Light at the End of the Tunnel ...

One more week of total, complete, 100% effort into writing essays, readings, and studying and then I am DONE!!!!

Forever!

I think.

Een, Twee, Drie .... Break Over.

Echt leuk:

En weer verder leren ...

Home Sweet Home

Whoot! I resorted to a significant dose of coffee and sugar to make it through the day! It is evening, and I am working! Actually working.

Anyways, one thing is sure, that if I don't make this post, it will never happen. And I have to convince you again that the Holstein Rodeo is well-worth any terrible weather conditions you may have to endure. Last year? Rain. This year? Extreme Heat and Extreme Cold. Basically Saturday was a summation of the weather we have been having so far this summer, it even included rain. I do have a nice sunburn on my shoulders to show for this day.

And some nice shots:

and the Road Hammers:

On a side-note:

Upon a couple of years of data and analysis, it can be determined that the busier I am, the more likely I am to post updates about life. Seeing that the next three weeks are going to be, well, beyond any craziness that I have ever experienced, I have a feeling I will be posting lots as well. I do pre-apologize for the fact that they may simply say "aaah" so as to imply some sort of agony. I will survive.

One final Post Scriptum: what happens to dead tadpoles? I have seen many tadpoles in the pond at home, and I know few of them become frogs, then why don't I see any dead tadpoles?

Just Like a Wavin' Flag

Happy Belated Birthday Canada! Hope it was a nice one! Okay, well I am pretty sure it was, if you were in Ottawa anyways. I do think that at some point in your Canadian lifetime you have to come celebrate in Ottawa. Not for the fireworks though. They are easily rivalled by a small town like Owen Sound. But the rest of the day was pretty rockin'!

We decided to Marathon it on Canada Day. Which made for a long day. Which, believe it or not was not nearly enough time to see everything. You really have to pick and choose things to do, because there is so much stuff happening! But we saw the changing of the guard, the musical rides, the prime minister, the snowbirds, a one song performance by a number of artists, including Sarah Mclachlan and Shane Yellowbird, and even more performances in the afternoon and evening. And wow - so many people! I don't think I have ever seen this many people together before. This was just on Rideau Street, the least busy of the day!

This musical rides show by the RCMP was pretty fantastic. Despite the music cutting out constantly, and having to stand on my tippy-toes to see anything, it was cool to see. Plus the horses they have there are just beautiful!

The stage on Parliament Hill, the lights, and videos were pretty amazing! For a free, outdoor show it was very good! Although I would have to complain about the Canadian Unity Flag someone was flying right in our view of the stage. Which was just as annoying as the people sitting around us, who insisted on smoking in public. Actually, what was also interesting was that the performances were slated to start at 6.30pm. Then, at 6.30 they start a one hour countdown. To the beginning of the show right, so at 10 seconds everyone is up counting down, but at 0, there were no fireworks, but commercials! Whoot! Chicken Farmers of Canada!

Anyways, the performances were great! Ranging from the Canadian Tenors to last year's winner of So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Sarah Mclauglin to the Respectables. Marie-Mai to

Cirque Fantastic Concept. Lots of English, and lots of French! I think one of my favourite performers was probably K'naan. He had the whole audience sing along to his song Wavin' Flag. Plus they were so good live! His first perfomance even included the trampolines, and a dancers!

Shane Yellowbird! He was singing his song Pick Up Truck to which we loudly sang along. There was not nearly enough country music, but still. Whoot! Country! I think I will get my fill of

country lovin' at the Rodeo next week :D

The snowbirds! my (now tiny) dream of becoming a jet pilot was brought back at the sight of this performance. I remember seeing them in Owen Sound a couple of summers ago, where they did an equally amazing show above Georgian Bay.

and finally, Sarah Mclachlan performed World on Fire, Angel, and Building a Mystery:

Whoot! Canada!

back in time

music (and coffee) have always been great study companions for me, and this time i went a little back in time:

journey - wheel in the sky (1978)

styx - renegade (1978) they are coming to bluesfest!

scorpions - send me an angel (1990)

XD

and i learned that this song was the number one hit the week i was born, interesting development!

No Ocean Too Wide

What we would do for a cup of brewed coffee! Our coffeemaker has been giving us serious grief, and since I was using it to try to get back up and running, I was left to my own devices to make an afternoon Cup of Joe. And no one should have to drink instant right?

Yesterday I was at a workshop for job searching procedures in the hidden job market. Anyways, Step 1 of Networking is letting all friends and family know that you are looking for work. So hereby I should let you know that I am job searching. Like real life serious job searching. Yay Me! I hate promoting myself. :S

Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard and Markete Irglova

[laugh][often] [love][much]

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Love Always.

