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For your viewing pleasure...
Make your own South Park character. Funny, the body type and mousey hair look SO realistic!!
Ah, the joys of insommnia!
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Despite what my WeatherPixie states, its pouring outside. Earlier it was storming good -- I wonder if she ever shows lightening? The gutter is right outside my window, so when it rains it sounds all tinny in addition to the normal rain sounds. I likes it.
I watched a documentary tonight. A FUN one, at that! (then again, I usually *like* documentaries, anyways) It was Trekkies, 90 minutes about fans devoted to all things Star Trek. It was quite a fun watch.
I never really considered myself a "trekkie," though I would call myself a minor-league fan of the shows. I remember when I was growing up, it was a family tradition to watch The Next Generation on Saturday nights. We started with the first season, and we continued for a couple years after that. The host of the documentary was Denise Crosby, otherwise known as Tasha Yar (the tough grrrl Security Officer and Data's main squeeze). She was one of my favorite characters! I *still* remember when she died on the program and how sad that episode was.
I still like watching Voyager (yay Jane Way!). And I'm an ardent Wil Wheaton groupie, he's one of my inspirations for weblogging. Okay, so I didn't necessarily like Wesley Crusher on TNG, but now I love reading his insights and quirky humor on things that go on in his life. It sucks he got cut from the upcoming Star Trek movie.
It was interesting to see the devotion of these fans (fan of course being short for "fanatic"). The extent that some people go to show their love was also a bit frightening. At first I couldn't understand why these people would devote and love the show so much. Then someone in the film stated that Star Trek is "the mythology of the 20th century." And you know, that's true in many ways. One example a psychologist gave (who was also a Trekkie, yes): when he counsels people he talks about "putting your shields up." That is definitely a Trek-ism, that is so commonspeak nowadays that people probably don't even realize it. Freaky, no?
But then why should I think that this world and it's set of characters are any stranger than what the Greeks, Romans, English, and countless other people groups have created centuries before? One day, hundreds of years from now, will graduate students watch and write about the symbolism and values communicated by these myths of the 20th century? Its weird to think of pop culture today being historically relevant in the future!
Anyways, I guess you could say the documentary was a fun, albeit "educational" experience.
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Hurray for Jimbo and his contribution of Sleeman Honey Brown. Mmmmm, Canadian beer. Almost worth the nasty splinter I got in helping move his dusty stuff! But hey, I got free beer and a new (well, new to me) dresser outta it. :)
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Well, I was all prepared to post another mini rant on the lack-of-loans/funds situation....but...
Things actually went my way, for once?!
Indeed they have. Background: this afternoon the Registrar's Office at school called to inform me that my check had FINALLY arrived (almost 1 month late). So I trudged off to campus to snatch that baby up and endorse it over to the school, in order to get the funds processed ASAP. I had in my mind that the old biddy at the cashier's office had said it could take up to 3 weeks for it to process, but for some reason I was naively optimistic. (should know better, eh?)
Once navigating through the wilds-that-is-the-Registrar's-Office the week before classes start, I spoke with the cashier -- who then disappeared for 10 minutes and returned to tell me it would be at LEAST 2 weeks before I could access any funds. Now, I've been sick for the past week or so, and stressed out quite considerably, so I didn't take the news especially well.
By not especially well I mean there were tears in my eyes as I talked with the lady in the office. I asked if there was ANYTHING that could be done to expedite the process, and "because of university policy" there really wasn't (or at least I was told). She took my name and told me she'd call if she could arrange anything -- now, with all the promises of call-backs I've experienced in the past 3+ weeks, I honestly wasn't expecting any further communication unless initiated by me.
But, at 5pm this afternoon I RECEIVED A CALL! She actually called me back -- and not only that, but she's made it possible for me to have the check processed by Tuesday!! As in THIS Tuesday, not in 2 weeks Tuesday! This means I'll actually have a positive balance in my bank account and money for rent, books, bills, my car, [insert whatever else I've been waiting for the past month to pay].
I happy.
