a lady came into the office today with quite a tale of woe. here we go:

she has suffered greatly under our property management company's regime. she's been arbitrarily singled out for a condo fee increase. her bank account has been debited a *thousand* dollars for one month's condo fees and the police have only been able to collect a partial reimbursement. her unit is in a state of complete disrepair and not one despotic soul at our office has been willing to make the required calls to maintenance professionals. 

amazing, isn't it?

she went on with further details, but, i confess, i tuned out.

none of it's true, by the way. ahhh, paranoid crazies: my work life would be so dull without them.

i continue to plug away at my coursework. i've finished off a couple more assignments and i'm now about halfway finished. thank the gods. this last one has been particularly exasperating - real estate mortgage financing. bleh.

i've come to love this little HP 12C. mmmm...

there's this group called restore marriage canada. they spammed me today - apparently, they *wanted* my attention. i (courteously) asked if they were working to preserve the sanctity of marriage by petitioning the government to outlaw divorce in addition to making gay marriage illegal.

i'm waiting for a response.

their 'links' page listed a number of other like-minded organizations. for example: preserve marriage - a group that likes to talk about 'traditional' marriage. a curious concept. 

dear sirs:

you mention traditional marriage on your website with some frequency. can you clarify what "traditional" means to your organization? 

traditional marriage leaves some room for interpretation. is the righteous marriage one that follows the same scheme as, say, abraham (of biblical fame)? he had a wife and then took another who could bear him an heir. some years later, one man would marry one woman, but her legal status was somewhere near to that of his favorite horse. then there's the tried and true 1950's nuclear family where a man and a woman married and raised their 2.5 children safely from behind their white picket fence. (vacuuming in crinoline is always *fabulous,* ladies) 

it looks as though tradition doesn't mean much in these evil times. polygamy is virtually non-existent, a woman is not her husband's chattel, divorce is legal, couples can use birth control *in wedlock,* and (gasp) anti-miscegenation laws have fallen by the wayside. 

it appears, from the information on your website, that you disdain marriages that serve only to validate adult relationships. are infertile couples and heterosexual couples who choose not to reproduce also unfortunate enough to face your scorn? 

traditionally, marriage has had a number of other purposes... wealth management, socio-political relationship building, etc. is marriage only appropriate for those planning to have children?

kindest regards,

and most confusedly,

emma

(a non-reproducing, family-hating deviant)

yes? i don't think i'll send that. i'll let you know when/if restore marriage canada responds to my inquiry.

go here. a woman in georgia was issued a ticket because of her bumper sticker that read, "I'm tired of all the BUSHIT!"

funny, i thought it was the taliban insurgents and islamists and other assorted evil-doers who hated freedom.

two people have contacted me in the past week about our impending 10-year high school reunion. i�d have been happier never having any contact with these people, but � ech.

hopefully, tina will make it to the fete. we can check out how many of our cohorts have settled and reproduced and bought life insurance. hm � i have life insurance and i�m settled, i guess.

one of these reunion organizers was a bully of mine from kindergarten through 9^th grade. i hated her. I wonder how things turned out for her. I remember sitting outside the gym, waiting to go inside and write our math departmental exam (the 12^th grade final) and she was there with me. we hadn�t interacted at all throughout high school. she asked if i was ready for the exam and i said, �yeah. i studied.� to which she replied, �wow. you�ve really got your shit together.� i suppose, comparatively, i did. it was a strange moment for me. i felt pity for that person who�d made my life unbearable so many times.

i have to call her today. she needs my address for reunion-related mail outs. geh. i hope she doesn�t want to chat.

on friday, the kat and i went to see Dr. Patrick Elie speak at the stanley milner library. Dr. Elie is a dual citizen of haiti and canada. he was a cabinet minister in the first Aristide government. friday's speech was about outside (u.s. and canada) interference in haiti's struggle for democracy. 

