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SFU vs. Thompson Rivers University
Sat Feb 06, 8:00 PM
Win 91 - 74
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SFU vs. Thompson Rivers University
Sat Feb 06, 6:00 PM
Win 81 - 47
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SFU vs. Thompson Rivers University
Fri Feb 05, 8:00 PM
Win 79 - 73
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SFU vs. Thompson Rivers University
Fri Feb 05, 6:00 PM
Win 88 - 49
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Women's Basketball
SFU vs. Trinity Western University
Sat Jan 16, 7:00 PM
Win 80 - 45
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Men's Basketball
SFU vs. Trinity Western University
Sat Jan 16, 5:00 PM
Win (ot) 68 - 64
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SFU vs. Trinity Western University
Fri Jan 15, 7:00 PM
Win 81 - 69
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SFU vs. University of Saskatchewan
Sat Jan 09, 8:00 PM
Loss 102 - 81
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SFU vs. University of Saskatchewan
Sat Jan 09, 6:00 PM
Win 67 - 58
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Men's Basketball
SFU vs. Pacific Lutheran University
Tue Dec 29, 7:00 PM
Loss 79 - 72
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SFU vs. University of Fraser Valley
Thu Dec 03, 7:00 PM
Win 95 - 69
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SFU vs. Western Washington University
Wed Dec 02, 7:00 PM
Loss 96 - 43
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Men's Basketball
SFU vs. University of Lethbridge
Fri Nov 27, 8:15 PM
Loss (OT) 87 - 73
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Women's Basketball
SFU vs. Trinity Western University
Fri Nov 06, 7:00 PM
Win 99 - 39
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Olivia Brennan's Blog
Olivia Brennan is entering her second season with the Simon Fraser University Clan track and field team and her first with the cross country team. Brennan’s Blog will be featured on Friday’s during the 2008-09 season, here is her 14th installment.
February 27, 2009
So it’s been a while. Its funny how when school gets busy, it just seems like there is never any time for anything else. What is even funnier is how apparently two or three weeks of me not blogging causes the world to start to fall apart! Luckily, I’m back in business and we can get things back on track. There are a few things I’ve been noticing that I think need to be dealt with. I’d like to take this opportunity to call attention to them.
Attention Professor McAllister: I have a few things to say to you. 1: though we appreciate the thorough review of the instructions for the next assignment, spending an hour of our class time reading the clear and very detailed instruction sheet to us is not necessary. 2: It’s pronounced “photogra-pher” not “photo-grapher”, and 3: if you could keep your sentences moving fluidly, I think it would be a lot easier for all of us to get along.
Attention guy who tried to hit on me at the shadow: Commenting on a girl’s lack of a tan is not a good pick-up line, even when you try to somehow turn it into a compliment.
Attention Starbucks employees: Working at Starbucks does not make you a good singer, and even if you are a good singer, why do you feel working there gives you the right to sing for the entire day while you work?
Attention leaders of the jean skirt revolution: It’s a lost cause. I hate to break it to you, but jean skirts, especially floor-length jean skirts, are not in style. And, if I have anything to say about it, the jean skirt will not be coming back for a long long time.
Attention Ms. Thug from the peak: Thanks to Carly Moir I don’t need to say much to put you in your place. I will say, though, that if you would like to contribute to the fund that supplies me with one t-shirt and one sweat suit every two years, your contribution would certainly not be turned down.
Attention Karma: I get it; you think its funny to bite people in the butt for doing stupid things. I, however, do not. I make mistakes, and I usually feel really bad about them. You coming around to kick me while I’m already down really does nothing to help my cause.
Attention Residence and Housing: We have a broken couch. It has been broken since we moved in, and you have yet to fix it. Our tap leaks. We can fill up an entire sink of water over the course of one night. Our toilet will not stop running. And the trusty employees you sent to change our light bulbs moved everything around in our kitchen, left our door unlocked and left broken glass in the middle of the floor. I am not impressed.
February 5, 2009
I know I say it all the time; I can’t believe how quickly times flies! But really, I’m already a month into my twenties, we are over a month into school, and we are getting ready for our last indoor meet before Nationals next weekend. I’ve also gone a whole month without having a drivable car, spent two weekends in Seattle, and managed to spend about $600 on groceries. Surprisingly, I’m feeling pretty good. Haven’t had too many freak-outs about schoolwork yet or had to pull any all nighters, which is odd for me. I’m starting to get a bit worried though, I’m just waiting for the morning I wake up and realize that all my papers and assignments are due in the same week. But until that happens, I guess there is not too much to stress out about, just to be thankful for the relatively smooth sailing month. Looking back, five weeks down, this is what I’ve learned: 
-Monopoly, even if it’s Pokemon monopoly, is a very serious game. Those who do not take it seriously or who are not completely familiar with how it works, are not welcome.
- Word travels quickly amongst varsity athletes. Okay I already knew that, but just to confirm, its true.
- Mango chickpea curry soup from the Ladle is absolutely delicious.
- Although I feel like I would certainly not be one of them, some girls look great with shaved heads.
- Self-control when eating the night before a race is very important. On that same note, self-control when eating at any time is a pretty valuable skill.
- It is important to have good girl friends. 
