Wisdom of 4/20/2009

Life is either hard, or numb.

And the results are...

Katie McAlduff

is going to Japan!

:D

Equations of Life

I don't have time to write an actual post, but here's some fun:

http://www.morenewmath.com/random/

Just keep clicking "Random" at the top.. its pretty much an algebraic solution for every life situation :)

Enough Funny for a Lifetime

I just came across this incredily funny webcomic site! There's a lot of nerdy math jokes, but I think for the most part they're very straight forward:

Here's 3 random links to different comics I found funny:

http://xkcd.com/387/

http://xkcd.com/242/

http://xkcd.com/166/

I just keep pressing random, and more funny ones keep popping up! Haha, I realize its probably a pretty unique taste in humor. At least there's that for the crazies like me out there!

Enjoy :)

Haiku to a Sailor

Forget it, Bunny

If you have ever loved me..

.. please just let me be..

Winter Haiku

It snowed here today..

I just cannot kick these blues

.. Because I miss you

What do I owe you?

So, anyone who knows me knows I hate disappointing people. I'd rather sacrifice anything I'm doing to help someone I care about. But lately, that means sacrificing a lot of my happiness... and I realized there's just one question:

What do I owe people?

The real answer is nothing. I could live my life in solitude and do nothing for anyone. Simple right? Maybe for some people, but socializing is high on my pyramide of needs. Sometimes even thinking makes me lonely. So I do nice things for people I like and care about so that I get to socialize and have lots of friends. I thrive on this - I love doing nice things for people I love.

But what do I owe people I don't want to socialize with? Currently I do nice things for them anyway, even if I don't think I care about them, because 1) its easier to keep the peace and 2) I hate disappointing anyone. But man... it's starting to wear on me.

If I have the ability to help someone, is it my responsibility to do so? I'm getting tired and annoyed helping people that just don't appreciate it...

What about people I'm tied to in life, but don't want to associate myself with? Do I owe these people anything because of our ties?

Storm

I just heard this poem this morning, and it reminded me a lot of converstations I sometimes find myself in. I can't stand when people pretend to know what they're talking about! This one is a humorous debate between medicine and the natural, specifically science vs. god. I hope you enjoy! Tell me what you think!

Storm by Tim Minchin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB_htqDCP-s

Today is beautiful.

The sun is shining, and the birds are singing. I can hear the snow and ice melting from my window, in which I can now leave open since the weather is fit. I had a good cup of coffee this morning. I had an interesting chat about math and music, even though my friend didn't agree with my opinion.

I met some good people this past weekend. I danced, I sang, and I just layed low. Sure, lots of other great things could have happened, but I appreciated my time to melt. I'm ready now, for a productive week.

I love this sun. I hope it sticks around to keep me energized for the week.

Picture: Cheeko giving her aunt Katie a kiss!

Expectations?

I've really wanted to write on this blog for a long time, but I think I've been overcomplicating things. Everytime I go to write something, I feel like its not interesting enough. I think I'm really forgetting the main point to this blog-thing. Most times, I just need to clear my head. I guess I don't have to come up with some new idea or discuss a philosophical concept. I'm just too picky, I guess.

So this entry will not be extremely interesting.

I woke up this morning, had a coffee, did my morning puzzles, and went to class. Then I worked. Now I'm here. I was hung over because I went out last night. I went to open mic at Baba's, and sang new songs. It felt good. People complimented me, that felt good too.

I've been in a rotte these past few days, and I'd love to know how to get out. I think a lot of people are. This winter has been far too long and cold. I need a change.

I'm mad that my boss last year sold Cafe Diem to Murphy's. Very mad... but EXTREMELY disappointed. This probably means I'm out of a job, or at least need to go and get my servers course. Which wouldn't be a big deal if I wasn't so damn lazy.

I'm frustrated that people keep asking me what I'm going to do next year. I don't know, cool? I hate that I won't be in school. I hate not knowing what's next. I hate that I can't even plan anything until I find out about Japan. I hate that this math degree won't do jack-all for finding a decent job if I don't go to Japan. I hate that my life is going to change significantly, and ~50% of the people I care about won't be in it. I hate that its already started to happen. But what I would hate even more is festering on this island, not experiencing other things. I'll miss the people, but I won't miss the suffocation.

