It feels so good.

Finished my last final (Math 30C) about an hour ago.

So Long, Old Friend

Ring. Ring. Ring.

“Hey baby, how’s it going? … Oh, well that’s good to hear … Haha yeah I guess so, right? … Ahh, anyway, there’s something I need to talk to you about … No, well, I dunno … Please, don’t be worried, just let me talk to you, okay? … Okay, here it is, plain and simple: this isn’t going to last; I’ve found someone else … No, … C’mon, please, just let me finish … You have been the center of my life since October 24th, 2006. It’s been awesome; I have absolutely no regrets. But, you see, there’s someone better. … No, no, I know better is a harsh word, but it’s the right one. I’m just trying to be honest with you … Her name? Fine, I guess you have the right to know. Her name is Firefox 3. … Yes, I know that you two have met before … Younger? What does that have to do with anything? … Please, stop crying, … No, I know … Just let me finish … We were introduced a while back, and it’s like ever since then, I haven’t been able to get her off my mind. All those new features an- … No, your features were great too, don’t get me wrong, there’s just these little extra touches that make her so much more appealing. Plus, she is so nice on memory, it’s awesome … No no, I’m not calling you high-maintenance … C’mon now, you’re putting words in my mouth, … Cheated? Cheated?! … I have NEVER cheated on you, and you know it! … WHAT?! RC1 and RC2?! … Yeah, sure I was eying them up a bit, but that doesn’t mean I used them, … Fine. I downloaded RC2, but I never installed her … I swear to God I didn’t install her! … Oh please, Firefox 2, don’t cry … How can you ask that? You know that with FF3 around I won’t need you anymore. I know it sounds blunt, but it’s true … Shh, it’ll be alright … Of course I won’t forget you … No, of course not. You will always have a special place in my heart … No? How about I keep a picture of you on my blog? … No, I’m serious. I’ll put it in its very own post and everything so I can look back and remember you … I know it’s hard, but don’t worry, everything will be okay … of course we can still be friends … Yeah, she’s coming over on Tuesday, … Yes, I’m sure you and FF3 will get along fine; you already have so much in common … Okay, sounds good … Yep, … I know, I will … Okay, I’ll see you around. Please don’t be sad. … Alright, see you … Bye.

Click.

Graduation Viewpoints

Graduation is in two weeks. I think it’s weird how people have such different viewpoints on the same affair. In my class of about 40 people, I’ve seen two major perspectives:

1. “Thank God school is almost over. I want to get out of here and never come back. I’m so sick of school.”

Above is a very common phrase I hear in the hallways. It seems to me that people bottle up all their hatred and contempt for school, then choose to release it only during the last couple months of Grade 12. People that I’ve gone to school with for 12 years that have been normally happy and content have suddenly grown horribly opposed to school, and have the urge to leave and enter the ‘real world’ as soon as physically possible. Whether that’s actually what they feel like, or if it’s just a kind of a ‘mask’ that they put on to make themselves seem more mature and adult-like, I don’t know.

2. “Awuh! I don’t want to leave! I want to be with you guys forever! Let’s all fail so we can stay together!”

This phrase isn’t heard as often as #1, but it’s definitely still present. Spoken by those who have a hard time coping with change, and would like nothing more than to keep doing what they’re doing for the rest of their life, even if it’s Math C30 and Calculus. I’m not sure if their desire is to stay with all their classmates, or if they simply don’t want to deal with life outside of High School.

—

Those are the two most widely expressed opinions that I’m aware of. As for myself, I don’t think I would put myself in either of those two categories. I think that I’m glad that High School is almost over, because I’m looking forward to University and studying something I actually enjoy (Computer Science). However, at the same time, I’m friends with pretty much every single person in my class, and once school is finished, everyone is going different directions. I just doesn’t seem fair that you spend 12 years of your life making friends and building relationships, then once Grade 12 is over you never see the majority of those people again. I think it’s this fact that I have so much trouble coping with.

Thank God for the miracle of technology, and thank the series of tubes for the invention of Facebook. It sure is a hell of a lot easier to keep in touch via Internet compared to snail mail.

Grad Quote

I’ve finally chosen a Graduation quote.

I say finally, because picking one has been a long, horribly paved road I’ve traveled down. This quote is the one that they will read right after my name as I walk into the hall and onto the stage, therefore this is the quote that people will associate not only my name with, but my person as well. For example, if my grad quote would have been ‘White power.”, it would be assumed by hundreds of audience members that I am an active member of the KKK and believe that Caucasian is the greater race. I think it’s obvious why that wouldn’t be a very wise choice as far as quotes go, but you can see how people judge you. This is the reason why it took me so long to find a suitable one.

I went through quite a few before I found ‘the one’. There were a couple different ones by Douglas Adams that I enjoyed, and a few others from other honorary figureheads. However, none of them really seemed to fit. They were all either way too deep and serious, or they were meant to be funny and stupid. It reminded me briefly of the song Bicycle Race by Queen :

“I don’t want to be a candidate for Vienam or Watergate, ‘cuz all I want to do is BICYCLE, BICYCLE, BICYCLE…”

That expresses my feelings toward the choosing of my quote. I don’t want something that turns me into a philosopher or world leader. All I want is something easy-going and laid back. So, with that song stuck in my head, I got to work browsing pages upon pages of quotes, along with several different tags, but all returned little to no quality results.

Finally, I became bored of reading quotes and pointed my browser to Youtube. This is what I watched:

After the video was done, I had made up my mind. Monty Python, in all their brilliance and comedic wizardry, revealed to me the perfect grad quote. Light, optimistic, and funny (for those who are familiar with the comedy group); just what I was looking for. Those who get it will laugh, those who don’t will appreciate the simplicity, and those who are old and deaf will smile and nod in the knowledgeable sort of way that old deaf people like to nod.