As I type this, the Pittsburgh Penguins are up 2-1 on the Detroit Red Wings in the second period of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. This makes me happy.
If the Wings come back to win, they'll win the Cup and the hockey season will be officially over. This makes me sad.
I'm cheering for the Pens because they're an exciting young team, not just so I can justify playing backyard hockey for a few more days.
[Edit: Well, the Wings came back to tie it 2-2 then took the lead 3-2 then the Pens scored to tie it with less than a minute left! So now, they're getting ready to head into the third overtime. It's not too late here yet – 10:18pm as I type this update – but of course my boss called an early meeting – 7:30am – for tomorrow. So I've stopped cheering for the Penguins and started cheering for the game to be over! ]
If you haven't given anything yet, I would strongly encourage you to do so, especially if you knew Chris – as a classmate or as a TA or whatever. In fact, at the risk of sounding like a telethon, I'll issue a challenge to everyone who knew Chris to do that!
So far, just over $3000 in donations has been
received – almost 1/3 of the amount needed to top up my initial 'seed
money' gift of $15,000. Our goal is to build a permanent endowment
fund of $25,000 so that sufficient investment interest income can be generated
to provide annual scholarships year after year. Thank you so much to everyone who has already given in Chris'
memory!
If you've been thinking about making a donation but
haven't yet, the secure online donation site will remain active for a little
while longer: http://www.westernconnect.ca/cdixonmemorial.
(Don't worry that $10 or $20 is too little – gifts of any amount are appreciated
and they do add up.) Monthly gift donation plans and company matching donations
are also available. Charitable tax receipts will be
provided.
If you prefer to make a donation by mail or
telephone at any time, or if you have any questions, please contact Karen Boddy,
Alumni & Development Officer, at kboddy@uwo.ca or (519) 661-2111, ext.
87463.
Continuing last week's theme of Jason finding extremely exciting, anything that presents typical linear information in a cool, revolving circular format, I present to you: Tag Galaxy
Okay, maybe not but the Facebook MyType application is the first application I've installed on Facebook in a *long* time.
I'm not sure what I got in high school but I think every time I've taken the test (official or an unofficial variation) since then, I've gotten ENFP.
Here's a summary of what that personality type is like:
ENFPs are initiators of change who are keenly
perceptive of possibilities, and who energize and stimulate through
their contagious enthusiasm. They prefer the start-up phase of a
project or relationship, and are tireless in the pursuit of new-found
interests. ENFPs are able to anticipate the needs of others and to
offer them needed help and appreciation. They bring zest, joy,
liveliness, and fun to all aspects of their lives. They are at their
best in situations that are fluid and changing, and that allow them to
express their creativity and use their charisma.
You can go to my Facebook profile to see the whole write-up if you're interested. Or why not add the application and try it yourself?
Reddit (nice redesign by the way!) had a post about the 15th anniversary of “True Romance“, a film that bombed in its initial theatrical release but has gone on to be a cult-classic due to a classic Quentin Tarantino script, a star-studded line-up (Brad Pitt does more with a quickie cameo than any actor in history) and perhaps one of the single best dialogue scenes in the history of film:
So that reminded me of a funny story (well, depending on your point of view. It may also be considered embarrassing, sad, pathetic, selfish and/or tragic.) Back in 1993, I was a newly graduated, gainfully under-employed twenty year old.
A female friend of mine (let’s call her Amy) mentioned that a friend of hers (also female, just to be clear) thought I was funny and wouldn’t mind if I called her (let’s call the friend Brenda). This was a very rare occurrence so I, of course, froze up and did nothing.
Amy proactively arranged a double-date (conveniently with a friend of mine she was interested in – let’s dub him “Chris”) and Brenda & I. That newly introduced couple spent two hours groping each other while a forgettable movie played on the VCR and they helped the term “love seat” live up to its name. Brenda and I sat on a nearby couch and both wished we were anywhere else in the world.
The next day, Amy called. “Brenda really likes you but she’s painfully shy. You need to make the first move. Call her and ask her out to a movie.” Wait, a second! I’m painfully shy too. How come she doesn’t call me? She started this!
But I was a realist and that seemed like a rational thing to do. I called. Brenda said yes. Plans were made. A movie! Brilliant. Which one? We left that to be decided, happy to just get through a very brief, very awkward conversation.
There was one small wrinkle. I’d recently been introduced to the wunderkid that was Quentin Tarantino by a different female friend who was at the time and remains to this day, much cooler than I shall ever be. The introduction to Tarantino came in the form of a film called “Reservoir Dogs” which literally took my breath away. I couldn’t wait until something else from the same director arrived. I didn’t have to wait long. I read a movie preview in the newspaper (remember them?) that said Tarantino had a new film coming out. He didn’t direct this one but it was his script. Good enough for me!
So I picked up Brenda and instead of suggesting the latest Meg Ryan opus, I mentioned that there was a film called “True Romance” that she might like. I mean, the title was “True Romance”. How bad could it be? We went. We held hands. The film was brilliant. It was also pretty much as bad as I never imagined it would be. Vulgar. Violent. Racist. Sexist. It had perhaps the most offensive scene of male on female brutality I’d ever seen until the final rape scene in “Monster” (which had caused one friend to leave a theatre, puke on the sideway and never return, her absence unexplained to all, including her husband sitting beside Shea and I, until the next day!)
Brenda was quiet on the drive home. Surprisingly, she invited me into her living room. I couldn’t help but notice the complete set of Disney VHS tapes stored neatly beside her TV. Needless to say, we did not extend the evening into an exploration of each others’ tonsils.
To make a long story short, there wasn’t a second date. (Okay, I’m lying for the sake of the story. There actually was if you can believe it!) But unfortunately any hope we had for a relationship was pretty much dashed in the Mexican stand-off of bullets and blood that “True Romance” showered on her Snow White and Cinderella tastes.
I have no idea where Brenda is today (hmmm, I wonder if she’s on Facebook? [Puts on stalker hat]) but given the choice again, I think I’d have made the same decision. I probably love that film more today than when I first saw it 15 years ago. Oh, and the real funny part? The last time I saw Brenda, she was making out on a dance floor…with my friend Chris. Not shy at all!
Kiva is a web site that helps facilitate micro-credit loans to entrepreneurs around the world. (As always, Wikipedia has more information about this organization if you're interested.)
Shea got a Kiva gift certificate as a Mother's Day Gift and is helping two people: Ruth Celenia Santana Morales who sells clothes and jewelery in the Dominican Republic and Umedjon Nurov who raises beef cattle in Tajikistan. One of the coolest things about the site is that once the loan is repaid (the loans have a 99.7% repayment rate) you can either withdraw it or turn around and loan it to someone else.
I first heard about Kiva via the Bill Clinton book, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change The World. There are various other organizations out there that are similar to Kiva but which have different approaches and cater to different needs, groups, countries and so on. Heifer International is one I heard about via Cenobyte for example.
If you're a music fan, one of the rules is that there must be one song each year that becomes your Song of Summer.
Criteria for a successful Song of Summer include originality, catchiness and general sense of fun. Ability to play the song about eight zillion times in a row, preferably in a car without a roof or at least with the windows all down is a must.
I think I've got my pick for this year…
(via PopBitch newsletter which helps me feel like I'm still living in England even though I no longer know about 98% of the people they talk about)
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