A nice Sunday.

Well today I had a very nice breakfast with a person of interest.

Iraq

Well, my views on the Iraq war have long been absent from this blog, mostly because I do not update nearly often enough to make this blog relevant to casual observers. However I read a blog entry by Glenn Greenwald of www.salon.com which I think neatly encapsulates something that I've been ruminating on for the past six years. Mainly, the leadership of the United States isn't shouldering its share of the load. I refer you to this link.

Bush and his amigos have always been rather insistent on the Churchill/Chamberlain analogy of why the US has to be in Iraq (while at the same time, you never hear about Afghanistan which is a military I action I do support, but has lost its intended impact because I feel that it has been starved of troops and funding), but I think it should be recalled that when Churchill lost his post as First Lord of the Admiralty he enlisted in the army and went to go fight on the front lines of France as a Lt. Colonel and nearly lost his life on several occasions. You think Bill Kristol would even think of doing something like that (he probably wouldn't be allowed as I reckon he wouldn't pass the physical)?

Of all American federal legislators only ONE has a child in Iraq. Mitt Romney, a serious contender for the White House in 2008 said that the service of his five sons TO GET HIM ELECTED is equitable to military service...

Right.

So why do the legislators let it continue? Contrary to opinion polls that are cited, most Americans oppose the military action in Iraq and want to see a withdrawal from an intractable conflict that has cost 30,000 casualties dead and wounded. In terms of most wars, that is mere pocket change. I say this not to trivialize the sacrifice of all those servicemen but rather to draw attention to the fact that in a just struggle, this butcher's bill would be an incredibly low price to pay when compared to similar wars throughout the ages. However, in pursuit of a flawed and dishonest cause even one death is grossly immoral and should carry with it the acrimony and disgust that only history can bestow and the American congress and senate shall justifiably be included that judgment along with the executive branch and it's neo-conservative supporters.

-Billy

Hey all,

Quick update.

Yes, I'm still working at MacOdrum Library and it's still alot of fun.

Yes, I'm finally going to go see Pan's Labyrinth on Thursday August 2nd.

It's my brother Andrew's birthday on Monday, so Happy Birthday Andrew.

I added a new link to my links menu, it's the blog of my favourite cousin Val who is teaching English in Taiwan to little children. Little, little children.

Big News! My first solo poetry reading will be Sunday, July 29th at the Dusty Owl reading series. It will take place at Swizzles bar and grill at 241b Queen Street. It starts at 5 and ends at 8 pm. Alcohol will be served and I will be selling CD's for $12. Please bring as many of your mates as possible.

As evidenced by previous posts, I'm currently in between relationship partners right now.

Jonner got back from England, so we've been hangin' some. Rob and Jonny get back from Turkey in about a week's time, so we'll party it up right then.

That's about it my lads. Write more later,

-Billy

Unfair

For the past 5 days I have been sick, and as a result, I missed seeing old friends I haven't seen in months on Canada Day. My Canada Day consisted of hacking up snot and being miserable.

Of all times...

I have graduated with an Honours History BA with a minor in Classical Civilization. I also was awarded 'Highest Honours'.

Today was a good day.

I do believe I've had the most excellent weekend. It was filled with poetry, improv, playing with Border Collies and going dancing with my friends, in addition to not 1, not 2, but 3 chance encounters with Ms. Harding throughout the length of the day, all instances in which I was sitting down.

No update for awhile, SORRY!

Hey mates,

So... Yeah, I originally intended this particular blog to be a vehicle to sell merchandise, but it kinda didn't work out like that.

For one thing, my erratic school schedule often meant I had an unusual sleep schedule, varying in length each day, and sometimes by location (nuff said), so making regular blogposts was unfeasible. Secondly, as an offshoot of a busy academic life, filled with class, assigned readings, essays and studying for exams, I also got a job at the library to kickstart my career in Library Science and Information Management, which further reduced my spare time. I barely had any time to attend the poetry shows I usually went to anyways, so putting up blogposts advertising them was not really an option and since nobody knows about the blog anyways, I figured this was best used as a sparsely updated forum on what was going on in my life whenever I felt like telling people about it.

Still, if given the chance, I don't refer people to the blog, I actually tell them in person. I like conversation, which is another reason I don't update very often.

So, here I am, ready to tell you some items of interest in my life.

1. Set up a clandestine Improv Troupe during the summer from my CIA compatriots. Now since I'm no longer a CIA member, this is not an official CIA operation, so we're just bumming around practicing... or at least we would be if we could arrange to meet. Everyone is going home on the weekends, or working. We all want to practice (James, Alex, David and I), but the doing of it is hard. On the side, I'm trying to get us a 20 minute set for Ravenswing 2007 this Saturday (May 26th).

2. I'm performing poetry at Ravenswing 2007 (May 26th) at Minto Park in between Elgin and Cartier. The event runs from 10 am to 6pm and will feature arts and crafts, poetry, comedy, free and purchasable literature, visual and audio art and all the good stuff that makes Carleton University such and artistic place. Organized by our good friend Festrell and the folks at Sound Mind (Carleton's only post-modern, highly f-ed up comedy zine)

3. Made the Capital Slam Semi-finals but I washed out and did not make the Finals. Despite the fact that I got like, scores in the 9's. Highest. Scoring. Crowd. Ever! It was almost ridiculous. However, I got up there and said what I wanted to say, performed what I wanted to perform and expressed what I wanted to express, and had a damn fine time doing it with all my friends in the Capital Poetry Collective (Adrian Harewood from CBC's all-in-a-day was there too! In fact, he hosted it!). I also picked up a bunch of CBC pins. They were just giving them away.