- Sort recycling as you go to save spending an entire night sorting cans and bottles.
- There are a number of boys, who shall remain unnamed, who feel it is necessary to pee in the hot and cold tubs.
- Football players will use any excuse to take their shirts off.
- Do not judge a book by its cover, or a prof by his appearance. When my prof walked in on the first day of class, I thought he just walked in off of East Hastings. Turns out, he is the best, most interesting prof I have ever had.
- A sale is only a good deal if you only buy as many items as you actually need. Buying three t-shirts because they are 50% off is not a good deal when you didn’t even need one to begin with.
- Honesty is the best policy. It’s usually pretty tough to be honest about important, touchy subjects, but in the end it saves a lot of hurt feelings and potentially awkward situations.
- I should stop hoping that the ice on the track is going to melt and just accept that its probably going to be there until I go home at the end of May.
- Archeology is stupid.
- If I don’t take risks, I end up with a lot of regrets.
- There is this girl; we’ll call her KT, who knows how to give a mean hickey.
- I may or may not be one of the biggest factors keeping the Mountain Shadow business. I hate to admit it, but I have somehow managed to make an appearance there at least once every week since I have been back from holidays.
- 45-year olds still like to get drunk, go to Katie Parry concerts, and pick fights with the all the 20-somethings who actually belong there.
January 30, 2009
Doesn’t it seem like your mom and dad just had it so easy? Never mind your mom and dad, how about your grandparents? Sure, maybe they couldn’t afford to go on road trips with their friends, go out for lunch everyday or go shopping for a new outfit to wear to the club every weekend. And maybe they had stricter parents and fewer opportunities to go to university, but at least relationships were easy! At least they didn’t have the Internet, cell phones, or these new male/female expectations to make relationships way more confusing and difficult than they already are. Relationships these days are so confusing. There are so many misunderstandings because we rely on the Internet and text messaging to communicate instead of just calling someone or talking face-to-face. And even more confusing is trying to figure out how guys and girls are expected to behave, as we are no longer living in a time where chivalry is completely expected or accepted. On the one hand we have independent, feminist girls who don’t like to be taken care of and on the other hand we have traditional girls who think it a sign of respect. It seems to be mass confusion all the time. I feel like things would be a lot easier if we hadn’t gone:
From the guy automatically holding the door open for girls to the guy being unsure how the girl will react either way. If they open the door the girl may be offended that he thinks she can’t open the door, but if he doesn’t she may also be offended at his lack of respect.
From boys having the guts to just ask a girl out to girls having to do it themselves.
From boys and girls telling each other they like each other to boys and girls playing mind games
From people having the courage to talk to each other to people depending on “liquid courage” to be able to have a conversation.
From first dates where you actually get to know each other to first dates where both people ask questions they know the answers to because they have spent hours creeping the other person’s facebook before the date.
From guys automatically paying for everything to those awkward situations where both people are unsure of what they should do. Not to say that guys should pay for everything, it would just be a lot easier if it was established before the cheque comes.
From “It’s not you it’s me” to “Your perfect, I love everything about you, but something just doesn’t feel right”. The break up line of 2009.
From face-to-face conversations, which pretty much tell you what the other person is thinking, to texting conversations where both people sit trying to decode what exactly every exclamation point and period means.
From people liking you for who you already are to people comparing you to the millions of supermodels or celebrities they wish you looked more like.
From either being boyfriend and girlfriend or not being boyfriend and girlfriend to possibly being in one of the many categories that seem to overlap. Really, it seems like there are so many different “levels” of relationships these days. There is dating, seeing each other, friends with benefits, boyfriend and girlfriend, facebook official, broken up and hooking up… and the list goes on.
January 23, 2009
I think its safe to say that we all have problems or insecurities that we are embarrassed of. Everyone has those things they do that they wouldn’t dream of telling anyone else about in fear of being made fun of or judged. I’ve always wondered, though, if these are legitimate concerns. Should we really be embarrassed of all of the things we do in private, or are there a million other people out there who do the same things and are just too afraid to talk about them. Wouldn’t it save a lot of stress and embarrassment if we just talked about those things that everyone does but is not allowed to talk about?
This might be going out on a bit of a limb here, and I may really regret doing this, but I’m going to go ahead admit to some of the things I do that I feel a bit uncomfortable about. Here they are:
| · | When I get jealous of people, even my friends, I think bad thoughts about them and sometimes secretly wish for them to fail. It is terrible, I know, and I don’t really mean it, but it is human nature to get jealous, and it is hard to see someone else succeed while you struggle. | |
| · | I like attention. Whether its from boys, coaches, teachers, my parents, my friends, etc, I love attention. Even if it is bad attention, like drama, for example, for some reason it just makes me feel important to be apart of it. | |
| · | Sometimes, I pee in the shower. It saves toilet paper and it is quite convenient. | |
| · | When I’m in a bad mood, and someone else is in a really good one, I say mean things to him or her to ruin their mood. | |
| · | I sometimes find it hard to get over my first impressions, but admit that they are often wrong | |
· I think I’m good looking.
· If I run out of clean socks, I’ll often dig through my dirty laundry and wear a dirty pair.
· When I’m mad or sad I like to sit and feel sorry for myself.
