I assume there is a difference between plain stupid and Darwinian stupid. I decided to test that out.
I drove to the greater Calgary area yesterday evening. So I needed some food on the road. And I had a craving for A&W chicken.
Is eating chicken (and not nuggets) while driving just stupid, or would it be Darwinian?
Apparently just stupid as my genes are still around to tell the tale.
Of course, during speed dating I got zero matches, so the aforementioned genes may not be surviving. But, still not Darwinian, yet.

Well, that could have gone better.
I did the speed dating thing. I should have stayed longer after it was all over; Do the mingle thing. But I hadn’t eaten dinner, and they were starting to play annoying music. And I have to pack for my trip tomorrow.
It might not have been the best idea to go for a run after work. It made me late and withheld my meal.
There were some nice people, but a lot of the women were older than me and/or with children. Actually the girl that I had the most connection with was supposed to be in the younger group, making her eight years behind me. She was sloshed and was determined not to accept anyone. I guess a total lack of pressure makes making a good impression easier.
Next week there is another one where I think the age ranges work more in my favor.

Acting class today.
I have doubts about this class. I mean, I don’t know for sure if I am learning anything about acting. I’m learning about thinking like the character and blocking, but not pretending that I care. It’s the pretending part I would like to get down.
I have a scene I’m in that I’m nervous about. According to the script, in this two person short, there is MAN (that would be me) and WOMAN, who is supposed to be beautiful, tanned and in great shape. It culminates in a passionate kiss. Normally this would be good for me. However, the student playing WOMAN is, and I’m sorry to say this, kinda dumpy and pale. (Hopefully she never reads this.) I have no attraction to her.
I really need help on that pretending bit.
Other people are doing a scene involving speed dating. I haven’t done that in over a year. I know there is one going on tomorrow, and I am tempted to attend. Just to see if it is as bad as I remember. Definitely not take it seriously, and see how far brutal level four honesty will get me.
Or I could get ready for a trip to my parents in Calgary this weekend.

I educated myself today.
At work I was going through some online training. At one point it veered off from the welcome to the company stuff, and suggested/insisted I take a different online course.
This course seemed targeted towards sales people. I did it, and all the accompanying quizzes. I was totally exhausted by the end. In the regular course, common sense was a good guide. In the sales course, nothing made sense. Especially when trying to tell the difference between two sales pitches. The pressure and the confusion tired me out completely.
I have no idea how those sales people do it.

I went to see this movie today. It was disappointing. I mean, it had been hyped so much, and Rotten Tomatoes gave it an obscene rating. And there are the people who have seen it eight times. I was expecting it to be the greatest film ever.
I’m assuming readers of this have seen it already so I will be spoiling parts of it, but I will still be mostly vague.
At the end, I was ambivalent. I couldn’t tell if it was a sad or happy ending. I’m personally leaning towards sad and that it was all a dream. I don’t like it when a director leaves you wondering about things like that. I am happy when they leave you with moral dilemmas, but not on whether to be happy or sad.
Visually stunning, but that is somewhat lost when you have to read the bottom of the screen. “Stop talking so I can look at you.” I have nothing against subtitles, but I prefer them to be in movies that you don’t have to watch everything going on.
And the characters were stupid. Little girl, if you want to be a princess and show how good a ruler you can be, then learn to follow the simple rules given to you. And if you are going to try and run away from an evil place, finish killing the person who can warn the guards to stop you.
Why did people like this so much?
It was good, but it wasn’t great. It might have been better if it wasn’t so hyped. If you are one of those people who have seen it eight times, it is your fault the movie sucked. Your over-enthusiasm ruined it for me.
I put this on the same level as Lost in Translation.

I will admit that I am still a bit under the weather. But I felt good enough this morning that I went back to work. Unfortunately the air quality at my office sucks salmon. Half an hour after arriving my nose started clogging up. A quick dose of Neo-citran and it cleared up. Even stayed clear for the rest of the day. God bless weird medical substances that work creepily like magic.
I believe the party this Friday is good to go!
And it will be awesome! I’ve got supplies building up, including a large stash of hot chocolate (because it will probably be cold that day) with small marshmallows to complete the picture.
This party will be the defining moment in the history of mankind. Your ancestors will establish themselves as being descended from one of the original party attendees, and spit upon those soulless husks that can not claim such noble lineage. If Nero himself rose from the grave, he would lament that the burning of Rome did not compare to this extravaganza. Fun and entertaining and appetizing, in your sorrows you will look back at this time and your spirits will be lifted. Your moments of triumph will all feel a little less spectacular because you will have already seen absolute perfection. It will be the festive mirror in which all other events in your life will reflect in a duller shade.
So, uh, yeah. I’m looking forward to it.

