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An Inventory of Being

Posted in Family, Poetry on February 27th 2006 by Randy Reichardt

.: The astonishing poem you are about to read was written by my first cousin (once removed!), Christina, who lives in Winnipeg. Christina is in Grade 9 at Windsor Park Collegiate, the same school I attended in Grades 11 and 12.  It is derived from and based on the poem, Ellie: An Inventory of Being, by Lea Wait. She wrote her version for an assignment, and received a mark of 20/20 for her efforts. Christina is an avid reader, and her love of the written word shines through in her poetry. When I read “Christina: An Inventory of Being” for the first time, I was astonished at the level of insight and creativity in her writing. With her blessing, please enjoy, and any comments received will be forwarded to her accordingly.

Christina: An Inventory of BeingI am Christina

I am fourteen years old.

I am a student, but only in school.
I am a young woman, but a girl at heart.

At my fullest height, I am 65 inches.
I have blue eyes, but they’re sometimes green.
My hair is light brown, but once it was brown.
Sometimes my hair is fancy.
But on other days it’s dull.

I’m one of two children.
Being the older one, I have more responsibilities.
I think.

I love to draw, but I don’t really share it.
I’ve drawn a couple pictures but am afraid to show them.
Yet, I adore art.

I love the outdoors.
But despise leaving home.
In the summer my house is empty.

I believe in God.
But sometimes I feel like he’s not there.
I go to Church,
But only on special occasions.

I’ve been called a nerd.
But then again I agree.
I love to read.
Some people hate it.
But they don’t know what they’re missing.
Reading is my life.
The air that I breathe are the words that I read.
I eat the chapters.
But paper doesn’t taste good.

My younger sister is sporty.
And I’m bookish.
My Dad said that she could run me into the ground.
And I said I could read her into the ground.
Touché.

People nowadays judge by appearance.
And think before they get to know.
I don’t care what people think.
Especially about me.

I’m a proud Italian.
Yet I don’t like spaghetti.
I’m a proud English.
And dying for the accent.

Fate.
Some people think it doesn’t happen.
But I think different.
One day it will happen.

My name is Christina and this is 2006.

I think my cousin Christina did an amazing job adapting Lea Wait’s poem to her life and its varying point of view, at the tender age (at the time) of 14.  Ms Wait notes on her website that she was thrilled to discover that her poem is used in creative writing classes over the years, and I hope that if she ever reads this one, she’ll be pleased with what Christina wrote in her own words.


Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs2.5 Canada License.

Of note is that Christina is already a published author – she had a short poem published in a Canadian anthology in 2005.

Ouch!

Posted in Library, Music, Work Related on February 22nd 2006 by Randy Reichardt

.: If this wasn’t on the BBC site, one would think it was written for The Onion: 21 people were rescued after they fell nine feet when a floor collapsed during a health and safety meeting at an educational supplies firm in Hyde in the UK.

.: February began with the trip to Toronto to present at the OLA Conference, followed by a few days in Winnipeg. Upon returning, I prepared and delivered five lectures to various engineering classes and started working at NINT half-days the same week. In the midst of all this, I was also rehearsing with Amelia for a concert we played today as part of the Music Wednesdays at Noon series, which went quite well, and was appreciated by all who attended. Now I can take a breath or two, and begin working on a presentation for the upcoming 231st American Chemical Society National Meeting in Atlanta. I am participating in the Social Software and Chemical Information program on Sunday, March 24th. While in Atlanta, I will spend some time hangin’ with my lawyer cousin, Adam. I was in Atlanta once before, in 1994.

I need sleep.

Various

Posted in google-desktop, SNL, steve-martin on February 12th 2006 by Randy Reichardt

.: Steve Martin hosted SNL for the 14th time last weekend. The opening sequence, his monologue, and a later sketch all played off the new record, and featured Alec Baldwin in a couple of hilarious bits. Milk and Cookies has links to the sketches, all worth the time to watch them.

.: A good reason to avoid downloading and installing Google Desktop.

.: Tomorrow I begin my NINT stint, so to speak, and it coincides with the busiest week of my year, as I am teaching in four classes, and also rehearsing for a Feb 22 noon concert with Amelia. This weekend, I made it to the Y twice for 40-minute cycling workouts, a routine I need to reestablish right away.

If You Got It…

Posted in University-of-Alberta on February 9th 2006 by Randy Reichardt

.: This 30-second commercial about the University of Alberta, where I have worked for 22+ years, will air on CBC television during the upcoming Winter Olympics. Further details here, including who’s in the commercial, and about the host, UA grad and playwright Vern Thiessen. I’m not sure why the commercial was created or of its purpose, other than, as Thiessen says, “if you got it, flaunt it.” Maybe it’s a recruitment ad, but it’s not like we’re wanting for students, with the current number hovering somewhere around 35,000. Blink and you’ll miss three quick shots of researchers working at NINT, where I hope to begin operations early next week,

Toronto

Posted in ola-superconference, toronto on February 3rd 2006 by Randy Reichardt

.: A few very random photos from my Toronto trip.