Historical Origin of The "Finger"

"This is not meant to be crude. It is strictly for your edification and enjoyment.

Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger, it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future.

This famous weapon was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew." Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French,saying, "See, we can still pluck yew! PLUCK YEW!"

Over the years, some 'folk etymologies' have grown up around this symbolic gesture. Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say (like "pleasant mother pheasant plucker", which is who you had to go to for the feathers used on the arrows for the longbow), the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative 'F', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute are mistakenly thought to have something to do with an intimate encounter.

It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows that the symbolic gesture is known as "giving the bird." "

lookin' up, that aint a bad view

wow. a pretty satisfying night....

walked to yld... i was late, but thats alright...
i opened the door to the classroom and its pitch black inside. It took me a few minutes to get my bearings, and so i had a bit of fun and rubbed my hand all over one of my advisors face "by accident". after that, it was all good.
did alot of things in the dark, including drawing and mkaing funny noises.
chilled in the dark for abit longer,
then we took our chalk with us and headed out for our random good deed.
we walked over to langaram outside the library and started vandalizing.. not. we wrote nice things all over the side walk. it was fun!
then a security guard came and demanded to see whos in charge. hahah we didnt rly get in trouble.
it was good times.
then we walked back. and hung out in the classroom for a bit longer.

afterwards i walked home. I was walking slowly and looking at the stars and listening to my music.
i walked back to the site of vadalism and admired the job well done. Then i continued on and keep walking/skipping/twirling.
then i jumped the small barrier to the golf course and just laid on my back and did some star gazing.
it was amazing.
i found the big dipper
i love star gazing
it remined me of summer camp and how we'd do that every night on the mat laying on each other... good times..
i miss camp..
and then afterwards.. i walked home.
and thats todays evening adventures..

BAM!

and so the cycle begins again, this thing we call a new year - it feels just like the last one
unravel -something corporate
aforementioned I won't be making any resolutions this year
but i do want to write something down, to set some sort of a guideline or thoughts from the beginning of the year, something that I can refer back to, so you can hold me accountable.

RAINBOW HEART - from darren at prc
each of us possesses a heart that contains all the colours and shines out for all the world to see
lets bring out the best in us
we are all meant to love, and we all are loved

TRAIN necklace - from prc
we are all going somewhere
our choices define where we go
sometimes times might be rough, but just stick through it with your head up,
and wait for the smooth road

never too late -hedley

SMILE -everyone
lift your mood
make a moment great
make a friend
unless possibilities

HOPE, DREAM, BELIEVE
keep them close to your heart
don't let anyone tell you that it's impossible
take risks
don't ever stop

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band & With A Little Help From My Friends - The Beatles

MUSIC
soothes the soul
describes everything
calms you down
relate to it, enjoy it, share it

BLOG
let it out
look back and laugh
makes you think
and outlet of sorts

real FRIENDS
there for you through it all
keep the good times rolling
new ones don't hurt

bad day - daniel powter

i took back a look back

okay, so i was looking back and trying to figure out what i've done this year, what was the major lesson or point and i look at my resolutions..
this is what they were:

jan2008)
resolutions for the new year
go to LIFETEEN - i stopped going...
go to YLD (DONE)

clean my room more often
practise piano more - i quit piano lessons
have better eating patterns
excerise more
go to mass EVERY sunday (yeah right)
develop a better sleeping schedule (didnt happen)
be nicer to sister (and brother)
improve writing
increase the speed and accurcy of typing
read more
be more ORGANIZED
spend more time with family and FRIENDS
speak more and better chinese

other goals
learn guitar
learn to write BETTER with my left hand

as you can probably tell. resolutions didnt work for me.

looking back now, this year's been one of changes and inner turmoil.
I can say that there were some pretty damn good posts in there, mixed with alot of confusion and thoughts.
Major Things were:
Darren and Ryan leaving SS Y
Camp Elphinstone
YLD-conferences (yld, prc)
Straight As

learned: that you just gotta bear it all, and emerge with a triumphant smile

next year: year of growth; of figuring thing out for myself;
hopefully some breakthroughs and resolutions, and bring some things to a rest

lets hope that i look back on this at the end of next year or this year or w.e. that
there'll be less regrets
and no brokens lists , things attempted to be done, but just not completed
more memories, less of that bad crap
(OH and this isnt just for me, good things to you too :))

and i cant remember

So another year has passed us by. I can't say that I remember very much...

