomorrow.

false impression

The 2010 winter Olympics are supposed to be held in Vancouver. Although the thought of it is very exciting, when it came down to the actual details I was not a fan. The Olympic games watch group voiced its concerns again yesterday. They want a referendum.

It is now estimated that the games will cost $2.4 Billion dollars instead of the $6 Million presented in the initial budget in 2004! And guess who's paying? Of course we are. The tax money that is supposed to guarantee our quality of life will be spent creating an illusion of a bloom for a couple of years and then dropping us into debt like what happened in Alberta. You don't have to be a genius to figure you don't spend more than you can afford on a one night party!

rock me

I can't get this out of my head today.

Baby baby
Rock me gently
Rock me slowly
Take it easy
Don't you know
That I have never been loved like this before

- Andy Kim

God! I miss dancing so much, and the way this semester looks I won't be getting any dancing any time soon ...

repeat offense

Blogger is acting wired again. I can't post some times and I can't delete some things, is the same thing that happened to dokhtare aftab happening to che kasi?

limited

It's just not me to exercise in a gym. I don't like the machines and I hate the air conditioning! I like to run outside, I want to feel the air going into my lungs. It makes me feel I am inhaling happiness. I know everyone is trying to convince me that the gym is not so bad. One friend offered to come to the gym with me, the other offered to give me weight lessons, another friend gave me a key so I could use their gym anytime I want, so I caved and said I'll try. I will try again too, but I know it'll never make me as happy as jogging in the sun ... that just defines freedom ...

measure

One thing I have never understood is how people compare two people with each other. It wouldn't be the first time someone told me I would be too good for someone!! How can they judge? How can they tell?

If you know two people you might have a slight chance of guessing, but to actually pass judgment on someone you don't know, that's just absurd! And with what quantity do you measure people? meters? hertz? grams? watts? degrees Kelvin? So at the end you come up with a rank and you can tell who is more worthy than others or for that matter more human? And all these years I thought being a human being was a quality and priceless!

NOTE to all those who judge: if two people are happy together, they are fine, they deserve each other and you have no place to choose which one is higher ranking than the other.
NOTE to self: keep ignoring these judgments, they can only make your life miserable.

new life

I noticed my Bamboo has a tiny new leaf on it. I waited 3 months for it to grow a new branch and now it finally has ... if only all things in life came this easy ... today everyone looked tired and unhappy. It was a sunny day so I can't blame the weather. Maybe it's the start-of-school depression that's showing itself ... I really can't think of any other reason ...

روی ماه

میگن دلیل اینکه نتونستن بگن امروز روز اول ماه رمضان هست یا نه اینه که انوشه انصاری روی ماه بوده نمی شده آخوندها نگاه کنن

mystery solved

Now they have a closer photo of the Face on Mars, no more alien stories there ...

fever

Sara thinks our supervisor has cabin fever , she thinks we have been with him for way too long ... I can't disagree ...

equal

This week I had that weird feeling again, like I am living someone else's life. Like I am just an observer and nothing that goes on is my doing or my responsibility. It scares me a little, it feels as if reality is fading in me ... it also gives me the feeling that I can do anything ...

mishap

To tell you the truth I have never liked September. It's just never fun. And thinking of it, I have had most of the hard times in my life in a September!

hilltop

Today, we had the first rainy day of Fall, you know, gray clouds, the whole charade ... and today I realized how some things are more important in life than other things. I realized why you need to have others in your life although you feel free and strong, and I found out why some trees are green all year round. I felt the joy of having my siblings close by and I figured why I always like to keep a soduko puzzle on my desk ... I learnt many life lessons in a day which turned out not to be that bad after all ...

dreadful

I'll have to work hard today and then present my work tomorrow. I gave my supervisor something like a log of my work during the summer, but it seems it isn't such a good idea to hand someone your diary. Although we had talked about it many times it doesn't seem he understood exactly what I had done. In his email he said, this presents a lot of work ... so I have some concerns. Now I have to go and explain it to him, and yes, I dread this ...

