As you can see (unless this is your first visit), I've finally gotten sick of the pastel color scheme in this section. It was sort of an experimental thing, but I finally just couldn't take it any longer. Frankly, I'm surprised I tolerated it as long as I did. Anyway, it's gone now. Unfortunately, now I have one more white-on-black page on the site (which was what I was trying to get away from in the first place), but I guess I'll deal*.
I have not uploaded the new airliner photos yet. Sorry. It's a lot of work relative to every other web site chore, so I haven't faced it down yet, especially since there really aren't very many good ones. None of my Chicago pictures are very good, actually. The Bullwinkle picture, for some unknown reason, didn't come out, which is crushing. I still have the Tribune picture, so I'll eventually get it in.
There are a few changes here, though. Note the new ICQ indicator on the front page. I've also changed my picture in the Evan section to my senior portrait, replacing the old picture from my passport. It's bigger too. I'm not done updating this section yet. I think I'm eventually going to separate all these entries into separate little pages to make browsing (not to mention linking) easier and loading faster.
As far as some real Thoughts go.... I'm kinda coming up short this week. I was going to ramble on all about the new Pennsylvania license plates and the furor over the web address (Governor Ridge thought it would be cute if we were the first state to put our official web address on the license plates; my bet is we remain the only one), but I'm not really interested any more. When I get mine, I might be able to get up a little more enthusiasm, but not now.
I have a four day weekend this week, for no apparent reason whatsoever. Mom took all the days off, so I guess we're going to have an adventure. I think we're going to see if our New York relatives want to put up us, stopping en route at Cornell to check that out. And it's also possible that my aunt will be willing to escort me into Manhattan to have a look at the New York City schools. I've already seen Columbia, but only briefly.
I would actually like to get Mom up to Montréal to see McGill. She's the only person whose opinion on college matters who hasn't been there and, maybe or maybe not coincidentally, the most luke-warm on the whole idea. I suggested a fast trip to her, but she was unimpressed. We'll see.
I'll keep you posted. Evan.
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* Buffy-Speak for cope, manage, make do, or persevere. :-)
Hi! Long time, no write. Almost two weeks, in fact. But don't worry, I didn't have anything to say.
I've been having a rough two weeks. Lazy. I'm not real sure why since it's a little too early in the school year to start slacking off. I wasn't really blowing off school work (though I wasn't working at it to my fullest potential), but I was blowing off most every other productive activity: practicing the piano, cleaning my room, unpacking baggage, keeping up my journal (my real one with deep, dark secrets), working at this web page, filling out college applications (OK, I did get my McGill one almost finished), etc. I did watch a lot of TV. I've discovered the Travel Channel and now I'm utterly adicted. Half the books on my shelf (gross exaggeration) are travelogues, but now I've found a way to get the same experience with 95% less work. Human progress never ceases to amaze me. I especially love the Lonely Planet show. I was amazed to learn from my ever-resourceful mother that there is an especially short degree of separation between me and the two hosts. They are both friends with the daughter and son-in-law of some of my family's best friends. I actually went to the wedding of the daughter and son-in-law (who has written for Lonely Planet) in New Orleans last year, though Justine and Ian weren't there. Not that they would have meant anything to me at the time. Anyway, their program is awesome. And so is the whole damned channel.
I also spent a lot of time driving around in my truck listening to the radio. I'm sure there are better things for me to be doing than listening to Britney Spears at high speeds, especially with gas prices what they are. When I first got my license, gas was like 88¢ / gallon. This $1.35 shit is putting an undue financial burden on me. One day last week when my rambling instincts were particularly peak, I drove up into the Seneca Nation of Indians reservation in New York (my street goes the whole way) where the noble and tax-exempt savages were peddling petrol for $1.07. And they pump for you, too! Still, gas is cheaper in the U.S. than just about any other Christian nation in the world (you should see how much gas is in Nova Scotia), so I can't complain that much.
The trip to New York was good. Long drive, of course, but it was worth it I suppose. We didn't get into The City, but that's OK, I guess. It's a fairly stressful trip, even by train (there are no trains straight from Orange County into Manhattan; you have to change in New Jersey). Nonetheless, I would have liked to have done it. As alluded to above, I have a definite urge for travel and seeing new stuff. It's an interesting (and sometimes frictious) contrast to Mom and her family, who love spending time around the house when they have the time. Dad and I like to go. Mom ruefully observed "McElravys seem to hate their homes. I don't know why they even have them." Well...yeah, I guess that's a little bit true. It's the Highlander genes coming through.