it was a *fascinating* evening. we don't hear much about haiti here so it was interesting to hear about what's really going on.

i was particularly stunned to hear that both stephen harper and jean charest invited gerard latortue for a visit. gerard latortue was installed as prime minister after the u.s.-led coup in 2004. (canada's own JTF2 secured the airport and the u.s. troops landed in port au prince.)

latortue is an illegitimate ruler, *not* recognized by the people of haiti. instead, haitians went to the polls and elected Rene Preval - who served as president between the two Aristide terms. why didn't harper and charest invite president-elect Preval? are they so cowed by the u.s. that they'll invite bush's "anti-communist" puppet latortue - the guy who was supposed to win the election?

damn it! damn it! damn it!

the u.s. has done nothing but screw around with haiti. in 1915, the u.s. created the brutal haitian army to serve as an extension of the american government. later, haitian president jean-claude duvalier (a truly awful human being) acted, again, as a puppet of the u.s. and dispatched death squads - the tonton macoutes - to quash political dissidents. (duvalier also posed as Baron Samedi, the voodoo loa of the dead, to further terrify haitians and created propaganda posters with Jesus Christ's hand on his shoulder with the caption, 'I have chosen him.' geh ... )

haiti now has more than a thousand political prisoners. they used to not have any.

haiti is the only country where slaves declared their own emancipation. 

canada ought to be helping them out from under american hegemony run amok. go here: The Canada-Haiti Action Network.

*mad*

... and mad at our media for presenting the coup as some kind of grass-roots movement when that couldn't be further from the truth.

i was looking for a hindi language course in edmonton for adults. if anyone knows of such a thing, *please* let me know. i'm not having any luck. this morning, i emailed the Alberta Hindi Parishad to see if they have any suggestions. their website mentions courses for adults, but i didn't see any information about them. 

does anyone else find it silly that there are a multitude of courses for those who want to learn latin, a *dead* language, but none for hindi? 

oh, hello! i just got a reply from the Alberta Hindi Parishad ... maybe something will come of this. they do a class at the university, of, i presume, alberta. they weren't specific. 

the kat's on msn now. i sent him silly emoticons.

i picked up some notebooks at staples and i've started writing. i'm wondering what kind of things will come up. i don't know what i'd want other people to read, if i actually do write anything resembling a book. the notebook contains stuff too personal to publish even here. i'll probably edit some of it out.  :\ 

yes, tina, i plan on going to india  :)  maybe next winter. it's a 23-day journey from delhi to the jungle and the gir wildlife sanctuary and then to diu on the coast and back to delhi. mmm ... very exciting.

i want to see something totally different than this. this being my north american middle class existence. i'll probably be more than ready to fall into my own bed and cuddle with my kitties by the end of it, but that's exactly what i'm looking for. no one was ever transformed (in the way i'm looking for) by comfort and convenience. 

i found this tour of india that i really, really want to do. it's not miserably expensive and it's geared towards vegetarians. ...although i imagine it's not difficult to find vegetarian fare in india.

the details are here. i think it looks pretty good. what do you say, kat?

of course, i'd be happy for a little vacation just about anywhere. somewhere quiet. alone with my dozen or so on-the-go books. no television. no phone. maybe not even my ipod. eeeee ...

oh, who am i kidding? i don't go anywhere without it.

in pod we trust.

right-o.

i'm going to staples to buy some notebooks.

emma: ok universe. what's going on?

universe: i don't know what you're talking about. *whistles*

emma: you know damned well what i'm talking about. i'll remind you: the idiot who called me an idiot who called me "bitchy" yesterday. why did you send this woman into my life? 

universe: because you need her *skills* at your company and you need to learn that you'll only make things worse for yourself if you clutch at your anger for someone else.

emma: you suck, universe, and i've got candy stuck in my teeth.

universe: mmm ... candy ...

geh. if only there were some anthropomorphic deity i could believe in and blame.

i'd write more, but bean wants to leave. she has the car ... so i better. 