I'm sad, even though things are going pretty well in my life, and I really have nothing of significance to complain about. I'm lonely, even though I'm surrounded by great people. I'm constantly irritated and annoyed by everything, for no reason.

Maybe next week will be more interesting... but this week I'm too exhausted to come up with anything else.

Is it true what they say? Does everybody HATE Toronto?

So... I just had my interview for the JET program today, and let's just say I'm looking into plan B (I'm not ready to talk about how it went yet....) Moving along... I decided to explore Toronto, a city I always envisioned hating. However, there were things I actually liked! Here's my list of likes and dislikes.

Likes:

- There are many many many.... MANY coffee shops to choose from

- The transit system is easier to use than Charlottetown (seriously!)

- City Grill makes a good Portebello Mushroom pannini!

- There are more stores .:. More Competition.. .:. Many more BLOWOUT SALES! (I got man-made suede boots from Le Chateau for $20!)

- The sidewalks didn't have 5 inches of slush on them (boourns Ch'town)

Dislikes:

- A ran into a foreigner who made a comment about the weather. I giggled. He started to follow me and insisted he bring me to the Eaton Centre. He asked a lot of questions. As far as he is concerned, My name is Darcy and I'm a Salsa dance instructor from Iowa. I am in town for a week as my cousin is on his deathbed. I am on my way to shop away the pain. I ditched him at Second Cup, even though he insisted on buying me a coffee (phew!)

- After that, I grew stone cold and wouldn't look at anyone. Toronto is a soul-killer.

- I'm pretty sure you could spend your entire life indoors without ever having to go outside. As long as you're attached to Eaton Mall or a Subway system, there is no need to ever see sunlight.

- I got so distracted by the big city, I left behind my coffee in stores... twice.

- I may have gotten cancer from the smog and cellular phone radiation

- 10 year old children all have cell phones. I overheard on the subway that one kid was bullying another kid through TEXTING! I find that absurd

- My waiter didn't flirt with me.. not even a little.

- There are no benches on the sidewalks (or at least on Yonge st)... and though Charlottetown mostly doesn't either, I half expected it in Toronto. This became very important as I was walking around in styletos (bad idea Katie... I don't care who you're trying to impress)

Okay, so I might've been a little bias going into this, but I think between children getting picked on by text messaging and my new foreign friend that almost took me home with him, I have to say I will never live in Toronto. It's great to shop in, as long as you stay indoors out of the smog. Which isn't a problem for most people. Sorry Toronto and Torontonians, but my vote is still...

Toronto, boo.

If we never get scared, how do know we're alive?

So, call it a case of the winter blues. I guess it was a lot of things, but yesterday, I JUST NEEDED TO GET OUT. So I did. I went for an epic walk.

My roommate Steph had told me once about this cool park she found behind Superstore, down on North River Road. So I thought I'd set out to find it. I bundled up, since it just began to snow, and set out for an intended 30 min walk. It was about 10pm.

So I walked down Belvadere, knowing all I had to do was walk straight, but decided to take a cool little road. It turned out I just walked around the block, so it was no big deal. I stumbled upon my goal: Queen Elizabeth Park

I should have taken a further away picture of the gazebo, it was so beautifully lit up. I was so excited though that I ran across the field in 3 feet of snow to this glorious little hut. Once I got there I took a few pictures of my surroundings. I would have taken more, but my fingers were about to freeze off:

I sat there by the waterfront for about 10 mins, freezing with the cold wet wind, contemplating what I should do next. It had only taken me about 20 mins to get there, and I still didn't feel like going home. So I decided I would follow different roads back to make things more interesting. That it did....

First I found a skidoo trail that led me behind people's houses. Between setting off automatic lights and barking dogs, I'm thrilled and excited I didn't get arrested.

After wandering small streets for a bit, I finally came across one I recognized: North River Road. Only I didn't know which side of the road I was coming out on... do I turn left or right? To the left, I saw one traffic light and a house I thought I recognized. To the right I saw many traffic lights, which to me seemed like closer to the city. I was feeling left, but thinking right. I went with my mind. I should have gone with my instinct. (Note to friends, go with your instinct, always).

"North River Road"

After walking for 20 mins I realized I was slightly lost...... Hope?