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So...what to do in Saskatchewan when grasshoppers are swarming and Elton John is coming in concert? Why, collect over 39,000 of the buggers and win free tickets! At least, that's what this woman did. Craaaa-zy. Elton John or no, that's a little TOO much time on her hands.
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Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.(or, don't let the bastards get you down)
No loan check for me, doo-dah. No sign of it anywhere, still. I'm wondering how long I should wait for it to show up in the mail (its been a week already) or if I should have them stop payment on this check and then forward me another. I don't know. I do know that its getting closer to school starting, and with that goes the possibility of me speeding up the processing of my funds. Ah well.
Ugh, things seem worse due to the fact I have a full-blown summer cold (my whole head feels stuffed up and I can't pop my ears!). That, combined with the serious lack-of-funds is really bringing me down. I'm ready for school to start to ease up some of these woes that seem increased due to the lack of activity in my life right now.
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Ugh, I'm sick. Hooray for summer colds! It started out as an allergy attack yesterday, but has since progressed into a full blown cold. Maybe its a good thing I don't have an hours long drive to Toronto to make this week, after all.
At least I have time now to read my new book, Possession by A.S. Byatt. I've seen the previews for the movie based on the book -- and anything with a Loreena McKennit song as the background can't be all bad. I've really dug into it. Here's what the back of the books says, and see how much it sounds like something I'd dig: "Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once an intellectual mystery and triumphant love story. It is the tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets. As they uncover their letters, journals, and poems, and track their movements from London to Yorkshire -- from spiritualist seances to the fairy-haunted far west of Brittany -- what emerges is an extraordinary counterpoint of passions and ideas."
Well, I'm off to go crash on the couch and be sick some more....cheers!
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The following letter serves two purposes: 1: As an important exercise in frustration-release. 2: As hopefully an instrument to cause some change (or at least inspire some shake-up) for the dreaded Sallie Mae Loan Servincing company. Check or no on Monday, this puppy is going out in the mail to Sallie Mae, my lender Citizen's Bank, and to the US Department of Education.
Sallie Mae Servicing
ATTN: Correspondence
PO Box 9500
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18773-9500
To Whom it May Concern:
I am writing this letter to express my extreme dissatisfaction with the handling of my accounts by your loan servicing company. There are several reasons why I plan to choose another company for my future loan servicing needs, which all derive from the incompetence demonstrated by your company's representatives in "assisting" me with my claim.
As an international student in Canada, I am dependent upon the funds that were scheduled to be released to me on August 6, 2002. In June I worked with both my university and with Sallie Mae, to ensure that these funds would be available for the 2002-2003 school year. I was told at that time that there would be no problem in processing these funds, and that I should expect them to be dispersed in early August. Given this information, I went ahead and planned my move from Georgia to Saskatchewan, counting on these funds to be available following my arrival in Canada. This loan is mainly needed for living expenses and to supplement the money I would need to spend in transporting my possessions across the country.
After arriving in Saskatoon in early August, I waited a few days after the August 6 dispersal date in order to allow time for my loan check to be processed by the university. After several days had passed and the university had still not received my check, I called Sallie Mae to determine the status of my loan. On two separate occasions I was told by different customer service representatives that the loan check had indeed been mailed out on August 6, 2002. When another week had passed and my loan still had not arrived, I called Customer Service once more –– and only then was I informed that there seemed to be a problem with my account.
Apparently the funds had only been available to be disbursed on August 6, but since Sallie Mae had no copy of my Master Promissory Note, they could not release my loan monies, and had not mailed the check as I had originally been told. I did have a signed and completed Promissory Note on file with Sallie Mae, but according to one representative, it had been lost or never placed in my computer file (supposedly due to an error in the Imaging department). I was told that the original copy of this promissory note had been supposed to be mailed back to me in June –– but neither I, nor the university, had ever received it. I was then told by a manager in the Customer Service department (by the name of “David”) that he would personally try to track down the missing document and call me the following morning with his findings. I never received such a call.
