I was lucky enough to spend this holiday season in Wisconsin with Manski and his family. I ate amazing things, devoured breathtaking scenery and swung from a rope swing too! I can't say enough great things about this family of warm, tall, wonderful people and how eager I am to get back so I can become a stick-driving pick up truck diva. Here's just a tiny sample of the great fun we had with Manski's nieces:
As I return to the land of furry boots, bookstore line ups and wobbly chairs, I wonder; I truly wonder just how many of us are expanding and contracting our minds with each passing lesson as we do our hearts with each passing moment.
Looking around me at school, I always find myself amazed at how few people speak out, speak up - heck - speak at all! At this particular university (as opposed to my beloved but tragically administrated UBC), I have observed that the culture of learning seems to exclude meaningful discussion. As a result, only a very small sample of the same folks participate in classroom discussion and increasingly begin to drown out any semblance of diversity of viewpoint. I fall somewhere in the middle; occasional speaker, frequent listener. I find the paradox of this is that often I hesitate to speak out for fear of my idiocy being revealed (though I attempt to render it invisible beneath my cloack of gingerly selected words) and wind up feeling like a bigger idiot when no response arises. I spoke with a professor of mine last semester and asked him the question that has been plaguing me for some time:
What the heck is up with our communication-obsessed and yet scholastically silent (maybe timid) youth?
Everywhere I look, text-messages are being typed, laptops are being opened, cell phones are in use, iPods are playing away and yet, the value of academic discourse at the most basic level is dissolving before our very eyes!
Given the good fortunes I have enjoyed in my life, I can't scarcely generate many legitimate grievances about university life, but I do feel that we need to somehow reinstate the notion that nerdliness is noble, cool and worth a try! I can't claim to be a poster child for nerdliness, but I can say without a doubt that most guys who fit the highly generalized description of what it means to be a "nerd" are highly attractive for that very reason! Manski disguises his nerdliness quite well, but he can consume a 400-page novel as fast as he can consume a meal!
Speaking of Manski, we said our bittersweet "see you laters" on Saturday morning past, as he got on a plane to Texas, Alberta to begin his blossoming career as a geologist. And thus begins our second chapter of care packages, love letters and new pursuits in the wake of the other's absence. I can say without a doubt that Manski's absence in Ottawa inspires within me a deep desire to enrich my life with new activities. I think this must be a symptom of healthy couplehood and though I miss him like a hockey stick misses a ball, I know that our togetherness will be painted a brighter shade of grateful when we do manage to see each other.
Among those "new things" is my return to sport. I have been in the gym consistantly for 2 weeks with new vigour, growing stronger, leaner and faster every day. I am training 5 days/week and am increasing lifts and my cardiovascular conditioning. GOOOOO recovered cerebral cavity go! I still have mild symptoms, but I'm very self-aware and know exactly when to push and when to hold back. That's only one of the excellent benefits I have discovered about befriending your body. I anticipate that I will be at full gluteal funtion (and eradicate my SI joint dysfunction) by March at the very latest. Mike is known as the "ass man" for a good reason!
Off I go, embarking on a year full of new adventures and wishing you as many bold dreams, tight hugs, personal bests and truthful moments as your days can sustain.
Viva la vita!
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