Build Your Own Nation

mi⋅cro⋅na⋅tion –noun
[mahy-kroh-ney-shuhn]
1. a small, self-proclaimed entity that claims to be an independent sovereign state but is not acknowledged as such by any recognised sovereign state, or by any supranational organisation

I'm a bit of a loser when it comes to a certain video game called Civilization, I can play the game for hours at a time and tune out the rest of the world. It’s a great distraction.

I first discovered the game from reading the exploits of Cameron Colley, the main protagonist in Iain Banks’s novel Complicity.

Basically the game’s objective is to "...build an empire to stand the test of time". While playing it I always thought 'Hey, wouldn't it be great to do this for real?' Well it looks like now I can with the Futurist’s piece on the “DIY Nation”: How to Start Your Own Country.

I will leave you with a list of micronations from Wikipedia.




Grab The Bookmarketer For Your Site

Play and Win On A Rainy Saturday Afternoon

game –noun
[geym]
1. a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators
It’s a rainy Saturday afternoon here in Capital City, staying inside mourning the loss of Summer I’m beginning to feel a little bit bored and a little bit anxious with my financial situation. As you may know, when boredom and anxiety hits I turn to the internet to find some distractions.

Today I stumbled across a site called SkillAddiction.com. This site hosts free online games that you can Play and Win prizes ranging from as little as $5 to upwards of $1,000. The games vary from strategy, action and arcade games to puzzles and card games. If you become a member you can join up to 5 different types of tournaments, including head to head, group tournaments, and progressive jackpot tournaments. The site may be relatively new but they already boast thousands of members and over 50,000 tournaments running daily. With over $10,000 already won by players this could be a fun way to try to pay down my enormous debt.

The only shortcoming I have found with the site so far is the time it takes to actually register. After stumbling across SkillAddiction.com I excitedly sign-up for an account, after close to 30 minutes was still waiting for my verification email. Although it does take some time, it is well worth the wait, so try to be patient, you will thank me for it.

If you end signing up for an account leave your user name in the comments section and I’ll challenge you one of these days. I have to warn you, I got some skills.




Grab The Bookmarketer For Your Site

The Problem With Plenty Of Fish

damaged goods –noun
[dam-ij-d goo-ds]
1. a person who is impaired, corrupted, or defiled

A few months ago at a dinner party the topic of Internet dating came up, specifically two sites Plenty of Fish, a free dating site apparently run by one guy out of his Vancouver apartment, and a paid site called eHarmony.ca, developed by Dr. Neil Clark Warren. Two of my friends were trying out both of the sites, without any success. The complaint with eHarmoy.ca, besides the monthly fee, was the amount of time it took to actually get a chance to speak with someone. With Plenty of Fish, although it was free, the quality of potential mates was not really there. Although these two friends were not happy with the results, they kept their accounts going for well over 2 months.

I have always been a big proponent against Internet dating. When asked why, my only real argument was that it was too easy. Finding someone should not be like going through a catalogue and ordering merchandise. There is no thrill, no butterflies, and no spark. These were just assumptions on my part, so ever being curious and constantly Chasing Distractions, I decided to test out the world of online dating.

Being in the perpetual state of 'brokeness' I opted for the free dating site and created a profile on Plenty of Fish. Within the first few days I noticed something wrong with the potential mates on the site. No one seemed to respond to any of my emails. After changing tactics and slimming down my original contact I started to receive responses. After building what I assumed was an appropriate time on back and forth communication I attempted to plan ‘dates’, a time a place to meet someone for a drink or a coffee. It was at this point where everyone backed off. Excuses were made, or strange requests such as they would only agree to a date if I could lend them money first.
It may be hard to get the sense of someones personality through email and instant messages, but one thing that does stick out is when people are not right in some way. Now I know at this point if you have been reading my blog that last statement is ‘like the pot calling the kettle black’, but it is true. In my opinion, Plenty of Fish seems to deal in damaged goods.
Or it could just be that I am the one that is damaged goods... nah, that can't be right.
Maybe I should finally take down this ‘motivational' poster my ex-girlfriend gave me:




Grab The Bookmarketer For Your Site

How To Be Lame In Ottawa

bor⋅ing –adjective
[bawr-ing, bohr-]
1. causing or marked by boredom

Over the last three weeks I have had three different friends from Hometown come visit, staying from six days to a weekend. I’ve now been living in Capital City for just under five years and you don’t realize how lame your life can be until you have someone come visit and you are expected to be their tour guide. It’s at the point when you are thinking of what to do with your guest that you realize `Hey I don’t really do anything, I’m pretty lame`.

