feastival.

ok, try your best to imagine this phone call.

ringing...ringing...ringing...

Jamie: Yo?

Jer: Yo.

Jamie: come get food on campus

Jer: It's raining, you come here.

Jamie: no way, its raining.

Jer: we'll make MY food?

Jamie: I'm on my way.

about 10 minutes later,

two of the best

(self-proclaimed) chefs fire up the grills in Jer's kitchen.

Now, I must admit. since my cereal days, i've been calling my self a master chef. but now, combining with jer, and the use real live appliances. (and im not talking microwaves). legit stoves and pans- were cooking up a storm.

today's 2:30 menu. Perogies, bacon, shish-kabobs,

mini pizzas and sour cream. Mr. Christie provided the dessert, and ya, some serious salivation ensued.

To be honest, as we sit here together, we've come to realize something. We owe someone a huge 'thank you', so were trying to give a little shout out: so ya, Thank you Food. You've been so great to us. Especially since the new year at uni. Jer and I have shared some great meals with friends (and food). generally once or twice a week, Jer and I meet up with some friends from home or from school, and we take turns cooking, and hosting the meals. It's been great times, meals with Julia, Krista, Aaron, Hannah and others have been a beaut.

Further, Food has provided some inter dorm entertainment. Snack swaps (grade three lunchroom style) always makes munching more enjoyable. The snack stash under my bed has never been bigger.

so. anyway. back to today's afternoon feast. just as we were finishing, Jer was dreading the dishes, when our friends arrived not a moment to soon...

nice smiles, The end.

Strictly Business.

As you probably know, im in the Business program here at Laurier. between either BU111 (business), or EC120 (economics) i've got readings, case studies, tutorials and tax problems. Its kind of consuming my educational life. everything in my mind is sorta morphing into some strange business lesson. 1.pizza pizza is out of pepperoni? (quantity demand is lowered- loss in sales) 2.Phil's serves to under aged (absolute advantage in their market-share) theres drama in the girls res? (human relations case study)

almost everywhere, business theories are creeping into my head. whether that's a bad thing, i dunno. but it is happening and hopefully i can find a away to shut it off. ...eventually.

Despite being much more intensive and a heavy workload, I'm liking BU111, and the prof Jim- Legend. but its starting to pick up. and its happening fast. last week we were assigned to these venture groups which accounts for a substantial portion of our grade. to catch ya'll up; Our new venture group has to come up with a new business idea, research it, write up a feasible proposal for funding. project sales. project profits and liabilities. market it. make it creative, make it new. and do it by next friday.

so here's my situation. you know when your trying to come up with a new idea, but you already have this other one idea kickin around in your head? and no matter what you do, or how hard you think, your brain still goes back to the one stupid idea.

this is my problem. When I read the assignment outline, I instantly came up with this one goofy idea, Its an outdoor dating service in the summer. the setting is in a park or open area and we sell flowers and fresh produce. I call it Meet Market.

my groupmates declined.

My Padawan Learner

This year at Laurier, I have someone that I have taken under my wing. I will leave their identity anonymous. I will however go over some of his achievements just so we can all understand how good a job I have been doing. My padawan is already well known in his residence as the representative for an Inter-Res sports committee called RAC. He is popular with the ladies (obviously learned from me) and has transitioned well with his studies at the same time. This young lad, while still underage, knows how to have a good time in residence by abiding by the rules outlined in the residence handbook. I am very proud of this young fellow. I look forward to teaching him more so that he may one day become a Master of university like me. Speaking of Padawans, I may as well just post a cool Star Wars pic. Just for the heck of it.

Don't Sleep On It!

Elect Jamie Grantis For House Council President Today!

Studious.

Today is Friday. Afternoon. and my classes are finished for the week. what is the importance of this you may be wondering? I have now concluded my first week of real classes. Granted, they were mostly introductory, you gotta start somewhere. I attended every single class, kept stellar notes, and have been so on top of my reading, you would think i enjoy it.

class isn't so bad either, some of my profs are legit. (shout out Jim McCutcheon) and some are just interesting, (shout out to my Muslim prof, who's call to prayer reminder popped up exactly at 5p.m. on her comp while it was connected to the projector and loud speakers, laughter ensued.) anyway. like i was saying,

Today is Friday. Afternoon. and I am in the library studying.

4th floor, its so quiet the only indicator of other human life is this sniffling girl on the other side, whose sneezes keep me alert about every 5 minutes. I like it here I suppose. I can work hard.

and I realize the fact that I'm writing a blog while I'm here, is somewhat counter productive. but I'm putting in some serious academic effort here I swear, and with boats to still read. its a start.

