Protected: on sex appeal.

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on the labour market.

i already wrote a 3,500 word paper on this stupid topic, but let me take a more cynical approach to it:

there is probably nothing that makes one feel like a loser more than looking for a job.

at this point, i would like to direct my readers to the link above, entitled “hire me” – my CV can be found therein.

*hint hint*

—

i had a fantastic time on sunday. it was – almost – perfect.

i fear that i might not feel so good for quite a long time to come.

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i’ve said this before: i’m a good judge of character. also, i tend to be able to read people like books. most people, that is.

observation: most of the time, i find it incredibly hard to read people that i (could) fall for.

on the hudson’s bay company.

canadians (likely much like any other people) are obsessed with national symbols, but only in a rather latent way. much like the opera, they are glad that their icons of nationhood exist, even if they are rarely front-and-centre in any individual’s mindset. when they come under attack, however, people will be up in arms, caught in a surge of nationalism that will lament the death of canadian sovereignty, while at the same time accepting no personal responsibility for any of the thousand cuts that killed the latest cause célèbre.

take, for example, the cbc’s decision to disband the radio orchestra. an attack on canadian culture! pretty soon, we’ll be just like the USA! what about the good ol’ days? this, of course, flies in the face of logic; this is the same people who elected a government that is decidedly committed to neo-liberalism and pulling the welfare state apart; in any case, i fail to see how listening to bach, chopin and mozart is reflective of canadian culture.

thus, we have the hudson’s bay company, quite possibly the largest icon of canadiana not directly controlled by government (and certainly the oldest, predating confederation by nearly 200 years). when it comes to stereotypes, your typical canadian will only shop at one store: the bay. of course, while we’re at it, it’s fair to assume that said canadian will devote 15-20% of their weekly food budget towards maple syrup or it’s derivatives.

but the reality is that the hudson’s bay company is hardly the great establishment that it once was. not to say that one could realistically expect it to still hold the status that it once did, on the level with the legendary dutch east india company. still, it is a huge company with a huge burden (both cultural and financial). so, in a world where the department store is (quickly) going the way of the dinosaur, it survives through sheer willpower, it would seem. unfortunately, it does not come anywhere close to rivaling the galleries lafayette in paris or harrod’s in london; more unfortunately, though, is that it sometimes seems to have difficulty positioning itself as a serious competitor to wal-mart. indeed, walking through the downtown vancouver location on a sunday afternoon, when it should be jam-packed, one could imagine that this is what shopping in the soviet union must have been like.

on rejection.

i turned down both jobs that were offered to me! ’cause they both sucked!

rejection sucks, but it works both ways, i suppose.

karma, this will be a good time for you to go on vacation (or, at the very least, look the other way).

some truths painted with a fine sablehair.

although i’ve survived my exams and papers, i’ve got more than a few things to take care of these days. thus, i will leave you with something i wrote a while back.

cheers, guys.

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dear christopher,

i was given your e-mail by ubc go global. they told me that you were considering going on exchange to nanterre and wanted a bit of a heads-up of what you might expect here.