I WAS KIDNAPPED

Having three midterms in one week can really make your life suck. Technically, it's Saturday now, but it's still today for me, and today I wrote my last midterm. It didn't go so well. I studied all week for it too, which meant that time all went to waste.

So, what went wrong? Well, for one, it was as long as hell. I was writing right up to the last second. Afterwards, one of my classmates was asking me how did one question. He was explaining how he did this and then he did that. It dawned on me I had no clue what he was talking about. Why? Then I figured it out... oh yeah, that was the question I skipped and was planning to get back to but never did. Eleven percent of the exam was right there. Gone. The prof can't even give me part marks because well... you can't give part marks for a blank answer. That much I know.

Second, the exam was difficult and I got flustered in parts which doesn't add up to a good result. So, on the questions I did answer, I was going on sheer panic responses rather than calm reasoning. I fault myself for that because I've been around the block once already and I should know better.

Afterwards, I came back home and borrowed an iron from Nic and Marcia. We had a nice chat about my midterm. They let me swear up a fucking storm in their place. I felt a bit better afterwards.

I was genuinely angry afterwards because I'd set aside a major project in another class to study for this midterm. Now this project is due next Friday and I'll be spending everyday from now on trying to get it done. So while this is technically the weekend, I won't be able to relax a bit until next Saturday.

While several people tried to tell me it was going to be ok, I didn't really feel much better until I was on the bus tonight. I was sitting there in my seat when a former classmate from first term got on... good old Reid Holmes. I asked him what he got in discrete math. Fifty-seven percent was his reply.

That made me feel better. In my opinion, Reid is no dummy and if he got 57%, well then maybe there's a slight chance in hell I'll be alright too.

So, why was I on the bus? Several SJC residents were going out to Granville Island for dinner on the occasion of three birthdays. I figured it would be a great way to forget my midterm troubles.

Some people headed off to Theatresports afterwards, but I followed some others back home. I came back at 10pm and I briefly debated whether or not I should do some work tonight. Well, it's almost 3am now and I've done nothing all night.

So, if anyone was wondering where I went, now you know.

Holy crap, I'm watching Jimmy Kimmel right now, and some guy is letting people throw darts into his ass!

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JOIN US

It was about a year ago that I heard Justin Trudeau had left his teaching position at a private school in Vancouver. After being thrust into the spotlight after his father's passing, I was somewhat expecting this might be the signal that he was giving to the world of politics. Would he try to follow in his father's daunting footsteps?

I heard nothing else about him until I was sitting in a waiting room at the health clinic last week. As I sat, I grabbed a Maclean's from the table. There on the front of the December 2002 issue was a picture of Justin Trudeau himself. Inside was a lengthy cover story about him. As I read through it, I got to an interesting part... "decisions that may or may not be made once he finishes the engineering degree he's pursuing at the Universite de Montreal"...

I stopped and read that again. What? The man already holds several degrees in English Lit and Education. I wondered why he would go back again. Later on in the story, he says he went back to "explore the scientific side". Wow, I thought, that's quite admirable.

The story didn't go any further into his studies, but just today, there was another article about him on the Internet. In this one, he stated he wouldn't be getting into politics for at least another four years since he wanted to finish his engineering degree.

When I read that, I got the feeling he was serious about this engineering thing. Because he mentioned the four years, I knew he was starting from scratch, from the first year. Here is the son of probably the greatest politician to have ever lived in Canada, sitting in classes with 18 year olds, at 31 years of age, working on his third undergraduate degree.

Then I began to wonder which discipline he would choose. I only know his public persona, but if I had to guess, I'd say he'd choose mechanical. I'm not sure why. If not mechanical, then I think he might choose electrical or civil. Again, I'm not sure why.

I worry though about the strain an engineering academic career can put on a person. Justin leads a very dynamic life and at times, you just have to be hermit to get through critical times in the academic year. I'm curious to see how he will handle that.

In the end, I hope he does accomplish his goal and finish his degree. We have nothing in common right now (other than the fact he studied at UBC once), but it's weird to think four years from now, he and I might share the common bond of the ring.

Now, I must go study for my last, and toughest midterm.

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BACK TO WORK

As a welcome back to school from the break, I wrote a midterm this morning. I didn't ace it, but I'm pretty sure I passed it. In years past, I probably would have dwelled on this, but hey, there's nothing I can do about it now.

I'm probably motivated to move on because I have two other midterms this week. The one I have on Friday is going to be a doozy. I hate discrete math and proofs.

In other news, I found out something very interesting a few days ago. Lhakdor, the resident translator for the His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, is staying at St. John's College. He's been here for almost a month. At first, I just noticed a man in the traditional robes of a Buddhist monk at the dining hall. We get a lot of international visitors so I thought he was just visiting the campus, and he just happened to be a monk. It was only a few days ago that someone told me not only was he a Buddhist monk, but that he is the only resident translator for the Dalai Lama.

Apparently, the only reason he's away from His Holiness is because the Dalai Lama is in meditation and is not travelling. I've had only limited contact with Lhakdor, but people tell me he has a playful spirit. Everyone is quite interested in talking with him.

Marcia, another resident here at SJC, was trying to convince him to give a short talk at the College. He said Saturday was a good night, but then he checked his daytimer and realized he had to go to dinner at "Goldie's". Thinking it was a restaurant, Marcia said where is Goldie's? Lhakdor replied it was not a restaurant, but in fact Goldie Hawn's house here in Vancouver. He was going to have dinner with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. Wow.

The talk instead went on last night, but unfortunately, I had to study. People told me it was an excellent presentation.

Well, I have to get back to the grind. Later.

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