I continued to try to work with Sallie Mae customer service agents in order to reconcile their error, until finally I was informed that I would have to submit another copy of the Promissory Note document to be placed in my file. I sent this document by overnight express mail, at my own expense, despite having serious financial problems at the time (due to the delayed loan check). After two days of processing, on August 19th, I called Sallie Mae again and was informed that the loan check had finally been approved and sent by overnight mail to my university. As of August 25, no sign of this check had yet been reported by my university (who know of my financial desperation and are specifically looking for it to arrive). When I called Sallie Mae once again to ask for an express-mail tracking number of some sort, I was told that this was not possible, and that the check had not, in fact, been sent by overnight express mail at all, but by regular mail instead. In addition to being placed on hold for half an hour at a time and being repeatedly disconnected, none of the agents were willing to give me a straight answer as to where this check is currently located. In fact, the different agents to whom I spoke throughout this entire affair continually told me different stories regarding my account status, adding to the confusion of my situation.
I am dependent upon these funds. As it stands now, even after the check from Sallie Mae arrives, I will have to wait for the university to process my tuition from the check before I can access the monies allotted to me for living expenses. Because it is now so close to the beginning of the academic year, the university cashiers have informed me that it will now take up to three weeks from the time my check is received for that processing to be completed. Additionally, because I am an international student with a student Visa, I am permitted to work a job only if that job is on the campus grounds –– and the job that has been arranged for me by the school does not start until September (with my first paycheck being at the end of that month). Thus, I am now in dire straits financially, due to the errors committed by your loan servicing department in misplacing my original promissory note and failing to inform me of the status of my account in a timely fashion, and also due to the general atmosphere of miscommunication and incompetance which seems epidemic within your Customer Service department. The unapologetic attitude with which your agents have approached this entire situation has also left much to be desired.
I am enclosing a copy of this letter to both the U.S. Department of Education and to my lender, Citizen’s Bank.
Respectfully,
Rebekah Bennetch
cc: US Department of Education
Citizens Bank
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Yay, a quiz for people to take and see how compatible as friends we are. I'm such a sucker for quizzes!
Loan update: NO sign of it at school. Can't say that I'm surprised. I'm on hold right now to speak with the incompetents at Sallie Mae. Sigh.
Edit: I LOATHE/DESPISE/WISH HATEFUL THINGS TO HAPPEN TO SallieMae Financing Corp.
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Just got back from the Hose and Hydrant, a favorite pub in Saskatoon. I tried some Watermelon beer and an Alabama Slammer tonight. Yum! :)
Still NO word on my loan, checked again today. The loan agency couldn't even give me a tracking number to track down where the envelope is, supposedly. THIS IS REALLY FRUSTRATING. I was *told* that the check would be available on August 6th, so its only about 20 days PAST what I've been expecting. I'm trying hard not to be too obtrusive, but this is just crazy.
Anyways, I'm so tired that I might actually go to bed at a decent time tonight. (imagine that?)
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Well, I just got back from meeting with Dr. Nelson at the University. Now I'm supposed to call him "Brent." Its wild to be on first-name-basis with professors -- almost a colleague! It was a really good meeting. We had coffee and talked about one of my favorite subjects, rhetoric. I'm seriously thinking about pursuing that topic for my thesis project. We talked about several different options, from Shakespeare (obviously!) to even focusing on Southern literature.
One thing he said that was interesting: he said that he once heard of Saskatchewan being referred to as the "Mississippi of the North." So, great! I flee the South and return to some form of it in the North. :) It was fun talking to Dr. Nel...er, Brent about my feelings on my background in the South. I told him I'm much like Faulkner in that regard -- I hate and love it at the same time. ("I don’t hate the South! I don’t! I don’t! I don’t hate it! I don’t hate it!" Absolom! Absolom!) It might be kind of interesting to do some sort of study on the different rhetorics of living in the Southern Bible belt and rural Saskatchewan.
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UGH. For some strange reason, my margins have TOTALLY disappeared, and with every post, it requires a longer scroll bar at the bottom of the screen or for me to manually hit enter to avoid it. GRRR. I'm not sure when this problem started,but any tips on fixing it would be appreciated. I'm off to go dig around the 'net to figure out what I'm doing wrong.
