Category: Daily life

"What's wrong with being elitist, if you are trying to encourage people to join the elite rather than being exclusive?"

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Today has been a slotttthhhhhhhful day. It was nice to sleep in this morning after a late night out with CBGB, and we’ve barely gotten off our asses all day. No trips to plan, no festivals to attend, no pictures to sort & upload, no textbook to read, etc. Good thing, too, ’cause it’s friggin’ freezing outside.

.:.

Yesterday’s Salon featured an interview with Richard Dawkins, who I wrote about here.

It’s interesting that you link those two words — intelligent and atheistic. Are you saying the more intelligent you are, the more likely you are to be an atheist?

There’s a fair bit of evidence in favor of that equation, yes.

Word.

[tags]richard dawkins, atheism[/tags]

Not booking vacations will mean the terrorist bears have won

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I love doing nothing.

OK, well, we didn’t exactly do nothing today, but pretty close. We went looking for a wide angle lens for our new camera, but couldn’t find the adaptor needed to make it work; it seems to be sold out everywhere. We’re now on the hunt for one before we leave for Alberta next Sunday. We also picked up some clothes at MEC, since we’re not sure what the weather’s going to be like. While we were there some wildlife people were showing a group of kids some animals native to Ontario like badgers, possums and snapping turtles. It was hard to get Nellie out of the store.

After picking up those things and doing a few more errands we came home and have spent nearly the entire day exploring: Nellie in a new book we bought about hiking trails in the Rockies, me on Google Earth. I plan to scour sites like wikitravel and chowhound for travel hints and ideas over the next week. Anybody know any good places to eat in Calgary (or Banff/Lake Louise/Jasper)?

.:.

My brother is also leaving for a trip in the next couple of days. While we explore the mountains, he’ll be in Turkey. There was some concern about the safety of that destination following the explosions at tourist resorts in August, but h’s not scared. What follows is a transcript of an email conversation we had today:

  • Tim: I know you guys are going out west soon. Before I forget, [SWMNBN] and I wanted to say, “Have a super time”. I’ve only been to the Rockies once, and have felt like I should do that again some day. I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun.
  • Dan: Thanks! Yeah, a week from now we’ll be packing for our early-Sunday-morning flight. Did you ever reset your travel plans? Or are you still aiming for Turkey?
  • Tim: We’re still going to Turkey. Fuck terrorists.
  • Dan: Exactly. That’s why we’re going to the Rockies. Fuck terrorists. Wait…I meant bears. Fuck bears. I always get those things mixed up.

Word.

[tags]rockies, banff, lake louise, jasper, google earth, wikitravel, chowhound, turkey, fuck terrorists[/tags]

Happiness is laziness & italian food

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Here’s why I am exceedingly happy at the moment:

  • I’ve had an afternoon to vegetate and regain some energy. I considered going in to the office, but I knew I’d be of absolutely no use. So I hung out with the cats and caught up on stuff around the house instead.
  • Nellie’s home!
  • I have decided not to do any work on my next course — quantitative methods — until we get back from Alberta. That means no studying for 2 weeks.
  • We’re going to Fieramosca for dinner.

Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…

[tags]tranquility, quantitative methods, fieramosca[/tags]

Halcyon

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Today’s our “breather” day…we took the day off, and have no films until tonight, so we’ve spent the day sleeping in, relaxing, and doing a few errands. I got my hair chopped off and finished off the last little bit of work for my international business course while Nellie confirmed all the reservations for our upcoming Rockies trip. Tomorrow it’s back to work during the day and films each night (‘cept Friday) and then I’m back at school for a week. Once I’m back I’ll have to investigate what to see and do between Banff and Jasper.

.:.

After a friend mentioned the Atlantic Film Festival I had a look at the website. I wish they’d had the festival when I lived there. Or maybe they did and I just didn’t pay attention to stuff like that. Or I didn’t have the money anyway. Or I didn’t appreciate festival-type films. Anyway, if anyone in Halifax reads this, I’d encourage you to see a few films and support the festival. Just be sure to skip Candy.

.:.

Am I the only one who was repulsed by the network news coverage of what felt like…well, like nostalgia for 9/11? Not for the attacks themselves, obviously, but for the newsworthiness of that day? News networks seem to look back at September 11, 2001 as their finest hour, and can’t wait to hit the replay button whenever the opportunity — especially an anniversary — presents itself.
[tags]quiet time, atlantic film festival, 9/11 nostalgia[/tags]

Don't call me Danny

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

For the past 3 weeks or do I’ve been getting intermittent messages on my voicemail from a woman, saying she had a business matter she needed to discuss with me and leaving her number. No details, no company name, and she was looking for “Danny” Dickinson. I do not go by Danny, so I knew it was bullshit. I assumed this was a telemarketing message, like the eastern European movers who leave long rambling messages. “Ja, this is Jarmusch. We have the biiiiiig truck and the loooooow prices. We can move the biiiiiig items, like the acquarium…”

Last week the calls got more frequent. I googled the phone number and the name that kept coming up was Collect Com Credit. Yoicks! A collection agency! That doesn’t seem right; I’m not the type to avoid debt. Still, now I was worried that there some identity theft going on. I played phone tag with the caller over the weekend and finally got in touch today. She told me there was an American Express account with a $3,300 (!) balance in the name Danny Dickinson. I told her it wasn’t mine, that I barely used the Amex I once had and formally closed the account ages ago. She asked for my birthdate, and it didn’t match with the person she was looking for. She apologized for the scare and thanked me.

On an unrelated note, I just ordered a copy of my credit history.

[tags]overdue balance, credit report, collect com[/tags]

Headz!!