Last night, around dusk, to chase away the ghosts I went for a long walk, which ended up being around ten kilometres. I would normally cross over the Rideau River and head towards the Market and stroll around, but last night I decided to walk along the Rideau River path, something I have never done in all the `just under five years` that I have been living here. It was very peaceful, away from the bulk of the traffic, listening to the sounds of trickling water and songs of different types of birds. I even stumbled upon some sort of ceremonial aboriginal dance. I wanted to stop and have a look but felt like I would be intruding.

On my three hour walk around parts of Capital City that I was just discovering for the first time, I took some time to reflect on the last five years of my life, specifically here in Ottawa. Understanding my lameness, I realized I could sum up my whole experience here in ten occurrences or less. So here it goes:


The TopOnly Ten Things I Have Experienced In Ottawa

1. When I first moved to Capital City I was a driving instructor, in fact that is the reason I moved here, I was transferred. The job only lasted eight months before I was laid off, but if anything I got to learn the city streets pretty well and hopefully taught a handful of kids how to drive safely.
2. The first two weeks that I was living here I walked around downtown and in the Market alone, going to bars and pubs by myself to check out the nightlife. On my very first outing I met a girl, and proceeded to never call her again. I thought to myself `Wow, if it’s this easy to meet girls…` Don’t worry karma taught me a lesson, and I didn’t meet another girl for 8 months, around the same time I lost my job, where in quick succession I met three girls and they all returned the favour by never calling me again.
3. At this point, an ex-girlfriend came back into my life for a brief period of time. When she would come to visit we would do some tourist type activities. We took a boat tour of the Ottawa River, we saw the Pompeii exhibit at the Museum of Civilizations, and took a walking tour around Parliament. I also took the Parliament tour twice, once with my Uncle who works in Centre Block and the latest time when a Hometown friend came to visit for six days.
4. After being a retired driving instructor for a few months I soon accepted a contract to work with the Ottawa Chamber Music Society and got a chance hear a lot of really amazing live classical music in many of the churches around Capital City. I also met the Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean at one event. It was my responsibility to send out the letter to ask her to take part in our Christmas concert, where we wanted her to narrate the story of the Nutcracker. It was this contract that inevitably led me to my current line of work.
5. After my contract was up I took a job with a popular courier company, worked part-time at a local pub and started my foray into the world of freelance writing. If you haven’t noticed yet, other than the occasional night out at the bars, and the brief time I spent as a tourist with an ex-girlfriend I haven’t really done much in the terms of seeing anything in Ottawa. The last five will be pretty short.
6. I’ve been zip lining – although it is on the Quebec side.
7. I’ve been to one Ottawa Senators hockey game.
8. I’ve been to a handful of indie rock concerts and two Bluesfest.
9. I’ve hiked Gatineau Park approximately five times, two of them being on the most recent visits from Hometown friends. Again on the Quebec side, so I’m not sure if it counts.
10. For two and half hours I went snowboarding at Camp Fortune… once.

That about sums up my past five years in Capital City, other than dining out at some really good (and some really bad) restaurants, spending numerous times in the pubs and clubs, and attending the occasional BBQ, house or cottage party, that’s about it.

This my friends, is How To Be Lame In Ottawa.






Grab The Bookmarketer For Your Site

Television Killed The Dream Machine

dream -noun
[drēm]
1. A series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep

Being slightly broke, okay really broke, I have been watching a lot of television in my free time, way to much television to be precise. I’m typically not the kind of person that watches a lot of television but when the most cost affordable thing to do is stay home, it is easy an easy distraction.

I’m out of new books to read, I find most video games too addictive to own a system, and I haven’t been inspired to write anything other than this blog. So television has become my new friend, my new distraction from the world around me since I am too poor to participate in it. That and I really don’t have any friends. I’ve got some acquaintances, but none that really invite me places. And I am the kind of person that will wait to be invited somewhere, I guess that is the Libra in me.

Anyway I’ve been watching countless of hours of television these last couple of months. Here is just a list of what distracts me on a weekly basis:

Seinfeld
Simpsons
King of the Hill
Family Guy
Malcolm in the Middle
Futurama
Law and Order
Law and Order SVU
Lost
Heroes
Supernatural
How I Met Your Mother

I’ve got a good 5-10 hours of television a day there. I hate myself for it. I wish I was doing something more production with the time I have to eat up before I fall asleep each day, but I have no idea what to do. Plus I think I am lonely and television fills that void a bit.

