I keep having to restrain myself from writing entire rambling entries about the minutiae of air traffic control and my classmates' personal lives, but honestly there's nothing else going on for me right now, and so I stay silent, and boring.

SERIOUSLY GUYS, I have become the most boring person in the history of EVER. Unless you have a passion for The Laddering Technique, or Using Speed Control for In-trail Spacing, in which case I am FASCINATING.

Yesterday in class we reviewed the pythagorean theorem and I've started running for fun.

SEE?

For those who are interested, though, training is hard but awesome, and I'm loving it.

Also, my new hobby is pairing songs:

2 Hearts by Kylie Minogue is the new My Moon My Man by Feist. Discuss.

durdaana and I agree that this video is made even MORE awesome by who it was produced for:


Of course, Tim and Jason chose to focus on other aspects...

snowmit: I'd fuck neon
___blank___: neon is fucking hot
janeandsimple: haha
___blank___: where does one meet elements like that?
snowmit: man, fuck off, i called her first!
janeandsimple: there's an easy way to settle this...
janeandsimple: I'LL take her.
___blank___: what
___blank___: she isn't your type
janeandsimple: she isn't? news to me
___blank___: you're into inert chicks?
snowmit: she's noble

My first day at ATC training began, after a short introduction by our trainer, with a brief quiz that nonetheless managed to have us all scared shitless that we'd chosen the wrong career path. I couldn't even answer half the questions at all... they sounded only vaguely familiar.

We spent a good forty-five minutes in collective fear before our "teacher" broke character, some other folks filed in, and we learned that we'd just been punked by the training class ahead of us, and hey, welcome!

Even the real instructors, once introduced, said "If anyone asks, we showed you org charts", and then spent the rest of the morning one-upping each other with stories from The Good Old Days of air traffic control.

My first day at ATC training ended with the other class taking us all out for drinks, marking what I'm pretty sure was the first occasion I've ever been tipsy at 2pm on a Monday.

So no, it's not going to be easy.

But it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.

i'm not usually one for fan mixes, but i AM one for being introduced to cool new (to me) music, and some of the people on my flist have great taste. so, to celebrate my favourite show coming out of hiatus tonight- and jared padalecki saying that while dean might appreciate the zeppelin, sam's probably all about the emo college rock- i offer up a playlist, shamelessly stolen.

five supernatural songs from esorlehcar (and one that's thematically linked)

1. josh ritter - naked as a window
you know you're askin' too much
to be held and not touched
but somehow that's just what you do

2. the mountain goats - twin human highway flares
as we walked across the parking lot toward the motel office
we were walking with a benediction on us
light was everywhere, the building stood against the sky
like a monument to desperation two floors high
a mile and a half from the river
we went back to the car to get our overnight bags
sunset spilling through your earrings, all over your body
when we shut the motel door behind us, we knew we'd hit the motherlode
on the day that i forget you, i hope my heart explodes

3. james - five-o
will we grow together
will it be a lie
if it lasts forever, hope I'm the first to die

4. iron and wine - evening on the ground (lilith's song)
we were born to fuck each other
one way or another

5. joseph arthur - ashes everywhere
i'm afraid of what i might do
'cause there's no me
if there's no me and you

6. death cab for cutie - brothers on a hotel bed
you may tire of me
as our December sun is setting
because i'm not who i used to be

a follow-up to i'm from barcelona in the category of "scandinavians make me happy", here are alphabeat:

this is old news, so it's possible that i am the last person in fandom to know about it, but...

the broccoli test
as explained by gwyn_r:

sherrold was the one who came up with the broccoli test idea when she was living in L.A. with a friend, C. As legend, and my mind filling in blanks, would tell it, Sandy and C were at the grocery store, on opposite ends of the produce section, and Sandy was trying to tell C to pick up some broccoli without shouting across the store at her. No amount of pantomiming and mouthing of the words could get the point across to C, and Sandy apparently told her (we were all in the midst of Professionals-mania then), "Doyle would have known Bodie wanted him to pick up some broccoli with just a raise of his eyebrow!" or something like that. Hence, Bodie and Doyle would have passed the broccoli test.

i spent more time than i will ever admit poring over the both the original multifandom and also the sam/dean explorations of the theme, but i love that it can also be used in real life.

lesbian telepathy is henceforth to be known as broccoli. just fyi.

