The Meaning of Friendship

"Friendship". What does that term even really mean? A connection and the bond between many individuals. The bond between myself and one other person. Something that unites me with someone else because we are agreeable (95% of the time) in each others presence. Knowing someone for X amount of years... or is it because they know my deepest secrets and fears. What is a "friend", really? 

After 24 years, I still can't seem to pinpoint the exact meaning of that word. But I always understood that friendship grew out of all of the above and that with the term came unconditional love and understanding that sometimes we may not always be physically there for one another. 

So it seemed.

Friendship has always meant a lot to me, but I guess I should start practicing what I preach. If not, I should at least start prioritizing so that friends (and family) always stay within the top 2 of my "list". Not trying to write out a sad-sob-blog story, but in the last few years I've made and lost friends. Long story short, a friend (whom I had known for almost 14 years) and I had hit a rough patch due to miscommunication. Instead of straightening things out face-to-face, it was a lot of "she said he said she said...", which (as we all know) is the key ingredient for a disaster. Resulting in the fact that our friendship was not salvageable and we went our separate ways (in process, losing those 14 years of a strong connection). Two years have since passed and I am extremely thrilled to say that we have reached neutral grounds and are now friends again. There is a long way to go in regaining that trust, but we are both happy that we are going down the right path (to be honest, I missed this girl A LOT). 

After this whole situation, we figured that our circle of friends would have learnt a thing or two about the value of the relationships we hold with one another... alas I'm not sure that's the case since it feels like I'm going through this exact same situation with another close friend, whom I've known for (now) 16 years. This now brings up the previous question, "what is friendship?".

I guess the definition of "friendship" really depends on one's... well, one's main view of how it should be defined. For example, I describe "friendship" to be something that will never be lost between two individuals that truly care about one another. No matter what each individual goes through, the highs, the lows, regardless of all that comes between these two individuals, they will be able to reconnect as if time has not passed since they last saw one another. One of my closer high school friends and I have schedules that are completely opposite from one another, so I rarely have the chance to see her. But when we do, it's as if we saw each other just yesterday and easily pick up on where we last left off. 

I mean, is that not what it is? 

Life brings new adventures which cause the distance in friendships... but it certainly shouldn't be the reason in ending one.

Thoughts? Or am I just being foolish (as usual)?

Cheers,
C.
x

First World Problem Rants - Evenko

Before I go off into, what may be a long rant, I would like to just point out that this post is going to be a very "first world problem" post... topic and subject regarding Evenko. With that, let us begin:

Today's date, Monday February 3, 2014. Just a typical Monday, nothing different from any other in the last 24 years of my life. The only thing that made this Monday a bit more bearable was the fact that tickets to Bruno Mars' concert on July 23, 2014 at the Bell Center were going on sale today at 10h. 

WHEEEEE BRUNO MARS!!

 That being said, I was rather excited because the last time Mars came to Montreal, I had missed the starting time in getting tickets. By the time I had remembered (which, might I add, was only an hour after the tickets had gone on sale) the show was completely sold out. Not bad for your first gig here in Montreal, Bruno, not bad at all. 

Sufficient to say that I was not going to miss this opportunity again. Especially after seeing his performance at the Super Bowl last night. Wowza. What stage presence. 

I cannot begin to describe the frustration I was going through when 10h came around and it was then my turn to purchase tickets... but instead of recounting the frustration bit by bit, let me just copy and paste the post I had left on Evenko's facebook page:

"Before I get into this, I just wanted to let you know that this letter contains a heavy amount of sarcasm and frustration... with that I apologize, but here goes nothing:

Dear Evenko,

I've been online trying to get 2 tickets since 10:15am (and online even longer in your so called "virtual waiting room")... and for some miraculous reason unfathomable to me, they didn't have an single pair of tickets to sell in ANY of their sections available. So I took their suggestion and opted for split seats. And still ended up with nothing.

Evenko, I am normally satisfied with your system, but this is beyond unacceptable. WHAT is the point on having your turn, to realize that there is NOTHING available? Please explain this to me, because I can't seem to wrap my mind around it (as I am sure most of us here can agree).

Just for fun (and out of my own curiosity), I even went as far as to purchase 8 tickets... and yet there it was, the beautiful box we all so love, "We could not find any tickets based on your selection. You can try again by changing your event selection, the price or the number of tickets." Sure, if I were actually buying an odd number amount of tickets, I would be more understanding that there are no seats available and that splitting seats would probably be the best option. But two. Just TWO are unavailable anywhere. Actually, not even. I couldn't even find ONE. This must be one hell of a glitch that the rest of us have never seen before because that seems to be the only explanation I can come up with that makes sense. They say Firewall is terrible, just switch to Apple products and I can guarantee that all those little bugs may finally be out of your (system's) lives. 