Blackboard Material

It was probably close to exam period when we had a review session for our research and methods class. We had this class 8.30 on Tuesday mornings, and one of my classmates felt the need to document what we had to live through for the semester. Although looking back at it now, it wasn't that bad. I do have class in a couple of hours, and I better continue my readings on bank failures ... so depressing :S

Song choice: She doesn't Belong to Me - Pete and the Pirates:

"I got up in such a hurry, I'm still stuck inside my dream"

Doors Open - Open Doors

What a gorgeous day!

It never seized to amaze me, how vibrant a city Ottawa is. We headed downtown today, and first came across the D-Day Ceremonies. Then we had a chance to check out the Arts Court, the former Ottawa jail, the Government Conference Centre, and the Saint John the Baptist

Ukrainian Catholic Shrine. Very interesting stuff! And while we w

ere walking through the Glebe we even came across the New Art Festival. Even though I am not always a big fan of art, it was a very nice show! Anyways, I just thought I share a couple of pictures:

i see this church almost every day, and finally had a chance to see it!

jail - exit sign, which almost looks like it has been written in blood

i think i will go and nurse my blisters now! that is always the problem with the beginning of summer ...

now, some lyrics that i have been enjoying:

"you might say you're pretty,

you might say you're free,

life may be so easy,

love may be so free

........

you might say you're ugly,

you might say you're chained,

life may be so dreary,

love may be a shame

........

it's inside your heart lady,

where the battle is won"

to forget and not to forget [3]

to offer some consistency, and not to forget, i just wanted to dedicate some online space to the life of Poisson Papillon III.

dear betafish, you were with us for a time far too short. and now i am wishing i had captured your fighting spirit on camera, so that this post could be complete with your picture, and the legacy could last into finite time. but alas.


kelly family - why don't you go (i think my roommates might be going crazy with my incessant need to play music by this group. they don't know however, how lucky they are ... had we met two years previous, it would have been westlife)

just a few shots ...

because pictures are always a good way to share something without really saying anything.

I think BINGO is always good times ...

In mom's garden.

Tulip Festival!


When I was in Hamilton, I had to drive by the old house. And remember Barclay:

Sometimes

I remember the Kelly Family from way back. This song, however, I had never heard before.

bring on the sunshine!

i might be sick. and i might be feeling a combination of anger/frustration/stress/anxiety/depression as a result of writing my macroeconomics final. nonetheless the sun was shining and we went down to mooney's bay for the first tennis match of the season! good for my first sunburn of the season also.

but i say, bring on the sunshine!

i have been listening to coury palermo this week, and i have almost decided that he has the best voice i have heard all year. and he can also be heard here.

coury palermo -sunday black

I am studying, I swear!

i was surfing the internets and came across this band, and now i realize why neither the name or the faces are unfamiliar: we used to live around the corner from Arkell, and i used to see some of these guys at school all the time.

great song i thought, the lyrics probably don't sound all that unfamiliar either :P

sooooo not interested in macroeconomic theory ....
in fact i should be having a beer celebrating/mourning the last Senators game of the season! score is tied, 2-2, Go Sens Go for the last period of the season! UPDATE: stupid, stupid game.

neverending white lights (and scott andersen) - i hope your heart runs empty

because it ain't over until the fat lady sings ...

and that is why we went to overtime. and shootouts. and despite taking flack for being an unbelieving and disheartened fan, most senators fans do not bank on a win when the ice is being cleared for the shootout ... despite our history of you know winning the first shootout (if i know my history ... correctly?)

just a late night thought ...

... it was so much easier to stay up late to work on a project when everyone else was staying up late too.

it is 11:11 and all my roommates are sleeping-ish.

broken strings - james morrison and nelly furtado

Because it is not over until it is really over

So, as the hockey fan as I am, it has been rather disappointing that I have moved to Ottawa, and that I have not even gone to see the Senators play since I have been here. In fact, I have been more likely to see the team play when i lived far away ...

but that is coming to an end,

even though the season is almost done, the team has played their worst season since I have lived in Canada, I am finally going,

and I am super excited !

just thought I would share that.

Now I am going back to write 10 pages of what I would like to think is pure genius. Because maybe if I think it enough, it might magically be just that?

Numbers Game

since I am working with numbers, and more numbers these days, here is an interesting number to throw at you ...

this is from my itunes generated top 25 most played playlist ... so it does not count all the times I was at the computer lab and was streaming music online. you should also know that I downloaded the first song on march 23.

Yikes.

Talk

Songs I must remember:







and newest of all
Talk - Ross Copperman

Psalm 42:5

Maar de Heer zal uitkomst geven,
Hij, die ’s daags zijn gunst gebiedt.
‘k Zal in dit vertrouwen leven
en dat melden in mijn lied;
‘k zal zijn lof zelfs in den nacht
zingen, daar ik Hem verwacht,
en mijn hart, wat mij moog’ treffen,
tot den God mijns levens heffen.