First off I’m going to say that, in general, any money being donated to charity is a good thing. As long as the money wasn’t, for instance, stolen from another charity, and the donatee is reputable. But I am fairly certain that we can all agree with the statement “donating money to charity is a good thing”, so keep that in mind.

That being said, there is one thing that quite pains me to see: corporations using charity as an easy way to gain some good PR. It truly is very very easy to do. Simply advertise that on a certain day, you’ll donate 1$ for each a 4$ product that is sold. Your profit is probably more than 1$ per product, so you won’t be losing money regardless, plus the “limited time” of the offer will give you a boost in business that day. I have even seen some companies set an arbitrary cap on the size of the donation they will make, and call it a “goal”.

Like I said before, I don’t have any problem with money going to a reputable charity. But to many companies it’s just a form of advertising, and they are entirely disingenuous about it.

Be aware of tactics like these used by companies (most often in fast food). Does it really make sense to spend five dollars so that someone else will donate one? Go donate the whole five dollars yourself.

This got kinda long, and it is late, so I’ll deal with the first topic now, and probably write something on the second later.

A lot of people are eager to help, but there’s always the concern that your money will be put to ill use; or at least to a use you did not intend for it.  The main tactic used by panhandlers is to ask for money so they can buy food. Nobody likes to be hungry, and most of us view food as a very basic need, so it’s easy to see why this is so effective. However, there’s the ever present stereotype that the second you turn your back, they’ll take that money and head straight to the liquor store or a drug dealer. (It doesn’t help when people panhandle outside of liquor stores). Often this can be avoided by simply buying food for them. This can at times even reveal the true colours of the panhandler, if they aren’t satisfied with the food they claimed to have wanted.
Some people will also base their decision on the politeness, or etiquette of the panhandler. Did they say ‘please’? Were they unassuming? Did they give the impression that if you did give them some change, they’d be genuinely grateful?

It seems like the bottom line is this: Do they deserve my money?

When thinking about this… I am reminded of  an online game I used to play (Ragnarok Online).

This game had some characters that could heal, and others that couldn’t. As these things would go, if you were a class with the ability to heal, you would often be asked by strangers if you could heal them. This being the internet, the politeness of such requests would vary greatly. When confronted with this, many people would only choose to heal polite players, regarding anything else as “begging”. There was one player I knew (who is one of the kindest people I’ve ever known), however, who had the philosophy of “Will heal, even if they don’t say please”.

I think this illustrates two very different ways of thinking. One one hand, we can think of reasons why we shouldn’t help someone. Or instead, why don’t we think of reasons why we should help them?

I’ve been berated several times by several different people for helping out panhandlers. But, I don’t feel bad for it. I don’t doubt that every single person who asks me for change has an honest need for it. They may choose to spend it poorly, but that is ultimately their choice.

Don’t get me wrong though; everyone absolutely has the choice to do what they want with their money. Even if someone had a strict “no panhandler” policy, I think that’s totally fine. I just think that it’s important, that when presented the opportunity to help someone out, to have an honest look at the motives for what we do.

Sifting through the strata in my closet has given me a glimpse of just how much I’ve grown up over the last decade or so. It’s such a gradual process, but when you come across these kinds of relics, it provides you a kind of snapshot view of your old self. Unfortunately, due to the rosy glasses of nostalgia, you also start thinking about old traits of yours that you miss. Especially if you are looking at the things you’ve kept over the years… those are the parts you specifically wanted to remember.

I really hope that I’ll be able to pick up drawing again once I’m down in Vancouver. I stopped doing it actively about 4 years ago, due to certain circumstances at the time. Even after those circumstances passed, I still found myself drifting further and further away from visual arts. Whether or not it is simply something inevitable, or maybe it is due to some lingering moods, I am really hoping my fresh start in Vancouver will snap me out of it. I will also not be able to drum as much (I doubt my landlords would appreciate it much), so perhaps I’ll then need an alternate creative outlet.

I also came across a picture that was drawn by a friend in a “Paint Chat”, and was saved and later printed out by a different friend for my birthday. It made me smile.

Also also, I discovered my trench coat now has a mysterious stain on it, even though it has been doing nothing but sitting in my closet for the last year. What a bummer! How does one even go about cleaning a suede leather jacket? Perhaps it is dry cleanable? Also I really must look into whether or not it is possible to get it fitted. Even without a mysterious stain, it’s still far too big for me to wear.

Also cool, is when down in Vancouver with Shauna, I picked up “Wreck This Journal”. If you don’t know what it is (I didn’t until today), This Link might help.
I’m saving it until I move; I want it to be part of a “fresh start” sort of thing. I am hoping that it will help me regain some of the creativity I’ve lost over the years. Or maybe just make me look at some things a bit differently. At the very least it will be fun.

