90s Fashion Dorks

Over the past 2 days I have made some interesting fashion observations, which I care to share.

1. Yesterday I saw a young woman wearing Duckies. Yes, Duckies. For those of you who don't remember, these were a staple in my childhood -- a form of ankle-height rubber boots, usually with "laces," which were included more to make them seem semi-fashionable than to serve any functional purpose.

2. This morning I witnessed a man walking through the Nipissing halls donning black leather pants.

3. While traveling on the bus I saw a woman wearing glasses with large circular rims.

Out of context, these observations most likely seem like fashion "faux-pas." However, each of these people impressed me. They pulled it off. That's saying something, especially with the Duckies. It makes me wonder if the 90s are coming back because of all these witnessed revivals in such a short period of time. However, if much more of 90s fashion does return, I might be psychologically damaged. Case in point: As I was writing this, a woman came to the computer beside me with the Spice Girls blasting out of her headphones.

Blogger Dork

I am going to be out of the ordinary and make a brief comment on my fellow blogger's blog (Kelly :)). Way back before reading week, we both had the notion of writing a blog on the library, considering this is the one place where both of us happen to meet each other and we are both library dorks. I refrained, because being a dork I had already mentioned the library and didn't want to get TOO redundant. Kelly wrote a good post, I enjoyed it. She wrote another today, about plaid shirts. I would like to say, for the record, I am a genuine plaid shirt wearer. That's right. Farmer, born and raised. I actually told my roommate the other day that I liked plaid before it was popular, but when I wore it in elementary school it wasn't quite as in fashion as it is now. I was called a geek/dork for it actually ... proof (not Cretien style) that the definition of geeks/dorks is being redefined! Embrace your inner dork! It's becoming popular! I also liked The Beatles before they came back ... I must be a trend setter. Cue the paparazzi and fan club!

Geek Gossip

In general, I like to avoid gossip. However, the library being a facet of dork culture, I cannot ignore the whispers in the halls concerning our "Learning Library." For one reason or another (I have heard multiple theories so will at least avoid spreading this portion of potential falsehood), Nipissing currently, and unofficially, plans on calling the new library the Harris library. As in Mike Harris. Now, I do not want to spend this blog bashing politicians, but does Nipissing not see the irony in this proposal?

On a related note. The library is totally the place to be right now. I suddenly feel popular from just sitting in the lounge by myself, just because so many other people feel the desire to be here! I will associate myself with them through proximity and claim to be popular as well.

Conceited Moment

I am going to take a moment to be an entirely egotistical dork and say that I am officially in the Undergraduate Research Conference next weekend! I will be presenting an English paper! This is more exciting for me than anyone else I think. I'll keep this post short.

Nipissing Napissing

Based on recent events, and through suggesting this lovely option to many of my colleagues, I have come to the conclusion that Nipissing should have nap rooms. Some of you may be aware of this trend existing in companies, such as Nike, Sprint, Deloitte, Airway companies, and the US Army. That's right, the US Army even gets to sleep on the job. A number of companies in the Silicon Valley even have rooms complete with mini showers and alarm clocks (that's right, I did my research), and in all my research I have yet to find a university with nap rooms.

Now, some of you may say "that is what the library is for" or "who needs sleep when you have Red Bull?" To you I say "You are in denial." If you think about it, who wouldn't want a nap room? The library is hot and stuffy and crowded and to sleep in that atmosphere wouldn't give you the good, quality sleep you need to pass that quiz in your bio class in an hour. And who wants to show up with binder ring marks on their face? Pas moi. And why pay for Red Bull when you can nap? That's my theory.

So, I propose that our new library, the "Learning Library," be equipped with said nap rooms. We can be innovative, ahead of the game! Just imagine the stats, people's marks will obviously be affected drastically, there would be more cheer in the hallways, it would be great. I see no downside to this plan, and if you see one, kindly keep your negativity out of our cheery, well-rested halls.

We are the first university to have the iTeach program, and I feel such innovations should extend beyond the world of computers, and into the realm of sleep.

On a slightly related note, what is with the random bed in the second-floor bathroom by the small cafeteria? When the door says occupied you can't go in. It happened to me once. I was just an innocent little student needing to use the facilities and I was denied access. If this is a nap room, then that is just more proof we should have more as students. Sometimes I'm tempted to seek out said bed and set it to occupied myself.

Also, just one final note -- we wouldn't even have to invest in blankets for said nap rooms, if finances are an issue. I know my earlier post convinced us all to start wearing our snuggies to school cape-style to keep us warm in class, so we're all set blanket-wise. Just give us some beds :)

(After completing this post I searched for an appropriate photo accompaniment. I found "Power Pods" from the UK. We wouldn't even need whole rooms! Check it out!)

UGRC - The Hardcore Geeky Dorks!

That's right everyone! The Third Annual UGRC is coming up at the end of March! For those of you who don't know about this event, it is essentially an opportunity for undergrad students to showcase their abilities in various subjects and formats, ranging from essays to posters. I was in the conference last year with an Education research project and am exploring the possibility of participating again this year, so I can give you a few of the deets, and admit that I am a hardcore geeky dork.

The UGRC is the last Friday and Saturday of March, usually starting in the evening on Friday with and introduction to the weekend and speeches by all the important people around, then followed by the posters being on display with the presenters there to answer questions. The posters are on display Saturday as well, but the presenters usually are not present. Last year the posters ranged from Education to Chemistry to Geography. Then on Saturday, those with papers present and anyone in the university is welcome to attend. It really is a great opportunity for anyone looking to showcase their talent and research and to be recognized beyond the class level. Also, if you're looking into grad school, it is great experience and looks fantastic on an application.

If you're thinking you don't have time to write a whole new paper or do a whole new research project, never fear! This is actually to present research you have already done!

If you'd like more information because you're a hardcore geeky dork like me, or at least starting to convert to our side, I don't think there is a website right now, but your professors should have the information for you and I'm sure most would be more than willing to help you along. I believe the proposals are due this Friday, March 15! So get a move on and apply!

Whirling Words owt.

Oh! Hey! Look! Something Political!

I currently have 4 English essays in progress. It's times like these, when I am doing research looking for proofs, that a quote from a certain Prime Minister of Canada (*cough*Cretien*cough*) comes to mind:

"What is a proof? A proof is a proof and when you have good proof it's because it's proven."

He also says it with a French accent, in which he over enunciates his p's and f's, so the entire thing is quite comical.

This puts me in a political frame of mind, and consequently I feel like mentioning to my fellow Nippisingites the current Canadian controversy. Yep, now that the Olympics are over and we set new records for gold medals, so our anthem was played multiple times for all the world to hear and become recognizable, it's time to change it. Good thing we've got the Tories to set our priorities for us. Maybe they'll keep it similar enough that it will still be recognizable, and change "sons" for something like "peeps" so it's only one syllable.

For those of you who don't know the current situation, to make a long story short, the government has decided that the term "sons" in the anthem is sexist and it's about time that was changed.

Already there are Facebook groups opposed to the change and discussions begun, and from what I can see most are opposed to this change, especially because it should not be the current priority, and is seen as a "diversonary tactic" to distract us from the $56 billion deficit that's been racked up.



Whether or not they change the anthem, I'm going to go find some proven proofs for my essays. That's my priority.



For anyone who would like to read some commentary on the opinion of actual political leaders, such as MPs, this link has some good quotes. Thanks to a friend who brought the issue to my attention through this site :)



http://news.ca.msn.com/canada/cp-article.aspx?cp-documentid=23571820