Quote

"the 'feeling of nowness' tends to last 3 seconds"

In other words, the way that I see it, you could say that "now" or the "present" lasts about 3 seconds. And since it's waaay too late for me to even try to put my mind into explaining what that means or where it comes from, I'll just post the link to the article that featured in Science Magazine.

Somebody tell the Mad Hatter that Now is only 3 seconds away! (no, I am not becoming delusional; it's related to a previous post)

Constitutional right to dissent or Why I hate lawyers

I respectfully inform you that it is my constitutional right to dissent with the agreement that has been reached upon by the general assembly.

Translation?

I don't agree.

Why the hell do lawyers and judges complicate sentences and words to the point of writing half a page that doesn't mean anything?? First of all, as my "beloved" Waves teacher from CEGEP used to say "Think of the trees!!!" (though I don't care much about the trees, but I just had to plug that in). Second of all (and the main point), what is the point of communicating something if no one (except your own breed of language twisters) can understand a word you're saying? You literally need a law degree just to translate their gibberish into common mortal language. And maybe you think I'm exaggerating, but let me give you an example (yeah the introductory sentence was just me trying and failing miserably to imitate my law teacher). It's a long quote, but bear with me.

"The conventional approach of categorizing discrimination as “direct” or
'adverse effect' discrimination should be replaced by a unified approach for several
reasons. First, the distinction between a standard that is discriminatory on its face and
a neutral standard that is discriminatory in its effect is difficult to justify: few cases can
be so neatly characterized. Second, it is disconcerting that different remedies are
available depending on the stream into which a malleable initial inquiry shunts the
analysis."

And this actually goes on for over half a page. And do you know what it means? Basically there are 2 types of discrimination, but we don't care about them because the judges have decided that it's not important to make a distinction. Two lines! Vs Half a page!! And that's not even the worst part. Just look at the last sentence of the quote. What does it mean?? I have no freakin' clue!! And I don't need to!! Cause it doesn't change anything!!! And these are sentences from the Supreme Court (therefore not that relevant to you and I). But the Civil Code or contracts or the gazillion other Acts that they have and which relate to us for the simple reason that we live in society and we are bound by regulations... Gah, I get a headache after reading just one page. Strangely enough, even my book on quantum mechanics is easier to understand than this.

Random rant

You know you've had too much caffeine when it's a quarter to 1 AM, you still have over 10 pages to read for a class the next day/later that day (depending how you see it), you have 2-3 emails to send and possibly 2 cover letters to write and somehow you still fell bubbly and full of energy. AND (which is not of insignificant nature) you still take 10 minutes of your precious time (or more) to write all this in a blog post... gah I need to lay off the caffeine.

Note to self: never ever decide to take a weekend off.... You WILL regret it amèrement

Note to self 2: find time to research careers... you know the people at school who always know what they're talking about and sometimes even more than the teacher? Those people who you wonder what the hell they are still doing in school? Those people who know exactly where they are going and how they're going to get there (also the same people who know everything that's happening in their field and who make you wonder if they spend all their days reading The Economist and The Globe and Mail... who else would say that Facebook is a bargain at $50 billion)? Or at the very least those people who have some sort of goal for their future (even if that goal is traveling as much as possible in order to understand how the world works and then how to try to fix it... hmm that sort of idealism is refreshing... it makes me want to stay in touch with that person if only to see for how long that idealism will survive... if it lasts more than 5 years then I might regain hope in the human race)? Anyway, all that to say that these people walk around with a sort of confidence that is out of this world and which I kind of envy. All that to say that I need to find myself a sense of purpose or a goal. And as much as I hate the idea, I need to choose a path...figure out what I want (somehow this sounds familiar... maybe cause I've been telling this to myself since I finished high school almost 4 years ago). And then I need to find the courage to stick to it... which is the hardest part. Like someone used to tell me, I need to have "assez de colonne" to stick to what I want. Blah easier said than done...

Assholes in nature.... make amazing songs

"Tu étais presque belle, j'étais pas loin d'être fidèle"

Hahaha excellent exemple du fait que "presque" n'est pas toujours suffisant. Bref, tout ça pour dire que j'adore cette chanson (et on est inséparables tous les deux depuis qu'on a fait connaissance ce weekend). Le ton, la musique (la voix laisse un peu à désirer, mais on peut passer par-dessus).