· It often takes me a lot more time than necessary to send emails or Facebook messages because I re-word and review them a millions times to sounds just perfect.
· I pick my nose when no one is watching.
· There are times I go fishing for compliments or steer conversations to talk about myself.
· I will go out of my way when I’m heading to class or somewhere else in order to possibly see a boy I have a crush on.
· I only wash my hair once a week
· When I buy something new I usually wear it about three times the next week.
· I will also go out of my way to avoid walking past, or talking to someone who may be awkward to interact with. I hate to admit it, but I’ve even stooped as low as faking a text message or phone call so that I don’t have to acknowledge them.
· I say things that I know will get people’s emotions flying.
January 16, 2009
Okay, lets face it, we all have those little things we do that probably bother the hell out of the people who are around us the most. I’ll admit it, I have them too. For example, I have a bad habit of always fidgeting with things; I always need something in my hands! Not such a big deal when I’m in familiar surroundings because I usually know the space and the people the space belongs to. However, when I’m in a new space, I tend to snoop and fidget without really realizing it and often end up catching myself either snooping in something private, or trying to bend something the wrong way and breaking it. It even annoys me, but I can’t seem to break the habit. So I guess I should be a bit more understanding of other people’s habits they just can’t kick, but I’ve got to tell you, there are some things people do that just tick me right off.
Here are a few examples:
Adam Newton’s “Ah hem” (if you know him you know exactly what I’m talking about.)
Double, triple and quadruple packaging: I thought we were trying to reduce waste and save the world, so why did my mom come home from the store with a plastic container of Bacel that was sealed with a plastic wrapper and sold inside a cardboard box that had the same writing and information on it as the container itself? And why does our pack of 16 rolls of toilet paper come in a package of four four-roll packages? Ridiculous.
When older, more experienced people belittle my problems and stresses: Hey, I’m sure when you were my age this would have seemed like a big deal to you too. Just because you’ve already had a similar experience doesn’t mean it is not a big deal to me. So instead of making fun of my problem or me, why don’t you just let me freak out?
When people in class feel the need to include every big fancy word they have ever heard in their comments to the prof.
When people rub their hands on clean glasses right out of the dishwasher: I know its weird, but the feel and the sound make me want to gag. I can’t handle it.
When I’m driving and approaching a construction site where one lane is closing ahead, and people speed up to the front of the line and try to bud in.
When people ask me questions about a movie while I’m watching for the first time: I know just as much about it as you do, leave me alone!
Speaking of movies… when people talk along with the movie.
People who make out in the view room at Westmall. How am I supposed to enjoy the beautiful view or, more importantly, study when you are eating each other’s faces and dry-humping each other on the couch?
Guys that wear board shorts to the gym
When I answer the phone and have to wait for two minutes until the person on the other end finishes talking to whomever he or she is with. If you are in the middle of another conversation, please don’t call me; it is very frustrating and annoying.
January 9, 2009
I must say, we’ve got it pretty good. Besides getting overloaded with papers and exams, having to balance part time jobs, school and social lives, and constantly trying to find the answer to the ongoing question of which direction our lives our going, the life of a student really isn’t that bad. Who else almost a whole month off at Christmas to sleep in and recover from, and celebrate making it through the three crazy months of the first semester? I would like to think that I took full advantage of the three and a half weeks I got to spend at home for the holidays. I packed a lot into that time, and, even though my brain was on a major vacation, actually learned quite a few interesting lessons. For example:
1. I don’t like when people talk about me: On my last day at home, my birthday, I went to the indoor track to do a workout. I started to do my fast workout in the lane reserved for “runners”, but kept running into these two women who were attempting jogging, but were certainly not succeeding and probably belonged in the “walking” lane. So I stopped and gave them a nice heads up that I was running fast in that lane so that no one would get hurt. They didn’t move, so I carried on, and later when I sat down on a mat beside them to stretch, was able to listen in as they sat imitating me and talking about how rude I was. Jerks.
2. Pants with stretchy waste bands are great for the holidays
3. Rubber boots make your feet sweat:
4. I have great friends and family to go home to.
5. Fashion takes a major hit when it is minus 45 on the prairies: My regular attire over the holidays: long johns, faded blue sweatpants from my grade 8 basketball team, t-shirt, long-sleeve, t-shirt, sweater, an oversized winter parka, boots, a scarf, and a pair of forest green leather gloves with white and turquoise stripes. Oh so beautiful.
6. Paramedics are obligated to stop and offer medical attention when they see an injured person, even when they are off duty: This is probably the most embarrassing thing that happened to
me over the holidays. I decided to go for a run outside on Boxing Day because no gyms were open. So I’m running down a fairly busy street in Regina, just starting to feel good and find my groove, when a car passes me and flings a huge chunk of ice and snow straight in my direction. Before I can get out of the way, it hits me right above the knee in the quad and I fall into a snow bank. While I’m flopping around yelling in the snow bank, one of the many cars driving by pulls over and a man runs out to help me. Turns out, he is a paramedic, and insists on providing me with medical attention. After about five minutes of refusing his medical attention, he finally leaves and I hobble away, trying to recover from the tragic event.