Lets look back:
2008

JAN -15

FEB -ymo - Freedom

MAR

APR -braces off -visit electronic arts

MAY -yld conference @ elphinstone

JUN -power of peace awards -darren left -dragon boat festival

JUL -east coast trip -rip randy pausch

AUG -camp elphinstone

SEPT -ugh school

OCT -volleyball Official

NOV -swimming provs -one of a kind vancouver -PRC!

DEC -cory schneider downtown? -ms mislang's Wedding -Said the Whale, Hey Ocean!, Dan Mangan, Hannah Georgas CONCERT

and the rest? its still unwritten

happiness blurb

along the way ive figured this out..
happiness isnt all the time..
it comes in little chunks..
and you enjoy them as they occur..
and dwell back on them when times are rough

all i want is a you

All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

All I want for Christmas
is to be able to go to the SAID THE WHALE concert GOT IT!!!

in general
-a laptop
-a zune
-speakers
-concert tickets!
- UKULELE!
- harmonica
- xylophone
to paint my room and decorate it as i please
ultimate frisbee
a mug
a nice scarf
a nice bag/purse/tote/backpack/wallet
books
clothes
shoes

Please Hear What I'm Not Saying

Please Hear What I'm Not Saying

Don't be fooled by me.

Don't be fooled by the face I wear

for I wear a mask, a thousand masks,

masks that I'm afraid to take off,

and none of them is me.

Pretending is an art that's second nature with me,

but don't be fooled,

for God's sake don't be fooled.

I give you the impression that I'm secure,

that all is sunny and unruffled with me, within as well

as without,

that confidence is my name and coolness my game,

that the water's calm and I'm in command

and that I need no one,

but don't believe me.

My surface may seem smooth but my surface is my mask,

ever-varying and ever-concealing.

Beneath lies no complacence.

Beneath lies confusion, and fear, and aloneness.

But I hide this. I don't want anybody to know it.

I panic at the thought of my weakness exposed.

That's why I frantically create a mask to hide behind,

a nonchalant sophisticated facade,

to help me pretend,

to shield me from the glance that knows.

But such a glance is precisely my salvation, my only hope,

and I know it.

That is, if it's followed by acceptance,

if it's followed by love.

It's the only thing that can liberate me from myself,

from my own self-built prison walls,

from the barriers I so painstakingly erect.

It's the only thing that will assure me

of what I can't assure myself,

that I'm really worth something.

But I don't tell you this. I don't dare to, I'm afraid to.

I'm afraid your glance will not be followed by acceptance,

will not be followed by love.

I'm afraid you'll think less of me,

that you'll laugh, and your laugh would kill me.

I'm afraid that deep-down I'm nothing

and that you will see this and reject me.

So I play my game, my desperate pretending game,

with a facade of assurance without

and a trembling child within.

So begins the glittering but empty parade of masks,

and my life becomes a front.

I idly chatter to you in the suave tones of surface talk.

I tell you everything that's really nothing,

and nothing of what's everything,

of what's crying within me.

So when I'm going through my routine

do not be fooled by what I'm saying.

Please listen carefully and try to hear what I'm not saying,

what I'd like to be able to say,

what for survival I need to say,

but what I can't say.

I don't like hiding.

I don't like playing superficial phony games.

I want to stop playing them.

I want to be genuine and spontaneous and me

but you've got to help me.