Or... perhaps you should start phishing out the scalpers who will only see (y)our precious tickets at almost 4 times the price (as seen the last time Bruno Mars was in town)... because Lord knows that extra $250-$300 could go to, oh I don't know, a charity fund that actually cares who they service and cater to.

Again, please forgive the sarcasm and frustration that I am throwing your way. I realize that this is not actually your (whomever is reading this) fault. But as a well known and successful entertainment company... (here comes a bad pun) get your act together!

Cheers,

Someone who's wasted way too much time trying to get tickets to see Bruno Mars (and then more time writing this post)... and all the upset Montrealers/Quebecers who could not get one single ticket today"

Boy. Was I ever upset. Again, insert the "first world problem" stereotype here... and I felt bad once I had calmed down and disconnected myself from the situation. Because no matter how I tried to put it, I was getting upset over the fact that I couldn't see this man at his upcoming concert in July. How selfish does someone have to be to have steam blow out from their ears over something so minute as that?

Pretty damn selfish, really. 

The only satisfaction I had from sending that post were the witty puns and sarcasm that I had come up with without really thinking about it (trust me, when I try to think about it, it always comes out... well... wrong - a good example is when I was telling someone that I had the "right of way", but I was so engulfed in the conversation that it came out as "the way of walk". Classic).

This is where it gets better though... "Evenko" decided to respond with this statement:

"Dear Cynthia, 

I can guaranty you there was no glitch this morning. Just thousands of people trying to buy tickets. Tickets were sold very fast because there are simply not enough for all the people that wanted to buy. Therefore, it explains why you could not find tickets for your selections. I understand it can be frustrating, but it's just the reality of things when we present a very popular artist. We wish we could accommodate everyone; however the demand is too high. 

About scalpers, our system does detect any "machine" trying to buy tickets. However, now these days, individuals buy tickets and resell them on resellers’ website. This is something that's harder for us to stop considering it is not illegal, that’s why we put a limit of tickets per person. We do not encourage scalpers. In fact, we recommend people to not encourage them as well and not buy from them. 

Again, I’m sorry you could not find tickets for this show, hopefully Bruno will come back to Montreal soon."

Oh no way! Is that how it really is? Thank you for clearing up ALL that confusion for me. It is SO much clearer now... also notice the typo in "guarantee"... all credibility lost if you ask me.

Did you just really pull a "Supply and Demand" on me? I'm not an idiot. Nor is the rest of the Bruno Mars fans who had the exact same problem as me this morning. Besides, not being able to see Bruno Mars isn't the problem. My beef here is the fact that, even with choosing ONE bloody ticket... I still wasn't able to find any seats in all the colored sections that your system claimed to be AVAILABLE.

Do you realize HOW BIG the Bell Center is? And you're trying to tell me that the demand is so high that there isn't one single bloody seat in the nosebleed section? 

Piss off.

And by the way. I went all "supply and demand" on your site's ass and tried for 8 tickets remember? That's a demand, no? So where's my bloody supply? If that whole thing actually worked, you would have given me the 8 tickets I was looking for right off the bat.  

Yeah. Think about that one, Evenko... "supply and demand" my ass.

I miss those days where I could rush over to la Baie and just buy my tickets there... not only that, they would show me which seats were actually available and I could choose right there and then. The earlier one would go, the better the seats one would have. "First come, first serve", fair and square. What happened to that? The only waiting you would have to do was for the clerk to say, "Suivant. Next."

Golden words. 

All to say, f*ck you Evenko and your malfunctioning online system (not to mention your online service charges and extra mailing charges to mail out the bloody tickets within the city). Those tickets DO NOT cost $10 to mail out from inside Montreal.

This threat means nothing to such a corporation... but I hope that the next time you want to see your favorite artist at an upcoming show, that you end up waiting for 1h in the virtual waiting room, only to wait another half an hour before being allowed to purchase tickets, only to find out that THERE ARE NO TICKET(S) AVAILABLE ANYWHERE, to getting kicked out because your page froze, to waiting another half an hour, to realizing almost two hours later that there is no hope in you seeing this artist as the colored sections go from vibrant to matte. 

Yeah. Go. F*ck. Yourselves.

Next time Bruno comes back to Montreal, I hope that his management decides to go to Metropolis for him to perform... because they'll be much fairer than this.

To those who were lucky and got through their flawed system, enjoy Bruno's magnificence as a talented performer while the rest of us "hope that Bruno will come back to Montreal again soon."