7. Driving four hours on one tank of gas in a snowstorm is not advised.
8. Also not advised; running in the dark on a street that may or may not have black ice.
9. We have been cursed: That’s right, cursed. Jane, Traci, Hali and I discovered that we have been cursed with a series of tragic incidents that began to occur over the break. I’m not sure how it started or why its happening, but every time something bad happens to one of us, the next person encounters an unfortunate event shortly after. Bizarre. 
10. People in Vancouver forget their manners when it snows: I know it doesn’t happen all that often out here, but snow is no excuse for un-neighborly behavior. Splashing people at the bus stop, stopping in the middle of the road, and driving away after you smash in someone’s car, these are all unacceptable actions whether it is snowing or not.
11. When something bad happens to you, there are always good friends and people who are more than happy to help you out.
12. Salt bags make phenomenal toboggans.
December 13, 2008
Okay fine, I’ve learned my lesson: I can’t keep leaving things until the last minute. It’s seriously becoming a problem for me. For some reason it is physically impossible for me to get anything done early, or be anywhere on time. Every morning this semester I got up about two hours before my first class because I know I like to fiddle around, and still, I somehow never made it to class on time. And I don’t know why I even attempted to write papers any earlier than the night before they were due, because every time I tried I ended up going home with a blank document, but justifying it by telling myself I put in a good nights work of “research”. Somehow I managed to get everything done, but after a few all-nighters, constantly being “that girl” that walks into class late everyday, and one CLOSE call, I think I’ve accepted that I need to sort this issue out. So now that I’ve taken the first step and admitted my problem, I think its time to identify a few things that prevent me from doing things on time.
Here they are:
Girls who can’t walk in the oversized stilettos they insist on wearing to school.
Groups of drunken kids stumbling through the skytrain station.
Text walkers.
Text walking.
Checking myself out in the mirror in the AQ or the reflective window outside westmall.
The Starbucks located on every street corner downtown.
Facebook, of course.
Trying to perfect the “I just threw this on” look.
My discovery that dry erase markers can be used to leave messages on the bathroom mirror.
My fear of going hungry and deciding I better make one more snack before I leave the house.
Trying to figure out what it is about girls clothing that makes boys want to put it on.
November 28, 2008
Olivia is taking a well deserved break from blogging to focus on her exams. Look for new blogs during the holiday season.
November 21, 2008
So we’re here, Kenosha, Wisconsin! Its hard to believe that its been three months since we all met at Whistler training camp, excited about the season, but also a bit nervous knowing there was a ton of hard work and unexpected hurdles ahead of us. And there has been. We have battled through workouts we thought were impossible, we have recovered from incredibly bad races and celebrate some great ones. 
We have been faced with the challenge of stepping up to fill the spots of missing teammates, and learned to depend on and support each other on the trails, in the locker room and in the real world. Looking at the seven girls sitting in my hotel room tonight, and thinking about the teammates supporting us from home, I could not be happier or more proud to be apart of this team. As we sit here tonight tightening our spikes, pinning our numbers on our uniforms, and sharing a few laughs and pump up words for tomorrow, I can’t help but be reminded of some of the moments that have brought us here and have built the strong team bond and friendship we all share.
That time we fit about a weeks worth of activities into two days in San Francisco.
Those times one of us showed up to practice in a complete state after having a rough day and the rest of us somehow managed to turn it around.
That time we drove around San Francisco for fours hours attempting to get to the piers, but ended up driving to them, past them, and away from them without getting out of the car.
Those stories about our bathroom experiences that we thought were funny and felt were necessary to share.
That time, oh wait, all those times, we hosted the post-race celebration at our house.
That time we had our “Reppin’ Your Roots” party.
Those times Angela lost her passport, boarding pass, or some other important article and remained unphased as the rest of us laughed at her and continued to bug her about it all season.
Our hunts for our post-race Starbucks after every race.
The time we all went out to Café Crepe after a muddy workout in Stanley Park.
Every pre-race continental breakfast or pre-race dinner where we promised we wouldn’t overeat and ended up leaving with stomach aches because we convinced each other to eat a little bit more.
November 14, 2008
It’s amazing how school has totally taken over my life lately. All I can think about it how much work I have to do and how quickly these last three weeks are going to fly by. I seriously fear I may be losing friends because of my obsession. Either a. I never see them, or b. whenever I do see them I feel it necessary to whip out my agenda to show them my jam packed schedule or keep them updated on my progress on the paper I’m writing. Seriously Olivia, give it a rest. I think its time to reflect on the things I’ve learned lately that I haven’t learned from my textbooks. Here they are:
It's 'official', everyone I know has a boyfriend or girlfriend. Don’t ask me why, but it seems like in the past few weeks everyone has become “official”.
I have been reminded of what it means to be a teammate. A teammate is someone who supports his or her team no matter what. A teammate doesn’t make excuses, they take responsibility, they recognize what is best for the team and make sacrifices for it, even if it means missing a race or a game so that someone else can compete. These are the times a true teammate can be recognized.
The amount of incestuous relationships within the varsity family is unbelievable. Seriously, we made a chart. (You may think it’s pretty embarrassing and creepy that we did it, but I bet you’d like to see it).
