text tone

conversations are one of my favorite things. whether its debating ideas, teaching something new, bantering, or telling jokes conversations are generally a good time. Now, sometimes we still need to get a hold of people or talk to people but they aren't in front of us or perhaps they are too busy for a phone call. enter the text message and the e-mail. E-mail is great for long messages or formal things but texting is something you do with friends so for the purpose of this blog I'm talking about texting.

as convenient as texting is, it has one major flaw: you do not know the tone of and intent of someone's words. many phrases can be interpreted many different ways take "I have something for you" as an example. I bet you can interpret that particular phrase at least 4 different ways. Sometimes its tricky to know a persons intent. Without knowing the tone the person is saying (or typing) a phrase is difficult.

Because tone text can be such a tricky thing to pin down the few times you get it exactly right is so satisfying. I have a dance student, N, and sometimes we text and joke around n text. recently we were texting and she had made a comment that I knew just the phrasing and the timing of it how she said it. so much so that I actually could picture the exact face she was making and how she laughed when she made the joke. So this blog is a light-hearted one. AS tough as nailing text tone is, it is so satisfying when you get it exactly right and you know what the person is saying and how they are saying it, its like they are right in front of you. One of life's very small but somehow satisfying victories.

old clothes

all clothes (or accessories) have an estimated shelf life. take shoes for example, when I buy a pair of shoes I expect them to last me about a year to a year and a half before being replaced (this is providing they are getting regular use). Most articles of clothing live close to their expected age before they are thrown away, donated, handed down, or made to be a 'work shirt' (I said shirt but this could be article). the passing through of clothes usually goes without incident and the person ridding themselves of the article has no special attachment. Sometimes the article lasts much shorter and we get mad. maybe it was expensive, may we only wore it a couple times, maybe you put a little too much mustard on that hot dog.... whatever. point is, its gone and you're not happy.
But isn't it great when an article lasts much longer then expected? when most items reach their expiry date we start shopping around and plan the transition but once in a while an item sneaks through and somehow avoids being replaced. the most interesting part of this is that when the article is discovered to still be around after all this time we don't immediately throw it out (I don't at least), rather we get impressed by the article and somehow a special bond is formed. A "you and me to the end" sort of thing. this article may get disgusting and may even lose part of its value but we become so impressed and sentimentally attached that not only do we not want to get rid of it but if someone else even suggested the idea it would become offensive.
I was packing up my backpack the other day and the thought occurred to me "I've had this backpack forever" when I thought about it I actually don't remember not having this particular backpack. it is old, tattered, filthy, and 2 zippers don't work. I could easily buy a more functional and better looking backpack but I really don't want to. me and this backpack have been through so much. its me and it to the end.

you look tired

a friend of mine told me I looked tired not long ago. I kind of shrugged and said I felt tired. a couple weeks later I told her I thought she looked tired on that day, she turned around and said "so you're saying I look like shit". now she said this in somewhat of a joking tone but I could tell she wasn't thrilled at my observation. We got into a conversation about how she thinks when people say that to her that they are really insulting her overall appearance as opposed to noticing heavy eyelids or darker circles. Apparently the word 'tired' holds a lot of hidden messages and feelings. do lots of people think this? should I never tell anyone that they look tired? was she saying I looked like shit? meh, life moves on and I write blogs. wha da ya gonna do?

you always get what you want

I was recently having a conversation with my ex. she told me that "you always get what you want." she didn't say it in any sort of hatred but more of that of being envious. I've been told this statement before. "oh marcus! you always get what you want!"
my reaction to this comment is "of course I do, why wouldn't I?" Most of the time I get what I want I made an active decision to get it and often had to work to attain it. so why shouldn't I get what I want? shouldn't we all get what we want? Am I supposed to want something and not try and get it because we are all supposed to be unhappy?
Life isn't difficult, too many people think it's much more complex than it is. Do things that make you happy, don't do things that don't, if you want something (that doesn't involve hurting others) then get it. of course I get what I want. why don't you?