Walking is Overrated.

Recently, a great friend gave me a great present. Not for keepsies but to borrow. I am now in possession of a long board. I live a little off campus and what at first seemed like a life that must be lived with long depressing walks to school has now turned into something new. What I now experience is a joyous freeride downhill both ways to and from school (yes I have mapped out two different routes). The longboard carves similar to a snowboard but is a little more dangeros because instead of snow, there is pavement and instead of other skiiers there are cars and SUV's. I now get frequent adrenaline rushes when I cruise out of the parking lot of my building right onto the road with only a brief second to look for traffic and jump off the board risking catasrophe. Not only is longboarding helpful for transportation, I now get to look extra cool while carrying it around with me. I find that lengthy stares have gone up a total of 13% since I have started longboarding. Not bad.

ps. Thanks Kayla.

My Love Hate Relationship with Rice.

Rice eh, what a product. you can make it taste like so many different flavours. and its perfect when you want to eat a thousand of something.

The thing is, my relationship with this product of asian genius goes so much deeper than just eating it. At one time i honestly despised the food. if your were keeping up with rafandjamie.blogspot.com

while we were in australia, you may remember the series of prank wars posts, that was all instigated by the infamous 'rice attack' if you are not familiar. upon our return of our team from south africa, during a celebratory night out, a few of the staff got us with a beauty of a welcome home prank. they put uncooked, white rice literally EVERYWHERE in our room. On our floor, in our droors, on our clothes, in our sheets... everywhere. even at worst doesnt seem so bad right, to just clean it up. Wrong. we did clean it up. even the most serious vaccuming. then just when you think your rid of em. some fall outta your clothes, or sheets, and again are attaching themselves to your feet as you walk around the room. IT WAS A NIGHTMARE. but a first class prank. the picture on the left is of our retaliation. However, just recently i had an experience with rice, my friend turned foe. making it a friend once more. obviously, as i wrote earlier. I was responsible for a ridiculous series of events that caused my cell phone to fall into a glass of water. with the screen broken and my hopes fading, I had no other choice but to turn to my one time enemy. the server was nice enough to bring out a big cup of rice, so i buried my dismembered phone pieces in the rice, and could only pray. after Wilf's I went to wilson res where i left my phone overnight to be babysat because I knew if I had it around i would have only done something to further hurt its chances at being fixed. that's when the phone was outta my mind and i had come to terms with getting a new one (a blackberry probably). almost two days had past, when the one and only Danielle DiFrancesco came to me with my repaired phone. I don't exactly know how she got credited with it's recovery, but it was her. and at this point, with class started and the semester kicking off, I am more than relieved to rely on my phone once more. I can not wait to see how this semester goes down. an just wanna say one more time, rice, you did it again.

and also thanks for complementing my sweet and sour pork and chow-mein the other day at lunch.

cheers

Blessing In Disguise

Yesterday I found something out that was a little surprising. I missed the cut off average for business co-op by 0.1%. It was a really weird feeling because I fully expected to get an interview for co-op. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to be in co-op, however I would have liked to get in and then deny if I wanted. Getting cut doesn't feel good.

The whole topic of business co-op has been the main portion of the next big decisions of my life. Do I need to get a serious job at a business firm? Would that mean my dreads would have to depart their home on my itchy scalp? I can only imagine the regret... Jamie writes a post on his emotions after the departure of his rattail, I would have to write a novel to describe similar feelings. 3 years is approximately 6 times longer than 6 months!

I see this troubling e-mail as a blessing in disguise. Now I do not have to worry about finding employment, I get to graduate in 4 years instead of 4.5/5. Better yet, my summers are free! Summer is now something I get to plan without working around a lengthy work term. I am very excited for the possibilities and hopefully God will open some big doors for me.

Optimism is key. We have just one life.

ps. Jamie. Don't drop your phone in your drink. Like come on.