I am suffering from a disease called procrastination. In the past few weeks procrastination has been the story of my life. Maybe it's because I have so many assignments and papers that I can’t possibly start to think about them any earlier than the night before, or maybe that’s just what I tell myself to justify that I am a chronic procrastinator.
When university students read the words penis or vagina, or any other reproductive organs, they retract to behaving like 12-year-old kids in sex ed.
Pictures are worth a thousand words, and sometimes, they can leave you speechless. There is just something about cameras that makes people do weird and random things. I can’t possibly count the amount of times I have been tagged in a picture or taken a picture and thought “oh wow, that’s embarrassing. What on earth was I thinking?” Here are a few examples:
November 7, 2008
If someone wrote a handbook on what to do in every awkward social situation, I would pay a lot of money for it. I constantly find myself in awkward situations with no idea how to handle myself. It seems they are always lose-lose situations; no matter what I choose to do, it’s going to make things worse. I’m sure everyone runs into the same sort of problems. For example:
When you introduce yourself to someone you have already met and they call you out on it. You would deny it and try to make them look like the idiot, say “oh yea I know, I just didn’t think you’d remember my name”, or I guess you could always tell them the truth. You are going to look or feel like a jerk no matter what you do.
Or what about when someone asks you for you number and you really don’t want to give it to them but you don’t want to be rude and say no? You could pretend you didn’t hear them and end the conversation asap, make up a lie about having a boyfriend/girlfriend even though your single and on the prowl, or you could fake number them. However, there are people out there who know what they are doing and will call you right there “so that you have their number”. If you fake number them and your phone doesn’t ring, your busted!
How about when you are washing your hands in the bathroom and a random girl starts talking to you from in one of the stalls? This happened to me twice this week and I had no idea what to do. It was really weird. Should I have started a conversation with these girls and waited for them to come out of the stall? How awkward would that be? But at the same time, I probably made them feel pretty stupid when I gave them a courtesy laugh and ran out of the bathroom.
What do you do when you are having a conversation with someone and one of you farts? You don’t want to point it out if it’s the other person and they just carry on, but you’re also going to make them feel dumb when you try to stifle a laugh. And if you are the one that farts? Do you carry on hoping they didn’t notice, or draw attention to it and wait for their awkward response?
When you start a story with “OMG it was sooo funny…” and the person your telling the story to doesn’t laugh. Do you try to quickly add something funny to the story hoping to get the laugh? Or you can always throw in the “oh, you had to be there” line. Either way its going to end up in one of those awkward moments when neither of you knows that to say.
How about when you’re talking about someone and they walk into the room? Who hasn’t that happened to? If you just keep talking and quickly change the subject they probably would never notice. But no one seems to be able to do that. Instead everyone stops talking and looks around at each other with this suspicious look, which clearly gives it away.
And what do you do when your prof calls you out in class to share your opinion when you haven’t been paying attention? You can try to make something up using big words that make you sound intelligent, but chances are you are just going to look stupid. Your other option is to just tell the prof you don’t have an opinion on this topic. This way you won’t sound as stupid, but your prof is going to have it out for you for the rest of the semester because they know you weren’t paying attention or think you just don’t care about their class.
My only advice would be to never point out the awkwardness of a situation. The cooler you act in these situations, the less awkward it is going to be for everyone. If you let other people now your feeling awkward, they are going to start thinking about the awkwardness and start to feel more awkward themselves.
October 31, 2008
Have you ever been in a situation where you wanted to say something, but didn’t and it ended up driving you crazy for weeks after the fact? I definitely have been and I feel like it never really stops bothering me until I say what I regretted not saying. That being said, there are a few things I need to say to people to get off my chest.
Dear Mr. Man in the bulk section at Safeway. I saw you stick your hand into the yogurt covered pretzel bin and grab a handful to munch on while you shopped. I try to cheat the bulk section system too. I write down the code for the cheaper trail mix and I mix dried blueberries in with my raisins because they look the same and raisins are about three dollars cheaper, but at least I buy something. And I always use the scoopers!
Dear Mrs. Old lady sitting beside me in church. I realize that your candies are important to you and that sometimes you just get cravings, but there is no need to go searching for your wrapped candy that you keep inside of a plastic bag inside of another plastic bag in your purse in the middle of church. If, in the future, you anticipate that you might have one of those cravings in church, I would suggest taking the wrappers off your candies first, and maybe keeping them in only one bag to avoid the noise and distraction you caused on Sunday.
Dear Mr. Man who runs into people with his bike in the skytrain station. First of all, learn how to control your bike so you don’t run into people. Secondly, if you do run into someone, apologize. Finally, never yell “F you!” to someone who suggests you apologize to them for running into them with your bike.
Dear Random people who feel its necessary to wear pajama pants to school. Pajama pants are for sleeping! They are these fantastic things called sweatpants that are just as comfortable and look somewhat more presentable. If your going for the “I don’t care what other people think” look, start caring, because they think you look silly and they are right.
Dear Mr. AV man in West Mall. Please don’t talk to me/yell at me when I am talking on the phone. I know that you have a lot of power in West Mall, but that doesn’t make it okay interrupt me while I’m having a conversation, or to follow me to continue yelling at me after I have clearly moved to get away from you.