The link to my “music”. It’s good. I recommend it.

I’m doing my best to update as often as possible this week. After neglecting the journal I feel I owe it to…, well I don’t know who I owe it to, but it is going to happen.
It didn’t help that ten minutes before I went to bed last night I got sick. I just started getting really cold. I huddled in bed, but I didn’t get a good night’s sleep. My brain was concentrating on a math problem that I could easily prove as being insolvable. But the stupid thing wouldn’t let it go.
I tried to go to work today, but after two and a half hours I packed it in and went home. Hopefully I’ll be better tomorrow.

I don’t watch organized sporting activities. I find the Olympics to be a long period where my favorite shows get preempted. So the Superbowl is a complete non-event for me. The only reason to watch it is to see the commercials. Or the hope of a “wardrobe malfunction”. And the former is pointless in Canada, because all the commercials are edited out to be replaced with local ones. Ones that haven’t spent millions of dollars to make a memorable advertisement, but rather the change they found in the sofa cushions.
Driving out this evening I noticed that the streets were rather dead. I guess I am not in the majority.
My destination? A local cinema is playing the world’s best commercials. So, with a few friends I went to see good commercials.
Mind you, a lot of them weren’t that good. Some were outright depressing. I prefer funny to poignant. I do not need to see reminders that it is good to look both ways before crossing the street in graphic detail. I would much rather see fake public service announcements about counterfeit cars.
Hopefully I will be able to see the Superbowl commercials on the internet. I mean, these people are spending an obscene amount of money for thirty seconds. They are going to have good ads.
Mind you, if you need funny, there are websites that specialize in that.

I feel stressed these days. I only have one day a week to do the things I need to do to maintain my life. And it is bearing down on me.
But the thing that is stressing me the most is my vacation.
I have been mandated by work to take a lot of vacation days. I’ve been collecting them for too long and not using them, so now my uppers are telling me to get around to it. So I’m going to go and take a long European vacation.
But a vacation requires planning. And I don’t have time to plan.
I still have to figure out what I like to do on vacation.

Okay, I’ve been horribly remiss in updating my journal. So I’ve got to try and be more proactive.
The biggest problem is that there is only one day during the week that I am free to do whatever I want. And usually that is taken up with chores I’ve been missing. Tuesday and Thursday I have acting classes. On Wednesday I have running. Friday is the Feast.
But the Feast was productive this week. I was able to get someone who knows math to help me with a complicated problem I’ve been having in the execution of my program. Now all I need to do is to check the work and make sure it does what I need. Implementing it will be another mountain to climb.
Next week the Friday Feast will be held at my place. So that should encourage me to get around to cleaning up the place. I’ve been lax. I really don’t feel like cleaning on Mondays.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
Therefore a chain of one link is the strongest there is.
Discuss.

Today was a tiring day.
Half of my division had a meeting downtown, so instead of the drive to the west end, I had to find a way to the center of the city. To take my car would have cost a lot in parking, so I took the bus. From Whyte Avenue to Jasper was fairly easy. And since it was a beautiful day, I walked the rest of the way, eight blocks.
After the meeting I thought it was still nice enough out, so I ignored the bus and took 40 minutes to walk home. Which has left me rather tired.
If my division ever moves to the downtown office though, walking/running will be a very viable way to get to and from work.
The meeting was an orientation on our new corporate overlords and how to use all the resources at our disposal. It was interesting. We are now personally responsible for our career paths, but we are also given tools to help with that.
They were also very behind the idea of goals. Lately I feel like I’ve been flapping in the wind. I have needed to find my own projects to keep me busy, because management is too occupied to tell me what they want me to do. The one thing I’ve been working on had been completely self-directed (no idea if anyone wants it), and I’m not feeling especially motivated. I’m going to try writing down some goals for it and see if that helps.

My passport expires in April. Bad time for it to happen because all the passport places are a solid mass of people due to the new US air travel restrictions.
But I have time so I’m taking the long, slow approach. I’ll see what I can do online. But I am aware that I will need passport photos. Since I have a dentist appointment next week, now is the time to get them taken so that I can have my chosen guarantor sign them.
I realize that you can not win with a passport photo. You will look like a terrorist, no matter what. Especially with the condition that your “Facial expression must be neutral (not frowning nor smiling) with the mouth closed.”
So, I decided to look as evil as possible. You can still do it with the conditions given. And must say, I have lovely eyes of liquid rage.
I wouldn’t let me into the country.