You've got to hold out your hand

even when that's the last thing I seem to want.

Only you can wipe away from my eyes

the blank stare of the breathing dead.

Only you can call me into aliveness.

Each time you're kind, and gentle, and encouraging,

each time you try to understand because you really care,

my heart begins to grow wings--

very small wings,

very feeble wings,

but wings!

With your power to touch me into feeling

you can breathe life into me.

I want you to know that.

I want you to know how important you are to me,

how you can be a creator--an honest-to-God creator--

of the person that is me

if you choose to.

You alone can break down the wall behind which I tremble,

you alone can remove my mask,

you alone can release me from my shadow-world of panic,

from my lonely prison,

if you choose to.

Please choose to.

Do not pass me by.

It will not be easy for you.

A long conviction of worthlessness builds strong walls.

The nearer you approach to me

the blinder I may strike back.

It's irrational, but despite what the books say about man

often I am irrational.

I fight against the very thing I cry out for.

But I am told that love is stronger than strong walls

and in this lies my hope.

Please try to beat down those walls

with firm hands but with gentle hands

for a child is very sensitive.

Who am I, you may wonder?

I am someone you know very well.

For I am every man you meet

and I am every woman you meet.

Charles C. Finn

September 1966

10.8G of music and counting

Schadenfreude

TREVOR LINDEN : in his own words

i know that this came out awhile back, but i just watched it today...
and im pretty touched
trevor linden was a great hockey player, and even more than that, he's a great person..
he will be missed on the team.. and i wish him the best of luck

World Without Water

I want SANUK sandals....

http://www.sanuk.com/

summer to do list!

To do list

spend one day wandering without anyone knowing where i am
all nighter
spend time with all my friends
learn ultimate Frisbee
stay off the computer for 1(+) day(s) DONE
celebrate someone's birthday DONE
cook a meal
write on walls
walk down the middle of a busy street
go for a run in the dark
stargaze DONE (found the big dipper)
sleep under the stars DONE (OT & spooning )
meet new friends DONE

Aquabeat

The Aquabeat Waterproof MP3 Player from Speedo. I want one. It looks so cool and it'd be awesome to have one. I wonder which genius thought and designed this. It looks pretty cool yeah im jealous. i want one.. it comes in lime and pink and black

I smell and I love it

Just got around to taking a run. Awesome. Should do it again soon

July Recap

JULY

1/canada day\\ 20 kids in sports camp, swimming and getting through to gary in the pool

2/trip\\ airport, plane...tv

3/trip\\ UN

4/trip\\ lincoln memorial, jefferson memorial..memorials.. lost

5/trip\\ corning's

6/trip\\ niagra, scarbourgh grace hospital

7/trip\\ U of T, CN tower

8/trip\\ filler, aiport, rain/storm, delay, home

9/ sleep waaay in 2pm... back to the computer

10/ denist-4 cavities filled.doctor - 4 shots

11/ catholic family services bullcrap

12/ lector for mels at 4:30

13/ lector for me at 11

14/ kevin's group

15/ 'sick day'
*wish i could tell you the rest..
but i cant..

16/

17/

18/

19/

20/

21/

22/

23/

24/

25/

26/

27/

28/

29/

30/

31/

Book List

TO GET

Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: a Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside
Brain Matters
-Katrina S. Firlik

Flowers for Algernon -Daniel Keyes
The Plentitude: Creativitiy, Innovation, and Making Stuff (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) - Rich Gold

have nots

Artemis fowl: the time paradox - eoin colfer
inkdeath - Cornelia funke
the truth about forever
lock and key - Sarah dessen
airhead - Meg Cabot
absolute brightness - James lecesne
speak - Laurie halse anderson
the year of secret assignments
the murder of bindy Mackenzie - Jaclyn Moriarty
Gallagher girls: cross my heart and hope to spy - ally carter