Cali - je m'en vais
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Little Boxes

While I was trying my hardest to study finance at school today, this song that I had for a while but which I hadn't really listened to came up on my mp3 player. And I stopped writing, looked up and smiled. The music in itself is quite crappy if I may say so, but the lyrics are just pure brilliant! And the worse part is that this song has been around since the 60's (yeah this is just a remake...the original one had even crappier music)!! I can't believe I missed it! Oh well, better late than never



Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes, all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
They're all made out of ticky-tacky,
And they all look just the same.

And the people in houses
Who went to the university,
Where they were put in boxes,
And they all came out all the same.
There's doctors and lawyers
And business executives,
They're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf-course,
And drink their Martini dry,
And they all have pretty children,
And the children go to school.
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university,
They all get put in boxes
They all come out the same.

And the boys go into business,
And they marry, raise a family,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
Yeah a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

I just love how cynical, but at the same time painfully lucid this song is. Because it's true! We all live or aspire to live in suburban "little boxes". And if you walk around neighborhoods, all the houses look almost identical. And that's because they have to! If you make the smallest change to your house, people from the urbanization department at City Hall come to knock on your door because they have strict policies about how neighborhoods should look. Which means that the "little boxes" HAVE to look all the same! And weirdly enough, people feel comforted by that. My law teacher was telling us today, as we were discussing human rights and discrimination, that a couple of years ago (make that 40-50 years ago) a lot of people got sued because home owners made agreements to never sell their houses to non-white, non-catholic potential buyers, all in the interest of keeping a "cultural homogeneity" in the neighborhood. Gah, bienvenue à Hérouxville anyone?

As for the university part, well it goes with what I was saying in a post I wrote about 6 months ago. Going to university is just another form of social integration. You go in as an individual and you come out as a doctor or an engineer or a financial analyst. But in the end, no matter what you do or where you go, there will always be labels. And whether you like it or not, you will be put in boxes and shelved and categorized, because that's how society works. It can't keep track of individuals because we are just too many. But it can keep track of nerds and bums and scientists and politicians and social activists and artists and teachers and doctors and lawyers and business executives who are all made out of ticky-tacky and who all look just the same.

Gotta love parodies

This is ridiculous. But I laughed sooo hard when I saw it hahaha!!!

Souvenirs d'antan

Dans mon cours de chimie de secondaire 5, mon professeur, l'honorable Luc Plusquellec, nous avait dit que la seule chose qu'on allait se rappeler de son cours était une seule et unique formule. Moi, j'étais sure du contraire. Dans mon for intérieur, je savais que j'allais vite oublier sa foutue formule ce qui amènerait la totalité de mes souvenirs de son cours à zéro (enfin, les niaiseries du prof sur la cigarette, les tartes auxquelles on ressemble et la frayeur qu'il ressentait à l'idée qu'on pourrait être ses enfants ne comptent pas vraiment comme des souvenirs respectables ou valables d'un cours sur la chimie).

Et bien, j'ai passé à travers le CEGEP (où j'avais de la difficulté à oublier sa formule pendant la première année pour la simple raison, que je l'utilisais dans tous mes cours de chimie). Je suis arrivée à l'université (où j'avais toutes les chances d'oublier sa formule étant donnée que la chimie était vraiment la dernière chose auquelle je pensais avec tous mes cours sur l'économie et la comptabilité).

Et voilà, quatre ans plus tard, je vois dans une formule seulement deux lettres adjacentes: RT. C'est tout. Et que me vient-il tout suite en tête? PV = nRT. Sa foutue formule!! Je ne me souviens plus du nom de la formule. Je ne me souviens plus de toutes les unités (par exemple, V, le volume, est-ce des cm3? P, la pression, est-ce des atm? n, est-ce que c'est la concentration, donc des mol/L?). Je sais juste que R est la constante des gaz parfaits (par contre quel chiffre elle représente? Pfff là on en demande un peu trop). Mais bref, tout ça pour dire que, après toutes ces années, l'héritage de Luc Plusquellec (tel qu'il l'avait prévu) se résume à PV = nRT.

Je me demande, si les gens des souviennent de moi après des années sans aucun contact, ils penseront à quoi?

Changer le monde, une personne à la fois, un rêve à la fois

Que dire, ce post existe juste pour partager un peu de sagesse (ou encouragement selon la façon dont on le voit) que j'ai reçu aujourd'hui. En fait, ça m'a prise un peu par surprise, mais aussi inattendu que ce soit, ça m'a quand même fait très plaisir et peut-être même plus étant donné que je ne m'attendais aucunement à avoir des nouvelles de cette personne. Et même si la personne en question ne lira pas ceci, je veux lui dire merci, parce que ça fait énormément de bien de savoir que quelqu'un pense à toi.

