Keeping it Simple

As counter-intuitive as it may seem, simple is not easy. Keeping things simple these days is hard work. It's a conscious effort. One of my co-workers stated one aspect of this last week when he said to a student,"If you want to be lazy, you have to be organized." Being disorganized is easy but it makes getting things done far more complicated, ie ,"not simple". (PLEASE go take a look at the "ie" link. LOVE oatmeal.com. Might need to look into buying a t-shirt from there when I start running out of fuel for this blog)

Today's shirt has a simple message but it's not an easy intention. Human nature focuses on the negative and the easiest thing for most people to criticize is themselves. I've spent a lot of my life self-hating aspects of myself, largely physical ones, and it takes effort to remind myself that what I judge as lacking or aberrant isn't necessarily what matters in the grand scheme. Many of my students have a hard time liking themselves in school because they don't see themselves as successful compared to their peers. I probably annoy a lot of them with my persistent cheerleading but if they aren't going to talk themselves up internally, I'm gonna do it for them externally, loud and proud and in their face.

The shirt is courtesy of Rooster Teeth (because there's NO other way that their logo could be interpreted... nooooo) and the geniuses behind the Red vs. Blue (aka RVB) online video series. Arguably, Season 1 was the best (I haven't seen the most recent series) but Halo fans deserve their own entertainment niche as much as the next game culture. And the RVB episodes are extremely accessible to non-gamers. The creators seem to have a good time with the stand-alone PSAs that come out every once in a (timely) while too:

 

To tie it all back to the title of this post, I refer to the very first episode of RVB:

In the commentary on the DVD, the creators explain that the very first shot in this very first episode (0:00-0:06 approx), a "simple" pan up to the Red sentries before they start talking, was the most difficult and frustrating shot of the episode, possibly of the season because the "camera" character had to be balanced on the barrel of a tank and then raised up to create the panning effect. Apparently, the game engine never thought that "balancing on the barrel of a tank" would be a needed trait in their characters and the "camera" kept falling off ... and dying. "Take 196, anyone? And action! Aw, crap, we're dead again."  So once again, simple does not mean easy. Simple is a craft. Easy is a default.

Taking the Plunge

 Bet you thought I was going to blog about wedding plans, didn't you? BA-zinga!

Whistler Bungee is the closest place to Vancouver to find this particular activity. It's a jump from a bridge spanning the Cheakamus River, a 160ft plunge, and a lot of bouncing. And I probably would never have gone looking for this experience except for two things. First, came this segment on the Rick Mercer Report:

Once I'd seen Rick Hansen do the deed ... in. his. freakin. WHEELCHAIR. I knew I had to give it a try. Eventually.

Then Katrina came to visit. Kat's afraid of heights but you would think the exact opposite if you were to review her travel activities. When I mentioned that I wanted to go up to Whistler and do the bungee jump, she was all for it. Of course, she practically vibrated with nervous energy for the 24 hours before our jump and couldn't sleep at all the night before. But we did it! Here's the video of my perspective:

And here's me, "hanging out" at the bottom, waiting for retrieval: 

Kat did her bungee jump face-first (but still with the torso harness, not the ankle one) while I jumped backwards. Since I live nearby, I decided after that first jump that I should go back and try it face-first too. So in October of 2010, while in Whistler for Peggy's bachelorette, she and I bussed down to the jump site and a-way I went...

It was significantly scarier going face-first.

To be anecdotally scientific for a moment, I made an interesting discovery after my second jump: a dramatic adrenaline rush can completely negate any subsequent alcoholic effects. Hours later (and we're talking ten or more) as we celebrated Peggy's soon-to-be-finished singleton-dom in the entertainment hub that is Whistler Village, I realized that the substantial imbibing that was going on was not having the same effect on me as on my companions. I still had a great time but drinking was a futile (and expensive) activity that night.

You get a t-shirt EVERY time you jump

A little while later, a Groupon came up for a discounted jump at Whistler Bungee and I bought it, then nearly forgot to use it before it expired. My darling had to drive me up to do the jump and even crossed the bridge despite his own intense dislike of heights. I could've chosen to use the ankle harness this time to change it up again but hanging by my ankles for minutes while waiting to be pulled back up really didn't hold a lot of appeal and, quite truthfully, falling backwards is kind of relaxing. 

