Haiku

I love haikus, but I couldnt include all of them in my portfolio, so here is my collection of haikus.

Poetic License

Poetic license
Say what you want, how you want
America sucks

Stating the facts

haikus are funny
haikus are beautiful
Haikus are not long  

Almost a Haiku

It can be very hard
to follow a stiff structure.
Pah, poetic license

Haikus of Language

I do not know French;
the language eludes my tongue.
Je ne comprend pas.

German I prefer:
Ich habe Deustche Familie,
but I’m shy to speak

Through pen I can speak
without fears knotting my tongue

in any language.

You Learn Something New Everyday

Actually I've learned a few things today but they are not as happy or cool (Bombing in Morocco, Pope Jean Paul II beatification, Royal Wedding, Tornado devastation in Tuscaloosa, etc.)

What is cool is the commonly used --especially by the texting generation --punctuation that has long gone without being formally addressed by it's proper name.

"What?!", you might say "I have been living my live with ignorance to a punctuation mark?! Has my education failed me?!"

If you haven't guessed the punctuation mark is the Interrobang: commonly written as ?!/!? but is actually the two marks written on top of each other as shown



It's not really a surprise that this mark has gone un-named when you look at how the texting-generation is simultaneously the most informed and the most ignorant generation and that this kind of information is slightly pointless but also part of the foundations of writing; but then again the generation doesn't really appreciate the foundations of learning and would much rather learn to pirouette with a 5 min instructional video than learn the second foot position.

Right Wing Ogre

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/decision-canada/Opinion+Vote+mentality/4658160/story.html

Everyone has a right to their opinion --for now --but what kind of skewed world do you live in when you think that encouraging youth to vote in an engaging, entertaining, and dramatic way is foolish? The political parties of Canada, Conservative especially, do need to realize that youth issues, the youth opinion, the youth vote are important. I feel like the youth are at least as informed as any other voter -- we do spend quite a few hours in school honing our research skills --but it does make it difficult to make an informed decision when you are kicked out of rallies, or not even worth a visit. The youth vote should be a target of political importance, it's not as if you turn 25 and are suddenly "informed"

Short opinion: there is nothing wrong with vote mobs

Your Highness, to put it bluntly, is a burn out

Romance, adventure, magic, breasts, and a top billed cast including Academy Award winner Natalie Portman – Your Highness has all the ingredients for a box office hit. However it was disappointingly un-epic. It's as if whenever the writing got deep or tough they would cut to a new scene with some plot-based comedy going on. Most notably in the labyrinth when Thadeous is facing the spirit of the Labyrinth in a test of a true hero – cut to Courtney being molested by a Minotaur. I don't know if it was just written this way or if it was cut to fit a time requirement but if we've learned anything from Lord of the Rings it's that people can sit though the amount of time required to tell these kinds of stories. I'm not saying Your Highness should be told in nine hours but considering the movie is only 102 minutes it could have used an extra 15-30 minutes of character development. The bad guy was not bad enough, the betrayal wasn't deep enough, and the triumph wasn't triumphant enough.

            However the set design and costumes flawlessly captured the medieval qualities of the story while also appropriately incorporating anachronism such as a mechanical bird or metal hand. The female costumes were appropriately inappropriate, and the men were adequately decked out in armor, tights, and tokens of love and heroism. However the way Fabious was contained during his torture just confused me. I wasn't sure what they were going for with the sort of hammock like restraints.

            The film was laced with overtly flashy magical effects, including lightning; appearing and disappearing, energy balls, and more. In today’s 3D age the special effects are up to par- nothing really innovative. Most of the film can be described that way – nothing innovative. The film alluded to so many other aspects of popular culture: The Legend of Zelda, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Alice in Wonderland, Labyrinth, Glam Rock, The Huns, and Greek Mythology.  I was left wondering if that is what the writers were going for or if they were just lazy. Your highness will determine if you like this film, but the theatrical release of this film is lacking, it's not Lord of the Rings and it's not Pineapple Express. However I can see an extended edition, a director cut, or deleted scenes making this film what it should have been.   

Come on Canada! Wtf.

After the Federal Debate, Virgin Radio posted this 60 second summary, literally minutes after the debate.
http://vancouver.virginradio.ca/Blog/Kiah/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10226138

I feel like this is not the time humour, too many Canadians are not taking this seriously enough.