What a performance that was last night!

Cheers.

C.

Sorry. No "X"s tonight. 

Remember When We...

Just this past weekend, while at a friend's house-warming party, I've had the time to (sort of) reflect on where I currently am with my life. And then it hit me.

"Remember when we used to laugh and scoff at the idea of marriage, work, adult-life, etc. when we were in high school?"

Well. Not so funny anymore. That's where my friends and I currently stand. Friends currently finishing off their degrees, friends currently working full-time in areas related to their field of interest, friends in long-term and great relationships, some getting married, some married and expecting, those new parents and some buying their first homes. 

I look around and see all of this within the circle of friends that I currently have and can't help but wonder, "Where do I stand and fit in all of this?" My life seems like such a jungled mess of confusion and not-so-clear paths that can be taken. 

Remember what it was like to be care-free? Nope. Not at all. Definitely took those years for granted.

I guess there's a lot I still need to figure out and learn about what life has to offer... and then after a night of playing with two great little angels, I realized that only when I genuinely figure all of those things out... will it finally be my turn to laugh and not be afraid of the idea of all of the above.

What are your "Remember when we..." moments?

Cheers,
C. 
x

(Living with) Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Ten years ago, on this day, December 27th '02, I was diagnosed with something that I thought would change and affect my life forever (and not exactly for the better). But, throughout the last decade, I slowly realized how that drastic change was needed... how this slight alteration in my life was needed to redirect me to what and how I live ten years later (today). 

Today, I see Type 1 Diabetes as merely nothing. Why? Because I realized (with time) that it could have been something much, much worse. But I was lucky and was only diagnosed with Diabetes. Not only that, I see it as "nothing" because I have embraced it (to the best that I can) and learned to control my diabetes instead of it controlling me.

Unfortunately Juvenile Diabetes is not something uncommon. More and more children are diagnosed every year with this chronic condition. According to the statistics researched by the Public Health Agency in Canada, "Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases among children and youth. In 2008/09, the CCDSS reported 3,287 new cases of diagnosed diabetes (including both type 1 and type 2) among Canadians aged one to 19 years, bringing the total number of cases in children and youth to 25,693 (representing a prevalence rate of 0.3%)". That number is quite terrifying. However PHA Canada has also noticed that more and more children/youth are being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. 

Before I continue any further, I would like to explain the differences between the two: 

1) Type 1 diabetes (which is what I was diagnosed with a decade ago), is when ones pancreas can no longer produce insulin-producing beta cells. What these insulin cells do is very simple, they help break down glucose for ones liver, skeletal muscles and fat tissue. Or as my nurse explained it to me, "your insulin beta cells work as little, mini pizza delivery boys and girls. They take the pizzas (carbohydrates/glucose), and bring them all around... delivering them to those who are hungry (liver, muscles, etc.)." With Type 1 diabetes, this means that the pancreas can no longer produce these insulin beta cells internally on its own and depends on external insulin to "deliver the pizzas". And no, this is not something that heals over time and can "go away".

2) Type 2 diabetes, unlike Type 1, is a more metabolic disorder that is almost always linked with high blood glucose (sugar). Type 2 diabetes is more commonly found and diagnosed with adults. When people think about Type 2 diabetes, some will automatically think of "obesity". But not all "obese" people are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, it can happen to anyone. The reason for which we are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes is because of poor lifestyle and eating habits. But unlike Type 1, it can "go away" if managed properly (through proper exercise and healthy eating). Some individuals may need the help of external insulin, but do not have to take their insulin through injection.

Historically, type 1 diabetes was generally thought to be the only cases found in and with children. But over the last two decades, there has been a significant increase in type 2 diagnoses. I'm not sure what's more worrisome, the fact that more children are being diagnosed with Diabetes in general, or the fact that Type 2 has been on the rise in the last twenty years of those diagnosed. As mentioned previously, one can be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes because of a horrible eating lifestyle. So, that means that the children of today and tomorrow may be doing a lot of unnecessary and unhealthy eating, with the possibility of very little exercise to compensate those eating habits. 

If we are teaching our children poor eating habits at such a young age to the point that our own bodies cannot produce enough insulin to break down the glucose coursing through our blood... then I think that worries me a lot more. 

There is a myth that goes around saying that "If you eat too much candy, you'll become diabetic". Well that's not entirely true. If you eat poorly and do little exercise, there is a higher chance that you'll develop Type 2 diabetes... but keep a healthy eating and exercise lifestyle, then you'll do your body a favour and keep diabetes at bay. What really "brings in" the diabetes is genetics. Does it run in the family? If yes, which type? But sometimes our genes work in a funny way where we realize that we're the first of our family tree to be diagnosed with a certain medical condition. 