passing on the highway

we've all been there. Long road trip on a two lane highway and the guy in front of you is going too slow so you need to pass them. Of course when you decide you are going to pass them it inevitably turns out that the road starts winding, there is always a car coming in the opposite direction, and it seems like the people heading in the opposite direction have had opportunity to pass forever. but then you finally get your window of opportunity and you go for it. you hit the signal light accelerate to a speed you don't normally cruise at and you merge back into your lane playing the adult game of leap frog. now think back to that experience. did you use your signal light to get back into the lane you just came from? the person you just passed knew you were going to come back into the lane but did you give them the courtesy? I did (most of the time). Here's why.
putting or not putting on the signal light send 2 very distinct messages. using the signal light says: "hi friend, you're going slower than me, that's okay I'll just pass you. enjoy the rest of your day." Not using the signal says: "hey jerk stop driving so F-ing slow! I've got somewhere to be.....jackass!"
maybe you agree with me, maybe I'm reading too much into a small yellow light on the back corner of a vehicle flashing a couple times. Either way the next time you're on the highway and pass or get passed you are going to think about me and my blog. booyah!

the city bus

In recent years there has been a real push for people to lower their energy use, green house gas emissions, or carbon footprint. However you say it it's the same thing: don't waste energy and recycle where you can. One big way promoting less vehicle emissions is using the city bus. It is often advertised as reliable transportation with the friendly bus driver who will get you where you want to go fast and you will enjoy every minute of it. the bus looks so inviting in advertisements. Real life is a lot different than most advertisements but I'm hard pressed to think of the discrepancy being so big as with the city bus. I recently started taking the bus again and I took it for about 8 years when I lived in Edmonton, so I'm a seasoned veteran when it comes to pulling the string to show that there is a "stop requested". Anyways, taking the bus SUCKS:
1) the mercy of the schedule. with transfers and bigger distances traveling you spend a lot of time waiting for buses to arrive. and what would be a a 20 minute trip you have to budget an hour of time for. What I'm currently experiencing is having to be at the bus stop a half hour before I need to be at work for a car ride that would take 9 minutes and if I don't sprint for the bus if I'm running a couple minutes late I'm late for work where as with a car its a non-issue.
2) the bus stop itself. most bus stops are simply a pole with a sign, I got no problem with those ones, its the transfer stations I hate. a collection of an interesting mix of people, most noticeably young teenagers who are trying to bum smokes off of one another or others and seem to think that they are the coolest people around. While most teens spend their time at the mall, participating in extra curricular activities, or playing video games these teens are busy melting the sides of the shelter with their lighters. CLASSY! the other thing I hate about transfer stations is that they are filthy. plenty of garbage bins around but that's not the issue. the issue is that you can't go anywhere without stepping on cigarette butts, like someone in the sky sprinkled the entire transfer station with them as decoration.
3) the bus driver. In my years of bus travel I had only 1 nice driver. the kind of driver you would see on a commercial, one that always greats you with a smile and has no problem answering any question. Most drivers are just pissed off, like pulling over to pick you up was a huge chore and now they are late for dinner because of YOU! and is it just me or is every single bus driver ever a male between the ages of 40-60? cause it certainly seems that way. I can't say I blame them. I don't think I'd be in a great mood if I had that job... although bus driver clothing is trendy.

despite all my complaining about city transportation it does offers a couple of good points:
1) you don't have to think, when the bus gets going you can turn the brain off and zombie out, if the bus isn't crowded you could even catch a few Z's.
2) if you're into people watching its the place to do it. A large diversity of people take the bus so to see different people and create your own little stories for them is fun.

And that is my experience of city transportation.

feels like winter

now that the holiday season is over I'm glad I don't have to hear people talking about all the effort they have to go through to make it "feel like christmas." In my opinion you shouldn't have to work too hard for feelings. For the most part our attitudes determine our feelings and I'm just not going to spend hundreds of dollars and dozens of hours decorating/cooking/shopping/planning/ and wrapping. Don't get me wrong, I do all of those things in small amount but it isn't going to alter my day/weekends/month or season to do it.
thinking about the feeling of christmas I thought to myself when does it "feel" like christmas or winter (in a good way, not the bone chilling cold way) that requires no effort. For me, it wasn't crunching snow, skating, christmas lights, fire places, skiing, world junior hockey, snow shoeing, santa clause displays, or shopping. To me the best winter feeling I can get comes from seeing fresh snow on trees. a fresh snow fall is great but I have lived in cities my whole life so seeing a completely untouched snowfall is a rarity for me. I think that's why I love snow on trees. nobody bothers the snowy tree, and there is something about branches long lost of leaves with a few centimeters of snow elegantly resting on the intricate branches. AHHHHH! christmas!