And now I get to relax

I will avoid going into details about my relatives. More specifically, I will avoid going into detail about what my house is like when they are all here. They (except for my grandfather) left shortly after dinner tonight. If I could sum up their presence in one word, that word would be "stressful". To go on a tangent, a lot of the things I write about (essays for example) are things that stress me out, and consequently I might be giving the impression that I get stressed out a lot. Nevertheless I am generally considered to be very laid-back. Perhaps overly so (indeed, I have been told so many times). That said, when my relatives are here, I get stressed out. Now, it would be unfair to say that my relatives themselves stress me out. I am often angry or annoyed at my cousins for their somewhat uncouth and racist behaviour (although I do not fault them for it, rather it is the social climate of small-town alberta from which they herald), but I am generally good at dealing with that type of thing. The more important issue here is that it is considered to be my duty to attach myself to my cousins while they are here. To entertain. Going out to see my friends is considered a heresy by my parents. Consequently, I am stuck in my house. Part of the difficulty arises from the fact that I have little in common with my cousins (two males, a year younger and older than me). They smoke prolifically. Any trip, anywhere, will usually involve at least one joint and a couple cigarettes. When driving/walking I figure they spend more minutes smoking a cigarette/joint than time not smoking. That is, their breaks between cigarettes are shorter than the time it takes to smoke one. Not being a smoker, and indeed being someone who prefers to avoid inhaling second-hand smoke in general, I tend to discourage any adventures outside of the happy smoke-free confines of my house. While inside, much of what we do is sit in a room together, bantering from time to time, but mostly engrossed with our computers and the television. There is a great deal of boredom. In a nice, overly-packed, house. Being someone with hermit-like qualities, I prefer to have a great deal of time alone during the day, but this arrangement seems specifically designed to thwart my access to time alone. The result is stress. So, in a sense, I feel like the relaxing part of my holiday is just starting. Did I say I was going to avoid details? I guess not. Anyhow, time to go relax.

A Festivus for the rest of us

For some reason my internet decided that Christmas morning was an excellent time to shut down. Nothing says "Merry Christmas!" like the inability to say "Merry Christmas!". Of course, I could simply call people, but in many cases I lack their phone number, and in any case I am far too lazy. I wish you all your respective happy denominational holidays (and if you lack one, then you ought to celebrate festivus, like the rest of us).

Daydreaming

I am a prolific daydreamer. Basically from the time I get up and into the shower I have already begun. I take very long showers, more than twenty minutes on average, but I don't exactly do a lot in there. Shampoo and soap, no conditioner. What does take up a lot of time is daydreaming. I'd say that from the time I step into the shower I spend a good 15 minutes completely zoned out and letting water run down my back before coming to and actually bathing. Next is breakfast, although this really applies to every meal. Meals are a tricky thing for me, because on occasion I really get into the whole process, paying attention to the whole event, and savouring each bite. Other times I sit down and don't really realize I'm eating until I notice I've stopped chewing and my plate is empty. Breakfast is generally more of the later, although that may be down to having just gotten up. Walking normally involves daydreams about samurai, daring exploits (on my part of course) and passerbyers turning into ninja assassins. I am often surprised how much I daydream in class. I always think I am paying attention, but then I realize I was thinking about the implications of something that was said earlier and missed 10 mintues of lecture. Conversations. Now, it may surprise some people to learn how much I daydream in social settings. In one on one conversations I do not, unless there is a break in the conversation (which is why I often go "huh?" as if I was deaf). In a situation with multiple persons, I am very likely to sit in my corner and daydream, oblivious to what is being said.

Now, much of this is hyperbolic (except the shower part; no matter how hard I try I can't shower in the morning without zoning out). I really do spend a lot of time daydreaming though. The real shame of it all is that I rarely have good dreams anymore. I mean dreams that are original and exciting. I really have two types of daydreams, philosophy daydreams, which is more or less me withdrawing from reality to think about the implications of this or that theory, and fantasy daydreams, which generally involve elves, or battles, or magic. Things you find in fantasy novels. Now, other than causing my status as a respectable human being to plummet drastically, this has the effect of making most of my dreams mundane. I think about exciting adventures all day, so when I dream about exciting adventures...well...they just arn't very exciting anymore. And I miss that. Waking up with a smile on your face because of a dream...that is an awsome feeling. On a somewhat related note, I slept for about 13 hours last night. No notable dreams, but it was refreshing. One could go so far as to say that I am refreshed. Revitalized even. We'll see how long it lasts. I do still have an exam, as much as I am trying to ignore it.

Only one final left

Yes, I am still alive, despite all indications to the contrary. I am tired, stressed out, emotionally drained, and feed up with school, but I am alive. At noon today I handed in three short essays, thus leaving me with only a single exam left on december 21st (at the intellectually stimulating hour of 830am). I am feeling relatively relieved at the moment though. I need the break. I also need to work harder next term. But it seems to be the trend that I "slack off" first term, so if trends (and by trends I mean last year) continue then I should do better next term. Also, in hockey news Dan Cloutier is out for the season. I still don't know what to make of this. If Auld and Ouellet play well then Vancouver is in a really good position, especially with the extra money to go buy another solid player or two. If our (here I speak on behalf of the Canucks, as is my privilege) goaltending falters however, we will be forced to trade away key players for a starting goaltender. And with Cloutier injured, our options are limited since most teams would require a goaltender in return. Let us see how the game against the Flyers goes tonight.
Also, there is a chance (however slim), that fates will conspire to prevent me from updating this blog before christmas, so, to avert catastrophe, I have no choice but to wish you all Happy Holidays. Enjoy them. Go forth and prosper. Prosper and be merry. That is all.