Cornell was interesting. It's even more in the complete and utter middle of nowhere than I had been expecting. Ithaca is a neat little city, I have to admit, but it is sooo remote. No airport. I'd have to take my truck with me, which is something I'd like to avoid (save gas money for pizza and a métro pass). I saw license plates from all over, at least a dozen states, Ontario, and even a European Union plate (must have been a hell of a drive).
The campus is nice, though on a really, really steep hill. I told Mom, "Gosh, I'd have really nice looking legs if I went here." It was bad enough on a lovely autumn day, my images of trekking up in snow and freezing rain were too awful. Mount Royal puts some slant in the McGill campus, but nothing like this. There are also several wicked deep gorges and cliffs around the campus, which could turn one night of heavy drinking into a fatal mistake if you didn't have someone dead sober to navigate you back to your bed. Mom still likes it. It is a neat place, I'll admit, but I don't think it is the neat place for me. Air Canada is running a fire sale to fill planes in the current off-season so they'll have inflated numbers for their fight against the hostile takeover by Onex. The upshot of this is that Toronto-Montréal is $101 right now. I'm going to jump all over Mom for a really fast (weekend) dash to show her the city and the campus. I know that the idea of me living in a city of 3.5 million people, most of whom speak French is freaking her out (she doesn't like cities or foreign languages very much), and I'd really like to show her that it really would be OK. Seeing is believing. I'd pay for the hotel if she'd cover the air fare. We'll see what she thinks.
Speaking of Canadians, holy shit were there a lot on the highways last weekend. It was Thanksgiving weekend in the land of the north, and apparently they all have as much trouble staying home as I. I-81 around Binghamton, which is the main freeway up to the 1000 Islands, Ottawa, and Montréal, was absolutely infested with Ontario and Québec license plates. As usual, they were driving like bats out of hell. This one Volkswagen blew by me so fast that it almost cycled my windshield wipers. I guess they don't care about speeding tickets, though they should have been since I saw more New York Troopers than I've ever seen in my entire life.
OK, I've had my say now. I'll just take a moment and point out my new layout in here. Nice, no? It took a lot of work. That's why there still aren't new airliner photos. Shoot me. l8r, Evan
Yo. Before I commence rambling, I'd like to take a second to congratulate my Aussie friend Matt on his recent graduation from high school. Way to go, Mattie! Good luck on your tests, buddy.
OK, got that out of the way. Holy shit, how about Payne Stewart? When that was read on the BBC radio news on my way home from school this afternoon, I just about swerved off the road. Aside from my usual horror at plane crashes, this one kinda got me more becuase I sort of liked Payne. The JFK, Jr. thing didn't really phase me much, I have to admit, but this sort of has. I remember when he won his first U.S. Open, I was in like the third grade and was really into it, since I followed professional golf at the time. So I was really pleased when he won it again this spring (with just an awesome putt). He was a pretty decent guy, with his head on straight. Anyway, this bummed me out a lot. And the circumstances were so wild...what an astonishing accident. It will be interesting to see what the investigators find out. Things like that shouldn't happen.
What else was I going to say? Well...last weekend (not the one that ended yesterday but the one before) was Homecoming. For the first time I actually went to the game. Believe it or not, that was the first high school football game I ever went to. I figured, being a senior, it was now or never. It was OK. The football sucked, but it was socially enjoyable. I sort of felt conspicuous, not really knowing the bushido of the stadium. I'm so insecure sometimes, I felt sure that I looked/was acting like a dweeb, but then again, I was sitting near the group of people that took off their shirts and wrote "DRAGONS" across their seven shivering chests, so a lot of attention was probably directed away from me. Who cares anyway? I mean, what is the correct course of action when someone drops their cigarette on your coat? I simply must write Miss Manners. It didn't bother me too much (the self-consciousness, not the cigarette, which pissed me off royally), I just did as the Romans did. I had a good time and had plenty of opportunity to eye up several cute individuals (one very cute), so it was all worthwhile.
Nothing else has happened lately, nothing to report. Nothing new on the college-admissions front. Nothing new at all, actually. I've made a couple changes here and there around the site, nothing that needs your attention drawn to it, actually. Some typos repaired, links fixed, and so on. No new airliner photos. And nothing left to say. Au revoir.