Regret. Stupidity. and Laura Allen.

in the past week, I've met so many people here at school. Heaps actually.

and zero of them have even made the slightest rattail comment to me. sadly, it is because the beaut is gone.

i suppose i was forced to chop that baby off before school but am starting to really regret it. basically what I'm trying to say is; I started growing it back on Tuesday.

also yesterday, while dining at Wilf's, I managed to drop my phone in a glass of water. don't even ask me how i did this. because when I explain, it sounds even stupider. This is running the list of stupidest things I've ever done, near the top at the moment. I even tried to think of people that could possibly share responsibility for this misfortune. but its left so clearly and obviously all my fault. and that is why, my phone is sitting in a cup of rice. off. and broken.

as if yesterday wasn't a good enough day with all the unluck, I attended my first academic session for BBA. A first year's prof gave the lecture, but there was something about her. other than the fact that she scared me silly, Jer was able to put it best into words. this women- Laura Allen, is a real live Jan Levinson. if you don't know who that is, that's a shame. but the 40 midterm fail rate, and 30 percent course fail rate had me a little spooked. but eh, if jer did it. how hard can it be? ill just be waiting till Monday.

oh and yo. people are still asking me like i should have BBM. especially now, camon I DONT EVEN HAVE A PHONE.

sill, after all that, cant help but love it. cheers

Live the Dream.

yesterday something happened. something almost forcing me to use the word 'epic'.

but first, i need to back up and include an interesting fact about the room that i now call my home. out of the hundred's, actually thousands, of residence room's on Laurier's Campus. i have hung out in this room before. Jer used to live just down the hall, which is crazy enough, but when i would come visit, i spent most of the night in this room- B18. i remember because I remember the guys that lived. and whose names are conveniently still carved all over in here.

that was just the prelude. I'll now explain why I bother to mention all this. yesterday while unpacking, when i found it. I found 'the letter'

the entire letter is too explicit to be replicated on this family rated blog, but i would be more than happy to give you excerpts to help you grasp as much of 'the letter' as possible.

"to the descendant of the Legend" - this was the intro, basically the title of 'the letter' it starts off by explaining that the reason for writing 'the letter' as a result of inebriation. but just gets so much better from there. it included their motto "**** *******, Get *****" (censored) and their records (including drinking penalties and hospital visits) however, the one overwhelming thing that i can take from 'the letter' is something thats was mentioned several times, and usually in capitals. "LIVE THE DREAM" these words are sharpied huge on my board, and littered throughout the letter. and i couldn't agree more.

epilogue. I was walking through the parking lot near Bricker hall, and who do i see. not Jer, but his good buddy from last year. the man of my room. I yelled his name, and he came over. it took him a sec, then he eventually remembered me from the times i visited. i told him I was in his old res. and he was pumped for me. then i told him i was in his exact room, and he got stoked. just a cool, coincidence to already know the guy who was randomly selected to rep your old room proudly. but then when i mentioned my under the desk discovery. The Guy went baserk.

good times already here in the home of the beauty. many more to come. live the dream.

the first 2.

This is one of the first times i'm writing the post, with the title left to be an afterthought. generally I have a title in mind, based on the specific topic that's on my mind, and go from there. Not this time. there's way to much to be specific. heck. there's way to much to even be general. but here I go. this is wednesday morning, its been around 48 hours now since I first called this place home. two days ago i moved in. (reppin' Little House B18, heckya) First, I met my Don, Matt Something, but everybody knows him as Beener- Solid Dude. then during a meeting, I met David. -also a solid dude, he's is my roommate for the next year. Straight from T.dot, this guy's been a bro for the past two, and we both don't know too many other people, so we've chilled quite a bit.

The next significant thing worth mentioning, is RED CELTIC PRIDE. for O-week, we've been split into four colours, and ive been rockin out with my hawk out pretty hard for the red side. we do most of the day with our designated 'team' (if that's what you'd call it) tours, meals, and academic intro's. but that all doesn't even come close to comparing to when we all assemble in the AC. we pack the stands, each colour in their own quarter of the gym. and then, and especially then- we go buck wild. every colour has their cheers. most are super legit, and a killer time. my throat's raw as, but its been a riot.

Last Night was also a great night. Down with Webster played in the Turret, Wilf's had a live show, and the DJ was rockin the courtyard. plus, I met some legit people last night, which generally qualifies as a good night.

amidst all the drinking penalties, and o week suspensions slammed down on those around me, the first 2 have been killer, and im stoked to keep it up.

oh and yo. don't ask me for my BBM like I should obviously own a blackberry. ask me for my number, and then, if i whip out a blackberry, proceed. thank you for your time. i don't own a blackberry.

