"Just knock them down, like dominoes..."

...was the advice my good friend Aaron gave me in the middle of the term when the amount of work I had seemed insurmountable. I have a problem with putting too many things on my plate. I think deep down inside I enjoy the feeling of being busy. Not so much the feeling of constantly having things to do, but the feeling of being important, useful and needed. I have had this malady for as long as I can remember. Someone will ask me, "how's it going, Jon?" "Ok... Busy", is the invariable answer, as though busyness is some sort of trophy or badge of my importance. Many people are genuinely busy. I am also genuinely busy, though I do wonder sometimes whether the need to do so stems from a less-than-noble desire. Look how many meetings I have to go to. Look how hard I have to study. Look how many papers I have to grade. I am so tired but aren't you proud of me? Can I have some affirmation of my existence, please?

Having said all that-- I only have two things left on my plate. 1) Hebrew Final and 2) Marking for NT Foundations. Upcoming posts... "These are a few of my favourite things", "major influences in my life", "dream-jobs for my best friends", and "Plans for the Summer and Beyond!" Stay tuned.

Thanks so much, Sharon, for the Canucks tickets. It was a terrific game to be at, and the seats were the best I've ever had in a major league hockey game.

Bad Movies List

This is the top five list in the Worst-Movies-I-Actually-Paid-Money-To-See category in the last couple of years. These are not your regular "B" movies. These are movies void of anything that might resemble: acting talent, artistic merit, a good script, an engaging plot, meaning. The people who made these movies either don't have friends or have friends that don't like them enough to tell them that their movie sucks and should be cut into pieces and burned to ashes and put in an ugly box and punted off a bridge. Which brings me to an important point. Good friends will not only pat each other on the back but also speak up if their friend is overweight or steps in crap or has spinach in their teeth or is living a destructive life-style. If no one has ever told you that you are wrong or did something poorly it probably does not mean that you are perfect, but rather, you do not have many good friends. But back to the list. I'm sorry if a movie you like is on this list. I feel sorry for you.

They are (not in any particular order):
1. Matrix Revolution: Which of the Matrix movies is the worst? Now that is a big toss-up between M:Reloaded and M:Revolution. I decided to go with Revolution because the Warchowski brothers obviously did not learn from making movie number 2. These movies might do better as a TV series... A movie isn't doing what it's supopsed to if you find yourself not caring about the movie or its characteres but just waiting for the next stop-motion fight scene or the end credits, whatever comes sooner.

2. Underworld 2: Confusing, boring... Did I say boring? I can't say I was awake for much of this movie.

3. Van Helsing: Perhaps it was because I watched this late at night, but Kate Beckinsale's atrocious Hungarian accent and the movie's ridiculous plot made me want to give the friend who rented this movie a good shake.

4. The Hills Have Eyes: Killer mutants who talk with Southern US accents and have to use walkie-talkies to coordinate attacks lose their credibility as menacing villains.

5. The Brothers Grim: Who's the fairest of them all? Not this movie. A movie that cannot decide what genre it wants to be or what it will be about: Sleepy Hollow, Princess Bride, Ghostbusters, The French Revolution, Indiana Jones, Van Helsing. Throw all these together, and you get.... crap.

Definition Anxiety

So I am going to give this blog-thing a whirl.

The idea of having an online journal is attractive to me. Life is a many-splendoured thing. I tend to lose things quite easily, and this journal will give me an opportunity to record some of these things so that they might not be lost. Furthermore, it will be an avenue for me to make some (non)sense of my thoughts by comitting them to writing. I realize that I will primarily be writing for myself. However, if you are interested in my life or what I am thinking about at the moment... Tune in and feel free to respond.

At this point I can foresee two problems with writing an online journal. What if I end up offending someone who dislikes me and they read it and dislike me even more? Or what if I accidentally disclose other people's secrets? I suppose I will have to exercise some degree of discretion or I may lose all my friends (c.f. Homer Simpson from the Mr. X Episode of The Simpsons). Nonetheless, it is somewhat empowering to have your own avenue of "publishing" something. I have yet to be published in a respectable journal but I can publish 10 articles in a day in my own blog if I wanted to. "How many publications have you had in the past 3 years?" "5? Not bad...I have... 2,043." The idea of being the boss of your own journal is attractive to me.

The biggest hurdle so far has been coming up with a name for the thing. Pathetic, I know. It took me two and half hours and the best I could come up with was 'lowanhei.net'. For those who do not know me well-- that's my Chinese name transliterated into English. Not terribly original. It wasn't that I couldn't come up with any else... It's because I have this fear of being inaccurately defined. What if the name does not fully represent what I am? What if it gives the wrong idea? What if I change? It seems so irrevocable, so final. I have a similar problem with writing songs for the band I am in (KK). I have written many unfinished songs because I am afraid that to finish it would be to subject it to criticism. I even struggle with coming up with names for characters in video games(!), when I played video games. I feel like by giving something a name I am imbuing some of myself into to that thing and therefore it must accurately portray what I am about. Maybe I should see a psychologist about this...but until then, 'lowanhei.net' will have to suffice.

There are three reasons that prompted me to start this blog.
1. I just finished the comprehensive exam for my degree.
2. I just got a new digital camera.
3. Everyone else is doing it.

lowanhei.net