shallow.. oh so shallow me...

well, folks, i've just walked a full day on the streets of downtown toronto... *in my defense, i did go to the art gallery, and tomorrow i plan on hitting up the ROM during supper or something*
so in the midst of overpriced "stuff"... i've come to the conclusion that the best way of dealing with the draw of consumerism is to not buy anything at all. however, i realize that while that's a good method of treating "shopper's syndrome" while travelling... it's not practical for life.
yes, salty hank, this means that everyone needs to shop at some point.
so my question for the day is this: how do you judge what price is justified for an item?
ex: value village vs. holt renfrew?

anyway, i await your comments.... let me say.. i like travelling alone much better than my current predicament.
UPDATE YOUR BLOGS!!!!

the little things...

they say that it's always the little things in life that get to us most. a cumulative effect... like ten fingernails on a chalkboard instead of just the one...
i've never quite understood why, and tonight i understand it even less, but it seems to me that if someone could develop an immunity to "the little things" - they'd be quite powerful.
it strikes me that every life changing experience also starts out with some small, miniscule act. and you would never have dreamed it possible at that fateful moment.. but a year later - looking back, you can see your errors for what they were.
and then, you're surrounded by your mistake. you have constant reminders... maybe other people don't realize that you see it as a disaster - and they remind you of it, inadvertently. it's never in a big way - maybe it's even in passing. the gods are cruel, afterall.
so here there's a word in the newspaper that triggers a memory, so you go for a walk to clear your head... and then a smell reaches your olfactory receptors (just for you, ST), and, disgusted, you decide to listen to some music... maybe if you activate another sense it might destroy the others - but no.. even there, more reminders...
friends, i believe i've just figured out why people go mad.
they say that closure is important in allowing people to move on and deal with their past. but i ask you: how is this possible? how is it possible to erase memories and emotions and thoughts?
of course, you will say, no, no, it's about dealing with it.
yes, fine deal with it... but how?
how do you deal with the little things? i mean, i can see how you can block this or that out.. or move on from some causative event... but the effect of a single "little thing" is never great - it is the cumulative effect of many of these "little things" that has the power to twist the minds of human beings. (yes, jonathon, i did not say "twist the minds of men".. note also, i did not give in to the radical feminist stereotype that i am by saying women instead of men or human beings - do i get kudose points for that?!?)
so do you see a resolution in sight?
i sure don't.

patefactum

by the way... my friend the pre-right honoUrable jonathon has started posting again.... go check out his site

- YHS

my thoughts have come back!

alright guys, haji's back and ready to start making you think about more than just stupid monkeys and making salty hank and jonathon get frustrated with each other....

i'm wondering what makes a person burn out, and what gets them inspired to live again. my st and i have come to the conclusion that people burn out when they lose hope.. or rather, lose the courage to pursue their goals.
here's a quotation to back that up:

courage is like love; it must have hope to nourish it. - napoleon bonaparte

now, so the thing is.. if burning out is you losing the will to go on with your hopes and dreams... then what can get you back in your personal 'fast track'?

anyway, i'll quit writing...
as polonius once said....
"Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief"

and i shall.

quotation of the WEEK

this one's for jonathon and salty hank. you both should know better than to fight over a silly blog post by someone like me!

We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.
- Robert Wilensky

take care, boys.

for my old friend, salty hank....

hey SH - i lived in gibraltar for a couple of months last summer.. and i met someone that reminded me of you.... :P
interestingly enough.. when i compared your dna to his.. i found that they were more than 96% identical! go figure...
(btw. i did actually take this photo in gib. these furry creatures are native to the mountain... behind him, you can see the strait of gibraltar... and one day, i'll post a picture that is aimed to the left of harry over here, and you can see morocco!)
so the question of the day for you folks....
what IS the difference between a person like salty hank, and a monkey like harry? obviously humans and monkeys are different... yet our dna is so similar....

for the procratinators in the crowd....

i was bored a little while ago.. and i thought that today, i would do a blog entry in pictures.... i don't think words are necessary to explain these ones...