in progress

the book thief - markus zusak
the chrysalids

haves

the supernaturalist - eoin colfer
inkheart
inkspell
dragon rider - Cornelia funke
thief lord - Cornelia funke and oliver latsch
what happened to Lani garver - carol plum-ucci
this lullaby
just listen - Sarah dessen
the house of the scorpion - Nancy farmer
stargirl - jerry spinelli
I am the messenger - Markus zusak

series

Gallagher girls: I’d tell you I love you, but then I’d have to kill you - ally carter
a great and terrible beauty
rebel angels
sweet far thing - libba bray
Artemis fowl
Artemis fowl: the arctic incident
Artemis fowl: the eternity code
Artemis fowl: the opal deception
Artemis fowl: the lost colony - eoin colfer
son of the mob
son of the mob: Hollywood hustle - Gordon korman
twilight
new moon
eclipse - Stephenie Meyer
children of the red king series (Charlie bone) - jenny nimmo
uglies
pretties
specials
extras - Scott westerfeld

RIP RANDY PAUSCH

Previously mentioned on my blog was Randy Pausch and his talk "The Last Lecture." Unfortunately he passes away today morning, July 25, 2008 from complications from pancreatic cancer. I have never met the man, but i have seen his talk and like many others around the world, have been impacted and touched. Even though he has died, his memory and lecture will live on for a long time in the hearts of many. My heart goes out to his wife, Jai and his three kids.

His online legacy.

Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival .. YES!

wow what an amazing experience, i volunteered there on both day and i had a blast..
on Saturday my shift was from 10 - 3 but i stayed for an extra half an hour..
i met Andrew who i worked with for awhile, then he got to do performers services.. lucky guy..
so i stayed at the alcon tent with working with the people handing out the ring and the prizes....
there were these old Chinese grandmas who didn't listen and kept coming back.. what do they do with all that foil and rulers and totes and paper? i got really sick of seeing them... ahhh
thank god for break, there was free food for the volunteers, there were sandwiches and drinks and coffee and timmy hos..=) yeaah i walked around for a bit when there were many of volunteers in the tent...

day 2
Sunday shift 1-6 but i stayed till 7:30
oh god.. i was asked to do THE GROSSEST thing that I've ever done in my life...
and that would be enviro... i had to take the garbage out of the garbage bins and but them onto this car thingy.... and then dump them into a big disposal bin...
there were the most disgusting and weird stuff that were in the garbage.. and it was really stinky and smelly and gross.. but i was pretty interesting and might i say it, fun? the guy me and Joan was working for was pretty cool and not bad (looking)... lol yeaah.. in the beginning there was this odd guy with us, well he had a lot of energy and wasn't afraid to shout stuff that sorta didn't make sense..yeah then later, he went with another guy.. can you say yeah!, well we could've used his strength and willingness to do a lot of work :P yeaah w.e i was sorta happy? yeaah
Brent. the guy's shift was done at 3ish so we were done with envrio...
yupp, we took a short break, but i thought that that was boring so we ( me and Joan) got to go to help with the medals.. =) oh i just remembered that we got to go into the beer garden.. heheh underage... the other 'weird' guy gave it to us to take in b/c he said that he was underage.. i was like uh okay... like we were legally allowed to drink yeah....psh
yes now back to the medals things.. so we helped Jim with the awards and stuff and it didn't involve much.. so what we did was find the medals that Jim needed to give to the paddlers...and sort them out and thats about it.. there was a lot of sitting around and waiting for the paddlers to show up ... i met Jeremy, he was the photographer... Joan left when her shirt ended at 6.. i stayed b/c i didn't have anything better to do.. :) me and Jeremy talked while we were waiting.. it was pretty interesting and insightful....and Jim talked too...
when we couldn't wait anymore, we packed the stuff up and the three of us left.. and some people packed and drove the stuff away....
then i left and went to bus home... which i another story which I'm too lazy to write...
the short is.. missed bus, missed bus.wrong bus.. walked up to 33rd... waited..bus home =)