Nope. I refused to turn around though, something was bound to look familar. And then it did... Colonel Gray High School. I was almost downtown, soaked to my knees in melting snow and fingers barely hanging on.

I had no idea where I would come out on on University, but I guessed my best bet was to find something familiar. So up Kirkwood I went... and came across some interesting things...


1) We have a private Christian High School in Charlottetown, who knew?

2) An alien abduction on a weird street. (This seriously freaked me out, I was about to call a cab at this point... but I realized the point of the walk was to be scared, so I trudged on)

<-- This is a sign that says "Trafalgar"

This is a child's mitten -->

And then... finally... M&M meats saved my balls! (You will never hear me say that again)

All in all, it was an adventure, exactly what I anticipated. I arrived home at 12:28am, so it only took me 2.5 hours. Possibly the most exercise I've had all month. Here's a map for you to follow my wild and crazy adventure. The Red in on my way there, and the Blue is for on the way back.

Note 1: Red -- I was still warm. Blue -- I was close to hypothermia

Note 2: These are only my best guessed at the roads I took... where I really went only the aliens will know.

The problem with snow is...

I miss the beach, and thus the sun.

I miss sitting at Baba's when the day is done,

Sipping a glass of red wine, non-devine

I miss the constant flow of caffeine

through my veins, as if routine.

Waiting tables, hearing fables

I miss spitting out sunflower seeds

and rolling around in the dandelion weeds

Waiting for the moon to bloom

I miss riding my bike

And going for hikes

Winter's mundane -- I'm going insane

But what would I miss otherwise?

I like making a piece of string into something I can wear

I love knitting.

Yesterday, I taught my married friends, Ashley and Ben, how to knit. Two months ago, I taught someone how to knit so they could knit a scarf for the girl he loved for Christmas. I was taught how to knit by one of my closest friends at a knitting club she hosted in residence. Through knitting, I have seen frustration (losing a stitch halfway through a project), joy (people receiving knit gifts), accomplishment (finishing your first project), fear (the first time you knit a stitch, and slip it off the needle) laughter (realizing you flipped your stitches knitting in the round), and so many people coming together. Knitting undeniably has an underground culture in my generation.

Some people are afraid to admit it. I embrace it! I knit my loved ones things for Christmas, and in the past people have knit things for me for Christmas. There's so much love and time that goes into knitting. For instance, I'm knitting my sister a scarf right now, and every stitch I take I think about what she will wear it with, if she'll like the colors, and the pattern, if it will keep her warm with this crazy chill wind... etc.

Once you're a master at knitting, which I hope to someday be, you can pretty much knit anything that comes to mind. Hats are something I'm becoming more comfortable with, and with time I'll be able to invent my own patterns.

My next step though, is socks. In this way, knitting is also a very practical pass time. Your efforts produce something in the end, whether it be for you or for someone else.

So if you've ever considered knitting -- give it a try! Yes, it can be frustrating. Yes, your first project will probably look more like a huge V than a scarf. But the practice you put into it is the experience you get out of it, and with time, hopefully we'll all be knitting gurus.

Out with the old... in with the.. Old

Anyone who knows me knows I am a fairly thrifty girl. I find sales like nobody's business... Value Village might as well hire me as a sales rep. But I end up accumulating a lot of crap. The worst of it all is, I'm also a slight pack rat. So for me to get a cardboard box at Superstore, fill it with things, and then attempt to sale/get rid of those things.. its a pretty big deal.

I did it though! I filled two whole boxes full of clothes that I haven't worn in possibly 4 years, and with my friends, Kate and Ayumi, set up a table at the flea market and GOT RID A' SHIT (as my brother might say)

Kate, Haggling :)

After we sold all we could, we continued to get rid of shit....

... at the Value Village drop-off donation box...

Its going to be funny to see my things in there next week, when I set out to find more amazing deals.

Here's my latest amazing deal -- $25 at the flew market! My new baby...

Word has finally come..

So, after not receiving word for a whole week about JET, I finally called my dad to see if it the reply had somehow got sent home... and it had. So since Monday, my dad has known I was accepted for an interview, and I have not.