Familiarity breeds comfort and I didn't hesitate on this jump like I did on my first. Apparently, the guy on the platform even commented,"Well, she's done this before" after I'd gone.

Well, I did say at the start of this post that it wasn't going to be wedding-related. But, since our photographer, Darko, posted one of our engagement photos from last Friday, it seems just too perfect, timing-wise. So *double BA-zinga*. Here we are at Queen Elizabeth Park.

... and the goofy smiles aren't just due to being deeply in love. He was whispering (without moving his lips) that he was going to throw me in the fountain and I was whispering back (without moving my lips) that if he did, I'd pull him in with me. A nice metaphor for wedding planning really if you think about it. 

Crossovers

I love the narratives that make up our world. It's why I find history so interesting, meeting new people almost addictive, and fictional sagas and series (when they're done well) are engrossing because you get to really know the characters. Of course, books and television and movies only allow a limited view of a character's life (even Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books which expand the fictional character's existence more than any other writer I know and could be, arguably, the greatest crossover series ever.) When we can see well-known characters in foreign surroundings, we get a whole new perspective on them and their personalities. Crossovers (established characters in a different but established environment) are a fun distraction when we, the audience, get too used to characters in a certain context and something exotic, whether it's a time or place setting, shaking things up gives us a fresh take on what we know.

 

Today's t-shirt is a belated birthday prezzie from my maid-of-honour-to-be Kerri and a product of the wonderful world of Threadless.com. Like Teefury, Threadless deals in original t-shirt design in small batch sales. Unlike Teefury's 24 hour window of opportunity, Threadless sells the shirts until they're gone so they may have a certain design for weeks or hours. Once the design is gone, potential buyers can request more and once they have enough requests, a new batch is produced.

Kerri picked this shirt for me knowing that the combo of 80s comedy flick (Bill and Ted) and the ongoing spacey/fantasy/sci-fi television franchise (Doctor Who) would be a winner. I have to admit that I've fallen REALLY far behind in my Doctor viewing but my intention to catch up one day is there. It may require a TARDIS but I'll get 'er done eventually. (Kerri also gave me my own heat-activated TARDIS in my birthday parcel)

Several of my favourite shows have done crossovers over the years. The most complicated was probably the C.S.I.:Trilogy in 2009, where one three-part story encompassed all three C.S.I. series whereas the most entertaining reciprocating crossover was the Eureka/Warehouse 13 exchange in 2010. However, the best crossover HANDS-DOWN was one that I only ever saw once as a child and when I told other people about it after the fact, I was met with disbelief. This happened so often, I started to doubt I had actually seen it at all. Thanks to the almighty Internet, I have been able to track down this episode - "Only Human" - of classic Transformers where a weapons dealer named "Snake" is actually Cobra Commander which is only revealed in the final scene where he falls to his knees and screams "COBRA!" to the sky. (Ok, yeah, that might be considered a spoiler if you have yet to see the episode from 1986 but by the standard of the Official Spoiler Rules, which everyone should watch at least once, I am safely beyond the statute of limitations). I challenge anyone to come up with a better crossover example. Or share your favourite. Sharing's fun. :)

In real life, crossing over contexts can be more complicated but just as novel. A job swap, a vacation exchange, a day of behind-the-scenes exploration... who wouldn't want to try something new with the security of knowing that they can always go back to the tried-and-true? Really, it's healthy to stretch our limits every so often. Our school has started a co-teaching endeavour this year and today was my first day in a hosted classroom. I just observed today's class but there is a certain amount of anticipation tinged with slight anxiety about taking on mainstream classes again even if it is for a temporary period. As a Learning Resource teacher, one gets used to being seen in a certain context and how one is perceived often dictates where a lesson or plan of action goes. That'll all change in a co-teaching context. Also, the position of Learning Resource Teacher affords a sort of anonymity in the school since we only teach a specific fraction of the student body. No more lurking once whole co-horts know my name. Wish me luck! (and maybe cross your fingers for a renewal too)