Delusion-Elle

Today turned out to be a much better day than today, at least in a social sense. And in a homework sense, I'm just as hard-working today as yesterday, which is 'not very'...

But first, some articles and things I found online that I found mildly interesting...

In this article that I found from MSN.ca's homepage discusses how one silly Asian woman, Amy Chua, is purporting that her way of raising her children is superior to the "Western" way. First and foremost, I'd like to say that I understand that they are her kids and she can raise them however she bloody well pleases. That being said, I can very confidently say that I do not agree with her views and her oh-so correct methodology for upbringing children. Her definition of a "superior child"...

Her definition of superior is a child that produces high grades, works hard and is talented on either the violin or the piano. Her definition has nothing to do with kindness, humility, humour and compassion. There is no recognition that EQ (emotional intelligence) contributes to success.

is silly. Now, before anyone can call me out on my track record *cough*, I have to say that although certain aspects of me do align with things listed in the first sentence, that is because I wanted them. My mom always supported me, but she never pushed me to do anything. I took it upon myself to do those things. She only ever offered guidance when I asked for it. And yes, Ms. Chua can do as she likes in terms of her children, but given that she is now living in the "Western" world, I wonder if she realizes that it's a different culture here. Given that I've never lived anywhere other than Vancouver, I can't really comment on the culture Chua grew up in, but as far as North American culture goes, there is so much more to life than good grades and doing  ARCT in piano/violin. And I firmly believe that EQ is a very important intelligence to possess and work on acquiring. I am not all that sure on how one would go about increasing their EQ, but I do know that EQ deals with interactions with and the ability to read people and act accordingly. In nearly every aspect of life, people are involved. I'm pretty sure that getting an A+ in Physics isn't going to help you interact and empathize with people.

Also, here are some of Amy's rules:

Some of the rules her two daughters live by include:

• No playdates
• Not allowed to be less than the number one student in all subjects except gym and drama
• Must study violin or piano, and practice for two to three hours a day
• No sleepovers
• No TV or computers

Wow. I've heard of mothers like this, but they had always seemed like an urban legend, creatures of an obscure mythos. As the old maxim goes: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" ... and no, even I didn't practice piano 2-3 hours a day, except for grade 10 in the weeks leading up to my exam. But then those were the few weeks of 6 hours of practice a day.

A relative of mine tweeted this short article/photo gallery today. Yes, the house prices in Vancouver are incredibly high. And apparently, yes, it's true that you can get multiple houses elsewhere in Canada for the price of one home in Metro Vancouver.
Something along the lines of 1 in Vancouver = 2 in Toronto = 4 in Montreal = 34 in Newfoundland.
Wait... 34?! I have to say that of those 34 houses, I probably wouldn't want to live in at least half of them. Granted, I'm sure with some TLC a lot of them would look tons better. I'm just not all that keen on living in Newfoundland and acquiring that ridiculous Newfie accent.

To switch gears here, I actually managed to socialize with people today without emotional meltdown or failure. I even talked to the guy in my Music courses & CPSC class today because I think we have this silent agreement about where we sit in Theory class. Okay, so all I said to him was "Hey, you forgot your coffee!" which he had put on the floor between us. If it hadn't been in such a fancy dancy silver thermos I probably wouldn't have said anything. We didn't say a thing to each other during the entire lecture, though he was late and didn't pick up the notes from the front of the class and I KNOW that he was looking over at my copy. When two anti-social people collide! (In a figurative sense.)

Also, at my Co-op workshop today, one of the snippy girls from my lab yesterday sat next to me and when our coordinator told us to socialize (and make her realize that CPSC students aren't all totally anti-social), I actually talked to her. She seems okay, though she was still in no way as open with me as she was with the other girls in lab yesterday. Having overheard her introduce herself yesterday, I knew her name, but now I'm confused because today she pronounced it in a very anglicized way despite her name being French. She herself is French (she introduced herself on the discussion boards online), but even non-Frenchies with her name have it pronounced in a very French fashion. Je suis troublée.

Now that I've bored you all with my opinion and review of the day, here's an article on the difference between a "possum" and an "opossum".

Also, America is taking over Canada. :( What about my parents' Club Z cards?! They already got The Bay, what more do they want?!

Yes, I have problems refraining from sharing the things I find online. Malheureusement, tout est si intéressant.