Oh yeah, I got an interview!!!!! :D :D

I still don't know when it will be, but I know its between February 17th - February 19th, which is conviniently over my spring break. I feel sooo privilaged and excited that I get to move on to the next stage, but it hasn't completely sunk in yet. I think when they contact me about my interview date it will be more real to me.

Well, its Saturday morning, the farmers market awaits!

Que sera, sera...

So, I haven't been keeping up with my blogging in the least. I wanted to --in a way this was supposed to be a New Years resolution. For myself... to vent, to improve my writing skillz. And for people in my life.. to find out what it is I do with this super huge math brain of mine :D (cheeky smile)

But lately life has been happening, and I realize sometimes you just have to live it. Not analyse it... live it. Happy things have happened, sad things have happened.... big decisions have replaced little decisions.

I think I mentioned before that I am graduating this year, and the only thing I have planned is to go to Japan. The program I'm applying for (JET) is pretty prestigious, and for thousands that apply, only about 500 get excepted each year. Today, I just found out one of my friends who applied did not get excepted, and I'm pretty sure my letter of rejection interview time is in the mail, and will be waiting for me after class tomorrow.

I'm nervous, but at the same time relaxed. I'm thinking, if I don't get excepted, I'll just do something else.... but what? For the first time in my life, there's no second step. No immediate direction I want to take. In a way, that makes me extremely excited -- I'm finally free. But in another sense, I'm extremely terrified. What do I do about this $25,000 loan I have accumulated over 4 years of a math degree I'm not going to use right away?

I know I could get a job with the government, but would that make me happy? I'm not much of an office girl, and I give huge credit to those who are. I'm extremely figgety and I'm sure would have to rearrange the furniture every few days. Gahhhh, craziness!

I would love nothing more than to ultimately live in Victoria BC for about 2 years, make some good money to pay off my loans, not have to worry about the 3-year contract I got myself into with this smell-phone of mine, and live in the trees. So I figure if Japan is where I'm meant to be, I'll be there. If not, something else will take its place. In my adult life, (that's right, compared to my teenaged life) I've learned not to worry so much.. and just.. to live.

I read a great quote in one of my dad's "Men's health" magazines once:

"Women often worry about things that work themselves out eventually"

Now, I've never thought of myself as much of a girly-girl before, but I definitely think I do worry too much. I hope that in the coming few months...
.......as I prepare to graduate
.......and enter the real world
.......and figure out how to pay off this crazy loan
that I remember that things will work themselves out. Yeah, its good to be responsible, but you shouldn't take life so seriously.

The wonderful boy I've been dating for a few months now just went on a life quest to do just that... live. And even though I miss him incredibly, I have to have faith that things will, in turn, work themselves out in the long run. However that may be :)

Back to being useful: First day of the last of my Degree

After sitting on my butt for a month, there are no words to describe how great it is to be back in class. Just having a reason to wake up at 9am is invigorating, but seeing everyone again, getting their coffees at the Student Centre, and walking through the windway at the library was super!

I think I have always felt this way about University. I think though, being in my last semester of my last year, I appreciate it even more. For one, I dread the thought of going out into the real world and making something of myself. To be honest, I'd love to stay in school, but I know I'll only appreciate it more if I get out there and see what else there is.

For two, I realize what a breeze 4th year is! This semester I am taking ONE math course (opposed to 4 or 5), Japanese, Music Socio-Cultural Studies (it sounds fun), and Buddhism. That's it. No 5 x 18 hour-a-week assignments. One of my roomates is in 2nd year Biology, and I don't even know how she does it! 5 courses, 4 labs a week, plus assignments... I'm not sure if they leave much time for eating or sleeping.

I remember doing all that jazz at one point in my University career.. but without the motivation I'm not sure I could do it again. I have seriously considered applying to get my masters in Architecture down the road, but for now I think I just have to take a step back and make sure that's what I want to do. As I get older, I'm finding the old brain isn't working as fast as she used to. For now, I'm just going to enjoy my last semester with my Math-kin, and hopefully make a little money while I figure out what I'm doing with my life.

I wish there was a job that hired Math kids to solve interesting math problems, with a constant flow of coffee. The problem is, Math kids LOVE math (you kind of have to), so pretty much any problem I would be able to solve has already been solved, probably in one's spare time. It's a competitive field, that's for shizzle.