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The Slurpee run was somewhat successful, though they're not stocking any decent flavors. I had to make due with a Vanilla Coke/Dr. Pepper mix...quite an interesting combo. Then I was off for a "stomp" with a couple of friends that involved swinging on a swingset in the middle of a deserted park. It was nice. I was able to
lay back and look at the stars a bit. I'm still waiting on seeing some Northern Lights!
I also found out tonight that my Pagan WuName is heaps better than my plain-ole WuName ("shrieking prophet"). My new name is Night Faerywatcher. I think I can live with that.
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5 hours and a half a can of paint primer later, my hutch has two coats of paint. I think that I may have gotten as much paint on the hutch itself as I got on my legs, arms, feet, hair, hands, and even face. So in addition to my hair now being "Ginger Glow: Intense Copper Red" (as printed on the hair dye box yesterday), I have lovely white streaks of paint that will not come off. Ah well. At least my nails look like I've sat through a French Manicure (something I have no money
or patience to endure otherwise!). Now I know that I will not look glamourous on Trading Spaces, especially if I had to paint a whole room and repeated pieces of furniture for two straight days. But at least my hutch looks AWESOME now. At least 100 years younger.
The loan saga continues: as of today, my check has not surfaced at school. Of which causes me to worry more about the possiblilty of going to Toronto before school starts -- mostly because my poor car needs some TLC (not the channel) before I go, for behold it reeketh of power steering fluid and needs an oil change desperately. I'm off to campus tomorrow to meet with a professor and check my mailbox (alongside the faculty's!), so hopefully I'll be able to track it down.
Off to sample some of Canada's finest: a 7-11 Slurpee.
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Damn A&E. Showing back to back episodes of Law and Order when they KNOW that I should be in bed by now. Its a conspiracy, I tells ya. In case you can't tell by my off-hour postings, I haven't been sleeping so well lately. I've resorted to taking a couple melatonin before I hit the sack, hoping that it'll knock me out enough to get some rest. Seems like something wakes me up everynight. A couple nights ago, the power went off for 2 hours, shutting off my fan and my rain-noise maker -- thus waking me up. And last night, rather this morning at 7AM, my neighbor decides to mow his lawn right outside my window. GRRR. No pillow over my head or white noise drowns out machinery in the wee hours.
I finally got the primer paint for the hutch, after two trips to Wally World. The first trip out there, the paint man said that I had to determine whether or not if the paint on it now was latex or oil-based. He said to rub some nail polish remover on it to determine -- if paint comes off, its oil. If not, its latex. Turns out its oil-based. Paint, check. Rollers and tray, check. Dropcloth, check. Lots of time to spend painting it, double check. I've even got some paint chips to look at and figure out how I wanna paint it.
Finally, I watched Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks today. And you know, it was actually tolerable, despite Angela Landsbury being the lead! :) I wasn't ever allowed to watch the movie growing up, so it was kinda neat to watch it today as "a grown up." David Tomlinson reminds me of my dad, though I doubt I'd ever see him "bobbling along on the bottom of the beautiful briney sea." (much less singing it!)
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Oh how I love Trading Spaces. I've never been much of a TLC girl, but after moving up here, I find that its the only channel I really watch -- besides the necessary Law and Orders on A&E. I've called the loan company, and apparently they've sent my check today, overnighted even. Sooo...that means tomorrow I'll be able to go on campus and harrass the financial aid department and give it to the cashier, and then wait again for bureaucracy to work (in other words, wait til the school processes it). But at least the money is in sight -- which means I'll be able to get a dresser finally, get my car looked at, and possibly make a trip out to Toronto to see my friends in the next week and a half or so.
I'm off now to go to Wal-mart and get some priming paint for my hutch. The poor thing needs a good sanding, scrubbing, and paint down. I may even get fancy later on and change the hardware and add paint accents! Wouldn't Frank and Laurie on Trading Spaces be proud! :)
I'm just glad to have something to do, finally!
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So for the past couple days I've been plagued with this really annoying eye-twitchy thing... you know, the kind where you keep feeling it twitch back and forth, knowing that its blatantly obvious to everyone who looks at your face, yet in reality you're the only one who can tell? Wonder what that means? Stressed? Check. Not sleeping well? Check. A need to invest in an eye-patch? Ummmm, let's hope not...