"lorsque vous fixez votre attention sur la moitie de la coupe qui est pleine, lorsque vous gardez le cap sur votre reve et sur la maniere dont ce dernier peut voir le jour, vous avez alors decouvert tout ce dont vous avez besoin pour atteindre la reussite.

des que votre reve devient plus fort que vos doutes et vos peurs, votre reve commence a devenir realite.

quels sont tes reves? en tant amis je te crois et j'ai la foi en toi que tu reussiras >:D. Tu sais beaucoup de gens se sont condamner eux-meme a abandonner leur reve, mais nos reve est l'essence meme de l'existence. un jour, je creera un companies multinational et avec ce companies je vais inspirer les autres personnes qui travailleront pour moi de poursuivre leur reves.

desole d'avoir ecrire tout cela, c'est un peu fou, mais des que tu crois en ton reve et que toute les doutes et peurs qui disparaissent, tu constateras que tu possede tout ce qu'il faut pour accomplir des prodiges."

Relapse

Sunt un simplu pamantean. Dragoste e tot ce am sa dau...
(Ok as pathetic as it might be, it is beautiful)

Things are not always what they seem

Ok, this is a song that I've known for at least 8-9 years, thought it was a typical pop song about a guy who lost the love of his life and is now crying his heart out over the loss of his girlfriend. Only problem is that I never saw the video for it. And what do you know, I randomly stumbled upon this video today and I was happily listening to it and remembering all sort of childhood memories, when I realized that the song is actually about.... a TURTLE!! Pffhahahahaha!!! Now THAT was unexpected! And random, but that's besides the point.

It's always good to have a PhD

"-Lucky for him, his daddy had a PhD. Do you know what a PhD is?
-An advanced university degree or a doctoral degree?
-Wrong. A PhD stands for 'Papa has Dough'!"

Hahaha voir que c'est ça que j'apprends dans mes cours de droit! Bah, pas juste ça, mais c'est surtout de ça que je me suis souvenue... oui, il y a le vieux monsieur juif qui voulait faire sa mini cabane de bois dans son balcon pour pouvoir prier à Dieu et qui est allé à la Cour Suprême du Canada pour se battre pour son droit de le faire... oui, il y a le monsieur qui a poursuivi le Premier Ministre ET Procureur Général Duplessis et qui a ruiné sa vie juste pour le principe de faire justice (bah je pense qu'il était aussi intéressé par l'argent dans sa poursuite, mais ça, il l'a pas vraiment eu)... oui il y a la Charte des droits et des libertés du Québec avec son fameux Article 3 qui te donne tous les droits du monde, juste pour te limiter par la suite avec l'Article 9.1 qui met le bien-être de la société québécoise avant tes libertés personelles.

BUT PhD!!! God that's priceless hahaha!!

Brazilian conversations

"You're too far away. We can't have a conversation because I can't kick you!"

Hahaha! And THIS is what they teach you in school kids!

No, but seriously, today I was forced (but pleasantly so) to see martial arts in a completely different way. What do you think about when you hear martial arts? Self-defense right? Well, Fabrizio (author of aforementioned quote) presented a confrontation between two opponents as a conversation. And it goes like this: "Hi! How's it going?" (kick in the head), "Not so bad, not so bad" (duck), "How's the family, they're doing good?" (kick from the side), "They're doing alright, yes" (dodge to the side), "Good weekend?" (head butt), "Oh yes, very relaxing" (sidestep to the right), etc.

Now, I can't say that this applies to all martial arts, but this is the mentality of a capoeirista or a intimate to the art of capoeira. These are also the same people who, when they start a fight, they say that they are going to "play". For the uncultivated people out there who don't know what capoeira is (such as myself until up to two-three weeks ago), it is a African/Brazilian form of martial arts mostly composed of kicks and, as weird as it might seem, dance moves. During this "game", you have to keep your center of gravity as low as possible and that sometimes gives the players (what I like to call) the look of crawling worms. It also leaves the inexperienced apprentice with very, VERY sore thighs and the feeling that your legs will no longer support your weight at the end of the day. However, even if it is SUCH a pain to play (and I'm not even talking about the show-off walk on your hands and do back-flips type), capoeira is beautiful to watch!