Oh, God. This is the second of these journal entries in a row to focus on a plane crash. Few things unsettle me more than air disasters because they hit me so close to home. I mean, aviation is my hobby. One day, perhaps, it will be my career. And aside from that, being a moderately empathic person, I can't help but be horrified by the scope of human tragedy. Look at the look on this man's face, the agony he is overcome by so clear:
Unbelievable, really. I can't even imagine. But even beyond the human angle to the disaster, something about plane crashes hits me deeper. Living in the world and reading and seeing the news everyday, there are opportunities to be haunted by human suffering constantly, but I am generally not. So there's something else about plane crashes that cuts to the bone. Last year, after the Swissair 111 crash, which really hit me hard (it was sooo creepy actually being right where it happened this summer), I posted some thoughts on the matter to the Airline discussion list, which I think come pretty close to describing the phenomenon. I think I will share them here:
Anytime a place crashes, there is an obvious horror at the needless loss of life caused. This is what most people think of first: oh God, how many people? When you hear a number as high as 229, it is even more stunning. Then there is the fear that it could happen to you. I'm sure all of us have considered being on a crashing plane at some time or another. It is difficult to fathom the horror that it must be like to be on a doomed aircraft. Try as I might, I can't think of many things more terrifying than being on an airplane that is on fire. Victims of instantaeous or nearly instantaneous crashes like US 427, TW 800, or PA 103 have it much easier than the poor people on flights like UA 232 (or whatever the UA DC-10 accident at Sioux City was numbered) or, this, SW 111. Interviews with people who have walked away from distressed aircraft or aircraft flying through heavy turbulence (but which land safely with no fatalities) speak of the fear that they were going to die. That is the same fear I'm sure thatthe passengers on SW 111 went through except their fears, sadly, came true.
Survivors of crashes involving heavy loss of life (UA 232, Palm 90, Tenerife, etc) have it even worse, I think: they must live with memories of people snatched from the earth just in front of their eyes, of the burning, terror, screaming, crying, and that terrible sudden BOOM . Months back there was a discussion of the post-traumatic stress syndrome effects on crew members. Capt. Van Zanten didn't live to cope with his error in Tenerife but Al Haynes had to live with the erroneous belief that he had just killed many, many passengers.
So it is a difficult thing to think about for any passenger but for someone like me, and the other 800 members of this list, who love aviation, I think there is a deeper horror. I watched a program about car crashes on Discovery a few months ago that said part of the mental shock of a car crash is that your car, your friend, your place of sanctuary FAILED you, turned on you: without it, you'd be OK now.
I love airliners, and I say that proudly. I love to go to the airports and watch their beauty and grace, I love to fly on them and feel their raw power. So when one of them "turns" on people and causes such great death and suffering, I feel sort of confused and torn: it's almost as if your son went into a day care and shot 3 or 4 toddlers. You love your son so much, but how can you help but be horrified and angry at what he did to those kids and their families? Extreme example, but it helps explain. Last May at YUL, I watched a SW MD-11 (HB-IWD, not the doomed aircraft, which is a huge relief) land and taxi, for quite a while. I marveled at its beauty and size, its strength and utility, the virtues that draw all of us to the hobby. But now, 4 months later, how am I supposed to feel that one of its sisters took the lives of 229 people? How do you reconcile the darker side of something that brings you such great joy? For me, that is the primary agony in an air disaster: I feel GUILTY almost. "How can you love such a terrible thing?" I can't imagine how engineers who design these aircraft or workers who build them must feel.
Anyway, a few people told me they thought I was nuts, that I was suffering from some extreme case of anthropomorphic projection - and I'm not going to rule that out entirely - but most people were very sympathetic and in agreement. I got several very touching replies from some people who agreed.
This crash hasn't, at least not yet, hit me really hard. I'm definitely, all-over, in a lot better mental health than I was last year when the Swissair flight crashed, so that probably has something to do with it, but I think that the fact that I haven't ever spent 20 minutes staring, totally thrilled, at an Egyptair is fairly key, too. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen an Egyptair plane at all. Honestly, watching that Swissair flight land and taxi was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen (a picture I snapped is in the gallery), and it made a big impression on me.
There are a few pictures of the doomed aircraft available online if you'd like to look. Here is a link to a pretty decent one. I'll warn you, it is a shocking experience to see an aircraft that went on to crash (hence my relief back when that my friend from Montréal was not the same aircraft), so you may not really want to look.