( some of my favourite examples: supernatural, house, sherlock homes, harry potter )

i admit it, i checked everyone out when i got here, testing the waters for potential flirting partners who might help alleviate the boredom. it's a good thing i didn't end up being bored, too, because it didn't take me long that first day to realize that the pickings were slim.

but after three weeks of living elbow to elbow, and never even a minute alone, everyone starts looking more and more attractive every day.

and suddenly the comparison to prison seems a lot more sinister.

only a week to go in this voluntary confinement of mine, and my zen remains intact, thank god. the same can't be said for most of the others, though, especially the guys- written warnings are being given out left and right as tempers flare over the smallest thing. everyone skittish and bouncing off the walls, muscles taut and primed for a fight.

someone's decision yesterday to cue a church program on the big screen tv sparked a debate- immediate, loud and impassioned- among all those gathered in the room, and there's a reason behind the adage that you don't discuss religion or politics. eventually a nurse had to intervene, all "shh" and "it's okay" and "a difference of opinion is perfectly normal", which didn't make sense, like he was soothing a teenager after his first wet dream and not stamping out the beginnings of a holy war.

i don't know whether it's the drug, or the isolation, or just me being me, but for the last couple of days i just feel so raw, ripped wide open. feeling things, wanting to tell all the people i love that i love them.

i keep getting vivid sense memories: the coldhot rush of seratonin the last time i did E... the warm, scratchy softness of my ex-girlfriend's flannel pjs when i curled my arm around her in bed... pot lights in the floor of the after-hours, blinking in time to infected mushroom.

i wonder if i should declare it as a side effect?

"subject 36, do you have any new adverse events to report today?"
"yeah... bit of insomnia, minor headache, and sometimes i miss him so badly i want to throw up"

only, in a good way.

okay, so as a lot of you know, i'm doing this 25-day medical study starting the 14th. yeah, that's right- 25 days locked up with my computer and 47 of my closest friends. or complete strangers. whatever.

the point is, it's a long time, and i'm going to be bored, so i'm putting a call out for tv on dvd! if you have any dvd collections (OR divx) that you wouldn't mind loaning out for three weeks, then let me know what you have. i'm looking for almost anything, but a couple of things in particular:

• queer as folk (s1-s3 in particular)
• doctor who
• the wire

i already have supernatural, heroes, stargate sg-1, torchwood, gilmore girls, house, and firefly, so if you want to make suggestions based on what you think i might like, feel free :)

when i get out, it might be spring. how cool is that?

i don't know what it is about late night walks home that make me completely loopy.

tonight, the increasingly familiar jaunt back from katylyn's found me ankle-deep in snow in queen's park, throwing snowballs at a tree before running away and giggling madly to myself.

i was in the middle of yelling "you can't get me!" when i noticed the park wasn't as deserted as it usually is, and no degree of crazy was enough for me to not immediately flush red with embarrassment.

i did manage a wave, though.

i definitely can't say that i dreamed of going into air traffic control when i was growing up.

it never occurred to me as a career- much in the same way that kids dream of being doctors or lawyers or architects, but never human resources managers or dental hygienists or aeronautics technicians. there are so many jobs you're just not aware of.

my introduction to the idea began one afternoon in my last year of high school, at a voluntary career counseling session. heck, i'd only wanted the opportunity to legitimately skip math class, but when the session yielded air traffic control as the most suitable to my aptitudes, i thought, "...what?" and looked into it.

having learned a lot more about the job, i had to agree that it seemed custom-fit for the tasks i enjoyed doing, and as an air cadet, i already had a passion for the general field. but the training program, run by navcan, had one of the most involved application processes i have ever seen in my life.

on january 15th, 2007, after two false starts when i was 19 and 22, i finally applied to take the first step in the application process- the aptitude test. there were 40 of us who sat the test at the same time, and we were told straight up that less than a third would go on to the next step- the interview- and still less, only three or four, would ever make it to being an air traffic controller.

i aced the test, i passed the interview, and today, january 28th, 2008, i received an offer of a place in a training program beginning in toronto in june.

i still have to make it through a very difficult two-year program before i can rightfully say i've succeeded, but there are nonetheless 378 days of tension slowly draining from my body.