Tire...d

So a lot has gone on since the last post. The main thing is that the students living on my floor here at Laurier have moved in! This was a super exciting time for me and I'm pleased to say that my students are really sweet. Another huge bonus is the fact that all sorts of friends from camp, home and all around Ontario and flooding onto campus. I don't know how I am going to get any work done this year. Move in day was pretty crazy, and I knew it would be tough to move in 450 people and all their stuff into this building in 7 hours. I ran up 13 flights of stairs more times that I though was humanly possible and my skinny thighs are pretty mad at me today. Also, I am now officially trained in basic first aid, after sitting inside for most of this beautiful day. But don't worry, now I know the characteristics of a frozen body and what I am supposed to do. Their tissues will be hard and there is no help I can give them. The only thing I am to do is get myself to safety because it must be very cold wherever I have found this poor soul... haha anyway, I did learn a lot today. Now I am about to take a nap because these past few days have just been a blur and I am POOCHED.

ps in case you were wondering what the heck tire...d meant, there may be some more Enns Battery and Tire puns coming your way during the course of this blog.
Thanks for reading.

Keep It or Cut It...... 2.0

Jamie left me with something to think about...

Catch Up.

Jamie has already mentioned the reason that this blog exists so I will not touch on this matter. Life is good. Really good. Sometimes it is hard for me to understand why we are so blessed here in North America and I thank God for it everyday. I am just finishing up a long training week for my new position as a Residence Life Don and Laurier. I have officially been an employee and student at the same place since August 26^th.The week has been amazing and I have learned so much about my new role and the part I am supposed to play in the lives of first year students here at this awesome institution. Not only was it a good time for learning, there were so many great socials where I got to meet so many rad people that I will be getting to hang out with during the coming year. From retro bowling, nights at the school pub, going to the movies (free popcorn and pop J), camp day and going to the Paris Fall Fair, I can only feel loved and appreciated. There has been a lot time and energy and $$ for that matter that they have pumped into this program. I am unbelievably excited for the new school year. I have so many great friends, mainly from camp that are going to be sharing in the Laurier experience with me. Jamie and I will make sure to keep you updated with all the goings on here in Waterloo.

I’ll be back.

Keep it, or Cut it.

as university approaches faster and faster. every time im with charles the same debate continues to surface. after 7 months of commitment and dedication to style, is it time to let the dream die?

what im talking about is obviously this:

and if you don't know the story behind it: when Raf and I moved to Australia, we all started to grow these beauty's. it was a bro thing. Conveniently in style down under, the story isn't so much the same back home. not to be misinterpreted, its not that we care to be swayed by what people here think. It is however, the extra effort required every time I meet someone new- (to assure them i am not a complete and total dirtbag) that is getting exhausting.

and with the prospect of meeting hundreds of people in the next week. Im weighing my options.

Usually and eventually people come around to it, and understand its a joke.

but sometimes, still, it disappoints me.

here is an example. about a week ago I had just recovered from being pretty sick. TG (my dad) asked if i'd run over to Canadian Tire and grab some more grass seed. (redoing the lawn) so ya, no worries. im feeling a little better, and haven't made it out the house the past few days so i was up for the trip.

now Im standing in Canadian Tire, in the fertilizer aisle. donning a moustache as a result of my mini hibernation and wearing a old basketball jersey and shorts. Beside me, a large man with a substantially thicker moustache, wearing similar shorts, a camo t-shirt and a trucker hat. poking out the back of the hat, a rat tail.

under the circumstance of my current appearance. my rat-tail added up to one too many similarities to this suspect character shopping for fertilizer. it is in instances like this that convince me it needs to go.

and just when it seems like my minds made up. again out in public, occasionally ill turn my head to catch people starring at it. and the sheer enjoyment from that, makes me remember why its dangling from the back of my head in the first place. its just for fun.

even tho it does offer some sick flow.

thus,

the debate lives on... keep it, or cut it.

Beginnings.

generally, blogs are written with a purpose. be it salutation, information, communication, celebration, perspiration ? that's the thing- it could be literally anything you want. and thats the beauty of it.

Jer and I have been friends since just about the first day of high school. harassing teachers, running student councils and acing every single thing ferny ferns threw our way. there's been some great times in there. thing is, life's been more than just school. way, way more.

recently, we each got a chance to see a bit of the world- lived a bit of life. and loved every minute.

this brings us to now, in a few I'm moving to waterloo. studying first year in the business admin program at Laurier. jer's been at Laurier for the past week, preparing for his second year in the same program. also, the kids a Don. impressive i know.

So new city. new school. some new friends and a new year. its a beginning. with high levels of anticipation only matched by the levels of preparation these past few days.

we decided to chuck this together, for the times to come and the people were leaving. hoping to do our best to keep it touch.

this is the first, with more to come.

were gonna make the most of this, after all- we have justonelife.