This was the case for me.

My grandmother (paternal) had type 2 diabetes, it was on and off as I remember... or it could very well be that she only checked once in a while instead of however often her doctor had suggested. Besides the point, she had type 2 diabetes. Yet, ten years ago I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes instead. And according to my parents, I'm the first. I never quite understood how this worked biologically, but according to my doctor, it could have been triggered from a sickness I was battling as a child. That sickness could have easily just been the flu. Regardless of how or when, something triggered that gene and now I live with this condition daily. Like I said before, I am lucky to only have type 1 diabetes *knocks on wood*. 

Now. What are the symptoms that gave it away? 

It can be a variety of symptoms, but the most common are the symptoms of hyperglycemia (when your sugar level is too high). Just to clarify, the average sugar level is between 4.0-7.0. Hyperglycemia is when the sugar level goes above 15.0. But what about between 7.0-14.9? We never want our levels to be past 9.0 really, but after 15.0, that's when we'll start to notice the symptoms a bit more. 

However, if the sugar levels are not brought down, here are the symptoms that we can go through. We will start becoming a lot thirstier than normal, constantly asking for something to drink and feeling as if our thirst was never truly and fully quenched. We will start making more trips to the washroom as well (think about how much liquid we may have just taken in), we become extremely tired despite the fact that we may have had a lot of energy not half and hour before, and we will go through extreme dehydration. If untreated for a long time, we start to lose weight rapidly. The reason for this is because our bodies do not have their little delivery boys/girls breaking down the glucose in our blood, and like every living organism, our muscles need to eat. So if sugar is not being delivered to our cells, our cells start to attack at the stored body fat, resulting in the rapid weight loss. When there is too much sugar in our blood stream, and no method of breaking it down, our bodies develop something called "ketones", which is tested and found through a urine test. 

My giveaway was the fact that I had lost 30lbs in less than a month. For me, at the time, I just figured that it was just some post-puberty stage. My parents did not see it the same way and brought me straight to my physician. He then told me that I had too many ketones in my system and rushed me off to the Children's Hospital.

My sugar level: 31.1

Conscious state of mind: extreme fatigue and dehydration

Concern of diabetic staff: high alert

Goal of said staff: to keep me awake at all times

Once the doctor had given me my first insulin shot, I could feel myself feeling much more awake and aware of my surroundings. The insulin was kicking in, and kicking in fast. It brought my glucose reading to about 7.0, which is where it should be. 

Just to recap, symptoms for hyperglycemia: drowsiness, fatigue, dehydration, frequent urination, vomiting and in the more extreme cases, a diabetic coma.

How do we treat hyperglycemia? Through the proper dose of insulin.

Before I explain how to treat a diabetic coma, there is also another set of symptoms which we can go through, and these symptoms will let you know that we are going through hypoglycemia: it would appear as if we were anxious or nervous, trembling, cold and clammy sweat, dizziness/faint, tingling, nausea and sometimes extreme hunger. We may also go pale, but not as if we've seen a ghost kind of pale, but a more nausea pale. In a way, people may think that we were drunk, which is a very dangerous scenario to go through and/or experience.  

Hypoglycemia is when the body does not have enough sugar in the system. The most extreme symptom would be to go into a coma or lead into seizures. And how do we treat hypoglycemia? By taking in sugar (either juice or candies - jelly beans, jujubes, etc. - will do)... but do not give a diabetic chocolate. Yes it would be considered sweet and a candy treat, but it does not work as efficiently as a glass of juice or jelly beans would. Don't worry, we often make that mistake too.

Now how does one react to a diabetic coma? A good question. Most diabetics would carry around something called a "Glucagon kit". This kit entails a syringe containing water and a little bottle with a white capsule (1mg). You need to inject the water into the bottle and roll the bottle in between your hands mixing the water and the pill together (it will dissolve into a grey-misty-like liquid). You need to make sure that we are on our side (so we don't choke on our own tongues), pull all of the liquid into the syringe and then inject it either under the skin or into a muscle (ie. the thigh). The glucagon will restore the blood sugar to normal in about 5-15 minutes... if we still haven't woken up... then I'd say to call an ambulance.

Now I know that not all of us carry our glucagon kits with us, if this is the case, you could take something like cake icing, or jam, and put it on the inside of our cheek. Once on the inside of our cheeks, you would need to massage it in. By massage I mean from the outer cheek. This dissolves the sugar into our system and we would (eventually) wake up (make sure we're still on our side). 

