have you ever sat down and thought about how much you actually know. Things you never thought you would. Things you didn’t even realise could be known. Just this week i have learned that the lex mercatoria is a body of customary commercial law that has developed since the Dark ages. I have learned that for a customary law to develop, it must first become a general practice throughout a community, and that the community must develop an opinio iuris,  that is an opinion that the practice is necessary for the order of society.

I’m not sure if either of those things will ever come in useful (except maybe in my rapidly approaching exams), but it just goes to show that I really have learned allot over the years, although I never really notice it at the time. I guess it also shown how much there is left for me to learn.

Well that’s it from me, there is no deeper meaning or great philosophical insight, i just though I’d share my thoughts.

OK, so a while ago i resolved to post more regularly. It appear i have failed to do so. Oh well, you get that.

Anyway, I break my long held silence to give an honorable mention to my newest cause of distraction, and the reason i will be failing all my unis this semester.

 I have been introduced to web comics, specifically Questionable Content (see My Linksto the right). I suggest you take a look, however be warred, I take no responsibility for any subsequent fall in productivity.  

I got this in an e-mail, i guess it’s doing the rounds.  

In Honour of Stupid People . . .
In case you needed further proof that the human race is doomed through stupidity, here are some actual label instructions on consumer goods.

On Tesco’s Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom) — “Do not turn upside down.”
(well…duh, a bit late, huh!)   

On Sainsbury’s peanuts — “Warning: contains nuts.”
(talk about a news flash)

On Boot’s Children Cough Medicine — “Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this medication.”
(We could do a lot to reduce the rate of construction accidents if we could just get those 5 year-olds with head-colds off those bulldozers.) 

On Marks &Spencer Bread Pudding — “Product will be hot after heating.”
(…and you thought????)

On a Sears hairdryer — Do not use while sleeping.
 (That’s the only time I have to work on my hair)  

On a bag of Fritos — You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside.
(the shoplifter special?)  

On a bar of Dial soap — “Directions: Use like regular soap.”
(and that would be???…)   

On some Swanson frozen dinners — “Serving suggestion: Defrost.”
(but, it’s just a suggestion.)  

On packaging for a Rowenta iron — “Do not iron clothes on body.”
(but wouldn’t this save me time?)  

On Nytol Sleep Aid — “Warning: May cause drowsiness.”
(..I’m taking this because???….)  

On most brands of Christmas lights — “For indoor or outdoor use only.”
(as opposed to what?)  

On a Japanese food processor — “Not to be used for the other use.”
(now, somebody out there, help me on this. I’m a bit curious.)   

On an American Airlines packet of nuts — “Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts.”
(Step 3: say what?)  

On child’s Superman costume — “Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly.”
(I don’t blame the company. I blame the parents for this one.)  

On a Swedish chainsaw — “Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals.”
(Oh my God..was there a lot of this happening somewhere?) 

 ***Blessed are the cracked: for it is they who let in the light*****  

I’ve been sitting hear for the last twenty minutes trying to think of something interesting to write. It’s really a rather stupid thing for me to be doing. The whole point of this blog was to create an outlet for when i wanted to right, instead of just scribbling things down on the back of a book, or typing things up to be lost in the depths of my computer filing system. The point was not to create an obligation for my self to constantly come up content. And yet now i fell my self bound by just such an obligation. Once again this is rather stupid. In reality no such obligation exists, there are no deadliness to meet, no one hanging on with bated breath to read my next magnificent post. In fact, I only have evidence of four of five people ever reading my blog, and the majority of those were friends from uni (actually that gets rather awkward when you right about them).

So why do feel that I’m obliged to blog, when I know that in reality I’m not? I think it stems from the fact that I have been receiving comments to my last few posts. I’ve found that I rather like getting comments. It creates a sense that my random thoughts and little rants have been somehow validated. I guess it’s the feeling that someone approves of what I have to say, and since this is blog is really a study of what’s going on in my head, that has been approved of as well. Ofcause thinking all this through and putting it on papper I do realise just how illogical this is. No matter what you have to say, somewhere in the vast reaches of the Internet you are bound to find someone who agrees with you. But deep down, when it comes to ones innermost thoughts, logic is rather irrelevant.

So, it appears I’ve found something worth while to write about after all. There’s irony for you.

One fish, two fish

Dead fish, new fish

In Canada it is illegal to cross state lines with a duck on your head. Yes that’s right, a duck. Yes, on your head. No, I’m not joking. How do i know this? Because just for fun some friends and I spent a day looking for the most pointless laws we could find (law students have a strange interpretation of the word fun). We also learned that in Australia it is illegal to ring a door bell before 6 am, beat a rug in the street, or fly a kite is a built up area.

But back to the duck.

The obvious question is Why? what situation could possible have arisen that prompted the authorities to create a law banning one from carrying a duck across state lines on one’s head. I really don’t know, and I’m not sure i want to know. However there are other questions, for instance, how would one get a duck to stay on ones head? Would you have to tie it down? ( in which case the law may have been created to prevent cruelty to ducks). Has the duck in question simply been to duck obedience training? or are all these question irrelevant because the duck has been plucked roasted, and lightly drizzled with apple sauce? (Mmmm roast duck).

hi ho.

it’s been a while since i list posted, sorry about that. Anyway what’s been happening? Uni’s done for the year, YAY. work is still going for another couple of weeks, and then I’m straight into holiday work so no breaks there. But all together life’s pretty cruisy. I’m currently trying to work out my units fro next year. I’ve decided to cross enroll to another uni for the next to semesters to do a couple of logic units which i cant do here.