Until recently I would have these amazingly vivid unique dreams full of plot twists, excitement and intrigued. My dreams were so good that many times I would force myself back to sleep just to continue the dream. Lately these dreams have been losing their creativity and are full of all my television friends. For example I had a dream last night where Bobby Hill met his doppelganger and they developed a magic routine that took Arlen by storm.

How sad is it that now 8 hours of sleep I get are punctuated with characters from the 5-10 hours of television I watch? I guess if anything I could try to write some of these scripts and pitch them to those shows that are still being made. Or I could just stop watching television… because if I don't, before I know it my dreams will also feature commercials.




Grab The Bookmarketer For Your Site

My Own Personal Groundhog Day

pro⋅cras⋅ti⋅nate –verb  
[proh-kras-tuh-neyt, pruh-]
1. to defer action; delay: to procrastinate until an opportunity is lost.
I feel like my life has just become one long ever-repeating day without any break in it.

Chorus
I wake up, I work, I eat, I work, I shower, I work, I check the mail, I work, I eat, I work, I watch television, I work, I sleep.

Repeat Chorus

I go out for something social on the weekend, a concert or some drinks.

Repeat Chorus

I go to the bank to cash a cheque.

Repeat Chorus

I pay some bills, a debt that never seems to get smaller.

Repeat Chorus

I pay my rent.

Repeat Chorus

I buy some groceries.

Repeat Chorus

I get older.

Repeat Chorus

Something’s got give.

Repeat Chorus





Grab The Bookmarketer For Your Site

Things To Do Inside In The Winter

win⋅ter –noun
[win-ter]
1. the cold season between autumn and spring in northern latitudes
I awoke the other morning to find that Autumn was gone and Winter was finally here. About four centimetres blanketed my yard, and I was not sure how to react. Do I rejoice at how clean everything looks, being blanketed by a layer of white? Do I get excited at the memories of flying down a mountain at 40 kilometres per hour? Or do I dread the next six months of being confined to the indoors?

As a bit of a recluse I already spend most of my days indoors, but the option to spend the day outside was always there. With winter temperatures hovering around 40 degrees below Celsius it will be much harder to persuade myself to go outside. In the advent that I end up succumbing to this mind trap, and keeping in mind my ever pursuit of Chasing Distractions, I developed a top four list of things to do indoors this winter.

(1) Finish Unfinished Projects
Everyone has an unfinished project, whether it is organizing pictures, editing a movie, painting a room, fixing a window, whatever it is - finish it.

(2) Watch MoviesYou can sit around and waste you life watching movies, or old television episodes. It is not very creative, but hey, it is an escape. Here is a good site to stream some free movies and television shows: SurftheChannel.com

(3) Learn to Cook/Bake
Learn a recipe and cook or bake something you never thought you could. AllRecipes.com has a cool function where you enter the ingredients that you have and it will provide a list recipes. You would be surprised what you can make with a fridge full of condiments and no food.

(4) Read/Write a Book
Books are amazing vehicles that can send you away from your surroundings and teleport you to destinations you never thought possible. Reading or writing a book, it all adds up to the same thing. Isaac Asimov is credited to writing and editing more than 500 books and when asked why, "Escape" was his only answer. I always thought Asimov had written the most books, but it turns out this guy takes the prize with over 200,000 books.

Of course there is always solitaire, or you can just 'suck-it-up' and go outside and play in the snow.




Grab The Bookmarketer For Your Site

Things To Do On The Introweb When You're Bored

bore⋅dom –noun
[bawr-duhm, bohr-]
1. the state of being bored; tedium; ennui.

Most people blame boredom on the circumstances, but psychologists say this emotion is highly subjective and rooted in aspects of consciousness—and that levels of boredom vary among people. Some individuals are less—and others considerably more—likely to be bored than others. Boredom is not a unified concept but may comprise several varieties, including the transient type that occurs while waiting in line and so-called existential boredom that accompanies a profound dissatisfaction with life.
I am bored at the moment, both the existential and transient kind, so I thought I would look for some boredom resources:

• Bored.com
• I-Am-Bored.com
• Very-Bored.com
• Help I Need Help I Am Bored

Grab The Bookmarketer For Your Site
Source: Scientific American