I had mentioned earlier that it would be extremely dangerous if a diabetic were to be going through a hypoglycemic episode while out drinking with friends. Why? Because it would be hard to tell if we were actually drunk, or if it was symptoms saying, "hey, there's not enough sugar in your system!". Normally, what a diabetic would/should do before going out is to check their blood levels, and we would periodically do so throughout the night to be sure we're in the safe zone. If we're "low", we'll need juice, stat. 

At the same time, we need to be careful with how much we're drinking too. Alcohol and beer work as juice does. It'll spike up our sugar levels really quickly, but also come back down just as fast. So if you're going out with friends and you know that there's a diabetic in that circle, be sure to keep an eye on them. If they've had a lot to drink, just ask if everything's okay and if they need anything for their sugar level. Most of the time we'll tell you if we're okay or not. But don't badger us either, we don't like having naggy-Nancy's around to tell us the same thing our parents do. We realize it's out of love, but sometimes... it's kind of annoying. 

Just being honest :)

Wow, I wanted to talk about living with diabetes, but this post has become more than just that. To keep it simple, living with diabetes does have its disadvantages and advantages... but I think I'll keep that to my next post... it's almost 2:35am, and I'm beyond exhausted (no, it's not because I'm "high")... until the next post!

Happy holidays to you and your loved ones,

C. xo

    

For more information: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/cd-mc/publications/diabetes-diabete/facts-figures-faits-chiffres-2011/chap5-eng.php 

Our Privacy Matters!

Have you ever thought about your online privacy and security rights? If your answer is anywhere between "maybe", "not really", "sometimes", "once in a while", or "no"... then this short video will (hopefully) have you think twice. Produced and directed in a fun and upbeat way, this short 17min documentary express the issues that some youth overlook or are completely oblivious to. 

Basically, from my bias point of view, this is worth watching.

Please be sure to watch this short 17min documentary in the HTML5 Format.

Privacy Matters! Youth, Identity & Online Sociability from Giuliana Cucinelli on Vimeo.

I have been very fortunate to help work on this documentary as the main sound designer. For those uncertain about what the sound designer does, I would accompany the director and producer to the majority of the interviews held with different scholars, students and youth members and help record the interviews taking place. Once in post-production, I would be sure to sync up the audio to the final picture lock to make sure that everything is properly in sync. 

We were fortunate enough to have been given the permission from Avicii's manager to use segments of "Bromance" and "Levels" as our music soundtrack heard throughout the documentary. 

I was also extremely lucky to work with such an amazing team - Dr. Leslie Shade (currently teaching at University of Toronto), Dr. Giuliana Cucinelli (about to begin an exciting adventure doing her post-doc at MIT come Fall 2013), AJ Korkidakis (currently documenting Kid Koala's tour), and Rob Lynch (currently finishing up his BA in Communication Studies and a phenomenal visual documenter) - but we are forever grateful to the interviewees who helped participate in this process (scholars, students, youth). 

An abstract of the documentary can be found below (from Dr. Cucinelli's vimeo description):

"Our everyday lives are increasingly dependent upon the use of social media for communication with our friends, family, schoolmates, and colleagues. Social network sites such as Facebook, real-time information services such as Twitter, micro-blogging sites such as Tumblr, video-sharing sites such as YouTube or Vimeo, are used for creative, constructive, or even mundane uses. In our ever-connected world, it is more than ever difficult to disconnect.

While social media are ostensibly ‘free’, the personal information that we put on these sites is sold to third-party marketers zealous to monetize this data, or even to governments, law officials, and potential employers, eager to compile a dossier of our activities without our knowledge and consent. There are thus serious privacy implications and issues related to social media. How can we manage our personal privacy on these sites? How does the architectural design and terms of use — including of course privacy policies — impact the ownership of our very own communication and conversations? Design and policy tangibly impact the security and privacy of our personal information related to data collection, retention, distribution, and control.

Many admonish youth for their supposed cavalier attitude toward their personal privacy on social media. But in our research we have found that youth have a very nuanced and smart sense about how to manage their own privacy and they possess a grounded sense of the interpersonal ethics surrounding social media communication. They have told us that they are often frustrated by the brazen attitude of social media companies who routinely change their privacy controls, and they have also told us that they want more of a voice in policymaking.

This film explores these issues, and brings forward the voices of Canadian youth, media educators, and academics. It is designed to serve as both an introduction to the various issues related to privacy, social media and youth and also serve as a provocation for youth to become more involved in not only shaping the social media landscape but in educating policymakers about their insights and concerns about online privacy."