YAY logic!!!!!

there’s a hell of a lot of organising to do before that can happen though, i need permission from this uni, and then permission from the host uni, and then i need to convince each that the other has giving me permission, and then they might think about actually letting me do the units. Ok so it’s not quite that bad, but it is a lot of work.

 I’m overloading next semester too (yes i am in fact insane). that should be a bundle of laughs. Why do i do this to my self? I really don’t know.

 Anyway that’s whats happening with me. There is more of cause, for instance I’ve given up swimming (13yrs was enough) and taken up rock climbing (ouch!),  but I’ll talk about the rest later.

For now i bid you addue.

Feeling kind of crap at the moment. Still thinking about friends and relationships and all that stuff, it seems to be a bit of a theme for me right now. I’ve got a couple of different groups of friends really. True friends who I can share almost anything with and who will always be there for me (I’ve really only got one or two of them). Uni friends who I hang out with and study with, who are a little strange like me and have common interests. And then another group of uni friends who are I little higher up on the social ladder than me, but who don’t seem to mind me hanging around. I’ve also got old school friend who I hardly see but, who I try to keep in contact with.All that is fine and dandy but the problem is, sometimes I get confused about what type of friends some people really are. For a while there I thought some of my uni friends, the ones who are like me, were real friends. It seems though, that I was wrong. The last few weeks all I have been to them is a verbal punching bag, the one in the group who cops all the jokes for everyone else’s enjoyment. I don’t want to do it anymore, I don’t mind the odd joke here and there but true friends wouldn’t treat me like this and think it was ok. True friends would be able to tell that although I pretend everything’s ok, really the jokes are starting to hurt. Really i do have feelings just like they do. I made another mistake, thinking that I could hang out with my other uni friends, the ones who are ‘cooler’ that me, like I do with my friends who are ‘equal’ to me. Once again it seems that I was wrong. They are all nice enough to me, they certainly don’t make jokes at my expense, but it’s clear that I’m not one of them. I just don’t fit into their world. I went out with a few of them tonight, and all I managed to achieve was to be an incredible third wheal. I watched them talk and joke and just generally interact, and I did try to join in, but I didn’t know how. Their world is just not my world.  So I find my self disappointed both with myself and with those people who I thought were better friends than they really are. It is true I do have a few true friends, but they seem so very far away tonight.  

Ok, so I’ve just posted about friend and now I’d like to rant about girls. I don’t know if you want to hear this, in fact I’m almost certain you don’t so if you like you can just skip to my next post and I won’t hold it against you.

Now I’ve never had much experience with the fairer sex. I had one girlfriend in high school. It was a long term thing and in the end I must admit I ended it badly, and probably caused more hurt than I needed to. Not intentionally, it’s just the way thing turned out.

Anyway, that was a while ago. My rant now is not about that, and it’s not really about anyone in particular, I’m just ranting about the whole boy girl thing. See hears the thing. With only one or two exceptions all my friends are either female, or gay, of both. Now being a straight guy this can pose a bit of a problem.

Now it’s true that hanging around with girls and gay guy’s probably doesn’t do much for my masculine image, but that doesn’t really bother me. I can hold my own when it comes to beating the chest and all that, it just doesn’t really interest

My real problem is in the way I relate to women, and they relate to me. You see most of the girls I know are good friends and would probably see me more as slightly annoying, but loveable little brother rather than potential dating material. Now I wouldn’t want any of these friends to think of me in any other way, but that doesn’t mean that I want all women to see me this way. The problem is that they do. I seem to be unable to for any kind of friendship with a girl that doesn’t’ lead to them seeing me like a brother. I know it is possible for other guys to have many friends who are girls without this occurring and even to end up dating those very girls who started as their friends. I’m clearly doing something wrong, however I don’t know what.

I leave you with an example, laugh as you see fit.

I am sitting in the computer labs at uni surrounded some fellow students both male and female, with home I am relatively friendly. One girl, who I admit I am somewhat attracted too says, “We need to find me a boy, I’m bored.” One of her friends promptly points to me across the table and says, “I’ve found one for you.” And every body present laughed at the funny joke.

I’d like to talk about friends. well best friends. to be specific i’d like to talk about my best friend.  I’ve known him since we were kids. The funny thing is we never went to the same school, we never had sleep overs or went to each others parties. We never did any of that kind of thing when we were young. The truth is we hardly saw each other at all until we were teenagers, and even then we were at different high schools. We just used to met up for a week of so a few times a year at church camps during the school holidays, and we always used to get on immediately.

It’s true we have done more of the friend type things over the last few years and we’re probably closer since we both finished high school and moved out of home, but now our lives seem to be going in different directions. We live 2 ½ hours apart, I’m at uni while he works, and we are both developing new friends and new lives for ourselves as adults. We still hit it of immediately whenever we get together, but I’m starting to get the feeling that sometimes he’s reluctant to let me into his new life, and I’m  not always sure that I’d want him in part’s of mine.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like our friendship’s in trouble or anything, it’s just changing, I guess that’s normal, it’s changed before and it will change again. He’s still the best friend I’ve got and hope he always will be.

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