The Awesome Survey That You Must take

Here at.. uh... this totally professional company, we... well, I... value your input. You are the loyal blog readers (or at least you'd better be), and I want to make sure that this blog-reading experience is the best it can possibly be for you. To ensure this experience is nothing short of magical, (or at least fairly interesting, we're also sort of lazy around here), please take this survey to share your thoughts on this blog with us/me.

Please follow the link (or else), and enter your answers (and I'll know if you don't) to the best of your knowledge (you can bet I'll know if you're lying).

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/S222JRH

Thank you for your valuable input. Despite all the thinly veiled threats in this post, your input is truly valued. Also, it's a seriously cool survey thing. you should really go check it out. It's really pretty too. It's lightish red.



Now, go answer it. Seriously, I'll bribe if you have to. ANYONE WHO COMPLETES THIS SURVEY GETS A FREE... uh... THING. IT'S A REALLY COOL THING, AND YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WANT TO HAVE IT.



**disclaimer: the totally cool thing you get may or may not be a virtual paperclip. Just FYI.

how'd you know I've got the mindset of a six year old?

Today was one of those really great days. I mean, yes, it was raining. And it was 42 degrees. And that is the coldest temperature I've experienced in my life (yeah, I'm dead serious about that one. It makes people around here laugh. A lot).

But despite that! I went to get my skates sharpened today, at G-Max, a hockey shop on Broadway/Alma that's really close to campus, and half a block from the bus stop. It took like 10 minutes, and was only $5, and the guy there was really nice. People say it's the best place to get your skates sharpened. (I wasn't about to go to the UBC rink guys. They're nice and all, but when I asked, they said, "I wouldn't trust me with your skates. Or him. There's this other guy, he's around later, maybe he does sharpening? But not us." Comforting.)

So that was all taken care of, and my skates are nice and sharp for Friday's game now. On the way back to the bus stop, I found this coffee place. AND THEY ARE AMAZING! I got hot chocolate there... with whipped cream. And then the lady asked me if I wanted chocolate sprinkles too. Not sure how she knew that I'm basically a six year old at heart, maybe the whipped cream/hot chocolate choice tipped her off. And they weren't just chocolate sprinkles, they were chocolate shavings. AWESOME.

So that's my new favourite place. Ever. I'm gonna study there with a friend on Sunday :)

Also, I've gotten a lot of French homework done, and I've got psych later today. Sweet stuff.

Let's List: Lessons, Accomplishments, Floormate Examples, Halo Things

If you think I shouldn't be a teacher...

We all know I should never, ever be allowed to be a teacher. Teachers have patience. They also have a tolerance for people that don't know stuff that they know. But if you had to pick between me and this other person I knew, you'd pick me every time. Here's why:

CONSEQUENCES OF BELITTLING by Sara Goldie

FADE IN

INT. COMMONS BLOCK -- NIGHT

Vanier commonsblock, about a month ago. Two college freshmen, doing homework. SARA, 18, incredibly gorgeous and stunning, is doing differential calculus homework. [NAME DELETED], 17, not even close to being in her league, is there too, making no progress on homework as usual.

SARA

I really don't understand this.

[NAME DELETED]

Let me see. 

Sara shows [Name deleted] the homework problem, which is: "find the equation of a quartic polynomial whose graph is symmetric about the y-axis and has local maxima at (-3, -1) and (3, -1) and a y-intercept of -2. y= ?" 

[NAME DELETED[ (CONT'D)

Oh, this is so easy. How don't you understand this?

SARA

That's it. I hate you.

INT. COMMONSBLOCK -- NIGHT

Present, which is 1 month later. Sara is studying with someone else; [Name Deleted] is not there. 

Understandably. 

FADE OUT

Wasn't that a lovey lesson? 

