Quotable Thursday #53

“Those who spend too fast never grow rich.” – Honore de Balzac

Quotable Thursday #52

“We are chameleons, and our partialities and prejudices change place with an easy and blessed facility."” - Mark Twain.

Ambrose Bierce

A little while ago I used a quote from Ambrose Bierce for my Quotable Thursday feature. I usually try to link the quoted person to their wikipedia page so that you can go and learn more about them if you so please. In the process of doing that this time however, I saw that this person had an interesting story – he disappeared.
Ambrose Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist. He was born in 1842 and earned himself the nickname “Bitter Bierce” primarily because of his motto ‘nothing matters’.
In 1913 the then elderly writer traveled to Mexico to gain a firsthand perspective of the country’s ongoing revolution. According to Wikipedia:

“In October 1913 Bierce, then in his seventies, departed Washington, D.C., for a tour of his old Civil War battlefields. By December he had proceeded through Louisiana and Texas, crossing by way of El Paso into Mexico, which was in the throes of revolution. In Ciudad Juárez he joined Pancho Villa's army as an observer, and in that role he witnessed the Battle of Tierra Blanca.

Bierce is known to have accompanied Villa's army as far as the city of Chihuahua. His last known communication with the world was a letter he wrote there to Blanche Partington, a close friend, dated December 26, 1913. After closing this letter by saying, "As to me, I leave here tomorrow for an unknown destination," he vanished without a trace, becoming one of the most famous disappearances in American literary history.

Oral tradition in Sierra Mojada, Coahuila, documented by the priest James Lienert, states that Bierce was executed by a firing squad in the town cemetery there. However, all investigations into his fate have proven fruitless, and despite an abundance of theories his end remains shrouded in mystery.”

I don’t know much more than what is in the Wikipedia link, but thought it was rather interesting and wanted to share it with you.

Way Back Whenesday: Goosebump Novels

I know Goosebumps novels are still around today and can be seen in book stores and catalogues on a regular basis, but I remember when these novels first became popular and I especially remember sitting in front of the bookshelf at the Brockville Mall trying to pick out which Goosebumps novel I would buy next. I would save up my money and once I got the roughly 10 dollars they cost I would lay out the options and spend way too long determining which one I was going to purchase this time. R.L. Stine definitely hit the nail on the head when he started this series.

Quotable Thursday #37

“Champagne, if you are seeking the truth, is better than a lie detector. It encourages a man to be expansive, even reckless, while lie detectors are only a challenge to tell lies successfully.” – Graham Greene.

Quotable Thursday #33

“All people like us are We, and everyone else is They.” – Rudyard Kipling.

Quotable Thursday #32

“The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” – Dorothy Nevill.

Way Back Whenesday: Reading Rainbow

 

 

This show was where I was first introduced to Geordi La Forge. Mind you this clip doesn’t show him in his non-Star Trek glory.
The show promoted reading (and writing) for children. I believe Geordi would read a couple books and some kids would review some others that they had read. Cute little show really.

Quotable Thursday #26

"Be great in act, as you have been in thought." - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Quotable Thursday #24

“The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.” ~ Mark Twain (All Fool's Day/April Fool's Day)

Decade in Review (2000-2009)

I have been alive for over two and a half decades, but it is only this last one that I remember with almost perfect clarity. You see, in the beginning of 1990-1999 I was barely in school and can only remember certain moments, and even those may be contrived from photographs I have seen and stories I have been told. During the last decade though, I was 15 to 25 years old and able to remember everything - though not everything is worth remembering. Below is a listing of personal highlights and a photo of myself from each year in the past decade:

2000 - got my driver's license; house was robbed; finished technology enriched school program;

got first digital camera; became quite active in extra-curricular activities in high school. Below photo taken by me in the hallway of my parent’s room.

2001 - broke up with first serious boyfriend; travelled to Moosonee; took first college course in photography; learned how to develop film photographs; thought of becoming an architect; became co-president in several clubs (and remained until end of high school). Below p

hoto taken either by my friend Alaina or myself. Either way, it is from one of the many nights I spent at Alaina’s. Notice the curly hair – she did it and it likely lasted about 1 hour.

2002 – started using ICQ to talk to pretty much everyone; received SLR camera; learned how to take manual photos; started playing rugby on high school team. Below photograph taken by me while sitting in front of the computer in my parent’s house.