I had an improv class today.
It was fun, but I’m a little scared after participating. I haven’t been to a class in awhile and I feel my skills are starting to go away. I didn’t do that well. I think I’m forgetting the basic lessons.
It will probably help to go see some improv tonight. See how the experts do it.
At the very least, it will feel better than last Saturday. At least with this I know that there will be people happy to see me there.

Yesterday I hosted the Friday Feast party. What this involved was a bunch of people I barely know invading my place and giving me food. I have no problem with this.
Really, it was a pot-luck supper. I made a cake. And not from scratch, baby. Pure prepackaged garbage from Duncan Hines. I think it went well, and it was eaten.
Other people brought food that was also devoured. I think the pork dumplings were the best. Thankfully, as host, I get to keep stray leftovers. So I have cake and dumplings at my disposal. It doesn’t always work out though, I also have a new box of ice cream. I haven’t even finished the last ice cream I got in August. (I think maybe it’s time and I should let it go.)
I went into host mode, which means that I don’t get to relax. I must make sure everyone is having a good time. What can I say, I like to keep busy. Keeps me from having to provide the sparkling entertainment. And I’m most happy when the people around me are happy.
It was pointed out that Canadians have an interesting habit; We tend to congregate in kitchens. At parties other cultures will go off to designated socializing areas, such as living rooms, whereas we talk and drink around the person doing the cooking. I suppose it is more polite so that the host doesn’t get left alone.
I like throwing parties.

I had my acting class today. The second semester just started. It’s focusing on comedy instead of drama.
In class, they asked everyone to think of a funny moment in their life and tell it to the rest of the students. For the life of me, I could not think of a funny moment. Well, there was one, but that is a story that I refuse to tell in public. Unfortunately I couldn’t get that story out of my mind while trying to think of another moment.
I need to go through my LiveJournal and figure out some good anecdotes.

I purchased an iPod way back in October.
I waited until new ones came out and then immediately got one. I had the goal to not feel stupid for three months. I would feel stupid if a newer and better model came out within that period.
Today was MacWorld. If they are going to release a new iPod, this would be the time.
Thankfully, they didn’t. In fact, it looks like the next iPod-like thing won’t actually show up until June. I may get away with not feeling stupid for nine months!
How cool is that?

I don’t like bars, but I feel I need to go to improve my social skills. Plus, in my job I don’t see many people of the opposite sex. It’s nice to me reminded what they look like. I’ve been trying to experiment with drinking, but it still tastes vile. I consider it medicine. Tastes bad, but will hopefully improve my socializing.
There is a bar I go to semi-regularily. I can’t say I particularly care for the music. But I do have a friend that is there most times I go. So I can usually get a table to sit at.
I’m pretty sure his girlfriend doesn’t like me. I’ve tried to talk to her in the past, and she never seems to want to hold a conversation. I have no idea what I have done to offend her.
When I went today, I did something stupid. In a moment of politeness, I asked my friend if I could join them. I’ve never done that before, I took an invitation in the past to mean that I could always sit with them.
After consultation with the GF, the answer was “Not tonight.”
I can’t say that really improved my outlook for the evening. Still, I had paid to go, I was going to stay and have a good time. No sitting at a table watching people go by. I would go out and mingle.

Of course, none of that plan actually happened.

I’m proud of my mother. As previously mentioned, for Christmas I gave her my three year old iBook. She now doesn’t need to borrow my father’s Windows box to do computery stuff.
And she is doing well. She still doesn’t grasp some basic concepts, and I do get the occasional question. But she is using it every day.
Before I left I introduced her to iChat, and now she can speak to me over the internet to ask questions. I think this is the best present I’ve given her.
Speaking of Macs, I got into a discussion with over the Christmas break. He decreed that the “I’m a Mac and I’m a PC” ads were offensive to Windows users. They were negative ads, and those never work, except in politics.
Canticle is better at debating than I am, so I have learned not to argue with him, but do my best to hold my opinion until I have time to mull over his points. Frequently he is right.
I did an experiment. I showed my father, a Windows user for at least twenty years, some of the ads.
Verdict: Funny and not offensive.

