Rainbows and Sunshine

Sometimes the happiest things in life can make you the saddest. It's a strange and twisted paradox that seems to permeate through all aspects of life.

I've been brought to this conclusion through what I deem as a terrible injustice. I volunteer at an Elementary school in downtown Vancouver, as I have been for the last two weeks. I looked at the school's web page and was excited to see that it was an 'inner city school project'. I would soon learn what that really meant.

But first the happy parts. These kids - from grade 1 to grade 7 - are amazing. They are so amazing that I tried to kidnap one. However, this was frowned upon by school administration. So, in my attempt to immortalize the amazingness of these children I got a girl pregnant. Mum take note. Of course, I didn't actually go to these lengths to get a child...but I still want one...

But joking aside, the kids in the after school program are quite the sight for sore eyes. They seem starved for attention and want for nothing more than someone to sit and laugh with them for an hour or indulge in their creative - and yet unmolested - dreams. I don't place the blame on anyone for the kids' state. Their parents are all working to pay the ever increasing cost of housing in the downtown east side.

This isn't the instance that makes me sad. No, what makes me sad is the boxes that line the shelves of the snack room. Plastered across their sides, "Vancouver Food Bank". I think I am a fragile and emotional man because this nearly brought me to tears. Forty smiling kids were milling around me and I couldn't muster a smile for any of them.

I don't know what is was about those boxes that impacted me in such a profound way. Perhaps it was because I - like many other 'more fortunate' individuals - donate to institutions like the food bank but don't ponder where the donations end up. I never would have thought an after school program would need donations. I always envision these critical facilities to be rolling in copious amounts of donations and volunteers. But I guess this isn't the case.

When I was in elementary school my Mum packed my snack because she could. Does this mean these kids can't pack snacks? Does it mean the school can't even pack snacks? I should like to think that a basic need like food can be met by these families.

But maybe I'm naive. I am naive. Life, for a lot of people, isn't rainbows and sunshine. And this makes me sad. I'm going to keep volunteering at this school. And it's not for the kids. It's for me. I don't think I can go back to my side of the tracks after spending two afternoons on their side.

WTF

So it's Sunday afternoon and I'm stuck inside moping while finishing up homework. Then, all of a sudden, my phone vibrates in a cherub-esque manner. It was without a doubt cherub-esque. My cell seemed to float off the desk in a flutter of sunshine and rainbows to spread warmth and love. And indeed it did bring good news: the reminder that 24 was starting again tonight.

On its seventh iteration 24 concisely follows the misanthropic, and oftentimes explosive, tour de force that is Jack Bauer's life. Now, Jack Bauer is no ordinary super-spy-hero. Nay, fellow desensitized television viewers. Jack Bauer is a singular, multi-purpose - some might say Swiss army knife - special agent. We can discuss the shrine I've hidden for him (currently in my closet) later. All you need to know is Jack Bauer kicks ass and he's back to save America, presumably for the seventh consecutive year.

I'm going to take a slight detour and examine some of the finner points of the series 24. If you want to skip ahead to the SPOILERS then scroll down for a bit.

First off, 24 stars a Canadian actor. Hmmmm...I've always found this interesting as Jack Bauer seems to epitomize the American ideal. He's obviously a hero, devoted to his country, awesomely athletic, ruggedly handsome, and the list goes on and on. But he's Canadian. The casting director must be kicking him/herself right now. "Oh shit, we got a Canadian to play our all-American hero?! Dammit! Let's screw him up a little bit..." So they gave Jack a heroine addiction, he also carries out torture, and kills a wheelbarrow full of people every episode. But I don't see how this differs from the all-American...

24 has also been a social-conscious compass. For instance, season one predicted an African-American president. Huh, didn't that just happen? Weird. This season there is a female president. Does that mean eight years down the road the first woman will be inducted into the White House? Who knows, but if television has taught us anything it's that you shouldn't mess with Jack Bauer.

Sorry, that was getting a little silly. But I do applaud the script writer's of 24, who have addressed many big picture and thematically important ideas. I don't want to re watch all six seasons (that would be six days of my life I won't get back) but I can name a few things off the top of my head. One, the common theme of 'the ends justifying the means'. This could also be phrased as the 'look at the bigger picture paradox' or as I like to say the 'patriot act'....

