"The Complete Maus"

Ok, so I know I haven't really written in a while. It's been crazy and I've been working on my RP study for my Dog Blog.

Anyway, a little fact that you might not know about me. World War II has always been my favourite war. That sounds a little weird to say. What I mean is, it is the war that has always interested me. Even when I was little I would read books on the German Camps and what America did to help. I think we I was 5 I asked if we had any relatives who went through the holocaust. Ah...I was so much more enthusiastic about learning when I was little. Maybe if I pretended I was 3 again I would find joy in sitting down with an encyclopedia and just reading. It's something I'll look into.

Back to the topic at hand.

My English course for this semestre is called 'Controversial Classics.' We're reading books and plays that were thought controversial when they were first published, but are now considered classics. We're going into detail about why there has been this flip of opinion by the public. This week's lectures are about a graphic novel.

It's "The Complete Maus" by Art Spiegelman.

Spiegelman wrote and drew this novel to tell the story about his father and mother who were Auschwitz survivors. It's a really compelling book and I highly recommend it if you are or ever have been interested in WWII.

People

Sometimes living with people is...hard. There's a moment (or a week) of discomfort that comes with moving in with someone. Mostly because you have different ways of living and different routines and what not. This discomfort is increased when you're thrown together with four other people who you don't know at all and are forced to share a kitchen with them. Now, I love my flatmates. Really, I do. We may not be the best of friends, but I've learned loads about them. I know what subjects they're studying here at Uni and when they like to get up and go out and all of those kind of things. I feel a sort of connection to them, partly because each one of them has seen me in a bath robe, but mainly because we live together. We have to deal with each other and each other's odd quirks. We've all gotten use to one another, still...there are things that are...hard.

Now, I have this odd protective nature over food. In the dog world you wouldn't call me "food obsessive" but maybe...wary. Anyway, I think it comes from when I was younger. See, I'm the only vegetarian in the family and my dad, well he attempts to make vegetarian dishes for me but they've always left something to be desired. That's not to say that they were bad, they just weren't good (sorry Dad, your meat dishes were always wonderful before I became a vegetarian). Because I wasn't the biggest fan of my dad's vegetarian dishes I was left to my own devices for dinner. I bought fake meat a lot of the time to enhance my salads and burritos and things like that with protein. Unfortunately, contrary to popular belief, fake meat is actually pretty good. My brother has a liking for it. This means that every so often I would come home and start making dinner and find that all of my fake meat was gone. It was a little aggravating because he was able to eat the meat in the fridge but he chose the fake stuff. So, yeah. It's just a little touchy.

Living with people has helped me grow in so many ways and has helped me become much more respectful. Still, when I pay for food I want to eat it. I recently discovered that someone had been using my celery in favour of their celery which was going off. They're breaking off the tops and leaving very little on the bottom. It's not like a really mind, but they have their own celery and they're using mine instead. It's just a little frustrating. My cucumber and bell pepper has also been pushed to the very back of the fridge. Now, we have a really old fridge. One of those that will freeze anything touching the dividers. My cucumber froze.

Just a few frustrations that I'm dealing with. Again, I don't actually mind, but it is a little annoying that half of my cucumber was rendered uneatable and half of my celery stalk was devoured. Eh, what are you going to do?

In other news! I am running my first game tomorrow. It's just a taster session. We're rotating GMs so that those who want to GM can do this first and feel comfortable GMing before running a full game. Should be fun, but still...nervous!

My Birthday Continues

You might be thinking, "Jeez Erin, wasn't your birthday almost 3 weeks ago. The answer to that is, yes, it was, but my parents waited until after my birthday to send me packages. Anyway, I thought I'd share with you some of the fun stuff I received.

First of all, the envelope from my mother is far too pretty to throw away.
Secondly, look at this card. It's now hanging on my wall because it's so pretty.
In the big box I picked up from the post office today was a smaller box. I don't think this was intended as a gift, but I think it's a really pretty colour so I'm keeping it. Don't know what I'll do with it yet...
maybe I'll let Georgia use it as a bed. She looks comfortable there.
But inside the smaller box was the real present. Lavender oil in a really cool glass bottle. It specifically says that this bottle should not be carried around in your handbag because it was made to sit on your table. So, where did I put it?

Next to the picture of my Mommy and Me of course.

That is what was in the box from my Mom and step-dad. Along with a pair of boots I acquired while home and didn't have room to stuff into my bag, but I didn't take a picture of them.

