Good Without God

Today I bought a book called "Good Without God", written by a Humanist chaplain at Harvard University. Humanism is not really considered a religion, but is more like a lifestance. It is basically following good morals and trying to do your best for humanity, without believing in the supernatural.

I was a member of the McMaster Association of Secular Humanists in 2007-2008, and during that time I felt very secure about my disbelief and quite content. Lately, however, I have been feeling a longing for that sense of community that people in religions groups have... and a sense of greater purpose for my actions. Reading this book has been helpful so far. There are certain morals that are very important to me, such as being kind to humans and other animals alike, never intentionally causing pain to anyone, being faithful and loving to my spouse, etc. Even though I am not following these life rules of mine to impress a deity or to gain access to heaven, I am doing them to create happiness for those around me and to do my part to better humanity.

I heard about a group called the Unitarian Universalists a few years back, and I recently discovered that one of their churches is in my area. UUs can be of any religion, but they are about 50% humanists. I also do not feel that UU is a religion. At this church, they meet on Sundays, sing choir songs and talk about religion, but it is not actually preaching any religion. It is more like exploring many different religions and discussing current topics in each. I feel really excited to attend this "church" and get involved in that community.

So Happy!

Jason and I met on April 16th. I had been talking to his sister, Cassandra, who lived down the street from me, and she invited me over one night. Her boyfriend, Matt, and her brother, Jason were also there. We played Rock Band, which annoyed their father, who was trying to sleep. So, I invited them over to my apartment. We started watching a movie, but then Cassandra and Matt left for a while and said that they needed to talk. So, Jason and I were left alone. We ended up having a good chat! Actually, it's quite funny, because Jason fell over onto an air conditioner unit that was sitting in my hallway, and he couldn't get up. I assumed that he had had too much to drink, but he told me that he had a condition where his muscles freeze up sometimes. I helped him to his feet, blushing. After the three of them went home, Jason and I ended up talking on the phone until dawn.

I had a boyfriend at the time, so Jason and I became just good friends. But by August, I began to realize that my feelings for Jason were stronger than my feelings for my boyfriend, and that I was sure he was the right person for me. It was hard, but I followed my heart, and broke up with my boyfriend. It was the middle of the night, and I had to work the next day, so I would have to wait until after work to see Jason. I was very distracted at work! I taked to Jason on the phone at every break, and we talked about how excited we were about seeing each other that night. I had never been so excited in my life! Finally, work ended, and I took the bus downtown to Jason's apartment. It was raining hard outside, and I called him from the bus when I was getting close. As soon as I stepped off the bus, I felt someone pounce on me from the side. It was Jason, and he ran outside so he could hug me right as I got off the bus. We ran across the street, laughing and holding hands, to the grassy area outside of his apartment. I told him that I loved him, and we had our first kiss in the pouring rain. It was incredibly romantic.

And things have been great ever since. Now, we're living in a basement apartment because it's all we can afford, but it doesn't matter because we're so happy here together. We live with my cat, Luna, and we recently bought a chinchilla, Momo. He's really cute! Jason is in his first year of university, and I'm hoping to go into nursing in the fall. We can't wait until we get married and buy a house together! We both know that that's what we want. I'm so incredibly lucky.

Fan Expo 2010

This weekend, 5 friends and I made the journey out to Toronto's Fan Expo. Being in our costumes was fun... but the planning of the convention was disastrous.

Reid and I cosplayed as "The Monarch" and "Dr. Mrs. The Monarch" from the Venture Bros. A lot of people really liked our costumes! We participated in the Masquerade (see picture), and won the "Best Use of Spandex" award.

On a more negative note, some aspects on the con this year were frustrating. It was moved to a different venue, which appeared to be smaller, AND they oversold the tickets. There was a point in time on Saturday when they wouldn't let people with tickets in... they made us wait outside and locked us out. A lot of people were upset and some protested. I bet Fan Expo is getting a lot of complaint emails now.

Izumi Konata

Why do I like her so much? She's an Otaku who is smart and good at sports, but she puts effort into nothing except watching anime and playing video games. Maybe I want to be like her because I want to be more extreme of a nerd. That kind of personality is appealing. I wonder why.

I originally bought my Haruhi figurines because Konata inspired me to. How dorky. I put them up in my room yesterday. I was originally (I need a thesaurus) planning to go with the Klimt/Mucha/artsy theme I had going on in my room.. but anime has infested.

Lucky Star is just ridiculous. It has so many words crammed into it... I can't understand their Japanese very well. But oh gawd, it's funny. Speed lines.

I don't understand why I wanted so much sleep today. Slept for 12 hours, watched some Venture Bros, and then got sleepy again! Napped for 3 hours, went downstairs, and napped for 2 more! Ridiculous.