I've never flown a 767, though my luggage and my father both have. (Returning from Halifax this summer, Dad had a non-stop back to Toronto and my grandmother and I had a connection in Montréal but all our luggage went on the non-stop; the exact aircraft can be seen in this picture, parked at Gate 22 in the background.) They have a fairly good safety record, though since they've been flying since 1982, they've inevitably had a few bang-ups. But overall they've served pretty well. Right after they entered service, an Air Canada example ran out of gas over Manitoba (it was about the time that Canada was converting to metric, so they hadn't put enough fuel in) and landed perfectly at a field at Gimli. The case of the "Gimli Glider" established the 767 as a very well handling aircraft, and also the captain as a very skilled pilot (not to mention the Canadians as really poor mathematicians). It's the number one workhorse over the Atlantic. I really would step on board one without hesitation, but when something like this happens, you can't help thinking certain thoughts.
Anyway, the thoughts I will be thinking for a while now will involve prayers for the 200-some victims (as of now, they still don't have an exact number), and I hope you will do the same. Evan
No plane crashes this week. Knock on wood.
I gave blood in the gym on Friday. No, it wasn't lacrosse, it was the Red Cross bloodmobile. Ha ha, cheap joke. It would be nasty to make fun of the people who swooned all over the place, though, and I don't want to discourage anyone reading this from getting out and giving themselves. According to the factoids on the placemats in the snack area, one unit (about one pint I think) can be used to help save up to three people, and it takes something like 3,000 donations a day to keep up with the demand in my region alone. So really, if you are healthy and eligible (e.g., no anal sex for drugs in the Central African Republic) and can reasonably handle it psychologically, there's no excuse not to go out and donate. An hour of your life and a little prick in the arm is a pretty tiny price to pay to save three lives. For the record, I didn't get light-headed or nauseous at all. Really, the only side-effects I had were thirst and, a few hours later, a powerful urge for a nap (which has actually lasted all weekend long). The needle is huge and truly scary looking, but really sharp and doesn't hurt any more than a shot. So give the gift of life.
Saturday I took the SAT II, in writing, literature, and math. They all seemed pretty easy, so I'm hoping to get good news in a few weeks when the scores come back. I understand the chemistry subject test was truly awful. Glad I didn't take that. The SAT II is the last assessment needed for university admission, so all I need now is to get my applications sent in. As soon as I get some letters back from people for a scholarship, my McGill application will be ready to be sent off to Montréal, and then I need to get down and dirty with some others.
I've actually been seeing movies, for the first time in a long time. In the last week I've seen three videos, which is more than in the last three months I'm sure. I'd rate them Pecker best, Election next, and Clerks last. All three were really good, though.
I've also actually changed something on this site. No, no airliner photos (I'll do it eventually, when I get another trip in somewhere, so don't get too worried), but I did reformat the links page (and changed the content a little) and changed the color of the aviation subsections. They look pretty good, actually. Something different.
Nothing else new, but that's still a pretty good little update considering my overall level of ambition lately. So I'm going to go and watch 60 Minutes, about foreign doctors (my dad's doctor is from Québec, but that's probably not what they mean) and maybe do some homework. Until next week.
Hello, you all! How's it going? Pretty well? That's good. Random question of the week: why do people hate polka but love mariachi music? Do accordians make that much of a difference?
I'm cheery, actually. It got to be about 50º F out today, which is absolutely shocking for November. In years past at this time, there has been snow and freezing rain and all sorts of awful winter weather. There's no reason to complain.
Eventful week. On Monday, I finished and mailed my McGill application. It cost $3.86 to send it air mail and it looked like it was going to Timbuktu with all the stamps and stickers and pleadings ("ne pas plier, s.v.p - disquétte enclosée"). I should imagine that it has arrived by now. The College Board says that Nov. 6 SAT score reports will be mailed on the 26th, so I'm hoping that, after that, I will hear their decision back ASAP. There's no way to describe how slow surface mail service is from Canada to the United States (I think it took longer for my post card I sent to Mom from Halifax to arrive than it took for a postcard I got from a friend visiting Germany to be delivered), so I'm preparing to get antsy. Actually, to be honest, I don't know for sure that McGill has floating admissions or whatever it's called, so I could have to wait until May like all the suckers that apply to the Ivies. That would blow.