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Big news for my old home town (kind of; I grew up on a farm about 25km away): a game company plans to open a plant there, creating 1,500 jobs. Considering the town is only about 1,200 people today, that’s significant. Increasing the town’s population by 125% in the next 18 months or so should be all kinds of fun for the infrastructure planners.

There’re weird rumours, too, that I’ve heard through the grapevine (read: my mother) about a commercial featuring the Hanson Brothers and a woman who lives down the road from our farm. It’s all very surreal.

By the way, to help you figure out where this magical story takes place, here’s a map.

[tags]parrsboro, headz games, hanson brothers[/tags]

Antipathy

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’m having trouble finding motivation. Work is depressing right now; it’s one roadblock after another, and I’m not famous for my patience. I really believe in what I’m doing, and — as haughty/martyrish as this sounds — I feel like I’m one of the few people who’s more concerned with making the customer’s life better than with playing politics or just punching the clock. I guess everything happens slowly in huge traditional risk-averse companies, and being aware of the fact doesn’t make it any less frustrating. I’m trying to find a way around it, but it feels like every day I go to work, scramble to keep up with all the things coming at me, and when I go home I haven’t made a difference. I keep pushing, and there are good people around me pushing too, but feeling outnumbered at work every day is a hard way to live life.

.:.

Life at home isn’t really a respite these days either. I’m on autopilot right now; between trying to run 5 times a week (2-3 miles at a go) and spending 3 hours a night working on this term paper, I feel like I’m on a schedule from the minute I get home. I see my wife for the few minutes that I eat dinner and when we crawl into bed. Good thing this paper’s due in two weeks; after that we can settle into the happy insanity of the film festival. It’s some of the best quality time I get to spend with her all year, ’cause for those 10 days we’re a) on exactly the same schedule, and b) spending hours in line with nothing to do but talk. I think I look forward to that as much as the films. There’s an inspirational quote in there somewhere: “Lineups are better when you love the person you’re standing next to.” Awwwwwwwwwwww.

[tags]motivation[/tags]

Ode to Whitby

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The Scotsman and his fiancé made a return visit to Toronto yesterday, and I met up with them for dinner and a few drinks. I took them to Smokeless Joe’s for a bite to eat and a few pints. Around 7:45 we realized they weren’t going to make the 8:13 train to Whitby (where they were staying) especially since it would’ve meant someone chugging their Delirium Tremens so they decided to catch the next one at 9:13 and have another drink while we waited. It turns out I may have underestimated the amount of time it takes to get from Smokeless Joe’s to Union Station, ’cause we arrived a few minutes too late. Anyway, there was nothing left to do but have another drink, so we scooted around the corner to the Irish Embassy and had a quick quaff (during which I learned that The Scotsman is prone to being labelled “a hottie” by teenage girls) before hauling ass back down to the train station.

This time we made it with ten minutes to spare, and I accompanied them up to the GO platform (as I’d never seen it before). It was crowded with drunken 905ers anxious to get back to Whitby (and environs), some wearing cowboy hats & sombreros, others drinking Malibu rum straight from the bottle, and still others complimenting The Scotsman’s sporty new man bag and asking how much he’d paid for it. I feel safe in saying that any urge I might’ve once had to visit Whitby has now been quashed.

It was a fun few hours, and I can see from my IM client that they’re made it back home. Now I’m trying to figure out how we can squeeze in a visit to New York next year. Perhaps there’s a museum of occupation there that The Scotsman’s missus could take us to; I hear it’s her speciality.

.:.

Today’s been nice so far…great weather, happily snoozing cats (both the vomiting and the limping have subsided for now), some relaxation before a) Nellie gets home, and b) I have to get back to my term paper.

[tags]scotsman, whitby, go train, malibu rum, man bags[/tags]

Skin…circles…stain.

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A few minutes ago I dropped off my dry cleaning. As I leaned on the counter to write my name & phone number on the receipt, the old lady who works there began rubbing the back of my hand. Not in a flirty way (and thank god) but like she was curious. When I gave her a “what the f**k, lady?” look she said, “Skin…circles…stain.” Actually, she said more than that, but her English is pretty broken and that’s all I really heard. At first I thought she was talking about stains on the shirts I was dropping off, but when she repeated her words I figured out that she was talking about the freckles on the back of my hand. At least, that’s the conclusion I leapt to. Anyway, I just gave her a little confused smile and wandered off.

A few minutes earlier some guy riding his bike down the sidewalk on Bloor Street kind of ran into me. Not hard, mind you, but when I came around the corner under some boarding he couldn’t stop in time, and he couldn’t swerve, so I ended up just grabbing his bike and stopping it as he ran into my leg. He apologized and asked if I was ok…which surprised me. I’d already just started walking away; it just seemed like any other pedestrian collision. I guess maybe he was nervous ’cause he was riding his bike on a sidewalk and knew he was in the wrong, or maybe he thought I looked pissed (which I’m told I do when I’m lost in thought), but I didn’t really even notice.

.:.

Nellie’s getting ready to go camping for the weekend. Not that I don’t enjoy her company, but I looooooove having the place to myself sometimes. To get a running start into the weekend I’ve taken today off. I should be able to get lots of work done too, so long as a second visit from The Scotsman and his fiancé (not wife; thanks TimmyD) doesn’t put me out of commission for too much of Sunday.

[tags]freckles, bike riding on sidewalks, alone time[/tags]

UPDATED: ………Aaaaaaaaaaaand we're back

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

So, that happened. Our power came back on around 4:30. Needless to say that was not the best night of sleep I’ve ever had.

Apparently it was just our street. More specifically, it was just our side of the street, in this particular block. Lucky us.

Anyway, no harm done. It stayed remarkably cool in the apartment, and we had little trouble sleeping. To the HydroOne guys who worked through the night in that insane heat: thankyouthankyouthankyou.

[tags]blackout (but not really)[/tags]