Okay, I need to vent a bit, and this is a convenient forum.
First, a confession. I played far too much Civilization IV in the past two days. During this brief time, I have formed an opinion that I would like to share.
Diplomacy still doesn’t work in Civilization.
As near as I can tell it has never worked properly.
I’ve heard people say that it is better and that there is nothing you can’t trade. But the problem is that there are some things that aren’t tradable. The human still isn’t on equal footing with the computer opponents.
Let me give you an example. In the current game I am bordered by the Incans. We’ve had our disagreements, including a small war long ago, but nothing major. (Well not major for me. They lost a town so it might mean more to them.) The Incans don’t like me, and I am fine with that. I understand. So they have closed off their borders so that I can’t just move through them. Fair enough.
The Aztecs live on a different continent far away. They have declared war on me, because they thought I was puny. (An apt observation because I never have a large standing army, preferring to get scientifically way ahead of everyone and then build troops when war happens.) Initially they went around the Incans and smote a couple of towns. Now, they apparently have an open border agreement with the Incans. So instead they pile their troops on the Incan border, where I can’t attack them without causing the Incans to declare war on me. Then they unleash a wave on my towns.
I would like to tell the Incans that I am upset by this. Theoretically I could, in the diplomacy options, ask them to cancel their open border agreement with my enemies, or I will declare war. But they don’t even allow that option; they have disabled it as unthinkable. So I can’t even give them a good reason why I am declaring war on them.
That is what annoys me the most. They can disable a negotiable point, but I can’t. So the French feel free to come bug me whenever they feel like it and ask me to stop trading with the Germans. The Germans have been great neighbors who have been at peace with me for thousands of years. They even share our religion of Confucianism. Breaking a trading agreement with them is unthinkable.
But the French are able to ask for it, and then get huffy when I don’t bow down to their demands. The French live across an ocean, and the Germans are on my front door. Who would you rather have on good terms. The French opinion of me goes down and I’m sure they are talking behind my back to the Japanese. And now there is no way I could possibly convince them to attack our mutual enemy, the Aztecs.
Is this how George Bush feels?
Freedom fries anyone?

So, technically I should be out enjoying a New Year’s Eve party. But I wasn’t invited anywhere. And I still don’t enjoy drinking, so I know I’m not really going to have fun at a bar.
A wise man told me today that the New Year’s Eve parties you see on television never happen in real life. Good advice.
Instead, I’ve been nobly distracted by a new computer game: Civilization IV. I haven’t played a computer game in a long time and it is a nice feeling. Especially with a god game where I get to find enemy empires and show them the error of their ways in opposing the greater Roman empire. (Maybe I’ll enforce Confucianism on them too? That’ll learn ’em.)
I’ll probably regret my choice to stay home in the coming days. But for now, full steam ahead.

I went to the museum yesterday with a new friend. They had an exhibit of historical Edmonton buildings all made out of Lego. How can that be anything but cool? And they were very well done. The dome on the legislature building looked as curved as you can get when you are dealing with little blocks. But was best were the small touches. Like a drunk waiter hiding in the corner of the Hotel Macdonald. The gothic character peering down from the bell tower. The large rabbit peering out of the woods around the High Level Bridge. All in all, very well done. There were a few other anomalies; They had a construction site, and I swear that the bulldozer was a Lego kit that I had long ago.
After that we checked out the rest of the museum. It was the first time I had ever been there. Voyage of discovery. I found the aboriginal section depressing. There was quite a lot of it, and I think they want people to leave there feeling poorly. Here are these great and nobel savages. Look what the evil white man has done to them. (And yet, I’ve been led to believe that the natives weren’t all that pleasant to each other long before Europeans showed up.)
I wish Canadian history could focus on something else.
The rest of the exhibits were more science based. Lots of rocks. Lots of birds. Lots of bugs.

I have Scandinavian heritage. So my family traditionally celebrates on Christmas eve. This is the first time we’ve had a tree in the new house, and it showed.
Our second tradition is that we use a live tree. (It follows from the third tradition. We’ll come to that soon.) Since there was a large wind storm, a lot of trees blew down in the parks around here. So my parents helped themselves to one. So we’ve got a huge tree. It’s only the top of the one that fell, but it is the tallest we’ve ever had. Fortunately, this place has a vaulted ceiling, and could probably accommodate an even larger one. Unfortunately it is a vindictive tree. It is oozing sap. The sticky kind that soap and water can’t take off.
Our third tradition is that we use candles on the tree. No electric lights, but honest candles. Fire hazard? Of course, but we are careful. A bucket of water is kept close at hand, and it has never been needed. However, the new house is more particular than we are used to. The fire alarms on the second floor started going off every ten minutes. They are not battery operated, and are too high off the ground to reach, so there was no way to turn them off. We eventually found that having the ceiling fans going could keep them off. But my dog is now practically hiding under a bed. He doesn’t trust the quacking duck chew toy I gave him anymore. He blames it for the screeching.