It was such a relief to have it mailed off. After a year and some of thinking about it and planning and so forth, it's sort of strange to have everything out of my hands at last. I got an odd feeling and felt compelled to go for a long drive on the back roads of Warren County to work out the weirdness. I still do have some other applications to do, but I don't feel like tackling them for a little while. Maybe over Thanksgiving. Yeah, right.
Thursday, I went to a concert by Jonny Lang in Erie with three of my friends. A good time was had by all. As I pointed out somewhat later, our little group comprised 80% of Latin IV class. I have decided, therefore, that we are the unofficial Latin Club and that was our first outing. Although there is a Spanish Club and a French Club at the high school, there hasn't been a Latin Club in about fifteen years. The other language clubs have fiestas and French breakfasts (at Perkins, where no self-respecting French gourmand would set foot even on a bet). We go to rock and roll concerts. Frigidissime!
This week coming up is a three day week since, of course, Thursday is Thanksgiving. Three day weeks are always a treat even though, of course, there will be beaucoup tests on Wednesday. I don't know why teachers always feel compelled to have tests the day before vacations. But it's a small price to pay for five days off.
And that's my report for the week. For the last two weeks, actually. Au revoir.
First off (even before my apology for not writing for a longer-than-average while), please click the little banner on my front page for the remembrance of the victims of the École polytechnique massacre. That's my liberal cause for this millenium, so make the effort. It could be a while before I find another worthy enough for me, the oft-described most cynical human being in the world.
OK, and here's the obligatory pardonez-moi, promised above.... sowwy....
I got pulled over by the local constabulary tonight. Nothing serious, I had just forgotten to turn on my headlights after pulling out of a parking space a block back. I'm at a loss to figure out how I managed that since I had up until then had more trouble turning them on by habit in the middle of the day and then forgetting to turn them out afterwards. Oh well, all's well that ends well. Having the car behind you all of a sudden start flashing without any warning is sort of a big surprise, but it does refocus your attention marvelously well. They're just trying to keep things safe, and I was being a menace (although I suspect I would have noticed on my own once I got out of the street lights of downtown a block further on).
Luckily my mind was more focused on issues germane this afternoon. There was an Academic Bowl match up at JCC, against Tidioute, a small town south of here. Real small. Their graduating class is all of nineteen. Our's is like 275 or there about. That would them half of a lower case A and us about quad A.... :-) This isn't the PIAA, though, size isn't taken into account. So we killed them. 109 to 38, which could have been worse if we'd wanted to. Our modus operandi was to kill them in the first round with our starters, then subsititute like crazy afterwards to give everybody some experience being up there in the hot seat. Anyway, it worked, everybody that we brought along got put in, and we didn't totally blow them out of the water, which wouldn't be very much fun.
I was fairly satisfied with my performance. I'm a starter, so the onus was on me. It's sort of fun. How it works is that you go head to head with one other team. Each team has four players in at a time (with unlimited substitutions, which is where the coaching comes in). First question is a toss-up, open for any player to buzz in. A correct answer is worth six points. There's no penalty for error unless you interrupt the question, in which case they take away six points. The team that gets the answer then gets a bonus, worth two points. The team is allowed to conference and the answer is reported by the captain. Then there is another toss-up. And so on.... The game is divided into three six minute periods (to accomodate commercial breaks, since our league is managed by SE-93, the Jamestown radio station). The team with the most points at the end wins; lose twice and you're out. The questions are about the same difficulty or harder as Jeopardy guestions, and run the gamut through all academic subjects: history, science, math, music, geography, and some general knowledge material like sports and current events. It's a lot of fun. If you want to get a better idea how it works and live in northwestern Pennsylvania or southwestern New York, tune into our match when it airs on December 19 at 6:00 on SE-93, 93.3 FM. No Internet feed as of yet for the rest of you. Sorry. Our next match is February 9 (which, yes, is a long way off).
In other matters academic, I got my SAT II scores a week or so back. No complaints. In math, I got 660, which sort of vindicates my abysmal 580 on the SAT I (though I still think I could do better). Literature was better, 770, and writing was better yet, a perfect 800. McGill should have had those nuggets to chew over for a few days now, so hopefully they'll get the good word out to me real soon (assuming the word is good; otherwise than can keep it until after the new year).
Yep, a thick packet of happy news from Canada would be as good a Christmas present as I can think of. I was discussing Christmas loot with my Australian buddy Matt a few weeks back, and he pointed out that once you get older you can't really think of anything you want for Christmas any more, whereas when you're a little kid, you can easily produce a ridiculously long list of all sort of fantastic loot for Mom to pick up from K-B. He's waiting for news from his would-be alma mater too, so maybe we'll both get what we want for Christmas this year, since we can't think of anything material to order from Santa Claus.