Enjoy! Share! And be aware!

Cheers

C. x

Produkt Presents: Fedde le Grand with dBerrie and Martin Villeneuve at New City Gas, November 24th 2012

What a mighty show that was. A great night with fantastic music, Fedde, dBerrie and Martin had all of New City Gas groovin' to their songs of preference and choice. 

Luckily my ears weren't too poorly damaged after waking up yesterday morning (ear plugs can do wonders), but I can promise you that I'm still on the post-set high.

New City Gas, what appears to be an abandoned building along Rue Ottawa (Griffintown), took all of its first comers by complete surprise with its interior design and set up. Nothing too extravagant, but enough space to pack in enough energized youth that you'll leave clinging to idea and need for your own personal space and fresh, crisp air. A venue that, only begun being the talk of this past summer, has seen many of the big named DJs (David Guetta, Tiesto, Moby, Benny Benassi, Laidback Luke, Porter Robinson, and this past weekend, Fedde le Grand) and will continue to grow into (what will be) the Bell Centre for EDM performances. 

Although it looks, "sketchy", when you're trying to find the venue for the first time, its isolated location is perfect for all of us who just love feeling the bass lines rip through our very bones. The sound system is ideal and meant to contain all the bits of frequencies used to create the tunes we all know too well (and some not at all). The employees are friendly (although sometimes understaffed and not always appreciated by those attending), and the atmosphere is just fantastic.

This brings me back to praising the sets performed by Fedde, dBerrie and Martin. Spinning tunes that I haven't heard in months, to tunes that I knew all the (short) lyrics to, these three have made my weekend that much more memorable! Unfortunately for dBerrie, he had to go through the dreaded (and a nightmare for all performing artists) sound outage/technical difficulties... multiple times through out his set. His drop would be coming around when suddenly, as we hold our breath for that filthy bass line, our ears are met with an unfamiliar and unwanted high buzzing. The first time around, the audience laughs it off and encourages dBerrie to get through. But come the 6th-7th time, one starts to hear the reoccurring boo-ing taking place amongst the (spoiled) youth.

Really? Was that really necessary? It's not like the poor guy planned this all out. There isn't really any one person to blame for this (seeing as all performances go through the standard soundcheck pre-show). It would go between a sound shortage to what then sounded like a loose connection between systems. As a performing artist, I really felt for him. I would probably storm off in frustration as well come the 6th-7th time this happened too.

But, because of the great team the venue has, this problem was (eventually) fixed and dBerrie would always come back strong and got the crowd moving again! Kudos dB, you killed your set despite the technical difficulties! And don't sweat it, it happens to the best of us!

Fedde. Oh Fedde. The very man who introduced me to the EDM genre and got me hooked in 2005 with his "Put Your Hands Up For Detroit" single. It has been 7 years since I first heard that track, and within those 7 years, I have never been to one of his live sets. I have seen him in person before, once at the International Airport of Toronto on my way back from Miami in May 2012, but that was in passing and I was too shy to go and say, "hello" and "thank you" for having changed my life in a musical sense. 

As you can see by the photos, the light show that is coordinated with each set is beautifully dramatic. Fedde kept all of us on our toes and kept us moving. After a set like that, I do not regret buying my ticket for this event one single bit. 

I look forward to Fedde's future sets in Montreal and know that I'll be just as impressed, if not, even more!

For more dBerrie: http://soundcloud.com/dberrie

Cheers,

C. x

Concordia Strike Against Tuition Hike: March 15th-22nd

As it now stands, Concordia University students have united this afternoon for one of the most important and participated general assemblies of the Winter 2012 semester, and possibly of the entire year. This assembly invited all students to put into vote on how Concordia's students should go about the said hike in tuition fees for CEGEP and university in the next 5 years (for a total of almost 1,600$ by 2017). This doubling the amount that students currently pay for their classes per semester. 

Now before continuing, I would like to make clear that I am not writing this blog to start a fight. Nor am I declaring that I am pro-hike. I'm just trying to see the whole picture and remind myself again as to why friends, classmates, and strangers are uniting together to start this strike to fight the hike (ha it rhymes).

That being said, I've noticed an alarming increase in Facebook updates where friends of mine are putting out their thoughts and opinions on this upcoming strike. As it stands, Concordia students will be on strike as of March 15th until the 22nd after large vote of 1,552 students for the strike and 523 against it. Classes will still be taking place during that week, however, as I understand, if majority wins again on the 22nd, Concordia will have no choice but to extend the semester for the lost time. This means another "x" amount of weeks of school, a later exam schedule, and depending on how long the strike is extended for, a delay for those who have looked forward to the month of June to see their graduation day. 

