3000 Hits and Counting!

WOW! When I first started this blog, the only people reading it were myself and maybe two other people. It's been a little over a year since then and here it is with over 3000 hits. I am totally amazed at the number of people who enjoy reading about "My Quarter Life Crisis" or those who chastise me for not updating ("Ok Jen! I will update I promise! Geez!" HAHAHA). So to all my faithful readers, whether you enjoy it or those who are just are bored and end up here, likely the latter of the two, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you.

Now moving on to the post...

So many things to write about. I have started planning for my trip to Europe next year and I am happy to see that things are falling into place. The Reading Music Festival is on a convenient date, that being August 25th -27th, flights from place to place in Europe are quite affordable in contrast to what I thought they would cost, and Jay and I have pretty much narrowed down the destinations we wish to hit. The general excitement that I'm beginning to feel around this trip is building and I can't wait for the time to come. It will mean a long time without time off as I will use all my vacation time for it. Oh well...it will be worth it for sure! Travelling the world has always been one of my life goals. So many people live their lives without visiting the rest of their own country much less the rest of the world. I have been fortunate thus far to have had the opportunities to travel to some of the most beautiful places in the world. Those who know me well, know that I get a kick out of culture, art, history and architecture (I wonder where I got that from:P) and Europe represents a cornucopia of all of the above. So excited.


Next topic. The impending election looming upon Canadians. I normally am quite the advocate for people to get out there and vote but this time I feel a lack of motivation. It's not a matter of indifference or lack of knowledge of the issues at hand. More so that no candidate inspires me. Being an economist, I had high expectations for Paul Martin after his ability to produce consecutive budget surpluses while in office as Finance Minister. Now this, our government in complete shambles, a political party responsible for swindling Canadians of grotesque amounts of money and the candidates opposing him offering little to encourage me to hit the polls. What good are campaign promises really? Why can't we have a leader that inspires the nation? One who brings hope back to Canadians who have lost faith in the political system and brings the sweeping changes required make Canada head in the right direction. What that direction exactly is? Don't know. I'm not running for PM. I can say the only candidate that I have voted for and had no doubts and absolute faith in my descision has been at the municiple level, that being Hazel. I have yet to decide whether or not I vote. Maybe Harper or Layton can muster up something of value to say and change my mind. Enough of the political rant. There's a reason why you shouldn't talk about it at parties.

Being a karate enthusiast, I was saddened to hear of Pat Morita's passing. As corny as it sounds....the Karate Kid series gave me the feeling that a wimpy kid can learn karate too, but more importantly, it illustrated the honour in the relationship of student and teacher, elder and youth, father and son. I haven't been as diligent as I should be in my karate as of late and this I regret. I was not in shape enough to return to karate. Once my conditioning returns I will resume. Rest in peace Sensei Morita.

Reading Bren's Blog, I read Martin Luther King's speech on the purpose of education. In the speech, Dr.King states his observed purpose of education being two fold, that of being utility and culture. This is precisely what I got out of university. The thing is that the principle result was in fact culture rather than utility. The utility served by my degree was solely to make me eligible for applying for my position. Not to say that I do not endorse university education, on the contrary. It just seems silly to me that all through school , the message conveyed was that if you wanted to obtain a decent career, university was an absolute necessity. While my degree qualified me for the application, it bears no impact on the performance of my job. Thankfully, I am proud of the knowledge that I came away with from university. The courses I found most relevant to my life were my electives and they consisted of mostly religious studies, philosophy and art history. The only advice I can give to students, current and prospective, is to not deny yourselves the opportunity for a liberal education by focusing on the core courses that while seeming important, due to their difficulty and the "respect" they may command, may cause you to overlook the courses that may be most personally rewarding. I have applied the knowledge from my electives to an exponentially larger degree than that derived from my economics courses in day to day life. Of course, this would change if I was working in the financial industry but...who really does what they went to school for anyway?

Aside: "It was much more difficult than I thought it would be."

Song of the Post: Incubus "Miss You" Instrumental (Performed by the String Quartet)