Note: I think, to exercise my brain a bit, I'm going to conduct an experiment to see how necessary coffee is to be successful in math. I only know two math majors that don't drink coffee. (We'll call them the outliers, haha.)

I think this would also be applicable to Computer Scientists (as I had to take a computer science course, and ended up at the Wave, our campus pub, every Sunday after the assignments were due). After all, why would they call an entire programming language Java if it wasn't on their minds? Riddle me that, Batman!

"Sex is like snow, you never know how many inches you're going to get or how long it will last"

The New Year brought more than new outlooks and goals this year; it also brought 8 feet of snow in front of my door.

On December 31st, when I got a call from my mom warning me about how much snow there was to come, I kind of rolled my eyes and continued to get ready for my New Years eve gala. For one, PEI weather is about as predictable as stubbing your toe. Secondly, my mom loves to worry, as most moms do even though I haven't lived home for 4 years now.

So I went to the gala, knowing the snow was coming, and had a great time with the beau.

On our way home, I saw the snow, but it was nothing my mom said it was going to be. That was until we woke up the next day at 11am, and got our first warning....

And then later that afternoon....

And that evening.. And the next morning

Let me tell you, I had some crazy cabin fever. Leaping out of my back door on January 2nd, which had only collected about a foot of snow, I decided to take my daily crossword downtown and finish it at Timothy's. I should have taken pictures downtown, as it was NUTS! In some spots, there was so much snow cars were driving through tunnels of snow, and where they had ploughed the sidewalks (which wasn't everywhere -- extreme danger) there were spots where the snow was so high you couldn't see the road.

As a result from my adventure, for the first time in a zillion years, my immune system of steel decided to take a break and grace me an old-timey winter cold. My bronchitus usually acts up 2-3 times a year, but its been ages since I haven't felt like moving from my uncomfortable "floor office" at the foot of my bed.

I've been friggin' around with this blog all day trying to get the header right, but it will never be to my expectations. My lovely roommates returned last night, one bringing with her some delectable Ferrero Roche bonbons, and the other bring back some AMAZING Yukon roasted coffee called "Christmas Blend". All I can say is, I would travel to the Yukon for this coffee, its unbelievable. I like to think I know a little about coffee.

So here I sit, sipping on my french pressed Christmas blend, blowing my nose, and chilling with the coolest cat in the world Paco. It's 4:30pm, so I'm thinking I should get my life together.

What's in a Name?

Welcome, everyone, to my first entry in my blog titled,

"Black Coffee Folk Song".

Why did I decide to make a blog? Well first off, let me warn you my English skills suck (and yes, it IS my first language) . Which is,

• Reason #1: I hope that writing more often will improve my English skills.
• Reason #2: I often come across knitting blogs, craft blogs, etc. and I do those things, so I thought I'd give back to those lovely ladies and gens that make my gift making/ boredom breaking possible
• Reason #3: I have no idea where I'll be next year, so I thought this would be a good way for people to catch up on my life. That is, other than facebook.
• Reason #4: I think too much, so I thought I'd document some of that hardwork my brain cells do involuntarily

So, that was fine, I decided to make a blog. Cool. So I went through the process, name, email... yada yada,... then.... blog title. ... ....

I think a name really says a lot about someone, or something. If I called it "Dog Watch" people might think my blog was about watching dogs at a park. I don't do that, so even though it crossed my mind, I thought I'd search a little harder. So I did what anyone would do: Googled words I like.

If there's anything you will ever need to know about me, its that I love music, and coffee literally runs through my veins. (I can't remember the last time I had a glass of water, though I know it was sometime this week..) Thus, my first search was "coffee music" which led me to some cool photos, but no name.








My second idea was to thesaurus these words, coffee and music. After coming up with some runners up, such as Americano Folk Song (which I liked, but realized not everyone would get) and Folk Song Brew (which was catchy, but I didn't think everyone would get 'brew' was coffee) I decided on Black Coffee Folk Song.
Thoughts, feelings, complaints? Let me know! I'll leave you with a quote that I came across in my search for the perfect name:

"I'll quit coffee. It won't be easy drinking my Bailey's straight, but I'll get used to it. It'll still be the best part of waking up."
~From the television show Will and Grace