4. It's hard to express yourself to someone that you are romantically interested in when you can't string two words together coherently in their presence. It also doesn't help when you've tried to do so on two previous occasions and been politely turned down. Sometimes, you just have to admit it's a lost cause and move on.

5. Working fulltime at MacOdrum Library, and it rocks out loud. I also was able to arrange for my fellow im'prov'er Alex Glover to get a job in my department. Too bad I couldn't get one for Claire... she had to move back to Guelph to find work because she couldn't find some here. But she's back at the car dealership, so that's good news.

6. I've come to the conclusion my wardrobe sucks. At least my summer wear anyways. I've been wearing the same things for like... 6 years now. That's good, for like the environment and my wallet and stuff because I'm consuming less (I guess) but still... I should probably dress like I'm not in High School anymore. Thinking of buying some nice button-up shirts with collars. Then I could be relatively well dressed without having to wear a tie. Also, need new jeans.

7. I've decided that I'm going hiking in Scotland, and that I am going to climb the Devil's Staircase. Also, maybe check out the cave Robert the Bruce hid in. Awesome.

8. Still like children, but remain a harsh taskmaster.

9. Found my Rooster's FROSH travel mug. I am relieved because I thought I had lost it. Ahhh, first year of university... good times... bad times... times I'll never forget... times I've already forgotten.

10. Was on John Akpata's Monday Night Scribes on CHUO 89.1 FM on Monday night. It rocked out loud. Promoted the CD and read some Poetry. Billy's in the place, gonna rock your face.

11. In talks with Dusty Owl to do a reading. Andrew from Mudsharkaudio and I are going to work out the final payment arrangements now that I've sold some CD's (by the by, Andrew is very professional and fair in arranging payment and recording time if anyone is interested in recording a spoken word or music CD, truly he is the King of Kings [of recording]).

12. Now that I have a fulltime job, I find that I'm sleeping, eating and generally living better. The freedom of school is nice... for about a year or so. Then it just becomes unhealthy. Students work so GD hard to get their education and no one should say that they don't. If they say students don't work hard, then they must have forgotten how hard it is to think. A university student (the arts people anyways) have to constantly be thinking, analyzing, deconstructing and theorizing on what documents/scholars/narratives/primary sources/assorted records/contemporary and historical events say, what they don't say, what they include, what they exclude, who is writing it for whom, what's in between the lines, what they condone, what they condemn and they have to do it in such a way as to consider all interpretations, analyses and criticisms while also remaining Quote-Unquote "fair" (possibly the greatest lie ever told). Maths, sciences and engineering students (along with people who might just happen to be in an intensive career path such as nursing [I know 3 people who have done this]) of course, have to be 100% correct in everything they do and empirically verify everything, working hard to make life more decent for average folk such as ourselves. So yeah, students f-ing work hard.

And don't forget it, you ungrateful louts.

13. I've swung more to the left in my political views. I still believe in balanced budgets, but that's pretty much the only conservative thing I believe in anymore (well traditionally conservative thing anyways, George Bush and his friends seem to love spending money and incurring 4 trillion dollars in debt, a great deal of which is owed to China, quite a feat seeing as how in 2000 they had a surplus that was measured in Billions of dollars). Fiscal solvency rocks out loud.

14. On a completely unrelated note, when Gaius Caligula assumed the Principate as Princeps (he would later show that he was not first among equals as the title implies) he had a treasury packed with gold, mostly as a result of his Uncle Tiberius' competant fiscal policy (I say competant and not good, or excellent, because under Tiberius nothing new was undertaken, what was already in place was maintained or allowed to go to seed and all distinction between the privy purse and the public treasury vanished. That being said, grain still flowed, the legions remained paid and the common people had very little to worry about). Within about 2 years, the legions were unpaid, the public treasury was bankrupt and Caligula was in debt for millions of sesterces. He engaged upon a series of ill-fated and highly farcical military adventures, terrified and alienated his people and foreign allies, killed those who fortunes he wanted without trial, packed his inner circle with dancers, actors, courtesans and toadies with absolutely no governing experience or potential, while elevating his horse to senatorial status (according to Suetonius) and downgrading the senate to a terrified lump of old men who never spoke out and instantly ratified all his decisions immediately for fear of death, disgrace and confiscation. He met his end when his Praetorian Prefect Cassius Charaea got fed up with constantly being called womanish and homosexual as a joke among Caligula's cronies and stabbed him to death in a theatre during a festival with his officers. Cassius Charaea incidentally, led 80 men out of the Teutoburg forest, fighting their way through an entire German army after Varus' 3 legions were annihilated, was a decorated war hero and had once carried little Gaius Caligula on his back when he was two years old when he was with his father, the General Germanicus during his campaigns on the Rhine.

He was executed by Germanicus' brother and Gaius' uncle Claudius who felt that the assasination of an Emperor set a bad precedent, especially if the assassins were rewarded. Claudius expanded and governed the empire admirably for a man who was physically disabled and had been treated as an outcast his whole life. After 5 years of decay, military stagnation and financial suicide, the Empire needed such a man.

But I lost my thread...

15. Speaking as a historian and an aspiring librarian, I have to say that G. W. Bush is the worst president since Andrew Johnson (Lincoln's successor). In fact, he's even worst. Johnson at least taught himself to read. You know what they say about the Constitution of the United States? They say it was written by geniuses so that it could be followed by idiots. Too bad they didn't take into consideration that one day the people might elected someone who was retarded on the basis of 'wanting to sit down and have a beer with him'. And people say France is F-ed up.

Ok, I'm done talking.

-Billy