Buuuut, all that to say, that I did find the metaphor of a conversation as quite beautiful to describe this practice.

The Flea

I stumbled upon this hilarious poem by John Donne that I had studied in English in CEGEP and I felt the compulsive need to share it. Ironically though, it kind of contradicts my previous post. Then again, I never agreed with the author, but I did find his arguments quite ingenious. So he gets brownie points for the cunning!

Overall, this poem is about a man who tries to convince his lover to sleep with him even though they are not married.

Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is;
It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be.
Thou know'st that this cannot be said
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead;
Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two;
And this, alas! is more than we would do.

O stay, three lives in one flea spare,
Where we almost, yea, more than married are.
This flea is you and I, and this
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is.
Though parents grudge, and you, we're met,
And cloister'd in these living walls of jet.
Though use make you apt to kill me,
Let not to that self-murder added be,
And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.

Cruel and sudden, hast thou since
Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence?
Wherein could this flea guilty be,
Except in that drop which it suck'd from thee?
Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou
Find'st not thyself nor me the weaker now.
'Tis true; then learn how false fears be;
Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me,
Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.

Note: in the time that this poem was written (meaning the XVIth-XVIIth century) the letter "s" was written in a similar fashion to the letter "f". Now try to replace the "s" in the third line of the poem with "f" and see what that gives hahaha!

Romance without regret

Quite funny and an interesting point of view to consider. It is basically a conference/talk on sex and why you should wait in a relationship before making that step. I do not agree with all the points such as that of waiting until marriage, but I do think that waiting is important.

In between the lines

This is another one of my pointless rants on life. I don't even know why I'm writing it here or what I hope to achieve by complaining about this, but maybe by expressing it, I will finally be able to stop thinking about it and get it out of my head. I really hope, because I'm really tired of going around in circles with this topic.

Let's suppose you go about your life in normal fashion for a while and everything follows its normal course. Spring follows winter, the snow melts and then the temperature increases. Suddenly, summer is here, outside it's hot, everyone's happy. Autumn follows, the leafs fall down, it's getting chilly again, Halloween comes and goes, etc. etc. And suddenly you discover that you have been living a lie (whether it's intentional or not). You've had your doubts of course, but like any normal person, you ignore them and move on with your life. Because of course humans are fragile beings who need to live in denial in order to remain happy and have elevated the practice of lying to themselves to the state of an art. And then psychologists come along to help them uncover that which they knew from the beginning, but which they didn't want to see because they couldn't deal with it. But alas, I'm drifting from the subject at hand.

So, imagine that for whatever reason, the past months of your life have had aspects which differed from that which you thought you had perceived. Ok. You deal with it, you adjust your perception and you move on with your life. Easy enough, right? WRONG!! Once you get used to the idea, you start playing with it, turning it around, probing it, testing it in various situations, in other words you start thinking about it (I know, most of my problems begin when I start thinking). It's like getting a small glimpse of the backstage after a play and then you can't help wondering how everything was orchestrated so that the illusion fitted your perception, all the while staying just that: an illusion. And somehow every moment starts being put into question. Every glitch that you overlooked acquires a new meaning. You start wondering if maybe you could have figured this out by yourself and way sooner at that. Maybe you could have avoided it altogether. And despite yourself, you start questioning intentions and people, not knowing exactly what was the truth and what was not.

Maybe I am too innocent and naive for this world. Maybe I'm trying too hard to find something that doesn't exist. Things just seemed so much more simple a couple of years ago. There was black and white. Now there are just too many shades of gray to keep track of.

Food for thought or How the materialist theory of history is related to my lazy study habits

I think I fell in love today.

For the very first time in my meager 20 years of existence, I am looking forward to a course and I am NOT disappointed after the first class!! And I bought the book and I started reading it right after class (and a bit before) and taking notes and....now I sound like a nerd. That's what my friend told me when she saw me studying on the first day back to school. I don't caaaarrreee!

But that rant wasn't the purpose of my post (I know, could've fooled you). I actually wanted to share a piece of information that I learned and that I find shocking (even though it really isn't when you stop to think about it). So dear reader, imagine this: in humans, the frontal lobe of the brain, which is largely responsible for personality and organization, doesn't fully develop and continues to change until well into one's 20's!!!

