Stuff White People Like?

My Husband and I celebrated our one year anniversary this weekend by taking a trip to Jordan and buying massive amounts of wine, eating tasty food that had to be bad for us and swimming the B&B's pool.

The trip was great aside from a few class and racial observations that made me very uncomfortable (I was in a winery and overheard a worker complaining about having to serve japanese people because she can't understand their accents and they only ever buy icewine, which, FYI is the most expensive thing at almost every winery). Anyway, we can talk about that later.

The subject of this blog is school, and despite having a whole good week of busting my tush, I felt guilt the entire weekend for not doing work. Had I been at home, I probably wouldn't have done work, but at least the intent would have been there. I went away this weekend with absolutely no intent to do anything school related.

In one way this is good, I know I am getting into full thesis mode and getting over some of my previous apathy because I am feeling guilt again. However, I do know the effect this is going to have on my already minimal social life.

So August 2010 is my due date (for my thesis, not a baby) and between now and then you will experience one of two Shelly's. Non-existent Shelly who is on facebook and occasionally answers an e-mail, or guilty Shelly, who you will see, but will probably either be so guilt ridden she wrecks your party, or imbibing because she is trying to forget the guilt. If we do hang out at all, just let me know which Shelly you prefer and I will bring that one along. Provided you pay for the beer, I am a grad student after all.

BC in a box

Well, it's been a while since I have been home, and of course I have been even busier than when I am on the road. Also I needed a little time to think. You see British Columbia is a weird place, I am not sure I have used that term to describe any other province, I am going to use it now. In fact, I think BC might even in need of a little clinical help, and that there are really two BC's in Canada.

The first BC is the one we all know and love, it centres out of Vancouver but can encompass the wine regions and whistler (well kind of), it is the fun loving, outdoorsy, laid back, multicultural be cool with it BC. We will refer to it vaguely as "the south"

The second BC still loves the outdoors, but in a more "hunting/live on a farm" type of way than the" lets use a giant multi-national corporations ski resort with questionable labor and environmental practices, critique the logging industry and pretend I am environmentalist" sort of way. They are more religious, are a lot more like Alberta and talk more about things like taxes, these people we can colloquially (though partially inaccurately) refer to as "the north"

It is interesting because Hippy BC, doesn't like to talk about conservative BC, and vice versa, the two are aware of each other, but don't really like to communicate that much except for in the fight over BC's natural resources. INterestingly, BC seems to suffer from some of the symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID, former Multiple personalities), these include can include:

• Multiple mannerisms and beliefs that are not similar to each other, evidence, fashion in the North Vs. fashion in the south
• Depersonalization, or feeling like you are watching someone else act out your life, kind of like what the people in north feel when they see Vancouver on TV
• Amnesia, ask people who they felt about the NDP back in the day
• Depression, things suck here (always followed by, but at least it isn't Toronto)
• Unexplainable phobias, people in the north are afraid of Gays, Asians and Aboriginals, people in the south are afraid of people from the north

Well perhaps it is only a minor case, but maybe BC would stop feeling inadequate compared to Ontario (well Toronto really), with a little psychotherapy. We can create a third personality that takes the best of the other personalities. From the North we would take the friendliness, hospitality and work ethic, from the south we can take tolerance and relaxation. Eventually this new personality can dominate the other two, or at least teach them to talk to each other respectfully. If this doesn't work, an alternative treatment is medicating, something at least one of BC's personalities is very good at.