P.S. I never believed in horoscopes but as I was flipping through the newspaper I found: Though there will be an intense meeting don't be intimidated. Buy a bit of luxury for your home (I just did!). You'll get some help to pay for it. Hmm, makes me wonder how probable it is for this to happen by chance!

astrology

My horoscope for today says: "People will show respect for your values. You can feel as if the world is in harmony with you. Now is a good time to strut your stuff." So now the stars are telling me to show off?

genuine

I went to a very interesting talk last night. It was about a startup company by couple of very intelligent people who made the smallest motherboard I had ever seen. Their idea was to have open source hardware schematics so everyone could discuss it and either make it themselves or order it from them. Since all three of the founders had daytime jobs, it wasn't intended for profit, although it made a lot. And since they liked what they did, they had such a good relation with their costumers, some of whom were present there. It was such a fresh way of getting things done if you will. It is still the three of them working out of a garage. They custom-make whatever type of board you order, and they work with you on it to tailor it to your need ... maybe some part of what interested me was the fact that the speaker didn't talk like a salesperson, he was a real engineer, something like the image I always had about my future ...

difficult

You know those people who know you just when they want you to do something for them?

angles

calling all angels
calling all angels
walk me through this one
don't leave me alone
calling all angels
calling all angels
we're cryin' and we're hurtin'
but we're not sure why...
calling all angels
calling all angels
we're tryin'
we're hopin'
we're lovin'
and we're hurtin'
we're cryin'
we're callin'
cause we're not sure how this goes

- Jane Siberry

revolving, evolving

Atlantis finally left Earth yesterday ... and we collected over 2000 signatures for the petition. I mentioned there was some crazy politics going on at school ... the president of the student society suddenly decided he wants to take everything into his own hands and spend everyone's money to his satisfaction. I bet he never thought the graduate students (since what he did mostly affects them) would be so together as to gather enough signatures (we needed 1500) to impeach him and his gang! Well, good work everyone and here comes the wave Mr. Hunsdale ...

fair

I have thought many times, what would you say to an innocent person sitting on death row?

آلزایمر

باورتون نمیشه چی شده. امروز صبح حوالی 6 بیدار شدم، نمی دونم به چه دلیل یاد فرانسه حرف زدن افتادم و هوس کردم تو ذهنم یه فعل صرف کنم! نمی خواد بگین چقدر خرخون خودم وقتی هشیارتر شدم گفتم. حالا قسمت جالب قضیه اینجاست که هرچی به ذهنم فشار می آوردم فقط عربی یادم می اومد! همه صیغه ها! ولی دریغ از یک فعل فرانسه! خلاصه یه چیزی خوردم تا کم کم یه چیزایی یادم اومد ... من عربی رو خیلی قبل از فرانسه یادگرفتم و ... امشب می خواستم زنگ بزنم ایران، تا به شماره ای که باید بگیرم فکر می کردم شماره همه کارتها یادم می اومد و شماره این شرکتی که باهاش قرارداد دارم یادم نمی اومد! اما خیلی وقته که من از هیچ کارتی استفاده نکردم و همه اش از خط همین شرکت استفاده کردم!!!! به گمونم این یه نوعی از آلزایمر یا یه نوعی از مالیخولیاست. تنها راه حلش هم اینه که آروم باشم و یه کم فکر کنم تا چیزی رو که می خوام یادم بیاد

Crikey

"Welcome to Crocodile country" was how he started off many shows. I remember watching Steve Irwin as a kid. I can't be sure, but I think he inspired a lot of interest towards animals in me. Aside from the accent, I loved to see him handle dangerous animals, it was all so real, like you were there, like you were a part of nature ... and he had so much fun doing it, it excited you. Being with animals was so natural to him, as he puts it:

"So now what happens is the cameras follow me around and capture exactly what I've been doing since I was a boy. Only now we have a team of, you know, like 73 of us, and it's gone beyond that."

And he died doing what he loved best:

"I have no fear of losing my life - if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it."

You'll be missed a lot Crikey!

P.S. I took the photos off the web and forgot to keep the link!

haven

Cliff Falls, Kanaka creek, BC

Today is the forth anniversary of my arrival in Canada and I love it even more than day one ...

butter or margarine?

I love the taste of margarine in rice, I also like it as an alternative to butter. It had come up in many conversations whether or not eating margarine is a smart choice; and it's not just us, it seemed to be an ongoing debate among nutritionists. I found this a couple of days ago and I agree with what it says. At least according to the labels (which are controlled by Health Canada) margarine looks more promising ...

good politics

Ralph Klein is among the few faces in politics, let alone Tories, that will be missed. He is retiring after, I think, 14 years as Alberta's premier.

He is known for his blunt speeches and comments and for taking the people's side. When he came into office in 1992, Alberta had a debt of about $23 billion dollars, now they are the working capital of Canada. Their economy is blooming so fast that even the government was caught off guard. As for what concerns me, I can see the flow of provincial money into the universities and the great benefits the students receive.
And it wasn't just the Albertans who benefited, he had a great roll in showing other primers how they can stand up to Ottawa and do what is right for the people of their province ... his successor will have a difficult time stepping into his shoes ...