It's hard to believe that's it's just a little over two weeks until the big day. I'm listening to Snowed In right now, but I can hardly believe that's right, even though it's freezing outside. Maybe if we had lots of snow I'd feel more right about it all. Make note of that, Santa. Evan (and this email address really does work now!)
I actually wrote this rather late at night on the 19th, but I didn't feel much like uploading a new date image, so I went with the 20th, which is already on the server. This new format takes a little longer to do; that's why I don't do it as often any more. But it looks really cool.
Did you hear about Desmond Llewellyn? Wow.... Don't retire is the lesson, I guess. If there is a lesson in all that. It's really sad about his wife, too. On the plus side, he has a new movie coming out soon - one of his very own - so that's something to look forward to. I am a huge James Bond fan, so, quite needless to say, I'm really crushed. And not to mention that I'm really getting tired of writing about death in these entries. Especially when it is the week before Christmas.
I watched The Matrix last night, finally. Back in the loop at last. I was thinking, at the time, of writing a big long thingie in here about all the reasons I hated it so much, but I'm not sure I'm really up to that. I could summarize quickly, though: a) Nothing new under the sun. Boy did they rip off a lot of shit. The bug sucker was from Total Recall just to name one. I could name a few others, but you get the idea. b) Bullshit philosophical outlook. Boy was there a lot of jargon from romantic philosophical literature (The construct?? Give me a fucking break.), which annoyed me. I tend to be more René Descartes than Emmanuel Kant or Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and I got kinda sick of the whole thing after a while. You could tell the writers thought they were absolutely clever shit with all the other allusions to historical and literary things (e.g., the city of Zion). c) Bad attitude. Having seen all the Columbine shit and lived through a bomb scare at my own high school last spring, I could really see where all the various loser types could have been inspired by the film. Yeah, the world sucks sometimes, but it is reality and we all have to learn to live in it sooner or later. d) Pathetic plot. There were lots of inconsistencies and non-sequiturs in there that bugged me. All sci-fi flicks have that, though, so I guess that's why I don't watch much sci-fi. But the living end was the whole deal towards the end in the subway, when the dumb bitch wants to have a heart-to-heart while the bad guys are in hot pursuit and they are like five seconds from total freedom. That was just so stupid and fake and clumsy, there was no redeeming it after that.
On the plus side, Keanu Reeves was amazingly good. He seems to have finally learned how to carry lines, though one could suggest it's happened about ten years too late. And there was some decent mayhem. Phony firearm stuff (and I hate martial arts shit in movies), but I can overlook that. The special FX were decent, too. The movie looked good anyway. All in all, I think I liked Johnny Mnemonic, Keanu's last step into cyberspace, a lot better in most every possible way. Better characters, better story, better social commentary.
OK, I think I've rambled on about that long enough. It sort of turned out to be longer than I was prepared for anyway. I guess I'm more awake than I thought. I had a big nap this afternoon (bad idea, but it felt so good). Reading over the above, it also seems a little more profane than I usually go for on here. Generally I try to tone down my usual tendencies for foul language on the web page, but I guess the movie got me kinda riled up. Oh well, I've been trying to de-sterilize this site a little bit anway....
I guess I'll call it an evening, though I'll just leave you with this bonus, in case you have any lingering doubts about Australians. Evan
I've been listening to the same song all day...
that's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds, snakes, and airplanes
I've been playing with my Magnetic Poetry a little bit lately. It's a weird substitute for total creativity, but at the same time a surprisingly subtle experience. It takes you straight to the heart of your subconscience in no time flat, even if that results in some truly bad poetry. Behold:
head elaborate music manipulate bear legs luscious spray sordid milky drool steaming bed
I swear to God those were the tiles on top.
eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn
Christmas was good, more so than usual. Despite not hearing from McGill yet (though there is mail service on New Year's Eve so I might yet), there was plenty of great news during the holiday. I'm going to be a cousin! I mean, I'm already a cousin, but I'm going to be a cousin again. Eighteen years between grandkids is pretty sparse, but come this August, my grandmother is going to get herself number two grandchild (gender T.B.A.). I'm thrilled. Being an only child and only grandchild on one side is great and all, but you've got to think of more than your own interests. The timing couldn't possibly be better, just as I'm moving out on my own, off on the college adventure. Wow, it's been forever since there was a baby in the family...