Ahhhh I know, right? I can see your face right now. Amazing, incredible, fan-freakin-tastic, why are you getting so worked up over this useless piece of information, you nerd? Aha, well I shall tell you, avid reader of mine! This means that from certain points of view, there is still hope for me, while from others I just might be doomed.

For example, like many students in this world, I have a fundamental flaw and which is that I do everything (or almost) at the last minute. Which means that I'm very familiar with the concept of starting to cram 6 chapters 3 days before an exam. And that is not good. I always wondered what my grades would be like if I actually studied on time (or if I could actually remember the material from a course for more than a semester). BUT, with this new fact put into light, it might mean that my organizational (or lazy) habits are just a consequence of the not-yet-development of my brain (just as teenagers are more prone to depression over small things because they are not yet mentally equipped with the maturity needed to deal with them...that is not a judgement, it is a fact). So yey for that (though I'm not kidding myself too much)!

On the other hand, personality traits that I used to admire in myself no more than 3 years ago from which I have strayed and which I thought still hidden deep down inside, just waiting to come out again, well I might have to face the very real possibility that they are gone! So my creativity might have been blown out the window (maybe I still have some hope for this one), my environmental sense gone down the drain, my empathy completely dried out and my cool, aloof, non-mushy-huggy-touchy-feely character completely broken down. And I have noticed in the last couple of years that people and experiences to which I am extensively exposed have changed who I am and have shaped the way I see the world. I initially thought this might be a phase caused by the afterglow of the exposure (like a cake that is still hot when you take it out of the oven) . However, I might now be forced to reconsider that assumption and come to terms with the fact that these changes might be permanent. This has also made me realize that when you choose a field of study or a job, even though you might not pursue a career in that field, even though you tell yourself it is a temporary disposition until something better comes up, it might still affect your personality for better or for worse. The same reasoning applying to the people you spend your time with. And it might bring some credit to Marx's materialist theory of history. What he basically says is that human nature does not exist and that human behaviour is only dictated by the mode of production which causes the social conditions available. Therefore, capitalism would encourage individualism and selfishness in people, while communism would encourage a sense of collectivity and of selfless involvement in the community. However, I don't think Marx was talking only about people under 30 years old.

Anyway, I think that pretty much resumes what I had to say on the subject. Therefore dear reader, I hope that this discussion will make you think twice before making a choice in the future for it might affect you more than you think!

Holding on to Now

Here you are now, finally, now, you are here, now, but now is not now, now would be now if now wouldn’t have passed while I was telling you that you are here now, but you are here, here with me and you and here and please forgive me for now, because now is not here anymore, unfortunately we won’t be seeing him anymore, because now is gone and how dreadful that is, but, oh well, you are here even though now isn’t. What is that? Now will forever be here? Well not now now, but the new now will follow the old one who will no longer be now and when the new now will be gone, another will follow and so no now will ever be with us long enough as it is forever passing and forever fleeting. I’m sorry what were you saying? Why does it matter? Well, young lady, it certainly does matter for, if now always comes and goes, how can you ever sit down for tea with him? He is dreadfully rude I must say and it is terribly hard to uphold a conversation with him. I have been telling him for ages to slow down and just sit down and have a cup of tea with us. I tell you, there is simply nothing to be done with him. Now is simply a horrid guest to have and I am so sorry you had to be exposed to his ruddish ways and on your first visit here too. Please accept my deepest apologies, will you? I’m sorry dear, you’ll have to speak up. My hearing isn’t as good as it used to be when I first started drinking tea. You say you are not here for now? Well, of course you are here for now! Since you are here now! If only now could stay for a moment, I’m sure he could make you feel much more welcome! When you manage to catch up with him, his conversation is most stimulating I must say! Though he seems to be in much of a hurry today. It must be you who scared him off my dear! You are such an interesting young lady and, you see, now does not like interesting people as their conversation may enter in competition with his own. So you must understand, in those situations he simply panics and runs faster and faster. However, when our guests are complete and utter bores, now all of a sudden slows down until almost stopping. Oh if only you were a bore dear. Oh but, by the Queen’s head, I think I’ve got it Mr. Rabbit! Why we just have to find ourselves a bore and now will then have to stop and sit down for tea with us! And then Alice will finally get to meet him! Would you like that my dear? Oh, what am I saying? Of course you would! Since you are here now and for now and now will have to be here now, for now is not now without now…

The Lightening strike

Part 1: What if the storm ends?



Part 2: Sunlight through the flags



Part 3: Daybreak