hahah, good luck with exams, everyone! remember: in the big scheme of things - none of this really matters!

hypocrisy galore

hy·poc·ri·sy ( P ) Pronunciation Key (h-pkr-s)
n. pl. hy·poc·ri·sies

1. The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.
2. An act or instance of such falseness

...according to dictionary.com.... (just so i can say i wasn't plagiarising...)

i had a some friends over last night... and the topic turned to the old quotation i'm sure you're all familiar with "let deeds not words be your adorning"... it was interesting for me, because i've been faced with that all week - hypocrisy, that is.
i'm a biochemistry student - just finishing off my 2nd year, and interestingly enough, i'm beginning to meet a lot of my fellow majors in this last month of school. for those of you who do not know, biochemistry is a "feeder" to colleges such as medicine, dentistry, vet. med, etc. so of course, a lot of the students that i meet are pre-somethings and extremely competitive. i could care less about what a person wants to do with his/her life... and how they get themselves there.. well, i'll just try to get out of their way (i don't like being a doormat, thank you very much), but i do care why you're going to do something...
it struck me back in high school, too.. this attitude of "i'm going to be a doctor because it makes lots of money" - news flash for you, kids: you want money? go into business - or make a brilliant discovery (eg. invent your own DNA). professions such as medicine no longer pay what they used to relative to other professions. in any case, i'd hope, at least, that my doctor would care about who i am, as opposed to how many times s/he can make me visit him/her so that i can help fund the cruise trip that year!
so, last night, i'm talking to these friends of mine about hypocrisy - out of the blue.. i didn't bring it up. and today, thinking back on it.. i wonder, are there different levels of hypocrisy?
so, for example, is it worse for someone to go into a profession like medicine for the money, and not to help people.... or say, commit to an organization knowing full well you're never going to fulfill half of its requirements for members?
maybe i'm just biased towards certain situations, but i think that it must depend on your motivation.... so perhaps, your level of "falseness" is dependent on the instance in question, and to the magnitude of the effect it has on your environment...
however, if we go back to the definition above, it seems that there is no gray area here.. it's a matter of you either do as you say, or you don't, and it's as simple as that....
ideas? i'd like to hear them....

- a very confuzzled crazy haji

quotation of the day

If you want to understand the meaning of happiness, you must see it as a reward and not as a goal.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

for more on the meaning of happiness - see below

...for my most critical editor in life....

ah, rainy days....

well, yesterday was the first rain of the year. it was, allow me to say, brilliant. today, the sun is out, birds are chirping (i can hear them even with my window closed - soon, they'll be waking me at 4AM... the little buggers!!!.. i mean, i love the birds... *stupid magpies taking over silverwood!*) ok, right i digress....
its' a wonderful day out!
it's an interesting feeling.... as if, somehow, even the human population here is coming out of hibernation... stretching and opening their eyes for the first time all winter... (we've had about 2 months of clouds and blizzards - cut us some slack! when the irish say they hate rainy days.... i say to them... well, at least not EVERYTHING you see is white!)
and after the rain yesterday... see, rainy days... they seem to have a certain melancholy hopefulness to them. glad tidings, almost... some might even call it.... cleansing. it makes you ponder and look out the window and sigh.... (to my irish friends: i can see how this can get depressing if it's every other day at random times)
anyway, that was my ode to rainy days..... kindy wimpy and bleagh, but i tried!

in other news:
i've decided that april fool's day is not about the person who is tricked being the fool... but more about the trickster being foolish enough to find the trick funny. i pulled probably the worst prank possible on a friend yesterday morning (i was up early... and really bored!) only to find out that death had come knocking on this person's door on friday night. (apparently death's knock is: "shave and a haircut - two bits!")
and i recall... a few years back... a different friend of mine had gotten me good.... by telling me that her sister (who is a year older than i) was engaged. whoa boy, did that one get me good!
in any case, i'm wondering what you all think of the ol' poisson d'avril!
leave one.... or many...