Doughnuts (a parable)

Two doughnut shops stood across from each other on the same street in the same town. Both shops made the same kind of doughnut: a cake with no hole. The owner of the store on the south side didn't like the store on the north side because they were attracting more customers. The owner tried different things to make people come come to her shop. She tried making a bigger sign but that didn't make people come to her shop. She tried offering a discount on a dozen (12 for the price of 10) but that still didn't make more people come over. She then tried to change the interior of her shop and still that didn't make more people come over. One day she decided to visit the store across the street and when she looked through the window she saw that their doughnuts have sugar coating. It was then she decided that she needed to coat her doughnuts with sugar. It worked for a bit but she still wasn't matching the sales that the north had. Her employees offer her advice but she doesn't listen to them because she is Queen and she is God and thus is in control of everything. Anyone who opposed her got fired.

One day the owner of the north side store visited the south. She knows that the south owner doesn't like her but she still wanted to help her. South owner then asked, "What is it that you do to make customers come to you?"
"It's quite simple," North's owner answered. "It's not about how fancy the store or the doughnuts look but the quality of the service and quality of the doughnuts. My store may not be as attractive as yours but customers like my doughnuts because I'm always making something new. Customers have different tastes so I offer many different flavours of my product. I also seek to create new recipes to match my customer's needs whether they are allergic to something or not. I saw that you go by my shop every day to see what I do and I noticed that you got some ideas. Let me tell you this: there is no right way to eat a doughnut. You can just eat it straight away or lick the sugar off and eat the rest of the doughnut after. With your doughnuts you use the sugar coating to hide how bland your doughnuts are. With my doughnuts I add in something extra. I add in filling because after the sugar is gone there is surely a sweet surprise waiting for them." After sharing her secret the north owner left to return to her shop.

Now there are two possible endings to this story. First is South owner takes the advice and puts in effort to change the quality and her store's sales increase a lot. The second is she doesn't take the advice and her store continues to suffer to the point where she goes bankrupt.

The moral of this is quality trumps over quantity. You can have both quality and quantity but don't sacrifice quality for quantity. Oh yeah if you're a boss or some big head of something, your underlings may have good ideas even if they haven't been in the business long enough so listen to them as well.

Throwback to 2014

So it's 2015 and it's my first post of the year on this thing (and I hardly use this unless I want to put my thoughts out on a wide scale).

So what happened in 2014 for me? Hard for me to think back to the early part of the year so might as well deal with the most prominent memories first.

2014 was the year I almost went to Azerbaijan. The story goes as follows: I found an ad for a job on a site that lists ESL/EFL teaching jobs (if you don't know what ESL and EFL are they're acronyms for teaching English as a second language or foreign language). This was after I was interviewed for a job in Russia but waited almost 3 weeks for a response to tell me that my qualifications (possibly experience) were not enough. Anyways so I came across the ad and tried my luck with it and within a couple of days I was scheduled for an interview and the person who interviewed me basically asked questions about what I've submitted and told me about the job and a bit about the capital city of Baku. Within hours after the interview ended I got an offer and said yes. Between submitting copies of my documents and waiting for the o.k. to apply for a visa I prepared for going over there such as packing a suitcase and writing posts on Facebook to educate people on Azerbaijan (IMO it's not that well known of a country since it doesn't appear much in the news). Hell yeah I was excited on going there because it would've been the start of some adventure and the place combined both my interests in Russian and Turkish languages (since Azerbaijani is a Turkic language related to Turkish Turkish but with some Russian influence and some connections to Persian). After all, Azerbaijan was part of the Soviet Union.
            So after waiting almost two months (and telling people I was going there) I got word that I couldn't go because of some migration quota. Application from the Azerbaijani side was denied because of it. It was and still is disappointing because I was worked up for it. Maybe the school that hired me didn't know about the quota as well. I did apply for jobs in other places but so far Azerbaijan was the one that gave me a job offer. Here's to hoping I find a job in 2015

On a slightly related note 2014 was also the year I started volunteering at a local centre for helping immigrants. My job there: reading group leader. I actually applied to volunteer there around the end of 2013 but 2014 was the year I got calls for positions there. At first I was called to volunteer there in February but I had a busy schedule as a mascot for Winterlude. I thought the people forgot about be until I got a call in late March/early April. At first I was a bit scared because it was all happening so fast but once I was secured getting rides there and reasoning it to getting some related experience I said yes. I wish I could do something more but I guess I'll wait until I get a teaching job somewhere.

2014 I could say was a bit of an interesting summer. I was able to wander around Toronto for a bit solo (since my dad had some 40th year reunion and mom went along with him, might as well just share the hotel space and do my own thing). I saw the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) and just as I was about halfway through exploring the gift shop I saw Palestinian flags. I thought it was kind of cool not to miss so I left the gift shop and took photos of the demonstration (protest maybe?).