Dear Mr. Boy who sits in West Mall with his gameboy and no homework. People go to West Mall to study, and when they are sitting in a group silently working, they don’t really want to talk to you. Even though you have fascinating things to say about the problems with resnet, there is a time and a place to talk about them.
October 24, 2008
Besides providing us with much needed relief, going to the washroom provides people the few moments of reflection that are needed daily. What else can you really do while going to the washroom other than think? I bet you some of the greatest thinkers in history made their most amazing discoveries while sitting on the toilet. I have also made some shocking discoveries in the bathroom lately. Okay, so they may not be the most groundbreaking discoveries like figuring out the world is round, but I still think there are pretty fascinating.
Here they are:
Discovery #1: A line up of girls will pretend not to notice there is a girl locked in a bathroom stall for ten minutes to avoid having to help her.
Discovery #2: There is a reason why boys and girls have separate bathrooms.
I’m convinced my male roommates have something growing in their bathroom. Either that or someone is going to get extremely sick if they continue to use it in the condition its in. Thank God Jane and I have our own bathroom.
Discovery #3: There have been boys peeing in our bathroom!
Unless there is something Jane is not telling me, boys have definitely been using our washroom. I lifted up the toilet seat while cleaning the other day expecting to find a fairly clean surface that only required an easy wipe down. Think again. There was pee everywhere! This was not the work of a lady.
Discovery #4: “The bad news is there is no key to the universe. The good news is it’s been left unlocked.”
I read this on a stall in the bathrooms across from the education wing in the AQ and thought it was really interesting.
Discovery #5: Automatic toilets are not that great.
They never flush at the right time. You have to make sure your completely still while going to the washroom or the toilet will flush and splash your bum. And most of the time you end up having to press the little black button anyway because they don’t flush when you get up. Kind of defeats the purpose.
Discovery #6: Some girls think those silver garbage bins on the wall of bathroom stalls are just for decoration.
Instead of using the provided bins, girls leave their nasty things on the floor! I have no idea what would possess someone to do such a thing, but it is absolutely disgusting.
Discovery #7: Someone lost their Juicy Couture wallet and is offering a $150 reward, no questions asked!
October 17, 2008
I guess I’ll just go ahead and say it; I’m a polygamist. Who isn’t? When you think about it, we all have multiple relationships with different people/things. How anyone could possibly stick to one relationship is beyond me. Polygamy ensures that people have every one of their needs met and keeps life interesting. Let me introduce you to a few of my current partners.
Meet Running. Running and I have been together for a long time, and we are getting pretty serious. Despite that, we have an abusive relationship. When we are together, Running doesn’t treat me very well; he makes my legs burn, my chest ache and my feet hurt. After being with Running, I feel tired and defeated but for some reason I keep going back, thinking the more attention I give him, the nicer he will be to me. I am completely whipped by Running. Sometimes he doesn’t let me go out with my friends and makes me feel guilty if I ever miss a date with him. The way I feel about myself is completely influenced by what Running thinks of me. I can’t blame Running though, I know he is just hard on me because he wants to see me succeed and it feels good when he rewards me for doing well. So, even when I’m mad at him, I keep going back to Running because I’m comfortable around him and I can’t imagine ever being without him.
Meet Coffee. Coffee and I are casually dating. We meet up a few times a week and always have a great time together. There is just something about coffee that puts an extra bounce in my step every time we are together. He’s completely flexible, whenever I want to see him, he’s not far away. Although I really like Coffee, I need to be careful not to let our relationship get too serious. I hear he has history of controlling people’s lives and I can’t get into another one of those relationships.
Meet Food. My relationship with food is one relationship I know I can’t live without. I can be with food no matter what mood I’m in and he always finds a way to cheer me up when I’m in a bad mood. Sometimes I get scared that Food is going to leave me, so I get as much of him as I can. From time to time, Food gets me into trouble because he gives things that aren’t good for me and I end up feeling sick or getting fat. All that aside, I think I’m in love with Food, he’s the first thing I think of when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I think about before I fall asleep.
Meet Facebook. I know I can always count on Facebook to show me a good time. He knows where all the good parties are and can keeps me updated on all the latest gossip. I get a bit annoyed of him sometimes because he distracts me from doing things I actually need to do. Nonetheless he is always there for me and makes me feel important.
October 10, 2008
Urbandictionary.com defines fiction as “Something that is not real or exists only in someone’s imagination.” The Oxford English Dictionary that sits beside my bed for quick reference defines it as “a false belief or statement.” Given these two definitions, it is clear that everyone’s life is full of fiction in some way, shape or form. Fictitious ideas are usually the result of some sort of misunderstanding and usually create even more of it. They are very powerful and can cause a lot of damage if people aren’t careful. In order to prevent some of this damage and possibly clear up some of these misunderstandings for everyone, I came up with a list of fictitious ideas that have caused some trouble in my life, or just need to be cleared up for the betterment of all humankind.
Fact: Sushi tastes good.
Fiction: There is an attractive way to eat sushi. 
Fact: Mitch Culley looks good in dresses.
Fiction: Mitch Culley will still call me his friend after this week’s installation.
Fact: Varsity athletes tend to gossip.