uh oh, population overflow...feelin' pretty psyched
It was a White Christmas after all. The Big Guy cut it pretty close to the end before he let fly with the snow, but it was beautiful when it came. I went sled riding! It's melting off now, yesterday and today being the first days all month when the mercury rose above the freezing mark. I went on a long walk through the woods with a friend yesterday, the first time in longer than I can believe.
it's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine
That's right, it's millenium time finally! One thousand years in the making, get out your lampshade, roll out the keg, and lock up your women. Actually, a fair portion of the world is already hungover in 2000 as I type this. When I rolled off the couch at 8:30 this morning, eastern Australia was thirty minutes beyond the 1900s. Wow, Matt is in a different year than I.... By now, a few thousand miles of Russia should have made it, and no nuclear missiles have rained down on us yet. In four hours, western Europe, with my friend Martin in tow, will have stepped into the next century.
Leonard Bernstein, Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce, and Lester Banks
I'm sick of all the people who keep saying "Who cares?" or who didacticly point out, "The new millenium doesn't start until next year." These people are missing the point, and badly. Sure, the calendar is a creation of man, a posteriori. God doesn't care; neither do the plants, animals, rocks, or space aliens. But we're human, our creations affect us. Get out of the cosmos and deal with it. I'm a student of history, it's my passion and my commitment for another four years of school. Even when actual trends don't fit into neat little containers of 100 years, it's still how we look at history, make sense of the senseless. Classical music was developed in the 17th century. Europe was Enlighentened in the 18th. The 19th century was the century of the Industrial Revolution and colonization. And what happened in the 20th century? In ten hours, nothing ever again. Get it? The book is closed. This was the most brutal, bloody, tragic century since mother and father were tossed out of the garden. It's a unit, an epoch, one that people will refer to for evermore. And everything that happens henceforth will be part of a new epoch, to be assessed on a whole new level. Was the 20th century the century of Totalitarianism? War? The exploration of space? What will the 21st century be? It's blank slate, a whole new chapter in the history books. It's a whole new chance to write a new block of history, all depending on where we set the baggage we bring with us. Look at Boris Yeltsin: say what you will about the man (personally I think he's a corrupt, foolish drunk long since past standing on the tank), but he understands this better than anyone else. Or do you think the date of his resignation is an accident?
On a more personal note, 2000 is the year of my graduation from high school, literally a new era, regardless of how the rest of the world will choose to take advantage of the wide open possibilities history offers us. Every day that passes brings me closer and closer to June 9, 2000.
this means no beer, cavalier renegade, steer clear
And though I'm sure most people reading this will do so after the fact, in the event that you read this before the stroke of midnight tonight, please be safe. Don't drink and drive, don't do anything stupid. Have fun and remember that it does matter. Evan
Good morning, evening, noon, or night to you all. It's been a rather long time, hasn't it? Oh well, I've been pretty busy lately, so it's to be expected. I've got a term paper coming up, so that will be fun.
As I write this, I am exactly halfway through the school year. Tomorrow I have off (more on that below) and then Tuesday is the first day of the second semester. Yay! I finally got a letter from McGill, confirming that they got my application (yeah, two months ago) and informing me that I'd get their decision by April 15. They say that they get mailed from around March 22 through April 6, which I think is actually pretty optimistic for cross border mail service. It wasn't a very helpful letter to be honest, and didn't have nearly the souvenir value of my confirmation letter from Penn, which included a handy booklet Campus Safety and Security: A Shared Responsibility. Apparently this is to comply with some Federal law that says they have to disclose how many cases of murder, manslaughter, forcible and non-forcible sex offenses, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, and arson occured during a two year period on the Penn campus and in contiguous areas. I gotta say that the mugging and car jacking stats are not so encouraging. Dad says West Philly is a lot like the neighborhood that the University of Chicago is in. Which sucks. Oh, well. We'll see. McGill is in a pretty safe neighborhood, though pretty much anywhere in Montréal is safer than the best part of Philadelphia. About eight blocks southwest of the main campus lands you in the middle of what was once the largest red light district in the hemisphere, still pretty crummy with lots of wino-filled abandoned warehouses, brothels, piquettes (places where junkes shoot up), and the rest. Still, a petite SWF told me that she's walked through there at night by herself before and didn't feel particularly threatened, so I guess it mustn't be that bad.