One of the photos I took

It turns out that the Israeli consulate was across the street so that's one of the reasons why the event took place there.
           I was also able to wander around the neighbourhood I grew up in/spent my younger years (Yonge and Lawrence East). Before my grandparents moved to Ottawa to be closer to the bulk of us they lived in Toronto and 3 times a year I would visit them (Easter, summer, and Thanksgiving). The house is still there with the outside having a lot more decorations and extra windows.When I was a kid I couldn't wander the area alone exactly so I thought it might as well see how much the place had changed. Of course a lot of changes were made since 2001 such as the Dominion grocery store became a Metro. The subway station, however, was still as I remember it though.

One of the events that should probably takes more prominence here is the events of late October, the 22nd, because I live in the city when and where it happened.  A ceremonial guard stood outside the tomb of the unknown soldier got shot and died after. I remember being glued to the TV wondering what was going on, like was there more than one shooter. Also that day my area of the city had a power outage and for that to happen that day was a bit scary but in the end it wasn't related to the events downtown. It was a sad day but from my perspective as a city we carried on the next day.

I guess there are other things to talk about but my attention span for this ran out. Here's hoping it doesn't when I get to posting my NaNoWriMo 2014 entry on Wattpad or deviantArt.

"Angels/Losing/Sleep" and the struggle of faith

If video is not visible click here. Hopefully that works.

On the way home from Toronto one weekend I was listening to the radio and one of the songs that was playing was "Angels/Losing/Sleep" by Our Lady Peace. The song came out in 2005 and even then and after I didn't really pay much attention to the lyrics (I usually don't most of the time but it's been a while since I've heard the song) but after hearing the first couple of lines I began to wonder if this was about someone going through a crisis of faith such as thinking about changing or leaving religion. There is another song that deals with loss of faith on the same album, "Where Are You?", I am aware of so maybe, if I'm up to it, might comment on that on a separate post. Wikipedia and Songmeanings do bring the loss of faith meaning up in "A/L/S" but here's my take on it.

The song opens up with the following lines:

"Looks like the holy ghost is gone

Now your afraid of yourself"

The holy ghost or holy spirit comes from Christianity with God being 3 persons and the holy ghost/holy spirit is one of them. With the holy ghost gone (and essentially the belief in a higher power) the person going through a crisis of faith probably thinking "What do I do now? Who or what do I turn to when I need answers? Am I a bad person for thinking thoughts that are against my current/prior religion/beliefs?" Pretty much a lot of doubt going through one's mind.

"Over your shoulder you have to watch 
Heaven fall into hell"

The person is still in pretty much doubt but after learning that what they used to believe was more or less of a lie the perfect world that was created comes falling apart. The way I see it is religion can give a sense of peace (more or less "You don't need to worry about anything as long as you put your faith in a higher power") but when something faith shattering hits things come spiraling down the drain.

"Looks like your boat's about to sink
So it's time to prepare"

The person now is on the verge of losing their faith completely and has a big decision to make regarding leaving or not. There may be some backlash from the family and friends of the person who aren't too open with someone leaving the faith so the person pretty much has to prepare for the aftermath of their decision.

"Even the angels are losing sleep
And the sidewalks are bare"

I'm not sure if the angels are actual angels or represent certain people. If this is supposed to to represent actual angels it could be the person's guardian angel or that angel on the shoulder working overtime in helping the person rationalize their decision. Bare sidewalks give the person the sense that they're alone.

"It's like the calm before the storm 
You better swim 
Just like it's cold before it's warm 
You'll get back here again"

The calm before the storm is the grace period before things get worse and in the person's case it's returning to safer shores such as returning to the comforts of having faith or the prior belief. There's also the decision to move forward and lose faith/change beliefs and it's now or never to make the decision. The person makes a decision and whatever they choose they can end up back in their crisis of faith again. For example the person wants to leave Christianity but still has some insecurities and decides to still practice the religion. Something comes up like an issue in the news or something bad happening to someone close and the person ends up back where they were before.

"I'll wait I'll wait till you fall from grace"

So apparently there's someone observing the person go through this struggle. The friend I'll refer to this other person. This friend is either religious or someone who has left the faith of the person. The friend to me is supportive of whatever decision the person makes. The "fall from grace" could either be leaving the religion behind or coming back to the state in which the person again goes through another crisis of faith.

"It's the calm before the storm 
It's there then it's gone"

Again with the grace period. The friend (or maybe the angel on the shoulder) is reminding the person it's now or never to make the decision.

"Oh it looks like the war was in your head 
Not your heart"

The decision to leave is more of a logical decision than something based on feelings. Or possibly the person is going through some depression and the struggle of faith is part of it. The war could be the decision itself and the battle is to make the decision.

"Just when you think it's figured out 
Well it all falls apart"

The person finally comes to a decision. Whatever the choice is the person seems to be going through a bad time. Person chooses to leave and loses friends and family. Person chooses to stay with the faith/prior belief and continues to suffer mentally.