This Christmas with the family is rather strange in respect to presents. It’s almost un-Christmasy.
My sister is still stuck in the nether regions of Florida (popularly known as Miami.) So it is not a true family holiday. But we are still giving presents.
The ones I’m giving to my parents are… selfish. I did not go out and spend money for them. I’m giving them old stuff of mine that I no longer need. In my defense they are still better than what they have.
I’m giving my mother my old iBook. It’s three years old, and she doesn’t have a computer of her own. Plus, it’s a Mac, the perfect computer for Mommies and Daddies. My father always hogs the all-powerful Windows laptop he has, which is frankly too large for a normal human being. And my mother is not going to be stressing its capabilities.
I’m giving my father a digital camera. It’s just slightly over a year old, and much further in technology than the five year old one that he has been happy with.
I also picked up some duty-free loot when I left Jamaica, so I am not a completely heartless son. The thing is, that we’ve almost all admitted what presents we are giving each other. No surprises.
I know one present that they are giving me because, due to their having a PO Box instead of an address, it was shipped directly to my place. I felt the need to “test it out” to make sure it worked. And, truthfully, it made it one of the best car trips from Edmonton to Calgary. It was an FM transmitter for my iPod. So I was not at the mercy of the radio stations and could listen to good songs for the three hours on the road. It made the trip so much better.
Now I’ve wrapped it back in the box, given it back to them, and admitted what I did.

“William, don’t leave. If you do I’ll be the only visible minority.”
“Well there’s still Ellen. She’s short.”
“That just makes her less visible.”
Names changed to protect the innocent.

I was quite the social butterfly today.
Work was a joke. Well, there was work, but in the afternoon, we didn’t. There was a Christmas lunch. Then a Christmas Pictionary tournament. Then a Christmas leave-early. That was party #1.
Then, in the early evening, I went to what is called a “Friday Feast” put on by friends of friends. Good time. I took charge of the gingerbread house construction. Someone had already baked the pieces. I put it together, and got the abode stable. With help from an excellent mortarer who worked well in the subject of frosting. Then I stepped back and let other people decorate. (Gummy bears looking out the windows. Green candy representing a convincing Christmas tree on the side.) I also designed and made the traces for a gingerbread castle. I would have liked to have seen it made, but there was another party to get to.
Cameron’s house warming party was #3. Mostly co-workers, so I knew everyone. There was a hockey game going on, that didn’t interest me. But he has a very nice place. The windows are huge. You can see everything outside from anywhere in the place. And they overlook a busy intersection, so there is always something to watch. And listen to, unfortunately. It will probably be a problem in summer.

I just came back from Salsa lessons. I would have stayed later, but some yahoo at my company decided it would be a good idea to have a meeting at the crack of dawn. Almost literally.
I haven’t been to a lesson in several months. With my acting class over though, my Tuesdays have freed up enough that I can remedy the situation.
They are fun, and a pleasant excuse to keep your hands on a pretty woman for extended periods of time. And you get hot and sweaty. How can you go wrong? (Well, not that hot and sweaty.)
Interestingly, I was dancing with a lovely woman today. She was the spitting image of another woman I met in Jamaica. Except quite a bit shorter. I might have been distracted by the volume of tattoos on their bodies, and that’s why I think they look alike. Similar spread. And their names? Both mythical figures starting with the letter “A”.

On Thursday, I was at my improv class. Last one.
A couple of people were going to an RFT party afterwards. And I will admit, I was jealous. Theatre people are the coolest to hang around, and I don’t often run into them at social settings. But I hadn’t been invited, so I just privately yearned.
The next day I was on my computer, getting around to cleaning up my email. I had fallen behind because of my vacation. (Is there anything you can’t blame on a vacation.) Then I find one from the second day of my trip. It had the invitation to the party in question.
D’oh!

This has been a weird weekend.
I keep thinking I haven’t done much, and really I have done lots.
Firstly, I thought I hadn’t been productive much, but I finally got around to updating my finances, and getting pictures from my vacation sent to appropriate parties. Neither task is done, but a good chunk of them is.
Next, I thought I hadn’t been goofing off properly and getting out. But I’ve done something every day. Friday night I attended the theatre. Saturday I played RPGs and then was at the bar until one in the morning.
Today has been a bad day for goofing off though. I slept through my alarm, so I didn’t go running. And the plan to do Karaoke tonight looks like it has been cancelled. I’ll make up for it by watching a movie tonight. And I think I’ll try doing a salsa lesson on Tuesday.