So! In about two hours, I'm headed to Montreal, where I'll be flying to Egypt for two weeks.
Although we've been planning the trip for a few months now, it's always felt a bit surreal, off in the distance behind the mountains of schoolwork in front of me. Now, it's the day of, and I'm like..."oh yeah. Egypt!". I've packed all my stuff, including a hoard of books to keep me occupied during the extremely long plane ride and waiting around. I even went out of my way to buy The Invisibles: Say You Want A Revolution by Grant Morrison (one of my favourite authors)...but I flipped through it, and there's definitely some bondage/questionable content happening, so it might be safer not to bring it along. Sigh. I was really looking forward to reading it, but customs is a miserable process as it is, and I'd rather not make it any worse. The cover also features some hands about to press down on a bomb activator, which would probably set off a red flag.

It's so stupid that we have to worry about such mundane things nowadays, but just yesterday, a comic creator was detained for having a copy of the graphic novel DMZ, which features a blown-up New York City. He was outright asked if he was terrorist. Can you say retarded, boys and girls?

So, I guess I'll be packing some harmless X-Men comics instead. Grumble grumble.
Anyways, whining notwithstanding, I'm incredibly excited. Hopefully I'll be able to make a post or two during the trip.

So, all two or three readers of the blog will be pleased to know that I saw Across the Universe for a second time in the past...oh, week, week and a half? Same theatre, same time, but with two more people than before. Who, me? Predictable? Pfeh.

Anyways, after finishing the movie, I got the chance to take the 95 home to downtown; for those who don't often take the bus, the 95 at this time of day is a treat (to me, anyways), because I can engage in some serious people-watching (just wait - it's not as creepy as it sounds). The bus tends to draw out the outgoing types, who I can only assume are coming out from the various suburbs of Ottawa to, well...go partying.

As I sat listening to the ol' iPod on shuffle, I couldn't help but notice a, for lack of a better term, "pack" of girls, around my age, sitting all in a row on the seats beside me. Fully decked out with the platinum blonde hair (likely dyed), the various expensive purses overflowing with miscellaneous crap, the little ballerina slippers that probably wouldn't last through 1 milimetre of rain, and - of course - the skimpy tops that many older bus-riders probably consider a felony to look at. As they talked and giggled amongst themselves, I couldn't help but let the cynical, judgmental side of me take the reigns - this is our future?

The feminists of yesterday would cringe to see today's generation turning themselves into a literal interpretation of Reese Witherspoon's character in Legally Blonde. On the one hand, I blame society for allowing MTV to a) exist, and b) put out the mind-numbing trite causing all of this - I'm talking about Newport Harbour, The Hills, and whatever other shows exist about rich, beautiful people getting wasted and yelling at each other. However, I also think it's the responsibility of the smart young men and women (yes, you do exist, no matter how much you try to deny it) to take a stand against pop culture and do such strange activities of yesteryear of reading the paper every now and then and think about making themselves into semi-useful people in society, instead of the next flock of methanphetamine dealers on Rideau street.

I couldn't help but ponder all of this as I looked at them; are they really enjoying all the random stuff they're talking about? Is there an independent, intelligible brain tucked away in there, striving to get free?

These girls are either the victims of conformity and expectation, or genuinely enjoying themselves by doing whatever it is they do.
If it's the former, I feel sorry for them - if it's the latter...well. Yeah.

Bein oui, là!

But - non-sequitor Frenchness aside - it's a bit hard to believe that a month of school has already drifted by. In a sense, I'm glad, because it takes me that much closer to university, but on the other hand, I feel like school work's getting a bit overwhelming. I need one of those time stopping thingies, like in that crappy kids movie from a few years back. You know the one, where they had those cool watches, and the government came after them? ...No? Nothing? All right, then.

A few hours ago, after much rescheduling and waiting, I got all four of my wisdom teeth out. The operation itself went just fine - got some happy juice shot into myself and dropped off the radar for a good hour. And now, I'm stuck recovering for the next couple of days. Everything nose down on my face is completely numb (which is kinda cool - poking your own cheek and having it feel like a leather couch. Hee hee). However, I've got cloth thingies shoved between the spaces where my teeth used to be, because -- surprise! I'm all bleedy. In fact, when I lean forward, puddles of pink blood comes out. Yum.

Ah well - we also bought lots of ice cream bars and chicken broth soup. Yaaaay.

Today I learned that...

• Children are still into the Pokemon. One girl spent an hour re-educating me on the new ones, as well as all the retarded games that have come out since I was a child.
• Children worship High School Musical (???). The instructor asked for their favourite band and they all shouted in unanimously. From what I looked up on Youtube and IMDb, it seems to be the latest cheery/hypnotizing tripe for the young'ns.
• Children (girls, more specifically) are quite creepy. One girl called me a "hideous, snouty pig with a big ass and an ugly nose" and then proceeded to slap my ass when she walked by. I suppose that means she likes me.

Overall, it was a pretty exhausting day. All but one of the campers are girls, and they pick on the one guy mercilessly (during rolecall, where the kids had to put an adjective in front of their name starting with the name letter, the girls suggested sassy, slimey, and smelly for Sean. Ouch). Thankfully, the instructor's really nice.

However, it's going to be a long, long week.

Personally, it's probably the issue I'm most concerned about, since it has such an immense effect (both short-term and long-term) on all the life on this planet. The changing climate not only has an effect on humans, but even moreso on biodiversity. Although this should be important in itself, let's think of it from a selfish point of view - where do you think cures for disease and sickness come from? Plants and animals. If we allow more to become threatened and extinct, we lower the possibility of being able to save ourselves from whatever new virus or pandemic comes our way.

Now, I know I'm sounding alarmist, and I'm sorry about that. I just feel strongly because it's not a matter of "can we make a difference?", it's a matter of "will we make a difference?". Everyone can afford to make some changes to their lifestyles (e.g. biking, walking, or even bussing shorter distances, installing fluorescent lightbulbs that save energy, recycling/composting, and being aware of appliances that don't always need to be turned on, etc).

It shouldn't really matter about what your thoughts are on global warming - we're just guests on this planet, and its in our best interests to take care of it.

Recently, life has become a tad difficult. Why, you ask?

Well, for the past week now, internet on my dad's computer has been completely shot. We've tried everything, but it's just...genuinely not working. At all. As some of you may have picked up on, internet is a huge factor in my life (sad, I know). I do all my comic work on it, and I use it to keep in touch with a number of good friends (phones are for suckers - I swear). Anyways, I know we'll get it fixed soon...ish...but until then, it's just a huge pain in the butt.