I think that the Canadian Federal Leader's debate is a very serious matter and taking it out of context and presenting to the public in this way sends the wrong message. Canada is seriously uninformed due to the secrecy of the Harper Government and their persistent use of out of context quotes in attack ads. If you could truly give a summary of the debate in 60 seconds it would be very beneficial for the Canadian public, this just mocks the issues. Democracy in Canada has been  wounded by the Harper Government and this is a slap in the face to every Canadian.

I hate my job.

What are the temperature and humidity standards for workplaces in Canada?

There are many factors directly related to different kinds of jobs, such as the physical demands of your job or working outside. There is no single value for a maximum temperature or humidity at your work place. There are, however, standards provided by the  Canadian Standard Association (CSA)

• Summer conditions (light clothing) - if the relative humidity is 30%, then the acceptable temperature is 24.5-28°C.
• Summer conditions (light clothing) - if the relative humidity is 60%, then the acceptable temperature range is 23-25.5°C
• Winter conditions (warm clothing) - if the relative humidity is 30%, then the acceptable temperature range is 20.5-25.5°C
• Winter conditions (warm clothing) - if the relative humidity is 60%, then the acceptable temperature range is 20-24°

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/occup-travail/work-travail/faq-eng.php#a

My workplace is set to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, that is 27 degrees Celsius. It is hot, and I have turned it down, but they have told me to stop this because their hydro bill is 1000$ a month. If they tried to do my job in 80 degree weather they would faint. Last summer I remember temperatures ranging from 86-89 degrees, that is 30+ degrees. 

And this isn't the only shit they pull. From the beginning of 2011 until mid February they were taking 5$ off of my and co-workers pay. The deposit to my bank account and the pay stub they gave me for my hours did not match. I went to them and was like: 

"wtf mate, mine and some people's pays don't match our stubs?" 

and they gave me the difference but they never went to the other workers. I was out 30$ at the time, times that by the 20+ workers at this location and possibly their other businesses and you get 600$. Where is the other 570$??  

I have gone to the others and even the ones who bothered to check this out did not really seem to care. It's just five dollars right? Um, no it's your 5$ every pay check. We are generally part-time, student, minimum wage workers. If they take even a penny off of your pay you are working for less than minimum wage and that is a crime. 

I emailed the government about this, and I do admit I probably emailed the wrong people because I could not find any single place that seemed like the proper jurisdictional, but I never heard back.

Omg and when I switch or change shifts they treat me like it is a big deal. I have never left them without someone to work. There was one problem week in January where I needed 3 days off in a row for a) an important exam (I left myself available to work for less important exams) b) my fathers birthday c) my anniversary. They outright told me they did not care about the anniversary, and I feel that it because I am a student, and was 17 at the time. Would it be any different if I was 35 and married? To me it felt like an insult, it was very disrespectful of my life. I thought about leaving last November but I figured since I had been working their for over a year I would get more respect, flexibility and seniority than at another job. 

The last time I asked to trade shifts he says to me that "if I cannot handle the workload I will be getting less hours". As a side note I asked for less hours. So I am thinking: 

"Great, I can finally get the hours that I have been asking for since September, because it would really make my life a lot easier with me trying to balance a full course load, scholarship deadlines, a long distance relationship, family life, and friends" 

(from September to November my hours were almost at par with the hours I had been getting in the Summer. I look back on an essay I wrote during this time where I called George Bernard Shaw, Robert. Wtf. I was obviously out of it)

This makes me wonder what the difference is between niceties and necessities in the work place. For instance; do they have to provide free drinking water? If so does tap water count? If tap water counts do they need to provide cups? - cause they don't. 

Or maybe; Can an employer chose which holidays they will you pay for? (they have to pay for 9, the Ontario ministry of labour says that family day will be the 9th. My work says no, the civic holiday will be the 9th, I dont know If I will be working there come the civic holiday and a new employer could have chosen family day, seeing as I worked family day, I am out my holiday pay)

the list goes on. 

It appears I am becoming as much a pain to them as they are to me. They take advantage of the naivete of their workers, and their dependency on their wages. I just want to work at place that understands the need for flexibility that students require, and you know maybe follow the law. 

The Weather Hindcast

I guess this really isn't that useful, but I was just wondering what the weather was yesterday? I figured you can just Google it, right? Wrong. Weather sites stay current, updating hourly. I just wanted the temperature from yesterday. The closest I got was a feature that let you see the last 24 hours of hourly updates, but what if I wanted the information from weeks ago? (I just tried that and was able to find the information on a blog not from a "legit" weather information site).

I really feel like this information exists, I thought the weather people kept all their information in some huge data base and like calculated the probability of future weather based on past trends. Maybe once the day is over weather information becomes top secret.