Beam Me To Campus, Scotty

For those not living in the lovely city of London, we're coming to the end of our first week of a transit strike. So let me begin by saying:

Congratulations, ATU Local 741.

You're officially On Notice.

The LTC offered a 9% increase over the weekend but apparently that wasn't enough for the ATU, despite the current economic situation that has many people thankful to have jobs at all. Yes, at this point not even a week without transit has passed (no where near the two months Ottawa endured), but for weeks leading up to the strike the frequency of buses was reduced to exam-period/holiday levels, making it difficult for people to get to school and work on time.

For a brief period this week there were even rumours that the ATU would set up picket lines on campus because some of the transportation services arranged by the university were allegedly being viewed as strike-breaking maneuvers.

The silver lining here, if you can call it that, is today's lesson:

Nothing brings a community together quite like a transit strike.

I'm quite proud of the efforts Western has made to keep the safety and education of its students its primary concern. Campus Police has ramped up its security; the University College shuttle service expanded its routes; carpool sites were created; a van service was added (47 rented vans driven by volunteers, which cater to students living in areas more than a 30min walk from campus); professors, staff, and students are offering rides to classmates and those living nearby; and the USC organized a bike check in the UCC gym. So to the Western community I say thank you. We should be proud of ourselves.

While I don't mind walking to class (so far the weather is still relatively warm), walking home is an incredible inconvenience. By the time classes are over I'm usually hungry, tired, and generally fed up with school. Today was our first day of rain during the strike, but knowing London we can expect many more days like today. And most importantly, because it's so late in the year it's dark by the time I have to walk home. Thankfully, as far as I know, no one has been raped, abducted, attacked by animals, or thrown into the Thames while walking to or from campus. Let's keep it that way, London.

And so to the ATU I say bring it on. Because I'm just itching for another thing to complain about.

Smoker Lady

While walking to my friendly neighbourhood bus stop yesterday, I jetted past a man and woman (probably in their 50s) who were taking their sweet times trudging through the snow. Shortly after taking refuge from the cutting wind in the bus shelter the slow-mos joined me and promptly whipped out a cigarette to share. Though the man was standing just outside the shelter entrance, the woman was standing inside.  Now, I don't care how cold it is, or what's falling from the sky... If you're going to smoke then get the fuck out of the bus shelter. 

Congratulations, Smoker Lady.

You're On Notice.

After some emphatic coughing, I considered the woman may not be able to hear me clearly as her dirty mauve coat hood was pulled up and pulled tight. Obviously she was just plain rude and inconsiderate. 

I abruptly stomped over to her, grumbled an attitude-laden "excuse me" when I realized she wasn't going to clear the entrance, and stomped outside. They seemed fairly oblivious.  I don't know if she noticed, but I shot her my very condescending "you disgust me" face, and wished I could have brought myself to speak up.

Mid-Week Mix-ed Bag

1. I love that Discovery Channel commercial as much as I hate Nickelback.
   
2. I had a dream the other night where Woody Allen was The Riddler. But I think he was an impostor. Because Elvis Costello was also The Riddler...
   
3. Apparently everyone on the 2 Dundas starts at the same time as me on Wednesdays. So congrats, 10:30am Wednesday class. You're On Notice. I was waiting for 25 minutes for the bus. Like, three "full" buses passed me. And by the time I got picked up at 10:30 there were like 30 people waiting at my stop. Trust me, it had nothing to do with the sudden snow squalls. This happens every Wednesday.
4. KH and I have decided to start a socio-political literary/arts magazine. More on that later.

Post-Secondary Education

I don’t think I can do this school thing anymore. And I love school. But after fifteen and a half years the novelty is finally starting to wear off. If I have to sit through one more student-made PowerPoint presentation I’m going to try to rip out all my hair.

Congratulations, Post-Secondary Education.
You’re On Notice.

People are always saying, “You’ll wish you were in school once you have to start working all the time,” or, “Why would you want to rush into the ‘real world’ when you’re in university?” Blah blah blah. How about because at least then I’ll be doing something, living, instead of writing academic essays?!

A girl friend who doesn’t share my opinion said that “we’ll never have as much free time as we do now.” I disagree. Most of the ‘free time’ I have now is because I’m not doing my homework.

Instead of learning things anymore, I’m being taught the same things by different people. The overlapping of content in courses is disgusting. And every semester I take at least one class that sounds boring as fuck -- but sounds really useful -- that ends up being a colossal waste of time.

The only classes I enjoy attending anymore are the ones on random topics that, while very interesting, probably won’t get me anywhere in the ‘real world.’ For example: Watching Music on the Small Screen: Popular Music on TV; From Bram to Buffy: The Vampire in TV, Print ad Film; Crash: Landscape, Culture and the Legacy of the Automobile… The list goes on. The only two electives that have proven their worth are Arts & Entertainment Journalism and Creative Non-Fiction Writing.

I’m pretty sure I just keep writing the same essay over and over but through different topics. Some essays topics include: the Jesus complex and technological rebirth in R.U.R and The Matrix; why The Wizard of Oz is a preemptive containment text; labyrinths and the questionable futility of death (particularly suicide) in Voices of Time and The Shining; the perpetuation of female stereotypes in music and failed authenticity in Girlicious…

I’m going to make next year as easy as possible. This is no longer about kill count; it’s about finishing the mission.

The High Road

I have a section dedicated to obsessions and I thought it only fair to dedicate a section to such things holding less savory positions in my mind. And so, with great pleasure, I would like to debut my On Notice section, Colbert style.

Congratulations, The High Road.

You're On Notice.

There is rumoured to be a certain sense of maturity in taking the proverbial high road, but I think that's elitist bullshit. I mean, hey, I love elitism as much as the next elitist, but what's the fun there? You just need to be clever about it. Think controlled burn rather than forest fire. You dig it? I say it's better to slyly lay some burn (flaming tipped arrows rather than balls of fire from a trebuchet) than risking a Hindenburg-level disaster being the pot of gold at the end of your fancy high road.