Wanderlust

I've always wanted to travel. Spending the summer backpacking in Europe has been one of my dreams for as long as I can remember. It's even worse right now because it's March Break and my siblings are all having fun and going away for the week. I'd love to be travelling too, but there are at least two things in my way. First, it's not March Break for me. My spring break was back in February and was pretty lame if I do say so myself. Second, I'm a pretty broke university student so I don't even have enough money to pay for tuition let alone travelling during the summer. The summer is where I have to make enough money to pay for the rest of the year. Life sucks, doesn't it?

That Feeling when you Finish a Project

No, I'm not talking about school, but the feeling that you get once you finish something that you've been working on for a while truly has no equal. I just finished crocheting a blue blanket and I feel great! I even have a picture of it on the right. (Please excuse the picture quality and the abhorrent state of my room, I tried to crop out as much of the mess as I could.) It's the first time that I've actually changed colours when I was supposed to and is probably the fastest I've ever finished a blanket. Truth be told, I didn't get any other work done while I was working on it but hey, at least I have something to show for my time right?

Procrastination is my Sin

Ever heard of that poem? My dad told it to me when I was younger. It goes like this:
Procrastination is my sin
It causes me much sorrow
I really ought to try and stop
In fact, I'll start tomorrow!
I think it is a very accurate depiction of my life right now. I have two term papers that are worth a heck of a lot of my grade, but they aren't due until the first day of exams. The problem with this is that I have exams then and I can't afford to be finishing papers when I need to be studying for exams. I know it's really bad to procrastinate and that I should just snap out of it, but Netflix is infinitely more fun than writing a paper about something I don't really care about. I'm sure you've been in the same situation before.

Bedtime Thoughts

You know when your mind wanders all over the place right before you fall asleep? Last night mine came up with this sentence; I wonder whether the weather on Wednesday will be windy or wet. Quite a tongue twister, right? It's crazy what our subconscious pops out sometimes when we least expect it.

The week of Hell right before Spring Break

Everyone loves spring break. But the week that leads up to it can be awful. All the professors choose that week to have papers due and mid-term exams. Sometimes you just have to push through and then the reward afterwards will be worth it. So, ready for a week of no sleep, staying awake because of coffee, and mental breakdowns? Me neither.

Zumba Problems

At the beginning of this school year I got myself a gym membership because it was only $20 for the whole year. Why not, right? Anyways, I've been going to a couple classes a week pretty regularly and the Zumba instructor is always late. Sometimes ten minutes or more! And when it's only a 60 minute class that's kind of a lot. It always makes me a little irritated because Zumba is the one class that I want to start on time because it's the most fun. I wouldn't really mind if Pilates or Spinning started late, but I guess it's just one of those things. I think if I can make the effort to get up off my lazy butt and go to the gym, I should be able to expect the class to start on time. Just a thought.

When things go wrong

Sometimes things just don't go the way you planned. For example, tonight at cadets we were supposed to wear our tunics but someone messed up the announcements so half the squadron showed up in summer dress. As a result, everyone had to change into summer dress and everyone's blue shirts looked gross because no one ironed them. For me, that set off my last straw because I wasn't having a very good day. Anyways, that's my quick update and I hope your day was better. Life is life, and shit happens.

Coco Avant Chanel

So I went and saw a movie at the French Alliance today. It was called - you guessed it - Coco avant Chanel. It's about Coco Chanel before she was famous. I'm not going to get into why I went and saw it because that's a long story, but it was pretty good. It had English subtitles so when the actors were talking a little too fast I still understood what was going on. The movie inspired me to go after my dreams and do whatever I want but I know that's unrealistic because you need money in this world to get anywhere and do anything, which is pretty depressing when you think about it. And don't even get me started on happiness, because the harder you try to achieve it the faster it will slip through your hands, like trying to pick up more sand by spreading your fingers wider. All we can hope for is that it will find us all on its own someday. Do me a favour and let me know when you figure out the secret, will you?

Exams

Just finished a huge psychology exam. Now I can finally do something other than study! Phew. Guess it'll be a little short lived though, I'm about to start studying for my G1 test. I've been putting it off for so long that I could have my full license by now. Anyways, I've got to start on it. Hope you can do something more enjoyable.

How could someone not support the air show?

Recently, this article was posted on the Toronto Star. "It’s time to end the celebration of death and kill the airshow: Fiorito" So, being the pilot that I am, I decided to send the author the following reply:

Hello, 

You are probably getting plenty of emails about your controversial article about grounding the air show. Since I read through your article and learned your opinion, I would appreciate it if you would hear mine. As a pilot, I must disagree with your stance and would like to better educate you about what the airshow is for. I am not affiliated with the airshow in any way but have been an audience member for several years and it inspired me to follow the dream of getting my pilot's license. First things first, the CF18 Hornet is not "an instrument of death". It has plenty of other purposes in the air such as intercepting potentially dangerous aircraft and protecting Canada in general. Secondly, about the thunder pig, these planes only fly around Toronto for three days a year. They represent much more than just the amount of noise they make. The airshow is a celebration of the wonder of aviation. Have you seen the precision the Snowbirds use in their routines? How about the new technological advances such as the Harrier jet that can hover like a helicopter? Breakthroughs like this need to be celebrated and known by the general public. And, even if you don't believe that, is it such a big deal to let aviation supporters have some fun once in a while? It is true that the Harvard makes smoke and noise. That being said, people who buy the tickets to sit in the closest seats should have the common sense to realize this and plan accordingly. In fact, there is probably a note about it somewhere in the fine print when someone buys a ticket. The T-33 Acemaker. You are correct in stating that Ace is the title awarded to pilots with kills in battle, but you fail to realize that these kills are for a reason. Otherwise we would not have won the war and your life today would be very different. Air show crashes are always possible at events like these, as well as when anyone goes flying. But let me remind you that driving is more dangerous that flying, and pilots are put through much more strenuous tests and requirements to get their licenses to make aviation as safe as possible. The world of aviation is also very safety-oriented and whenever an accident happens there is an extensive investigation to determine the cause and prevent recurrences. Additionally, the fact that you are in a higher tax paying bracket has absolutely nothing to do with how much you support the forces and, in my opinion, should never be included in an article for a prominent newspaper. I would appreciate it if you did a bit more research and included a well-rounded perspective before writing your next article. 

Thank you 

And guess what the author's entire response was to this wonderfully written letter?

I'm not moved by your opinion, sorry.

I can't believe some of the people in this world. If you were just as outraged as me by his article or response, please feel free to email him at jfiorito@thestar.ca although I don't know if you'll be able to talk some sense into him.