And just for the record, let's see what the textbook says about a topic like this: 

"A point of inflection on a curve y=f(x) is a point at which the concavity changes, that is, the curve is concave upward on one side and concave downard on the other side of the point. So, if y'' exists in an open interval containing xnaught, then y''<0 on one side of xnaught an y''>0 on the other side of xnaught. Therefore, if y'' is continuous at xnaught, then y to the n = 0. This we have: Theorum 15.2, if the graph of f has an inflection point at x naught and f'' exists in an open interval containing x naught and f'' is continuus at x naught, then f''(xnaught) = 0." 

Yeah. Sorry I didn't understand that instantly the first time around.

To recap-

This has been a lesson in: 

1) Interpersonal relationships

2) Personality flaws

3) Screenwriting formatting

4) Psychoanalysis 

5) Differential Calculus, points of inflection, minima, maxima, etc.

You know, even if I'd be the world's least patient teacher, I think I'd be a really good organizer. Also, I can obviously pack a lot of lessons into one go. I think that's useful. Or confusing. Whatever, really. 

I'm just going to go ahead and make this a REALLY long post and keep going.

Things I Accomplished Today

1) French essay, using comparing words

2) Washing jeans. 

3) Also, drying them. Two very distinct steps

4) Not being mean to the guy that decided to use both washing machines at the same time. (we only have 2)

5) I finished Econ yesterday. I just wanted to mention that. 

6) I painted my nails shiny pink. It's pretty cool. Just saying.

7) I studied for a French quiz

8) Read a French play

9) I FINISHED HALO!!!! Halo 1, but still. FINISHEDDDDD THE CAMPAIGN!!! How awesome is that. Now I want to get Halo 2, except the Staples that has it closed at like, 5. How inconvenient is that. 

Things My Floormates Have Taught Me By Example

1) Don't get drunk. Just don't.

2) That on-campus beauty salon? Just don't go there

3) Leaving a pumpkin stuck with knives on the table makes you look like a lunatic

4) Taping a garbage bag over the ceiling light just seems dangerous

5) Yelling and slamming doors until 2AM makes people hate you. A lot.

6) Leaving your dirty dishes in the communal kitchen makes you look like a slob. That people don't like.

7) Doing laundry at 1AM also makes people wish you'd lock yourself out of the building. In a snowstorm.

8) Bringing people cake makes them like you.

 Things Halo Taught Me:

1. You thought a place was difficult to navigate normally? Try doing it when the place is on fire.

2. Don't trust things that kidnap you and command you to do something for them that they won't fully explain. 

3. Sometimes alien weapons are very cool

4. Hide while the blast door opens; standing right by the control panel makes you an easy target

5. Moving cannons cannot be beaten. Ever. So don't waste a week replaying the same section trying it. 

6. Playing 'sneak up on the snail aliens and beat them up' tends to anger the mean, bigger, meaner aliens.

7. Use things for their intended purpose: A sniper rifle is a long-range weapon. Firing it while running backwards doesn't tend to work so great. 

8. People/aliens don't like it when you steal their/its cool flying vehicles.

9. When there's a huge aliens vs creepy mutated swamp monster battle going on, just sneak by. Don't bother getting involved. 

10. Countdowns do not lie. The ship will explode in 6 minutes. It doesn't wait while you accidentally flip the jeep again. 

11. Anything that abducts you is probably evil. 

12. Ask questions. Like, "when you say 'destroy the Flood,' do you mean 'destroy the universe'?" 

13. When you don't get to pick the colour of your armour, it puts you in a bitter mood for the whole game. 

14. Stealth can be translated as "run and don't even try to fight." There is no shame in that. Living is cool.

15. If you make the description of "easy" mode really mocking, people will choose normal difficulty instead. 

16. Some places are very difficult to navigate and some people's directions are useless. 

17. If at first you don't succeed, try again. If for the eighty-seventh time you don't succeed, it means your methods suck.

Things We Named in Halo (some RvB style)

1. The Monitor = Andy

2. Cortana = stupid voice in my head that keeps making bad things happen to me; shortened to 'evil voice in my head'; Omega, when she kills me.