Tomorrow I'm going skiing. My friend Nick has become semi-obsessed with teaching me to ski, and it also dawned on me that Montréal is right in the middle of the best ski country in the eastern part of the continent, so maybe it's something I ought to learn to do. Full report next time.
Two weeks until my birthday! Number 18, yay! One of my friends is already plotting a trip to a strip joint. I think I'll take up smoking instead.
Weird TV lately. Right now there are Siamese twins dancing on A&E and last night Discovery had elephants copulating. Ever seen a pachyderm penis? It was fucking bigger around than I am! Geez. Anyway, that was a new one for me. I've discovered the show Malcolm in the Middle (FOX, 8:30 Sundays), which is so heartless even I can't believe I'm seeing it. I love it! You gotta watch it, I'm telling you. It's great. Promise me you'll watch it. OK? Promise me! Good. You'd better.
Hi. It's been so long since I've done one of these, I think I may have forgotten how.
What do you think of the new design? It's certainly different, I think we can all agree on that much. I like it. I'll probably be sick of it in another year, but that's OK.... I think by changing the art around from time to time (especially on the front page), it can be kept fresh relatively long.
I'm not even going to begin to try and catch up with the last two months of my life or follow up on any of the stuff I talked about last time, except to say that I had fun skiing, my term paper is done, it's cool being a grown-up, and my McGill decision should be in the mail.
It's spring now, both in fact and in reality. All my hormones are flowing, filling my mind with thoughts of lust, excitement, self-loathing, self-adulation, pride, prejudice, contentment, impatience, cynicism, and noble sentiment, sometimes all simultaneously (and of course it's Lent too, so there's the whole self-denial/guilt thing added on). It's what happens in the spring when the weather gets nice, the sun shines, and people start wearing fewer clothes. It's frustrating and tiring, yet after around five months of frozen emotions (and body too, winter is cold here), it is somehow refreshing and exciting.
Everyone seems to be getting a little bit buggy, we've had a rash of bomb scares at the high school, four in the last three weeks, including two in as many days. Actually "scare" is rather the wrong word. Some idiot writes "bom in skool" on a bathroom stall and then we are all evacuated while the administration and police search the building half-heartedly. The first one was a rather nice experience, great weather, boring afternoon lecture, totally a surprise. Everyone enjoyed themselves in the parking lot, hobnobbing, smoking up, eating, making out, and probably countless other things I didn't see.
During the second one, I was out of the building, but I imagine it was slightly less interesting, though the weather was still decent and the afternoon lectures were probably just as boring. Then the third one came in the middle of third period about a week later. It was cold, rainy, and people were antsy to get to lunch (talk about missing the point; the idea is to get out of class on nice days). By this time, everyone was getting tired of the whole business. Then the very next day, there was another one, right in the middle of the first lunch period. Though it generally galls me to say anything nice about our administration, I have to admit they are getting better at handling these things. Communication was better and they searched the school more quickly. But it was still a drag, even though the weather was marginally decent.
I understand they have caught one of the scumbags responsible and they are continuing investigations. In the mean time, they've clamped down on restroom security, and whatnot. Still, I expect that we'll have a few more, people being as they are. Very weird stuff all around, all makes me glad I am a senior. Public education is getting too out of hand in America. Last year, in May I think it was, after the Columbine deal, we had a day where there was a ridiculous rumor, no one knows how it started or exactly what it was, that there was going to be a shooting attack or bombing or something else, and about a quarter of the school left. It was chaos and truly disgusting all around. But, as it turned out, it was just a sign of things to come.... Things are getting weird, school is becoming way less cool.
Like, the day before the first bomb scare, we had a lockdown in the middle of sixth period, totally unexpected, and the police came in with dogs and searched the entire school for marijuana. Found some too, surprise, surprise. It was sort of bizarre and unnerving, the cops were all in flak-jackets, the teachers were all edgy.... I was in the library, so it wasn't at all a bad hour and a half (most of my friends were in calculus, the suckers), but still....
Anyway, I think I've had my say for now. I'll write again next week, try to get back into a groove with this journal. I'm sure there will be lots of things to talk about, my mother is having surgery, our Academic Bowl team plays in the finals, and, if things keep up, we'll probably be evacuated again. The forecast is good, so spring fever is also likely to increase, adding to the fun. But that's all for next week.... Evan
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