not done blogging yet

WTF

GET YOUR ASS UP BIATCH

you can tell your follwers your bitchy sister is making you stop writing

hang on

this is of vital importance

me getting my vitamin thc is of vital importance

 Beanar says:

GET UP LETS GO OR STAY IN LEDUC BIATCH

you might have if you'd seen me, oh, five minutes ago. it seems that trent reznor is co-producing the new saul williams album.

do you know what this means? do you have *any* idea what kind of cosmic-type of alignment this could be? duuude!

i'm so excited! :D i, really, cannot contain my glee at this news.

oh dammit! i meant to give miss rae top billing today. it is, after all, her day. *happy birthday rae!* many hugs to you!

i finished up my course today. the edmonton police service does the Crime Free Multi-Housing program and we're signing up our buildings. there's, apparently, quite a bit that's required to be a part of the program, so it's not going to be a waste of time. yay!

right now, i'm fixing *that coworker's* computer. kazaa is gone. norton is up and running again and she's under strict orders NOT to disable it because it gives her "too many messages." *rolls eyes*

yes ... she was downloading music *without* antivirus software running on an office computer. you probably can't see the steam coming out of my ears, but you can probably imagine it well enough. gah!

*squints eyes*

hrm. i have a headache.

don't read this unless you're tinapants: i'm considering your suggestion. maybe i will... they say you should write about what you know, but i'm afraid that everyone will know that i know very little. :\ i freely admit to it anyway ... i should just give it a shot. we'll see what happens. geh. (omg ... i'd have to Capitalize!)

geh. at least it made for an interesting weekend. the kat must have been annoyed with us though. i'd go into detail, but i'd come off like a pot head. pothead. is that one word or two? 

i've decided that my admiration of saul williams rivals that of nine inch nails. i think my nin-fatuation (good god, strike me dead for typing such a thing) is mostly nostalgic, but, man, i really wish that i'd heard of williams years ago. really. 

i can't imagine how stupid i'd get if i went to one of the nin shows with williams as the opening act. 

... ok - i was about to delete that *word,* that supposed *word,* but i've decided to leave it there as a reminder of how frighteningly close i could be to writing fan fiction or other such stupidity. i wonder if it counts as a portmanteau. probably not. i think i'm trying to make myself feel better. oh, the humility of self-awareness! it burns!

anyway...

i have a two-day course this week - my work-related continuing edumacation. i have to travel across the city for an 8 am start and i'm not happy about it. 

i'm additionally annoyed that the idiot who called me an idiot will also be in attendance. i'm certain to get an earful for having the cheek to suggest she fix her own slow-computer problems. my suggestion? *STOP INSTALLING KAZAA!* land sakes alive! 

i want to hit her, but i don't hit old ladies. *grumble*  

i should get back to writing my report. i won't have time to do it tomorrow. i'll be too busy learning new and interesting things!  :D  

"The powers of the presidency have been eroded and usurped to the breaking point. We are engaged in a new kind of war that cannot be fought by old methods. It can only be directed by a strong executive who alone is not subject to the conflicting pressures that legislators or judges face. The public understands and supports that unpleasant reality, whatever the media and intellectuals say."

here's a hint: this was said by a certain governmental aide. what ought to be surprising is that this is a white house aide's comment on the attack on american civil liberties. (look here for jim hoagland's op ed piece where he quotes this aide.)

it *ought* to be surprising, but it's getting difficult to be surprised about this move towards, dare i say it, fascism without sounding completely disingenuous. 

darn those intellectuals! darn the smart people! darn all those who would say, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."  oh, ben  :)  

there are things i really like about america. particularly, the idealism and the optimism, both tempered with sensibility. i just wish those things were more evident nowadays. it seems like americans are afraid and pessimistic, despite their leader's rhetoric. it's almost as if someone were feeding that fear ... *pensively places index finger on pursed lips.*

a tri-partite government with checks and balances is intended to keep everyone relatively honest. this move to enhance one man's power in the names of Security and Secrecy should trouble all americans. 