Overall it has to do with someone watching from the sidelines as their friend is going through a struggle. It could be any struggle but for me the struggle in the song deals with changing or losing one's faith. Whether this has been discussed before or not (mostly leaning to the discussed before) maybe you see the same or similar. Maybe you see it a bit differently. Maybe I can look at "Where Are You?" in the same way.

What this "cunning linguist" has to say about "word crimes"

Well, I may not be a full-on expert out there on linguistics (yet I did get my BA in it) but to some people out there (mainly close relatives and their acquaintances) I guess I can consider myself one. Anyways when I heard that Weird Al was releasing new stuff one of the tracks I was looking forward to was "Word Crimes", a parody of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines". For those who haven't heard of the latter Thicke's song garnered controversy over the song's lyrics surrounding rape culture (the lyrics "I know you want it" following "good girl" creepy enough for you?). "Word Crimes", however, is a more family friendly song that looks at the "proper use" of English grammar, especially when on the internet we seem to poke fun at bad grammar (heck there are posters done by The Oatmeal on grammar).

What kinda irks me a bit is the song, with humour intended and more or less to the native speaker audience, carries some prescriptivism with it. Prescriptivism basically is the idea that there are these sets of rules for the language and these rules dictate the proper use of the language as opposed to taking a look at the language and how it's used in reality. (Am I off in my description? Have a dictionary definition or two!) Taking the word literally for example the definition of it has to do with something actually happening but nowadays it's taking on the use of meaning something figurative. Second thing to note is linguists aren't grammar nazis in general (there may be some out there but I haven't met any). Something like literally taking on a figurative meaning will intrigue a linguist rather than disgust them. The following slideshow is quite informative:

So you know a linguist from Jodie Martin

Anyway here's my little data contribution/two cents. I wouldn't worry too much of these so-called "Word Crimes" unless you're writing some major English test that requires the stuff prescribed in grammar books. Need something to fill up your schedule at university? Take an introductory linguistics course. Who knows, you may find out something about linguists and how some of these "word crimes" aren't that much of a crime. Since my battery is about to go out I'll end it here.

Thoughts on the recent Eurovision Song Contest

This past weekend on May the 10th was the Eurovision Song Contest and it took place in Denmark. Although I have made posts about it here before a short summary of it is a song contest to determine who hosts it next year. Besides the song there the campy dance numbers and politics attached to it (even though politics should not be involved in something like this). The winner of this year's contest is Austria and as the winner they are hosting it next year in 2015.

So the representative to this year's contest's winner is drag queen Conchita Wurst. Maybe at first when you think drag queen you might not think of this:



That's right, a drag queen with a beard (and I pretty much just spoiled the video but I do recommend a watch at least). While it may appear odd and hard to take in at first I find it unique compared to the common or stereotypical drag queen look (which anyone can pretty much google). From news sites I've heard that there were 3, one of those Russia (if you've been living under a rock they have a law regarding showing LGBT related stuff to minors) calling for things like boycotts and editing broadcasts because of her. While this wasn't my favourite of all the acts that were in Eurovision this year I do think she deserved the win as it shows no matter who or what you are you can achieve your goals. As for those who don't want to expose their kids to this then don't let your kids watch. There's no need to ban everyone from watching because her appearance offends a few people. Just turn off your TV or whatever device and let other people who want to watch Eurovision in full watch it.

Conchita Wurst wasn't the only performer in drag in Eurovision. Slovenia sent an entry in 2002 and Ukraine sent in one in 2007 to name a couple. The participant for Ukraine that year even met up with Conchita Wurst.

Another thing that may have come up in international news regarding Russia and Ukraine. Both had their songs in the final and when Russia was announced that its song was moving into the final it got booed. Russia also got booed whenever they got 8/10/12 points (equivalent of the top 3 the top 10 acts by each countries combined jury and televotes) and they were mostly from countries such as Azerbaijan and Belarus. There was booing as well when Russia was giving out their points. These were the songs for both Ukraine and Russia respectively:





Given what has been happening with Russia in the past year (Annexation of Crimea, can't show LGBT related stuff to minors) My thoughts were that Russia wouldn't make it to the final and when they did I though Russia would place near the bottom. In the end Russia placed 7th behind Ukraine who place 6th. As for booing Russia I understand that Russia's actions were uncalled for but they shouldn't have been taken out on the artists.
While I didn't like their songs I liked both of their acts. Ukraine had a guy running in a giant hamster wheel and twins from Russia had their ponytails tangled in the beginning of their act (again this may be spoiling the vids a bit)

Overall congrats to Austria on their win in the contest.

As for my favourite acts from that night: Switzerland, Spain, Belarus (bit cheesy but it's a guilty please)
Though it didn't make it to the final I wish Albania's song made it.