I am not saying that I was particularly thrilled when I realized that education was, in fact, not free back when I was old enough to understand. I believe that education is a right for everyone to have and should be accessible to every single individual on this planet. Education should be free. However this is under the impression that we live in a Utopian world and society. Yes, education is free within certain countries (Iceland, Cuba, etc.), but unfortunately, this isn't the case and we must pay for our education. But what I would like to bring up is that under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26 are the following points:

• (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
• (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
• (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Let me reiterate that I am not trying to start a fight, but let me point out that no where does it say that this includes anything post-secondary. I mean, you hear that people going to universities such as Havard, Princeton, Yale, Ryerson, etc. pay closer to 15,000$... I mean, for higher education, I think it only makes sense that we pay up for it, realistically, nothing in this world is free... well, maybe except the air you're breathing. We are specializing in a specific field to do specific jobs. Yes I understand that there will be some professors who will not meet your satisfaction when it comes to teaching, but when you take a look at what they're teaching you, they've studied this their entire life, unfortunately the system only requires they have an MA and PhD to teach at university level. It doesn't require them to have a degree in education. 

The increase in tuition is something that's already been happening previously... that why it's called inflation, no? I mean, the price of everything is going up, including minimum wage (so that we can be able to afford whatever we need to save up for). There's been a disgusting increase in gas prices... but we haven't seen picketers fighting against that. Society's accepted it and is simply more aware of when they should fill up at a more "reasonable" price.

I get it, this increase in tuition is rather "shocking" since it's been on a freeze for quite some time (since 1994 if I'm not mistaken). But it's not like they (the government) didn't warn us about it. They've tried to remove the tuition freeze multiple times and so far, they've only succeeded twice in doing so. The first time between 1991-1994 and 2007-2012. Yes, paying over 1,000$ more on a semesterly basis (come 2017) is quite the jump for a lot of students paying school tuition on their own, but this is only going to be met in 5 years from now. I have a lot of international friends studying here in Montreal for university, and the most I've ever heard them complain about was how there's no heating in their apartments during the winter. 

I'd like to emphasize that even if we're going to be paying this much more in 5 years, we are still, by far, paying the lowest in tuition prices across the country. I came across an article while just re-familiarising myself with the situation, and Mathieu Laberge writes, 

"In 2011-2012, Quebec students will pay (in 2008 dollars) $2,024 annually in tuition fees, whereas they paid $2,168 in 1994-1995. This means that, at the end of the announced period of increases in Quebec tuition fees in 2012, they will still be less than 50% of the Canadian average for the last available year (2007-2008)1 and that the amount paid by Quebec students will still be slightly lower than in 1994-1995" (Laberge 1). 

I'm not too sure on how the math worked exactly, but this quote was pulled from the Montreal Economic Institute's "Economic Note". 

I'm NOT saying that these students shouldn't fight against it, by all means if you're super passionate about this hike then you fight for what you think is right. But as a TA, I can't help but worry that maybe some of my students will miss my upcoming lab during the week of the strike because of it... and not going to lie, that was the lab I was looking forward to the most for my students (I'm so excited, I'm giving my first years a quick lab on how to create mashups!). 

Now I've also been extremely curious to see how others perceive this situation (I'm not that close-minded). A lot of my friends have been kind enough to point out that I should perhaps reconsider the reasons why students are fighting against this hike. The one that stuck out most to me was from one of my closer friends, Chelsey. She explained that, 

"Having an iPhone, a laptop or some nice clothes doesn't mean people cant be advocates for accessible education. The reality is that this is not an issue that effects people on a purely personal level - we need to see this in a larger context of public access. 

I see the value of preserving Quebec's incredible system of accessible education. Just because the rest if the world has insane tuition doesn't mean Quebec should devalue its tradition of making post-secondary schooling accessible to those across the board."

The reason why she brought up the "iPhone, laptop or some nice clothes" was because I had just finished explaining that I had just seen some students fighting against this hike wearing a Canada Goose jacket with an iPhone in one hand and those Dr. Dre Beats headphones around their neck. I thought it was rather ironic, don't you agree? Because if I were to tally up the amount that that individual paid for all three items, it's pretty close to a semester's tuition. 