Shit. I just realized my aunt may read this at some point. She's trying to get her American citizenship. Or she got it already. Anyways, in the sake of her not being labeled as an extremist, I'm going to return to my original point. If you skipped ahead START READING HERE.

24 started today and like any season premier it was a jaw-dropping, nail biting, OMFG 2 hours. All you need to know is Tony is back. Jack's side kick who died. Yeah. Tony. He's back and it turns out, he's not dead. WTF? That was the common reaction around the room. WTF? And, no get this, Tony is a bad guy. Gasp. I foresee epic Mano-a-Mano fights in 24's future.

So spread the word. Make some one's day with cherub-esque text messages. Spread the rainbows and sunshine that only 24 can deliver.

Something Better

So last night when I intended to blog I was taken by an idea. Now this wasn't one of my ideas. Instead, it was an idea donated to me by the lovely lady Sasha (check out her blog). She showed me this short story she was writing and it sparked a creative frenzy inside myself.

Earlier in the week I'd thought of a wonderful story idea. And Sasha's comment/story refreshed it in my mind and once again I was frantically looking for some way to notate the ideas fluttering through my head.

Now, if you've ever read my short stories before you'll know that they are fairly light and often romanticized. I don't think I've ever written an unhappy ending in my life. However, last night when the mood to write struck me I moved in a completely new direction.

I dump the reader into a fairly racy sexual scene.

What could possess me to write something like that? Was I myself sexual abused as a child? I really shouldn't make jokes about things like that. But for whatever reason I decided to write something a little darker.

Already into the half-a-page mark I've added some black humour. Maybe by the end of the month my story will be up online. But until then my posts might be a little more scattered.

Day 2

For me the New Year's resolutions don't truly go into effect until I'm back to real life. That meant yesterday. With school starting and being back in Vancouver my 2009 officially started and I'm now obliged to comply with the solemn oaths I've sworn to myself.

But labs haven't started yet so I guess real life hasn't quite started yet. That's my rationale as I sit inside my room staring out the window at the rain drenched campus. Today is supposed to be day one of my new workout regime (one of my resolutions). I'm supposed to go to the gym and hit the bike for 35-40 minutes and then do a bunch of crunches and finish off with some leg extensions. I have it all planned out and yet I can't summon the energy to leave my room.

I've come up with a bunch of excuses: I'm sick, it's cold, I'll do it tonight. But the fact of the matter is I'm not going to be keeping this resolution and it's only the first day.

My other resolutions have been faring a little better. But it seems like they were really only back up plans. If my first resolution fails I have two or three more to fall back on. Hopefully by the end of the year I'll still be following one of my resolutions.

But who really cares. I know I'll make it to the gym at some point this week. Probably tomorrow. So was a resolution even necessary. It just makes me feel bad and less able to workout when I've broken it. The 'why bother' mind set sinks in and all hope is lost.

So I think my back up back up resolution will be to motivate myself to achieve my goals without holding to some covenant made on a drunken evening sipping champagne.

Back to Real Life

For me, and numerous other university students, this week marks the beginning of the second semester. Many hope to improve upon last years grades while some sit on their high horses and mock us peons toiling for C's and D's (get degrees by the way). But all of us have to get our heads back around the real - or not so real - life that comes with going to university.

For me it means going back to eating, and often avoiding eating, in the cafeteria. It means doing my own laundry. It means taking the bus. It means waiting for two hours to buy things at the bookstore. It means, and this is my favorite, a trip to Staples. But above all else it means we can put our lives on hold and goof off for another 13 weeks.

Of course there is studying involved. Long hours spent at the library pouring over textbooks and frantically writing papers. But for the most part, we just get to be kids. Well, kids who live on their own and make their own (often bad) decisions.

We like to have fun. That's why the atmosphere on campus is so amazing; so different from anything else anywhere else. We like to succeed. The top students from all over the world are here and they are all used to getting A's. Now put the two together. We want to have fun and have the best, most amazing, damaging, stupid fun you can imagine.

Universities came up with drinking games. Why? So someone could win. So the person with the B- average could trounce on the people with the A+'s.

So everyone warms up their liver's and prepares for another 13 weeks of university. There is no life like it, even if it isn't the most real version you will find.