AZ / Brushes

I've been a pretty inconsistent blogger lately. School is in mid-term season... that basically sums it up. I'll try to fit a few in during the next couple of weeks though!

Anyways, this week is our University's reading break and I'm heading down to the Phoenix area for a wedding (cheers to you, Davide & Mallorie). It'll be nice to get out of the Winnipeg wind chill and into the Arizona desert heat (fingers crossed)! Can't wait.

~~~

On another note... I'm making music again and I've also fallen in love with my drum brushes:

Brush Beat from Manny by mannyg

Operation "Bingo Fundraiser"

... WAS A SUCCESS!!!!!!!!

UNREAL. Here's the story:

A bunch of us are heading out to Asessippi for a couple days to ski/snowboard... really just to have an overall relaxing fun time/break away from work/school. The six of us decided that we needed to bond as a group before hand, so we went out and enjoyed some bingo this past week (which is a pure social event, try it). Until I got there, I thought we were just going for the bonding experience. The night had an underlying goal however: We were there to "raise" funds for our trip (in other words: just win)! Brilliant.

Side note: 7 o'clock bingo is unreal. It's $10 for the main booklet, but there are way more games and the prizes are doubled.

Okay, so when we were buying our booklets I mentioned that we had a good chance of winning a major prize because I've played on three separate occasions where a person in our group wins $500! ... this was about to be the fourth.

First of all, we were so close at the beginning. Kara was always ONE AWAY for probably 3-4 games! Then out of the blue it happened. Katelyn dabbed when it counted and a bingo came her way. Sadly it was split up three ways, but we didn't care, we had some money towards our trip!

Side note: The only downside to 7 o'clock bingo is that the intermission is almost an hour. We just had the urge to dab, you know?!

Alright... we were down to the finally two games and were extremely satisfied with winning once (especially since you never really expect to win). The penultimate "Wee House" game was way overdue and we knew it was almost time to hear that annoying shrill ring, announcing a machine's victory (the worst sound ever). Nonetheless we persevered; especially Cam (a bingo rookie) who dabbed the most recently called ball and then realized that he was ONE AWAY.

Side note: I love that "one away" feeling. That is probably one of the primary reasons as to why I play. It's the thrill of almost winning, the nerve-racking tension. SO GOOD (don't worry I'm not addicted)! The other primary reason being the fellowship of course, but all in all you just gotta LOVE that "one away" sensation.

Anyways, so Cam is ONE AWAY! Here is what happened in present form detail:

We all immediately abandon our sheets and turn our heads toward the screen to watch the next ball appear... ... N40!!!!!!!!! Snapping our heads back toward Cam, we see that his eyes are glued to his paper as he dabs the winning number (in what seems to be slow motion). His non-dabbing hand then rockets into the air and he is frozen in that position, for what seems like multiple minutes. We all start shouting, "Say bingo, BINGO!" He yells BINGO and we cheer! WOOOOO!

It was a "good bingo", $500 was coming our way! We had overcome the odds and raised a lot of funds for our trip! The whole time we were cheering so loudly and I just felt bad, 'cause I knew everyone hated us at that moment. Meh, it just felt so good to win as a group! We then had trouble focusing on the "Full House Blackout" because of our joy, but it didn't matter, it was snatched up by a stranger and that was that. Overall our "bingo fundraiser" was an unlikely success. Unbelievable. A true underdog story... if you will.

Cam obviously kept a lot of the money, but he did graciously share and now we have cut the cost of our ski trip! Good times.

We also did believe that we were going to win... just sayin'.

Life Lesson: Believe in yourself (even while playing bingo).

(Cam in shock)

Now we are on the road, baby!!
PEACE.

p.s. This is my first time skiing in Manitoba... weird, but understandable.

Let's All March... Back into the Sea

This is on very short notice BUT...

Local Winnipeg indie pop/rock band, The Liptonians, have released their second album Let's All March Back into the Sea! So go get it. I've listened to most of it and I do say that it is something special. Actually, I was just told that I love to hype things up on here... it's true and maybe a little too much at times, but this is my answer: I do because these certain things are WORTH THE HYPE!

Trust me.

(This is the short notice part)
I sadly cannot attend the release party, so I recommend anyone who loves local music and talent (or even just GREAT MUSIC) to head over to the West End Cultural Centre this Sunday (or tomorrow) at 7:00pm to witness a great show and most of all an awesome party.

... Just do it.

Here's an all-you-need-to-know, track by track video description of their new album by Nice! Productions...

The Liptonians - Let's All March Back Into The Sea (track by track) from Nice! Productions on Vimeo.

Also, check 'em out here:
theliptonians.com
headinthesand.ca
myspace.com/theliptonians

Personality Theories: Part II

So... I have finished my online course discussion on Personality Theories. I want to share my third message, because someone actually did reply to mine and was interested in what I thought about the divine influence on personality. So I'll post her message (which was her response to my first message) and then I'll post my response right after... ready? Set! GO!

Miss Brodeur: "I think you're on to something here. You seem to be emphasizing reactions, preferences and perceptions as the defining factors of personality. I agree with you. I think that our perceptions of the behavior are more influential than the actual behavior. What we learn from others and ourselves has more of an impact on our future behaviors and cognitions. Has anyone actually looked up what the word "personality" actually means? I just google searched it and came up with this: Personality (the complex of all the attributes--behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental--that characterize a unique individual) "their different reactions reflected their very different personalities"; "it is his nature to help others" (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=personality)
So nothing really new here, personality is defined as all of our unique and complex attributes. Your theory seems to correlate. I wonder if you actually did write a message about the divine influence on personality? That is what I would be more interested in. As I wrote (or rambled) about in my message, I really don't think that "theories" can ever truly encompass all aspects of anyone's personality, let alone everyone's personality. I know there is divine influence and that in this course and line of study we can only look at one tiny piece of the puzzle."

~~~

This is what I said (I wish I spent more time thinking about my response... but I didn't have much time and this is what I said! And I'm sticking with it!):

"I agree, it is what precedes our behaviour that is more important for defining our personality. I did think of looking up a dictionary definition but I never got to it. It makes sense that it would include the word "complex" because that is essentially what it is: all of our attributes and all of the contributing complicated factors that combine to create our personality. This is why I believe there is a divine influence. I was eventually going to write about my thoughts on this matter in either my third or fourth message, but now that you have brought it up, this is the perfect time to share!The mere fact that there are at least five major theories for personality indicates that there is not one sole known correct personality theory. Everyone thinks differently, but our beliefs definitely have the utmost important influence on the way we think and live our lives. I myself am I Christian and I believe that because of this, I have a certain personality that reflects my faith and belief (you could really use this perspective for any religion). We were made in God's image, therefore He has given us all of our attributes. Every aspect about everyone of us represents God's image. I'm not saying that He has determined one exact personality we will eventually have. I'm saying that since He has uniquely made each one of us to function the way we do, we are then able to have certain personalities, which trace back to Him.Also, why do we have (and what gives us) the capability to think of a higher spiritual being or a "creator"? Just a side thought...

I would love to have more time to think about this in order to make more sense with my compiled thoughts, but I am indeed a procrastinator and have left this to the last hour before these messages are due! Let me know what you think!"

Thoughts are welcome.