Fiction: Everything you hear from a varsity athlete is true.
Fact: We are in the middle of a Federal Election.
Fiction: Canadians know just as much about the Canadian election as they do about the American one.
Fact: Ginger taste great in stir-fry.
Fiction: Ginger tastes great when eaten raw.
Fact: Angela Shaw drops/loses/drowns/forgets/spills things a lot.
Fiction: Angela Shaw should be allowed to travel on her own.
Fact: Plus 26 degrees and sunny is great for the beach.
Fiction: Plus 26 degrees and sunny is great for cross-country meets.
Fact: Bluetooth was invented to free up peoples’ hands to allow them to talk on the phone while driving.
Fiction: You should use Bluetooth while walking with nothing in your hands.
Fact: Girls naturally feel threatened by other girls they don’t know.
Fiction: There is a rule that girls have to be mean to, or act awkwardly around girls they do not know.
Fact: Ice cream is arguably the best treat in the world.
Fiction: Non-fat ice cream is a healthy, delicious alternative
October 3, 2008
Well, believe it or not, we’re at the end of week five. How we got here so fast, I have no idea. And how we are going to survive the next eight weeks, I’m really not sure. But lets take a few minutes to review the lives of the majority of SFU students over the past five weeks.
Week One: There was a feeling of disappointment knowing that summer was over and trying to comprehend how long it would be until we got another break at Christmas. At the same time, it was exciting to be back on campus, seeing all of our friends and enjoying beautiful Burnaby Mountain view while the skies were still clear. We all went to those 30-minute lectures to pick up the course syllabus and meet our profs. We made many attempts at standing in line for the bookstore as well as attempts to beat the system by coming up with some convincing story for why we should be let in on the second floor. We picked up our free agendas and promised ourselves we would write everything in them this year. And most importantly, we all got dressed up for class because hey, we looked good after the summer, why not show it off?
Week Two: We left our first full-length lectures thinking, “finally, a class I’m actually interested in!” In our first tutorials, we picked out “that guy” who we already hated because he loved to hear himself talk and thought he knew more than everyone else in the class. We were on top of our social lives, making appearances at all of the first pub nights and arranging coffee and lunch dates with friends in between classes. We scouted out the hotties in our lectures and came up with a plan of how we would get them to talk to us before the end of the semester. Our Facebook albums were up to date and we still looked damn good and made a promise to ourselves to try to keep it up all year.
Week Three: The science folks had their first midterms on who knows what. For the rest of us, we made mental notes to get ahead on some research and try to keep up with our readings. We rocked our first presentations because we actually had time to spend on them and felt great to have them out of the way. We decided to attend one more pub night because we knew people were going to start missing them in a few weeks. I did my laundry for the first time and started to think about slipping into school mode.
Week Four: We had put it off long enough and now it was time to get serious. Many of us dug our agendas out of a random bag and were shocked to see what the next couple weeks had in store. Some of us forced ourselves to accept that the only place we were going to get any studying done was in the cubicles on the bottom floor of Westmall, while others found places upstairs in the view room. We took back those thoughts we had after the second lectures about our classes being so interesting and started to hate the ones we thought we would love. Sweats were starting to look pretty appealing, but many of us resisted the urge and continued to make an effort to look good.
Week Five: Cue breakouts. The partying and stress finally caught up with us and, for most of us, it could be easily seen by looking at the lovely clusters of pimples on our faces. The late night study sessions were going full force and coffee sales at Ravens and Renaissance skyrocketed. We had to reassure our friends a million times that the album with pics from the last weekends’ party or trip would be put up on Facebook as soon as we had a chance. Suddenly, there were way more seating options in lecture halls and we started reading only the introduction and conclusion of our readings, just in case we were called upon to speak in class. Many of us finally gave in to the urge to wear sweatpants every day, and personal hygiene began to be sacrificed for a bit of extra sleep when we could get it. Naturally, we still looked good, but our lazy outfits and hairdos weren’t doing us any favors.
After thinking about the last few weeks and wondering how I’m going to survive the next few, I came up with a list of pointers that should make life a bit easier for anyone whose in the same boat as I am. Here they are:
- Don’t be one of those empty seats in class
- Sweatshorts do not look cool on anyone
- Facebook isn’t going anywhere, so there is no need to check every five minutes while your studying
- Take healthy snacks to eat when you study, but hide them in your bag until you are actually hungry
- For those of you who feel that it is necessary to venture through Westmall on your way home from the pub, please do it quietly
- Don’t pick your zits while you study, or ever for that matter
- Costumes for theme parties, bikini waxes and lunch dates with friends should not come before homework and sleep on your priority list
September 26, 2008
Well, another week of classes, workouts in Mundy Park, bus rides downtown, racing in Seattle, writing weekly reports and waking up to random teammates sleeping on our couch. Time is flying by this semester, but at the same time it feels like I’ve been back for months! Some days I feel like I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off, never managing to find the time to take in what is going on around me. But, a lot of things still cross my mind. Here are this week’s thoughts:
Thought #1: Attention Mother Nature: September 22 is the first day of fall. The first day of winter is December 21. Please figure it out.
Thought #2: I’m so glad I’m paying for Internet that I can’t even use.
