Canada conclusion and a note on sociality

Hey folks,

Well, I arrived back in Pasadena on Wednesay. I'll tell you about that in a bit. But I want to write a note on my last week in Edmonton. It was good. Quite good. Much better, anyways. I think you might have got the sense that things were going in a better direction from my last note. Anyways, I went to the Esks football game against Montreal on the 14th. Where they lost in a depressing effort against Calgary the week before, they demolished Montreal in convincing fashion. I went with Jeremy and we had a good time at the game, then a great conversation for a couple hours afterwards. I also ran into Mark Danderfer and a couple other Devonians while I was there, and got to catch up with him a bit. I also got to golf with Mark Salomons and go to his birthday party. Also a good dinner with my grandparents, Steve and Sharon and Gloria. Went for lunch with Brad. Tea/dinner with Heather, Lisa and Cole. And went to the Oilers second pre-season game (against the Leafs) with Uncle Steve. It was sweet because the Oil won in overtime and scored all their goals at our end of the rink. I even got some work done over that time. And just times hanging out with Mom and watching Smallville.

I think it took me a while to really get adjusted. Also, improvement of the itch and my eye helped substantially. And having a car (as my dad let me take his while he was gone in Whistler). And not feeling so spread out, so spread thin. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to hang out with Megan, though, so that was disappointing.

Back in town. It feels good to be back. I think. No, it does. My hesitiation has to do with my feeling about sociality. I don't have too much energy to be social. Or, maybe, to be social in the way that it feels like I ought to be at this point. There are all these new people on campus, and I feel a responsibility to meet them. But it's a process which takes a lot of energy for me. You end up asking all the same questions to everyone. And you end up meeting people and then never connecting. I suppose CS Wiersma talks about this when he talks about the ratio of 10:1, that you just accept the awkwardness it takes to meet the one with whom you connect. But it feels like there are already too many people in my life with whom I don't spend enough time.

I suppose I'd like to meet a woman who I could date, but that takes more energy and effort and seems like has a lower chance of the "meeting to connection" ratio than listed above. And do I want to meet someone here? I used to think for sure, but now I'm not so sure. I used to think that it would be great to meet someone in the same field, but I'm realizing that one of the things which I find really attractive about someone is someone with a skill set that I don't have. And I'm more likely to find that outside of this place than inside. Obviously there's so much more to this than just that, so don't read too much into it. But nevertheless, it's not a great motivation for me to go and invest myself a whole bunch.

Okay, well, after all that, I'm going out to hang out in a few hours, so I should go (haha, it just happened and with people that I know, so there you go.) And I do want to get started on one of the many projects that I have going. They're fun projects, but they do take time and effort. And it's hard for me to put sustained effort into them. After a few hours on a paper, I find I need a long-ish break, but it's hard to get into a different one (or even the same one) after that. Oh well. Peace to you.

Canadia Update

So my time in Canadia hasn't been all it was cracked up to be. There have been good times, to be sure, with family and friends. But health-wise I've been somewhat miserable. And I haven't got much done schoolwork-wise at all, which is probably due in large part to the fact that I've been busier than anticipated, especially in driving and going to doctors appointments. And its just hard to come home, when you've changed and others have changed and relationships aren't exactly the same. I know I speak in generalities. Sorry. I've been battling an eye issue which is related to my auto-immune stuff and makes it hard to read when I have to be dialted. I have also had to deal with a parasite infestation thanks to the beaches of Belize. I was looking forward to doing some work during my free time, but haven't really been in the same place long enough to get in any rhythm. Having to coordinate travel with not having a car, and with having a motorbike but potential dialated eyes or suspect weather. And it's nice to have people want to see you, but sometimes it gets overwhelming.

Am I just whining, or telling it like it is?

Some highlights (in no particular order): Coffee with an old friend this evening. Trip to Canmore and spontaneous 10km fundraising run with Mark, his gf and other friends. Dinner and walk with Ian. Time with Mom, with Dad, with Grandparents, just hanging out at their homes. Pool and movie with Jer. Beers with John. Cards with Bro.

Harry

Hey folks,

I don't know if any of you are checking this regularly still, or if my summer hiatus has been enough to have give up on it. I'm going to try to write again. It's late and I've been up too late a lot lately, so I'm gonna keep this short...

I just finished the seventh Harry Potter. It was fantastic. I really, really enjoyed it. I read the first maybe 50 pages a couple days ago. Then the next 150 last night. I woke this morning and read the final 400 nearly straight through. What to say? Even though I couldn't put it down, I feel a twinge of regret in that wish I had read it more slowly to enjoy it over a longer period of time. I have so much more to say that I can't continue, because I can't say it all in less than 2 hours, which I don't want to spend at midnight. But I don't really want to forget this feeling.

You should know that I am a hopeless romantic and that carries over to platonic situations of honor and valor, love and beauty (or perhaps it would be more true to say that it happens the other way around). I love emotive media and literature, and this was fantastic in the way it could evoke feelings, both high and low, from cover to cover.

I don't know what else to say. I know it is a fantasy book - more than just being about magic - I know that it perpetuates a whole bunch of myths that only make us dissatisfied with the way real life doesn't work out and gives us cause to seek escape rather than battling through things. But I also want to acknowledge that it does give us higher aspirations than settling when there are things worth striving for and it can make us appreciate the value in beauty when we've been resigned to a life of ugliness. I think both positions need to be held lightly in our hands.

I hope in the future to touch on the way that existential questions are addressed (as you may recall or have gathered, these types of questions have had a special place in my mind for the past year). I would also like to note the way that dealing with those issues gives the potential for the Harry Potter series to be a very important cultural text for a generation that has very little in the way of such texts specifically and tradition generally. But for now I must sign off. Peace to you.