From my Dad and step-mom I got my contact lenses which I'm thankful for. They're a different brand and they allow me to wear them all day without irritation. And wearing my glasses is hard for some classes because there's reading notes and then reading the slides, so my glasses are going on and off and on and off. Contacts really make it easier. Anyway, they also sent me the American measuring stuffs I asked for. Some nice spoons, but they weren't so cool as to get their own picture. The cups however....

What?! You don't believe me? Of course these are measuring cups!
See? I told you.

And you doubted me.

Not only do they go with my love of multi-coloured things, they also go with me theme of collapsible cooking wear. Perhaps you remember the collapsible strainer and the collapsible bowl and the fold up cutting board? Now, I can't wait to start baking again. I haven't done any here because silly Erin forgot that all of her recipes were in American measurements and I couldn't get the cups and spoons I needed so easily. One last problem I'm trying to solve is figuring out where to get chocolate chips. You would think this is an easy task, but no. Oh well, I plan to be in possession of baking chocolate by Saturday even if I have to buy expensive dark chocolate.

Heart Day

Apparently, February 4th is "Be Aware of Your Heart" Day for women. I didn't know about this until I got an invite on facebook. It was a lot like the bra and purse status for Breast Cancer Awareness. This one however, asked us to write something about our heart for our statuses and end it with "...and it's RED." Today you're suppose to wear red for the awareness, but I own next to no red clothing and later on tonight I'll be going out and eating some of the most heart unfriendly food. That still doesn't mean that I can't create awareness about keeping your heart happy and healthy. I exercise everyday and eat very well (most of the time) to ensure that my heart is always happy with me. But, seeing as tonight I'm breaking my normal routine of salads and whole grain, I thought that instead of posted a small thing on my status, I would post something about my heart here on this very blog.

It's broken, but mending
It's hurting and healing
It's filled with hope for the future
It's filled with love for my family, friends, and pups
It creates more love when I need it
It beats to the rhythm of my life
It's what causes me to reach out and help
It knows when I need to ask for help
It keeps me healthy
It keeps me strong
It's my heart
and It's...RED.

Take care of your heart and it will take care of you.

OH! Today is also Reka's birthday. Happy Birthday Reka!!!!!

*Warning: This Post does include some crude language and a sexual picture. So, if you are bothered by this please don't read any farther. Basically, if you still are unsure as to where babies come from or are uncomfortable with the subject, just close the browser now. Please don't comment on this with "Why are you posting this on the internet?!" because there are a lot of things out there that are so much worse than this. Don't say that I didn't warn you. Thank you!*

So, I'm having a lot of fun here at university. Why you ask? Well, it's not just because I have great friends, I have fun walking the city, or the fact that I like all of my lectures this semestre. These all add to my enjoyment. And it's not even because every guy I meet here has a wonderful accent or dialect and is much more gorgeous than your normal American Guy Fare. No, all of these things are just pluses in my mind. The real reason I'm having a lot of fun is because where else besides college halls would this be shoved under your door in the morning?

This piece of paper amuses me on so many levels. When I first saw a few of these scattered under our, for lack of a better word, front door I paid them no mind thinking that they were just more "Come to this Pub to get Drunk Fast!" or "Save by re-renting with Unite Today!" fliers. Of course when I saw what they really were I had to pick one up and giggle.

The first reason I find this hilarious is because the picture of the woman. I'm sorry, but I wouldn't tap that. You might be saying, well obviously Erin, you're a girl. Well now, let's first not make and judgements on anyone out there people and yes, it's true. I do like the male species quite a lot. But, perhaps you can't see her very well in the picture I have taken. She just doesn't look appetizing at all. I mean, there are no breasts to speak of and her arms are disproportionate and...just no. Sorry, woman, you just have to get a new job I guess. Can't be an ugly whore...let's face it, that's just not in the job description.

Secondly, you can't see it in the picture, but underneath it says "licensed to thrill". Really now? When was the last time anyone needed a license to thrill? I mean, yes, the theme parks with scary roller coasters do a need a license, but that's more for health regulations and making sure they won't kill anyone during their thrilling. It's just an odd choice of words. I mean, "we're licensed to thrill, but please? No no, we don't "please" here at Octopussy." Anyone else see the problem there?

Thirdly...the name. I'm sorry, but did anyone else image a woman with eight...well you know? I can't have been the only one. Or maybe I was and just have a very odd imagination. Anyway, countless reasons to laugh at my "Early bird Ticket".

These are the reasons I enjoy University...