I've finally got money in my bank account again! Hooray! Thank the goddess for parents willing to bail out an overtaxed and under-loan-paid daughter. I'm calling good ole Sallie Mae tomorrow to check on the status of my loan being processed. I really feel irresponsible for getting myself into this financial fix -- but then again it was the loan company who conveniently "misplaced" my Master Promissary Note and neglected to inform me until TWO full weeks after I was expecting the check. Ugh.
Wow, its almost 2AM. Sleep quote for the night: "In its early stages, insomnia is almost an oasis in which those who have to think or suffer darkly take refuge." --Colette
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School starts in over 2 weeks now (September 5th), which is still too long for me. I'm stuck at home, bored, watching The Godfather on TV (okay, one bright spot) and realizing that I need some activity in my life. After the excitement of moving and unpacking all my stuff, I'm still trying to make this place seem like home -- Which is hard when you're 2000+ miles away from most of your friends and family. I'm finding myself singing/thinking about that Joni Mitchell song "Big Yellow Taxi," especially the lyrics "don't it always seem to go / that you don't know what you've got til its gone." Once September rolls around, I'm looking forward to burying myself in work to keep my mind off mistakes of my past.
I've been ruminating WAY too much lately.
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"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion, respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and bow to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no living thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. So live your life that you can sing your death song and die like a hero going home." --Tecumseh
Wise words for me, today. I had to hurt someone that I've very close to...and while I'm glad secrets are no longer out, I hate that I had to break his heart in the process.
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I've got comments now! Woohoo! :)
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I could just look at this picture for ages.
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This weekend I've been slowly working through some articles I've found on witchvox.com. Mostly, they've been about misconceptions and lies that are spread about Paganism. Reading these articles has been interesting, to say the least...I'm trying not to get angry at all the lies I was fed as truth, growing up in the Church. The author of these articles is a man named Kerr Cuhulain. He's an investigator who's researched various claims and allegations of "evil acts" committed by various Pagans everywhere -- supposed "first hand accounts" and testimonies by various converts. One article I found especially interesting concerned the Christian comedian Mike Warnke, who I've actually seen in concert and in several videos. His claims of being a former Satanist are debunked by Cuhulain as he investigates the lies spread as truth...its an interesting read, while a very upsetting one. (http://www.witchvox.com/protection/kerr_warnke1.html)
One quote I found interesting concerned the allegation that the peace symbol represents an upside-down cross (of which I've heard):
"Warnke next tells Balsiger that he got rid of his peace symbol after he found Jesus. Balsiger remarks:"The peace symbol, even worn by many Christians today, has a very long history. It was used on Hitler's Nazi death notices and as part of the official inscription on the gravestones of Nazi officers of the SS, the leaders of which, incidentally, were Satanists. During the Middle Ages as well as today, it has been the favourite sign of the Satanists. In Austria and Italy during ancient times, it meant evil and death. It is also known as Nero's cross, because when Peter was crucified, he asked to be crucified upside down...Nero is said to have granted the request and constructed a cross like the peace symbol. Since that time it has been known as the symbol of the antichrist, and in 70 A. D. it was the signet carried by the Romans who ravished Jerusalem. "
The difficulty with this account is that the peace symbol only dates back to Easter 1958:It was created by well known author Bertrand Russell, who used it as a symbol in a march for nuclear disarmament that took place in Aldermaston, England. The symbol consists of three elements:The semaphore signal for the letter "N" (nuclear) superimposed over the semaphor signal for the letter "D" (disarmament), surrounded by a circle (representing the concept "total"). Thus the completed symbol was supposed to represent "total nuclear disarmament".
Neat, eh?
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first post
My first post, and tangle with the html monster
What to do when you're bored at 3:33AM and can't sleep?
Why, create your very own blog on cyberspace, of course. I'm going to be working on this for the next couple days, inspired mainly by lack of funds and other cool blogs I've surfed recently.
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