A Labour of Love

It's taken a while, but it's finally off the ground.

Dobre Pivo.

For all those people who are in my heart everytime I have a pivo.

Activate!

So my friend is at a math party for graduate math students. Yes, apparently math grad students do party. She's not in math, but she decides to go to the party anyway. So, there she is in the middle of a conversation with the PRESIDENT of the math society when all of a sudden he stops talking, sticks his fist out, waits for her to offer up hers as well, and then turns it to the side all the while saying- ACTIVATE! He then proceeds to keep talking as if nothing had stopped their conversation. She was a little perplexed but decided to roll with it. Now we all like to start, end, or punctuate conversations with "Activate" and then just keep going as if nothing is out of the ordinary. This picture is of her "activating" with the president of the Math society. Good, clean fun.

Entertainment

By now most of you have probably seen THIS. If you haven't, you should.

But have you seen THIS?

I love youtube.

Cowboys and Indians!

What's the best way to start off the new year? With a grossly politically incorrect party? That's right!! Cowboys, Indians, and Indians (dot or feather).

Here's a shot of some of the brave people that came out to this party. Notice, they are all dressed up. Theme parties are so awesome. Even Skully came out to play!

My friend Jean came all the way from Quebec City JUST for the party. He makes a good horse. I was dressed in a "fusion" costume with elements of cowgirl, Indian with a dot, and Indian with a feather.















Here are some of the ladies with one of the hunkiest men at the party. Nitin is from India/NY and works at IBM. He really loves his mustache, tucking in his shirt, pulling his pants up really high, and greasily side parting his hair.


Great party. Top memories include backing it up on the dance floor, cowboys whining about feeling objectified when we ripped their shirts off, people shooting each other with darts (plastic), arrows, and toy guns, line dancing, singing Bohemian Rhapsody, lassoing each other, dance-offs, and the police stopping by.

Year in Review --

2006

It was great to spend the holidays at home in Edmonton, fun to see the family and friends since I missed it last year. Basically-- I spent a lot of time visiting with people, eating, sleeping, and shopping. I accomplished all the lofty goals set for the holiday season.

2006 treated me well. Lots of adventures, new experiences, and most of all randomness.

Someone once told me that only boring people get bored. At the time I thought that was a pretty stupid quote because there were a lot of times that I was bored and I didn't really think of myself as a boring person. This quote just popped into my head because I realized that there is not a single moment of 2006 that I can remember being bored. The year was awesome. I traveled to a lot of places, but it was definitely the fact that I had the luck to spend time with amazing people that 2006 was so memorable. Even in the worst of times, the right friends and a sense of humor combined to make everything seem fine (and spawned quite a few memorable stories). Luckily, the fond memories grossly outnumber the not-so-fond ones. I realize that I'm so fortunate to have great friends-- from the kind you see or talk to frequently, to the ones who you see or talk to after years or months only to have the distance of time melt away.

So, thanks to my friends who have totally shaped this past year and supported me through everything. I really appreciate it. (This includes family too!)


2007

I don't know why I had this impression that once I got back to Canada and started going to grad school my life would develop into a monotonous routine that I couldn't wait to escape again. That has completely not been the case-- every week brings something new. Every week I discover something new-- about myself, others, Ottawa, etc.

Goals for 2007--

Vague yet Valuable

• In Canadian terminology-- "Just Give'r". I know that sometimes I'm complacent or apathetic or don't try as hard as I can in some facets of my life. I realize that I'm at the point of my life where I should really try harder. This year I'm going to do that.
  
• Be a better person-- I know I should be nicer. I'm going to try.
• Indulge whims-- Don't worry about being too cool for school. That's lame.
  

Specific Stuff

• Some of my friends and I are going to run a 10k run in May. This is big news because I am fundamentally opposed to exercise and am very out of shape. But it might be fun. And now that I've committed to it I have to do it. My friend Kari said, "Aruna, don't worry, I used to be 200pounds and now I can run 10km so you'll be fine."

That's it. I don't want to be too over-ambitious.