The Internet in rez has hardly worked since we moved in. There is nothing more frustrating than sitting down to start your homework and realizing the Internet, once again, is not working.
Thought #3: The muddier I get when I race, the harder I run.
Thought #4: It’s the fourth week of school. Pardon me? The what?
I can’t believe it’s the fourth week of classes already. It totally snuck up on me! I just figured out where all of my classes are and I turn around and have midterms and papers due in all of them in the next two weeks. Time to get into school mode, ASAP.
Thought #5: It doesn’t matter who you are, there is no worse feeling than knowing someone is disappointed in you.
Thought #6: Changing seasons can be tough on a girl.
I love buying new clothes, and the beginning of a new season is the perfect excuse to update my wardrobe. Although new clothes make me happy, it always makes me sad to have to put away my beautiful summer clothes.
Thought #7: I don’t have time to be domestic!
Last weekend I told Jane I would clean our bathroom. It is now Friday, I am getting ready to board a plane to San Francisco, and our bathroom has yet to be cleaned.
September 19, 2008
I recently decided to start paying more attention to my thoughts. As it turns out, I actually have a lot to think about, and I have a lot of questions too. So I started writing them down to see what kind of things really go through my mind. Here’s what I came up with this week:
Thought #1: Shopping makes me feel good, reading my textbooks does not.
After spending most of the day at the mall on Friday, I came home feeling very happy with myself and my new purchases. Of course I didn’t need to buy the second t-shirt just because they were “buy one get one half off”, and I probably didn’t need to buy two black and gold bracelets, but I couldn’t decide and they are both really cute. So after making some good purchases and scouting out some potential future ones, I headed back up to school to hit the books (I know, homework on a Friday night? But we had practice early Saturday morning and I’m trying to be a responsible student). So I picked up my book for my “Advertising as Social Change” class and checked out the weeks’ readings. How nice, I got to read all about the tricks advertisers use to keep me buying things. Cool. Not feeling so great about those purchases anymore.
Thought #2: How is it that on days that I’m surrounded by a ton of people I can feel so lonely?
Thought #3: I wonder if the dishes in the sink, spills on the stove and crumbs on the counter disappear when I’m not around.
Thought #4: Why does the school insist on giving us TA’s who can’t speak English?
I know they are very smart people and they know their stuff, but how am I supposed to learn from someone who can hardly communicate with me? We end up spending most of our tutorials in this awkward, painful silence, while the TA gets frustrated and embarrassed. It an unfortunate situation for everyone involved.
Thought #5: One of the hardest parts of running is figuring out how to listen to your body and not feel guilty about doing it.
Thought #6: Days at the beach with friends are fun.
Thought #7: The Skytrain makes people do bad things. 
Okay, maybe I wouldn’t go that far, but it seems like people really forget their manners when they get on the Skytrain. For example, how are you supposed to get off the train when people are standing directly in front of the door? They won’t be able to get on until you get off, but they still find it necessary to stand right there.
Thought #8: A person can never have too many plain white t-shirts.
September 12, 2008
The past few weeks have been a bit of a gong show for me. I’ve packed my entire life into my little Honda Civic, attended a family reunion, driven 20 hours with my dad from Regina to Whistler, completed a tough training camp, moved into my new townhouse, started a new job, attended a few of the start of school parties, drove to Bellingham to run my first cross country race of the season, and I started classes. It’s been a very fun, but hectic, three weeks. But on top of all of the running around and craziness, I have actually learned a lot about myself and picked up a few pointers on how things work around here.
So here are the interesting and valuable things I’ve learned since I’ve been here:
I have an unnecessary amount of stuff and should consider throwing some of it out or giving it away to the people who really need it.
Those little bumps when you drift out of your lane on the highway are partially responsible for my safe arrival to school for both myself and my father.
I’m not the most pleasant person to be around after I’ve had a bad workout.
The boys on my track team shave their legs more often that I do.
I’ve been missing out on one of the most delicious things ever invented: Nutella.
So far, teammates make great roommates.
When you think you’re being sneaky by going through the duty free line at the boarder, you’re not. Half of the other people at the boarder are thinking the same thing.
Dishtowels will rot if you leave them in a pile on the floor.
I was the only one on my team unaware that next weekend’s race is a 6km not a 5km.
Don’t give your number to boys unless you actually want them to call you.
Ryan Brockerville is an extremely talented chef, if you consider KD and nachos cooking.
Don’t give a girl from Saskatchewan the keys to a minivan and tell her you’ll see her at the race in Bellingham. She probably won’t make it there on her own.
I should never attempt to get any amount of work done in our house.
My choir instructor has a tattoo of a vagina on her back and I don’t like it.
Boys actually will join clubs just to meet hot girls. Well, Ben Gutowski will anyway.
Jane Channell is going to make an excellent mother some day.
I have a crush on one of my profs.
The line “I’m with the track team” will not get you into anywhere before everyone else, even though the basketball and soccer teams can pull it off.
Riley Merrell likes to constantly confirm he is good looking by checking it out in the mirror.
I have enough pairs of socks and underwear to go for three weeks without doing laundry.
The majority of things my mom does that bother me, I do too.
Cell phones don’t like it when you drown them in pasta sauce.