3. Captain Keyes = that annoying idiot guy

4. The Warthog = Puma

5. Ghost = Donut's Motorcycle Thing

6. All The Aliens = Crunchbite

7. The Marines That Jump Into The Jeep With You = New Best Friend

So, that was like the longest post ever. Some of these lists will be added to eventually, by the way :)

Just a follow up

I was kidding about breaking my stick, by the way :) that's someone else's stick. Just wanted to scare Bobby.
(It worked, by the way :D )


So, on Thursday night, I tried to get to sleep early, at 10, because I wake up at 5:20 on Fridays to go to hockey. However, people in the dorm are yelling and slamming doors until about 1AM, sometimes 2. I was telling this to my friend who lives at home.
My friend (trying to be optimistic): well, at least you don't have to listen to washing machines all night!
Me: I DO! I live right across from the laundry room!
My friend: *hysterical laughter*

The irony of it was pretty funny, I have to say.

I was going to go to the gym today, but I'm still exhausted from skating. Turns out that once you learn to pivot, you can go faster. If you go faster, you skate more and go farther. And then you get a whole lot more tired without even realizing it. Fun times.

My friends and I are going to a varsity hockey game tonight! Our team is pretty terrible and plays so dirty that I want to disassociate myself from the Thunderbird name, but hockey games are awesome. Also, the seats are under a heating lamp! Sweetness.

Quick photo tour: 

My wall of post-its

My bookshelf, also with post-its on it.

My hockey bag, conveniently right in the centre of the room.

Also, this is what it looks like outside. Very grey.

And this is just to prove that I didn't really break the stick :)


Almost all the way through Term 1- next term, I get to play intramural hockey for the school! Very, very awesome.

Also, know what's funny? I don't use my left thumb to type. At all. Ever. I find that highly inefficient, and also kinda weird.

What's happened today

At hockey:
Teammate (to other teammate): Did you score all those goals?
Other teammate: Yeah, once I start I can't stop. I'm like a train!

In French class:
Random girl: Less better is the same as more worse!
Even in context, that barely even made sense.

In math class:
Prof Sulu: It's the same thing as dividing numbers, but with polynomials.
Which would make it something different. And here I thought the prof understood long division and its rules.


Also, check out what happened today!! Before I left for university, my brother gave me this awesome Reebok hockey stick that says Crosby on it. So, today, I decided to use it to play in the 6:30AM league, with all the guys. (By the way, turns out that at least one of them played Junior Hockey. Not even fair.)
So check out what happened:

Can you even  believe it?

Scientific Experiment: Effects of Positive Factors on Quality of Life

Purpose: In order to further improve quality of life at University, several factors were tested, to determine their importance in the total experience.

Hypothesis: If several key factors are increased, including academic success, socializing with friends, and athletic involvement, then the quality of life at University will likewise increase.

Materials:
1. calculus tutor
2. textbooks
3. friends
4. hockey gear
5. available ice rink
6. chocolate hedgehogs: 

Procedures:
1. Increase understanding in Calculus by finding a great tutor and suddenly realizing that the chain rule isn't as difficult as initially thought.
2. Solve some of the online math homework completely independently, and get the answers correct.
3. Study French grammar and almost get 100% on the quiz.
4. Spend Halloween at home, and also have these amazing chocolate hedgehogs.
5. Go downtown to Robson street with a friend, and have dinner at a sushi place where the sushi is on boats that go around on a moat; learn to like sushi, and then go window-shopping for boots.
6. Join a hockey league that plays at 6:30 AM on Fridays and meet a lot of great players.
7. Join a school intramural hockey team for next term, because playing for the school is very awesome.
8. Plan to see Inception at the school theatre with friends, and also to go out for dinner at Point Grill.
9. Go downtown for crepes and cupcakes with a friend after school.

Conclusions: Increasing the important factors contributed directly to an increase in quality of life at University. Experiment will be repeated as necessary, as improved social life, academic marks, and athletic involvement has a direct correlation to quality of life.