dinner out and pushing tin this weekend- anyone fancy?

rusted root - send me on my way

i'd planned on doing a top ten of 2007 thing, but most of the songs had been posted previously, so it seemed pointless. instead i offer up a playlist of songs dedicated to the memory of the last twelve months (may they rest in peace).

the year of living dangerously

damien rice - 9 crimes
stars - what the snowman learned about love
radiohead - weird fishes/arpeggi
placebo - running up that hill
the twilight sad - that summer, at home i had become the invisible boy
st. vincent - paris is burning
imogen heap - the walk
the knife - heartbeats
apparat - arcadia
lcd soundsystem - all my friends
doves - there goes the fear
feist - i feel it all
neverending white lights - always
kevin drew - frightening lives
the weakerthans - aside

01. hey all, just wanted to send a shout-out to everyone who attended our NYE party.
02. PSA: the following message was composed after three full days of listening to snow patrol.
03. for years i've been walking into second cup and buying a small soy chai latte without even glancing at the menu.
04. back from seeing radiant city, the documentary about modern suburban life.
05. me and jamie watched the first two seasons of queer as folk religiously, when they first aired
06. after nearly thirteen months in one apartment (a near record for me) i am once again on the move
07. in twenty-four years, i've missed only one canada day in the capital, and i wasn't about to let this year become a second
08. it was already four in the afternoon yesterday by the time i realized that my underwear was on SIDEWAYS.
09. tonight i sweet-talked bouncers at not one but two establishments into letting me in without ID, i saw hot girls shake there assets on-stage, i met new people, i had great nachos, i heard awesome music.
10. i'm not sure how i managed to go this long without being exposed to doctor who, but my god have i been doing a lot of catching up these last few weeks
11. i'm in medical testing for the weekend, and for some reason the net nanny won't let me look at my friends page.
12. me and track 12 were meant to be.

boxing day boredom cure from ishyface:

1 - Go to wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article title that you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Random quotations:
http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on "explore the last seven days"
http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photo shop or similar to mix it all up. Post it.

from ladykutenay

1. Go to the Wikipedia home page and click Random Article (on the side menu). That is your band's name.
2. Click random article again; that is your album name.
3. Click random article 15 more times; those are the tracks on your album.


Band: Sami District
Album: Kashideva II

Track Listing:

1. Orthocone
2. Marianopolis College
3. Revelations (video game)
4. Dave Bacuzzi
5. Giovanni D'Anzi
6. Setaka, Fukuoka
7. Panama Canal fence
8. Terry Kurtenbach
9. Lot 21, Prince Edward Island
10. Lofsongur
11. Jawaharlal Nehru University
12. Commission of Inquiry on the Situation of the French Language and Linguistic Rights in Quebec
13. Dental Midline
14. RoAF 57th Air Base
15. Reactive airway disease

"you know," she said, "when you mentioned last week that you've lived here two years, i was surprised, because you don't seem very settled."

the conversation in question had occurred within the first twelve hours that we knew each other, and apart from that comment, contained no others relating to me and my adopted city. this stranger was either frighteningly observant or else it was a very random coincidence.

as i got off the streetcar, i had just enough time to respond: "i'm not."

you guys were so helpful on the computer question (i'm taking everything into consideration and hopefully will have made up my mind by the time it comes to buy the darn thing), that i'm calling on you once more!

this is a question for all you canadian kids with university degrees:

where did you go to school, and what did you like and dislike about it? both the school and the city it's in, that is.

university guides have nothing on real people's opinions, and i'd like to hear them!

i'm in medical testing for the weekend, and for some reason the net nanny won't let me look at my friends page. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, PEOPLE?

anyway, medical testing = money = new computer, woo!

in three weeks i'll be buying myself a laptop. i've been leaning towards a macbook for a long time now, but i'm willing to be swayed, especially if it involves me paying less than $1500 for the same features.

i need the computer to:

• download and watch movies
• play simcity societies
• play with photoshop

in other words, not a whole lot.

what i DO want, though, is something that can stay on a lot of the time, isn't too heavy, and that i can trust not to die on me within a year. i don't really expect to find a repeat of my miracle desktop (four years of abuse and still running solid!), but as close as possible would be nice.

so give me your recommendations! either specific systems or just general brands you trust. :)