2003 - graduated from high school; started university; met best friend; lived in university residence; lost 25 pounds; stopped drinking alcohol (no real reason); employed at Forwarders' Museum. Below p

hoto taken in my residence room while I was studying chemistry with Justin

2004 - started dating the love of my life; Tyler graduated from university; moved into rented house with friends; mom diagnosed with breast cancer; worked for last time at Forwarders' Museum; failed first course ever. Below p

hoto taken by Dave. This was one of the last days of first year – Dave and I took photos of each other around campus as we were going to be apart for the entire summer.

2005 - failed second course; starting working at City of Ottawa (Eng. Assistant); started budget spreadsheet; lost 20 pounds. Below photograph by me. Taken in my room on Glen after getting my hair cut short. I think there are remnants of the first dye-job I had done (blonde highlights).

2006 - moved in with Dave (in ‘boy house’); started my first blog; saw first Cirque de Soleil show live; learnt how to make bead jewellery. Below p

hoto was taken at my City of Ottawa job - it was a co-worker's birthday.

2007 - Eddy died; stopped receiving money from parents (for rent/bills); went to Chris' cottage for first time; worked at City of Ottawa while finishing up B.Eng; got my iron ring; graduated from university; ended career as professional student (over 19 years spent full-time in school). Below p

hoto was taken by Dave. I am holding my B.Eng degree from Carleton University in my room in the ‘boy house’.

2008 - travelled to England; flew in plane for first time; got my first dSLR camera; moved into rented townhouse with just Dave; got EI for 1 month; had the first job I really hated; got my first real engineering job; started night courses in photography; Tyler got married. Below photo was taken in the London Eye while Chris and I were on travelling there.

2009 - got in a car accident; bought my first car; traveled to Montreal; traveled to Chicago; started my grown-up life. Below photo was taken by Christine Sweeton for a class assignment.
I did it – I remembered a few things from each year AND found a photo of myself from each year (though some were hard to find and most had few options). Now it is on to 2010 (though I realize it has already started). I do not know what the next decade holds for me or those I care about – though I do hope the majority of it is worth writing good things about in 2020.

Quotable Thursday #18

"It is not bigotry to be certain we are rightl but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong." - G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

Quotable Thursday #15

"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time" - Laura Ingalls-Wilder.

Quotable Thursdays #10

"He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it." - Douglas Adams (1952-2001), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Quotable Thursday #10

"Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of the pieces" - Judith Viorst

Quotable Thursdays #7

"To succeed in life you need two things: ignorance and confidence." - Mark Twain.

Published

A while back DST was part of a project to get an award for one of our clients. I was part of the project and later on inherited it as project manager. We got word last week that the building had won the award and I was asked by my boss to write up and article for our in house newsletter, the Mini Drill Press (MDP).
I whipped up an article, got Dave to review it, and after some editing by my boss, it was published in the MDP. It got displayed in the middle of the newsletter in a pretty significant way, with a bold background and distinctly different header. I am pretty happy with it, though it is more report-like than fluffy news article - but it is a newsletter for an engineering consulting firm.

One Minute Writer #2

What is missing in your life? Are you trying to find it?

Simply put, I am missing a sense of direction. When I started university I somehow thought that by the end I would know what I wanted to do and where I was going in life. Since then I have discovered that none of these things really happen when you are struggling to get through classes and to hand in assignments. I enjoyed school for the most-part and have found a job in my field and yet I still don't know what I want to do with my life or if I am in the right field at all. My attempt to find direction has only lead me down a more confusing path of discovering my true passion and this winding path is getting more complex every day. My only hope to finding the end of this road is that I have great people in my life in terms of friends and family who keep me grounded and yet encourage me to move forward with my dreams.

One Minute Writer #1

One minute writer is a blog that I have been following for quite some time. The idea is that you always have at least one minute every day in which you could write. The author posts writing assignments every so often which are supposed to get the creative juices flowing. People then start a timer built into the site and leave their written blurb as a comment to the original post. It is a really clever idea. Up until now I have not participated in the writing, but have found it very intriguing. The following idea is from a few days ago and as such I didn't comment on her blog, but it peaked my interest enough for me to post it here.

Kids often carry around "loveys"--comfort items like blankets or teddy bears. If you could still carry a lovey now, what would it be?

For the past year or so I have found that I take my camera pretty much everywhere. At first I thought it was solely due to my love of photography but since I started going to my boyfriend's family functions I have found that it is my "lovey" - the thing that keeps me comforted and calm during almost every event. It keeps me company when no one will and draws attention away from me somehow. I love my camera for many reasons and now I realize that the comfort it gives me is another one.