I'm so out of touch with kids these days
like for example
when did little kids start wanting to dress up as electronic music producers who dress up with big mouse heads?
when did they start listening to drum n bass?
and more importantly... why is an awful remix of Ghosts 'n Stuff being played at a children's Halloween dance?
I don't even know what's happening anymore.
Let's get serious for a moment
I have a bone to pick with the University of Winnipeg.
Before I go any further let me preface: I like my university. I love the downtown campus. I appreciate the availability of coffee, the various types of spaces available to study and socialize, and the overall positive vibe I get while lugging my stuff from classroom to classroom. It's great that we have the new science building and the dorms (though I don't use them) and although apparently it's going to cost me an additional sixty dollars a year in tuition, it's cool that they're going to be building a new state-of-the-art wellness complex. I get that.
So why the Hell is it that with all this expansion and renovations happening on campus, all my tuition being funneled into these new projects I can't connect to the goddamn wifi?!
At first I thought it was just me. I being my iPad to campus and that's generally how I (try to) connect to the wifi. Last year it was choppy and dropped frequently at the best of times, but this year it has become unbearable. Unless I'm on campus after 7pm there is no signal. And that's between the UW Students wifi (which I have a password for), and the UW Visitors and the UW Conference, which are apparently unsecured networks but I can't seem to connect to.
What I usually wind up doing (and am currently doing) is connecting to a Personal Hotspot from my iPhone, which is ridiculous considering that tethering takes away from my data plan while there's a wifi signal all around me that is so weak that I can't even connect to it.
Ever single student I have asked about this issue either has zero connectivity on campus, or has a signal that is so weak that they can barely use the Internet while on campus. Let me repeat: Every. Single. Student. And as someone who has a full course load and has engaged with most of the students in all of my classes on this issue, that's a lot of frustrated students.
So why hasn't this been remedied?
I mean, the tuition that we students pay every year is one of the lifelines that keeps the university going. We students are the reason (in theory) that this institution exists in the first place. And yet we can't get a simple service like reliable wifi? It's a joke.
Last week the University of Winnipeg Student's Association had the student body vote to pay an extra 60$ annually to go towards the new Bill Wedlake Fitness Centre, which we happily obliged. How much would it cost annually, per student, to provide a better wifi signal? It baffles me that something like wifi that every student uses every day largely ignored, while we're asked to shell out for a new fitness centre that maybe half of the student body will even use while they attend this institution.
Of course, Lloyd Axworthy can't brag about the reliability of his wifi connection to possible investors. He needs physical things like a new science building and a new fitness centre to draw investment attention to the university. Running a university is a business, after all, and as long as the employees -or in this, case, students- sit by and let their needs be ignored, nothing will change.
Jabez showed me this today
I spent my whole day writing papers & being in class
and when I came home, this is what awaited me
I'm not sure what's going on
but it's so, so
this is what friends are for
waiting for my lunch at Stella's
and the girl at the next table is talking (loudly) to her friend and is talking about how her boyfriend -who she lives with- asked her to cut back on the barhopping because he can't keep covering her for rent and she turned around and said "I don't see why I have to give up my partying just so he can get his stupid degree".
in the fifteen minutes I've been here (food just arrived) she's bitched about her boyfriend, a coworker, a coworkers husband, a 'friend', her boyfriend and their house and their tv and it's like this big nonstop slew of negativity and it's so toxic.
Tyrone, I love you, thanks for not being a big barstar and paying the rent on time.
he is also home sick today, which I would gladly trade for sitting near this girl.
apparently she is going to break up with her boyfriend and 'find someone better'.
this is what I looked like when I woke up today:
this is what I'm listening to right now:
(except without the misogyny)
Enjoy your Saturday, skids!
Every night is an adventure
even though I obviously don't remember all of my dreams, I always feel like I wake up remembering a significant portion of part of a dream story (regaling poor Tyrone with my weird dream-stories in the morning is one of my favourite things to do :))
that's why I was happy to find this cool vid on Tumblr today:
this has felt like the longest week ever (again). being in school and working has a weird way of sucking up all your free time & energy and leaving you wondering where it all went. tonight Tyrone and I are going on a dinner & movie date and we're seeing this and I am excited.
this is how I feel right now :)
Some ways I can make today better:
Listening to my favourite Chilly Gonzales track.
eating ice cream (but not this much or I'll get sick)
getting hugs from this fine gentleman:
and crying.
I said goodbye today
to someone who means the world to me
my heart is breaking
and all I can do
is tell you that I love you
and be glad that we still have each other
xo
Yesterday was super chilly
and I would have rather not been outside.
this super blurry & dark photo was taken outside, however, at the #OccupyWinnipeg event last night. My Politics and the Mass Media prof brought us to check out a meeting they were having to see how they resolved their issues as a collective, as well as to talk to them about why they were camping out when it was nearly below zero, and why they felt it was important.
lots of things were discussed including organizing meals, security, the placement of the tents, building a barrier for the North wind (since Memorial Park where they are located is pretty much an open space in front of the Legislative building), raising money for a portable toilet, etc.
naturally I was live tweeting the event
I have to say that I really admire people taking a stand for what they believe in, no matter what the reason. It's unfortunate that local media seem to be dismissive not only of the rally held in solidarity with #OccupyWallStreet on Saturday, but also with these people peacefully protesting in Memorial Park. I've never really gone out and protested so I can't speak to this personally, but claims that these people are just 'playing along' or 'don't know why they're there' generally seem to be from people who haven't even taken the time to go down there and listen (if not be a part of) the process.
We live in a Democracy, and these people have a right to be on Crown land protesting for what they believe in, both in the lawful sense and in the sense that they live in a country which apparently supports that. It would be nice if local media could at least attempt to shine a positive light on their efforts (in particular one right-wing throwaway paper has been particularly negative).
And besides, if they really didn't believe in what they were protesting, I highly doubt they'd be out there in the cold night after night in downtown Winnipeg. I know I sure couldn't handle that.
Rats off to ya, #OccupyWinnipeg!
If you want to help out or donate to the #OccupyWinnipeg cause, you can visit their website or the FaceBook page.