i suppose you really don't know what you had until it's gone. 

last night, the kat and i went to see bill clinton speak at rexall place. talk about nostalgia. don't get me wrong, there were things about his presidency that i disagreed with ... actually, a lot of things. but, this is someone who understands humanity and who elucidates complex ideas in a rational manner without relying on well-worn talking points that make for great 5-second sound bites. 

i also approve of the humanitarian work he's been doing since leaving office. he's been able to get a lot of good work done - tsunami/katrina relief and improved access to affordable AIDS medicine in africa come to mind. 

compare this: clinton lied about the nature of his relationship with monica lewinski and faced censure and the threat of impeachment. bush proudly declares that he's approved breaking FISA laws and *the 4th freaking amendment* and, so far, no real opposition to the legitimacy of his presidency has been mounted. 

the white house is against a house inquiry into the nature of these illegal wiretaps, so there isn't likely to be one. what? *sigh*

cowards - in the press and in both the democratic and republican parties. not to mention in the populace. 

iraq seems to be headed towards a full out civil war. it's been brewing for some time though. i'm pretty sure the british wanted iraq to be a country riddled with fissures so that whichever leader came to power would be utterly dependent upon british arms to control the people. 

what exactly has the u.s. ultimately demonstrated? they've shown the world that the u.s. can't compete with a dedicated resistance movement. they've castrated themselves. this worries me. what exactly does the u.s. plan to do to stop iraqis from killing each other?

i'm also concerned that fearless leader's response to questions like, "what happens if civil war breaks out in iraq?" is ... 

"The U.S. troops will stay there so long as -- until the Iraqis can defend themselves. I mean, my policy has not changed. To summarize it, as the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down." 

that should sound familiar. 

until the iraqis can defend themselves against what? other iraqis? people who have as legitimate a claim to that bit of land as anyone else? 

baathists, shiites, sunnis, kurds, arabs, turks... we hear these labels thrown around on the news for every religious, political and ethnic identity, but it doesn't make much sense to the average north american ear. we ought to be talking with each other ... having real conversations where maybe we won't come to agreement, but some understanding would be a good start. 

but what do i know? i'm no expert on middle eastern history.

however, i seem to be pretty good at picking locks.   :D   i scared my coworkers today with my mad skills. yay for me!

the question: who is "junior senior?"

i'd like to thank rae for exposing me to this band (?) yesterday. i'd never heard of them and i probably never would have otherwise. if you're in the same, unfortunate boat as me, go here. it's bizarre. shake your coconuts, indeed. apparently, they're quite popular in japan.

so, the reason i was trapped in a car with rae, junior and senior, is that we were on our way to mom and dad's place for academy award nonsense. all 3 1/2 hours of it. i was really hoping for more jon stewart. 

for whatever reason, it seemed that a number of celebrities were less than wowed by his performance. i thought he did a fine job. he did the usual 'daily show' routine, complete with a gay cowboy montage and rob corddry-narrated academy-lobbying attack ads, which were nearly worth the amount of time spent before the television. 

aside from that, i can't say there was much reason for watching the awards. well, i admit: watching my mom get annoyed at the musical stylings of the three 6 mafia was pretty funny. 

oh. on the ride home we listened to kanye "the ego" west. glory! oh, miss rae: somehow, i will turn you to the wonder that is saul williams. 

i've moved last month's ramblings here.

we've received a ton of snow this past week. so much came down that i actually had a snow day.  :D  i hung out with bean all afternoon. we got baked, watched the original star trek (and sang along to the fight scene music) and ate *many* timbits ... and spaghetti ... and croissants. now, doesn't that sound like a great (and yet kind of sad) day? (ohhh, the kat will find that story upsetting.)

today, i'm supposed to take miss rae to her hair appointment. i should make one of those myself.