Chels brings up an interesting point that I had forgotten while being overwhelmed with everything happening. The reason for which a lot of my international friends study here in Quebec is for its cheaper educational system. Despite it all, we have it pretty damn well here. Like I said before, I see why students want to take action against the tuition hike. Believe me, I do. But I feel that the reason why I'm not so willing to "fight" for it, I guess, is because I've seen the increase in prices for everything in general over the years and so, as a single body, I've accepted it. I realize that things are not the same as they were back when I was 8 years old. Before you go getting the wrong idea, I'd like to point out that I am a full time student at Concordia, working three part-time jobs, paying my own bills and expenses whilst keeping a GPA of 3.2. In a way, it kind of bottles down to just how we manage our time. Sure, I don't "party" as much as I would like to, but I realize that in order to keep up financially with school and personal expenses, I need to sacrifice certain things. This being my social life. 

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I am not pleased with the idea of fighting through a large amount of bodies to get to my class. Think about it, we've already paid off this semester... and yet students choose to fight against this hike now? You're fighting against the idea of tuition increasing (that's fine, I get it), but you'll do so by skipping class for a week to prove your point... let me repeat that again. You're. Skipping. Class. For. A. Week. During. A. Semester. That's. Already. Been. Paid. For. 

If you ask me, that's just a waste of money (not to mention time). If this strike extends past March 22nd, no offence but these friends and classmates of mine will only be hindering and hurting themselves in the end. Like I mentioned previously, if this continues then our semester will be extended to make up for lost time, students and teachers who have planned to go back home in May will have to cancel or postpone their flights due to the class make up and extended exam schedule. What about graduation? Will this be delayed as well? What about those who have jobs waiting for them to finish by May 3rd, but then find out they're only available as of June 5th (I'm just throwing out dates)? What about the students who applied for summer school so they can get more credits done and out of the way? What about your plans for all of the above? These are questions to reconsider I guess. Is all that time taken away from your summer plans really worth it?

I also just found out that if there are students who are picketing and preventing you from physically getting to class, 

"After meeting with Concordia University's Provost this morning, here is what we can each do individually against those blocking our classrooms: If picketers refuse to move, you or any faculty member present can demand their names in order to file a complaint, which can result in a fine of 500$, suspension, or expulsion. If they refuse, take a picture and they will be identified. They are in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom's with respect to freedom of mobility and other individual liberties. Furthermore, and more importantly, THEY ARE IN VIOLATION OF THE UNIVERSITY'S ACADEMIC CODE OF CONDUCT."

I am not going to report them and be the reason for my own classmates being fined 500$ for fighting for what they feel so passionate about, but if you are purposely preventing me from getting to the class(es) that I paid for... I am not going to be a happy camper.

So, just to re-emphasize, I'm not pro-tuition hikes. I do sincerely believe that education is a right to everyone living on this earth. I am blessed to live in a province where CEGEP and university tuition has been on a freeze since 1994. I am extremely blessed to be paying the cheapest educational fees compared to the rest of the world. I do believe in fighting for what you feel is right. What I don't agree with is how it's being done with this strike affecting Concordia as of March 15th-22nd. Especially since I know that everyone's paid for this semester already. Not to mention, wasting the professor's time and class which they put effort into preparing. I understand that not all the professors are everyone's favourites... but there are some who put so much time and effort into preparing lectures and seminars. The least we can do is show up and appreciate the fact that we are able to attend such lectures (whether or not we like them). 

In the end, I feel that I'm part of the population of students who feel so torn in this situation. Torn because we don't agree with tuition going up and further increasing the gap "between the rich and the poor", however we have already accepted the hike taking place and have started to rearrange life to adjust to it (looking for another job, asking if there are extra hours one could take, spending less on wants that we don't actually "need", etc.). I feel torn because all I want to do is get this semester done and over with so I can graduate come June 18th with friends who mean so much to me (can't wait!). 

Most importantly, I understand that everyone being affected by this hike are not all on the same page as we like to think we are all on. We are all fighting it (or not fighting it) for our own personal reasons and intentions. Personally, I feel that there are other issues that demand our attention instead of this hike... come to think about it, if you're so against the hike, why are we picketing on school grounds? This is a governmental decision, shouldn't they be in front of city hall instead?  

Another article I stumbled on from my cousin, Mike.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/touch/business/story.html?id=6231778

What a headache situation to be stuck in... #firstworldproblems

On a lighter note, I recently came across Matt Webb (Mariana's Trench)'s EP "Coda and Jacket". Bought it. Listened to it. Loved it. Honestly, I was not expecting this from him (then again, I don't really know much about him and the guys from MT except that they're Canadian), but all that came out of my mouth after the last song on the EP was just a soft, "Wow". Kind of a rad feeling really. Probably my favourite album to drive to :)

This song's called "Cinnamon" and although I love his entire EP, this one stuck. Highly recommend listening to the album in its entirety! Enjoy!



Cheers,
C.