Goalie:
Brodeur, Luongo, Fleury
Defense:
Niedermayer, Pronger, Boyle, Bouwmeester, Weber, Doughty, Green
Forwards:
Crosby, Iginla, Perry, St.Louis, Nash, Getzlaf, Heatley, Marleau, Thornton, Toews, B.Richards, M.Richards, Doan
No idea how accurate these will be, but I guess we’ll see in just over an hour 😛
I would have loved to select Fisher, Stamkos, Lecavalier, and many many more, but I don’t see them making the cut.
I remember days in our distant past,
when you would read my poems and ask,
if they were really about the two of us.
The two have changed over time,
gone and shuffled down the line,
but yes they’re always about ‘you.’
Some have inspired my poetry of course,
and some had destroyed my creative force,
but in the end the writing marches on.
None more important than you,
as time marches on two by two,
your golden hair and eyes of blue,
inspiring me to see the world anew,
even in my darkest moments.
Thank you.
The snow swirls as vortexes of frost,
cutting through the scarves and hats,
of the poor humans caught in the way.
Love’s a cold bitch sometimes,
and it tears at your precious face,
with talons of ice and sorrow,
always digging for your next layer.
Relief comes,
in the form of the sun,
scorching on,
through the walls of snow,
comforting you,
as it begins to warm you.
Reprieve is a temporary partner,
often elsewhere with lost souls,
much like yourself and your kin.
The desert cools your heart,
slowing it’s torrent beating,
enough that you could swear,
it had stopped long ago.
It beats on,
hope shines through the madness,
it beats on,
despair’s footsteps give chase,
it beats on,
your mind is a rusted file cabinet,
it beats on,
oblivion is a gunshot at midnight,
hammering down a nail in your coffin,
as ravens and crows fly carelessly above,
and they wait for the winter’s frost to thaw,
before they start to dig a lost soul its new home.
There are millions of questions,
bouncing around inside my skull,
begging to be answered by you.
Most of them aren’t important,
and there is only one of value:
Would you take that walk with me,
even if we didn’t know the way?
I would.
I know you felt it too,
in between sips of steaming tea,
as the cold air attacked our warmth,
and our souls breathed a sigh of relief.
Feeling the pulse of humanity,
is a troublesome affair,
that leads to much pain,
and too much waiting,
for something, anything.
The heart beats,
the blood flows,
and change fails,
to show its face.
Every major event is just another beat,
in a series of dull thumps leading to nothing.
The static existence continues on,
with no hope of its end in sight,
and no prayers for a new beginning.
People tug one another along,
and the beat never changes;
Sacrifices are required,
but only of those paying attention,
which is to say almost nobody.
A dull poem is a fair representation,
of the person who monitors existence,
far too closely for it to be enjoyable.
The unexamined life is not worth living,
but one examined too closely ends all joy;
a balance must be created and maintained.
I’ve recently had the privilege of stumbling across some of Laurentian University’s History professors on the world wide web. I thought it fantastic that they are beginning to use social media, as it is such an important part of society for prospective students, current students, and recent Alumni(such as myself). The department has its own twitter account, which is in its infancy stages @luhistory . Dr. Janice Liedl has a twitter account @jliedl . Dr. Andrew Smith has his own blog, where he posts about topics ranging from economics to politics, http://andrewdsmith.wordpress.com/ .
After the next two days of work, I have almost two whole weeks off… from everything. School is on break, work will be on a break (both jobs), Road Hockey goes on a break, and soccer is on a break…. So the question is, what am I going to do with all that free time!?
As the title may imply, this is not going to be a light post. I’ve recently been having discussions with some friends with varied backgrounds, and I felt some of you, my readers, may be interested in hearing about a particular discussion. The discussion I wish to talk about involve religion, and the differing beliefs myself and my friend hold. My friends know that I enjoy speaking about pretty well anything philosophy related, which obviously includes religion. My friend was kind enough to send me a video excerpt of a play put together to explain her beliefs, in response to my questions of what she believes in. After the video I sent her a reply, and this is an excerpt from that:
To quickly summarize existentialism: “In life, a man commits himself, draws his own portrait, and there is nothing but that portrait.” -Sartre
He further extends that idea to explain how the hope for salvation must come from humanity itself, not a divine being, and therefore the question of whether or not a divine power exists is irrelevant. He is firm in his belief of this, because he feels the Christian ideal of salvation requires no effort and therefore makes people lazy when it comes to working for their own salvation.
He also argues that humans find solace in religion because it cures “anguish,” which is the state of mind when one realizes they are completely free to think and act how they wish without fear of any sort of cosmic repercussions (no judgement, no karma, etc).
He concludes all humans must accept full responsibility for their actions, and can not point their finger at anybody else for how they behave. Responsibility and freedom are intended to go hand in hand, and the decisions a person makes when they accept responsibility for all of their own actions, are completely different from the ones they make under the influence of fear of a divine power.
On a morality level, when an individual acts well as opposed to committing wrong acts, due to a fear of some cosmic repercussions, it cheapens the morality of those actions. Would they act the same way if they had no fear of cosmic repercussions?
Some would argue that the morality of behaving ‘good’ is irrelevant so long as the person is in fact behaving well. Which is the old “ends justify the means” mentality.
My stance is not meant to bash religion, or discredit it, because everybody is free to believe what they wish. The fact that I believe in secular humanism and existentialism, should in no way come with the tag of “hater of religion,” by any means. A stigma exists that preaches atheists can not cooperate with religious individuals, but I feel it is misguided.
If two individuals both seek the same goals, albeit through a different belief system, they should work on those goals together, and work on their unrelated goals separately.
My friend is a person who is genuinely interested in helping people, and improving the lives of others, and I see no reason why her religious beliefs should be a source for discrimination or alienation. It is interesting to write that statement as an atheist discussing a Christian, because the tables for discrimination seem to be reversed generally. I wonder what the percentage of atheists/agnostics, as opposed to Christians, is in North America, among people who believe in one or the other.
This year has been a turbulent one for me. From moving out of my parents’ house only to return a few months later, From making the transition from University to College, to overcoming a stressful lifestyle to successfully finish my bachelor’s degree, and of course taking on new jobs. 2009 has been an interesting year to say the least.
2009 looks set to end in a fascinating manner, as I have just applied for a position with Laurentian University, in their marketing department. I am also making plans to begin a master’s degree next year at Laurentian, with the help of Conway Fraser, and his extensive knowledge of Northern Ontario media.
There is a possibility I will jump into a career as a journalist, or a writer in a different fashion, instead of going back to school definitively. Options abound, and plans are still up in the air, but that’s the way life should be.
2010 is set to be a more important year than 2009 was for me, which is encouraging news.
Andy Veilleux 