Stoic Ice Queen?

I have come to realise through many recent events that my blog has perhaps become too much of a personal journal, which wasn't really my intention when I started a blog. There are far more interesting things to discuss than my life, believe me. I'd much rather think about science and politics than personal drama.... so here goes.

I found an article the other day that absolutely blew my mind. The article discussed the concept of a link between the black plague and the Little Ice Age.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4755328.stm
The Little Ice Age has long been a subject of interest to me, and I think about it surprisingly often for one reason or another. The idea of a link to the plague got me very excited.

Consider the dramatic rate of climate change in our present environment.
The Canadian government predicts that average temperature will increase by 1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. That' a pretty big deal. With the explosion in factory production since the industrial revolution, carbon dioxide levels have increased by 31% since 1895.

So let's do a little math, shall we? That's 205 years from the industrial revolution to the end of this century. 205 years to increase CO2 levels by over 31% and the temperature by 5.8 degrees.

Are we good so far?

Now consider this. The Bubonic plague killed 1/3 of Europe's population in a span of a few years, leaving previously cultivated land to grow wild and creating a dramatic drop in CO2 levels. So let's say that 33.3% of previously cultivated land in Europe has now been subject to reforestation in a span of a few decades.

Where we see drastic global warming as a result of a 31% increase in CO2 levels in 205 years, it seems obvious that a 33% decrease in CO2 in a matter of even 100 years would result in a significant episode of global cooling.

This absolutely BLOWS my MIND! Isn't this an astounding concept?

Gillian

Bunny Mobility

I saw a bunny outside of my apartment tonight. Just for a flash and then it was gone. It wasn't on a tricycle (as far as I could tell!) but it was white like this little bunny.

I took this picture of my nephew when I was in Seattle this past fall. I thought there was nothing cuter than him... and then I saw him in the bunny suit!

Not much else to say tonight except that I do NOT want to work tomorrow.

Sentimentally yours,
Auntie Gill

Girl Vs. Wireless Network

So a few days ago my power went out...it wasn't a big deal, less than a minute, but when it came on again my wireless network wasn't working. I'm not technologically inclined, and I think I made things worse than better... at any rate, I can't get the damn thing working and it's driving me nuts. So I'm sitting in my nearly empty livingroom on the floor with my laptop plugged into the modem. This is just sad. I feel soooooo pathetic when it comes to technology. I might actually throw a tantrum.

Okay, I'm going to be late to go to dinner, but I just had to vent.
~gillian~

Lost: My mind. Reward. Please return.

This is claimed to be the first photograph of a tornado ever taken.
This is how my life has felt in this past week.
There has been a cyclone whirling in my head and my stomach and I am so ready to get off of this ride.
The interviews keep going SO well, but the positions just aren't right. They know it and I know it which leads to what feels like a huge marketing campaign where I am the product. Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful news. It's such a strange feeling. I just can't explain how I feel beyond the tornado. This is all going so well, just in such a different capacity than I have ever experienced. It's strange. I can't quite make out where I fit in this pantomime.
Today felt a little like the eye of the storm. Work was busy but quiet without many people there, and the world took on a bit of a surreal glow at times. Waiting for the bus to meet Kim I saw the strangest things; a man pushing a stroller with only an orange in it, a man in oil-cloth coveralls who was smoking a cigarette with urgent desperation, and two young teenage boys who were discussing "To Kill a Mockingbird" with such passion and excitement and hand gestures to emphasize how good the book was. It was so strange. My general reaction to such things would be to make up elaborate life stories about them... for example, the man with the infant orange was actually an undercover spy for a very uncreative underground organization. But today something about the lighting was weird and I just felt a sort of sad compassion for them. I thought the kids were amazing, though. That kind of an excitement for literature seems non-existent in most 15 year old boys. I almost thanked them for keeping it alive, this love for books. It was a very strange day.
Don't let the tornado get you...
Or the man with the orange, for that matter.
~gillian~

Daydream Believer

Well I have an interview tomorrow. A big, scary, important, scary, scary interview. This is the big one, kids. My ticket to the big time. I have no idea what the position is, but the department is huge so I don't know. I don't know what I want. Sleep would be nice.

It makes me fondly remember my dream of being a lounge singer. After the Ballerina dream died with my complete lack of coordination, the dream job became Lounge Singer. I gathered my repertoire, joined choir in High School and the rest is history. Even today when I sing in my apartment it's still the lounge songs I chose. Maybe one day the dream will come true, and I can hop up on a piano in a seedy bar. Until then, I always have the shower and the dream.

Until then, the corporate interviews continue.
Wish me luck,
~gillian~

Not Another Monday!

Oh boy, not another Monday. This weekend sped by, and I find myself ill-equipped to return to the terrifying world of Deal Entry Admin.

I shall take this picture as inspiration of how to act for the remainder of my contract; vague, charming and non-committal. I care for naught but beautiful skin. Keep the power on? bah! Facials, dahhhhhling.

Goodnight my dears,

~gillian~

I just move on...

Oh my GOD, moving. I hate moving. I don't want to. But do I want to stay with the silverfish in this green shag monstrosity? Uh, no.

It makes me a little blue, all of this packing and packing of nonsense that I have, that I don't know why I have and why I can't get rid of it. It's all a little much, and I've ended up labeling boxes as "nonsense, storage."

My playstation and camera and everything are safely at my parent's house, since they're allowing tours of my apartment now. I miss them so very much, hence the bad camera-phone pictures! heehee! Photographs at any cost!!!

Alright my dears, it is most definitely time for nyquil and bed!

Tonight we shall all dream of easy-bake ovens and pink stationary.

~gillian~

In March the wind blows down the door and spills my soup upon the floor

Every year around this time I reach a point where I stop believing in summer. The wind howls, the snow whirls, I pile on every sweater I own and am still, somehow, cold... and I actually start to think that summer is never actually coming. That probably I just dreamt it, and it was never real at all. Just a defense mechanism that my brain creates when my toes are beyond frozen after eight months.... like a mirage in the desert.... my mind creates warmth and green out of thin air. Because it can't always be this hideous.... can it? I really hope not. Luckily, I have photographic evidence of being warm...

See? I'm wearing a tank.... it must be warm. Yes, I know that's a glacier in the back... but this is Alberta, what do you expect?
And a flower... an actual flower, growing outside and everything. I always forget how green looks. mmmmm. I just can't wait until summer. Party dresses, sunscreen, strappy sandals, here I come... in 2 months or so :)

~gillian~