There was Christmas, where I got a lot of very thoughtful and useful gifts, and got to spend the day with family, which was great as always.  Even though our routine is almost the exact same every single year (almost down to the minute), it never gets old.  One thing that has changed, though, is now my sister actually has to wake me up in the morning.

Christmas night Shauna came down, and she stayed until the 30th, when we drove back to Kamloops for New Year’s Eve.  It was a really good visit, I thought, and I’m glad we weren’t at each other’s throats by the end of the 7 days.  There was one day when we had a hard time thinking of anything to do, but that wasn’t even that terrible.  I do think though, that we are both pretty much shopped out for a little while.

So now I am back home, and hopefully I will be able to motivate myself to clean my room a bit before the break is over.  It really is getting out of hand in there.  Unfortunately, I also have some work-related stuff that I have to get done before I go back, which is one of the consequences of taking such a long break.  The world does not stop just because our office is closed.

Also I am planning on writing a program to solve a certain type of puzzle that Shauna got.  I’m not sure if she left it here, but I can still do it just the same.  Essentially the puzzle is a 9×9 grid with flat sides on each puzzle piece, and similar patterns matching each edge.  In the case of the one Shauna got, there is either a top or a bottom of a turtle on each edge.  There’s 4 different turtles altogether, and some appear twice on the same piece.  The tricky part is that each piece could potentially be in any place, because there are no defined “edges”.
On a similar note, I also am writing out plans to write a program which will “learn” to write new programs.  I might write some about this later, but probably not for a few posts.  Shauna complains when I write too many “boring” posts.

The whole point of this is, I now can’t stop thinking about replacing the computer in a Turing test and replacing it with a bear at a keyboard.

Also I removed my eyebrow piercing today, which made me a little sad.  It’s tough for me to actually admit “defeat” in that kind of situation.  However, I strongly suspected it was beginning to migrate away from my face, so I decided I’d pick my battles, and hope to try again later.  At least this way it will minimize the scarring.

-Data Entry (Skills required: Typing, basic reading comprehension, sight, functioning medulla oblongata. )

Had a good weekend with Shauna, and I won’t be seeing her again until Christmas.  This gives me plenty of time to make her the diamond unicorn she has been insisting I promised to get her…

Bonus point: She has a Batman purse.

So, cars are expensive! Just yesterday I was driving home, and noticed that the heat gauge was going up. Most definitely abnormal. I wasn’t anywhere I could really stop until I got home, but I made it without incident. Checked fluids and stuff, coolant was low. Filled it up with water, and found a leak. Bla bla bla, cost 280$ to fix. Also, I have to replace my front struts, which is probably going to be at least 400$.

Rock Band will have to wait.

Last week I hiked up a mountain with my sister.  The photos are displayed backwards… so the first ones you’ll see are from near the end of the hike, as we were trying to find our way down.  The whole point of the hike was I wanted to get a picture of the sunset from the top of said mountain, and in order to make it to the top in time, we decided to leave the trail we were following (Photo of the route we took up), and cut through the brush.  The last photo from the ’set’ shows, from where we were standing on the path, the route we took up the side.  When we got to the top, we realized we weren’t going to be able to take the same way down… it would have just been too steep (Photo), so we took the one path we found at the very top, and it took us along the entire top of the mountain, and down the other side.  So, quite literally, we hiked the entire mountain.  It took us 3 hours, and wasn’t in our original plan, but we both figured it was worth it.

I got to see Cirque de Soleil with Shauna.  That was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.  One thing that bothers me a lot today is how little effort is put into most forms of entertainment these days.  Especially in the music industry, where talent is pretty much irrelevant; you just need a good image and they can fudge the talent part after the fact.  So, in seeing Cirque de Soleil, I was in love simply due to how much effort they put into the performance.  Not even counting the main acts themselves, I would have been happy simply admiring the costumes, music, and ‘bit parts’ throughout the show.  The attention to detail was incredible; absolutely every last tiny thing was perfect.  If you ever have the chance to go, even if it’s by yourself, I say this is one thing you cannot do without.  And don’t worry about seating (Unless you can spring for front-row on the floor), there isn’t a bad seat in the house.

I got a DS (Black/Cobalt Blue), and Animal Crossing, and I have to admit it’s pretty damn fun.  Unfortunately the wireless in my house seems to be very finicky… so I’m going to have to try to fiddle with it to see if I can have both WiFi for my DS, and internet for my network.