Category: Personal and Goals

Thoughts. Minimalism. Career. Life.

SQL Database What?

This may or may not depict how I feel right now.

I’m sitting in my database class right now. That’s right. I’m in class. I will attempt to focus for the next 3 hours (6 pm – 9 pm), but I make no promises. Actually, as I write this, my instructor is discussing something about how SQL server uses FILESTREAM, which stores data in a shared folder outside of the database, but SQL stores the location pointer in the database. Awesome! (Actually, I bet that description is completely wrong. That’s what happens when you don’t pay attention, ha!). 



SQL Server Administration class. Coffee is neccesary.

You see, the class I’m taking is Microsoft SQL Server Administration, which is part of my Certificate in Relational Databases through the University of Calgary. I’m all about learning and stuff. The first two courses in the certificate were related to SQL programming. At work, my statistical and database programming is done using SAS, and I can use the SQL procedure for my data manipulation. It makes life easier. So the first two courses were very helpful. However, SQL Server Administration? Say what? Exciting topics include installation and configuration, database management, SQL security, backup and restoring, automation, server monitoring, and high availability. Basically, I’m learning things that I probably won’t ever use, but I think they’re good to know. You never know when or what information will come in handy! For example, apparently it’s not a great idea to put your database on the C: drive. Makes sense I guess :). And a question was just asked- What are the important reasons for a transaction log? My answer: [Umm…. thinking… thinking… nothing]. Correct answer: backup, restore, and performance. Well then… *shrugs*… close enough. Obviously, I need to pay more attention.
Wrong answer. Close enough.

Retro Horror Movie Night: Child’s Play (1988)

Child’s Play: 20th Anniversary Edition
Last night was fantastic. Friends Paul and Vanessa invited me over to their place for a movie night. And this was not just any movie night. You see, Paul and I had been reminiscing about the movie Child’s Play for quite some time. We both remember watching it during our youthful years, and it scared us both quite a bit. Child’s Play was released in November 1988, which, assuming I saw the movie shortly after its release, I would have been 7 or 8 years old at the time. That’s right folks, Child’s Play was released about 23 years ago *sigh*. Anyway… surely a ‘horror’ movie that frightened us as kids would still be totally freaky, right? And since Vanessa hadn’t seen it, surely she would be scared by a doll who comes to life and kills, right?? Well…. let’s just say we weren’t scared at all, and there were a ton of laughs throughout the night! The movie was amazing…
Original Poster: “Child’s Play: You’ll wish it was only make-believe.”
Just so I don’t completely ruin the complex plot, the brief synopsis is that a criminal (Charles Lee Ray), trained in some kind of dark ‘voodoo’ arts, transfers his soul into a Good Guy doll. A boy, Andy, wants this doll for his birthday… but when he gets it, little does he know it’s alive! The story begins with the typical doll pleasantries: “Hi, I’m Chucky. Wanna play?” But soon things take a turn for the worse. Chucky wants revenge. And he wants to kill. 
Andy is so excited about the new Good Guy doll! Lucky for him, he gets Chucky.
“Hi, I’m Chucky. Wanna play?” Dolls should not be alive. Crazy freaky.
But he wasn’t excited for very long. Especially since Chucky started killing people.
There’s something about horror movies from the 80’s and early 90’s that I love. They’re all quite cheesy. They usually have some weird supernatural element to them. And when you watch them years later, you realize how bad the acting was. And yet, there’s a special place in your heart for these movie gems :).
Chucky’s signature roll in the movie. Only dolls who are alive can drop and roll.
This movie is so fake.
Chucky tries to transfer his soul into Andy’s. Well naturally.
He doesn’t want to be a doll forever!
Andy’s mother, Karen, really is the rock in this movie. She will do anything to protect her son. She will also try her best to protect the useless cop, Mike. Here’s one of my favourite scenes:
Beat-down! Chucky is about to totally club Mike with a  baseball bat.
Karen will do whatever it takes to protect her son and Mike.
So Karen shoots Chucky in the leg…
And he goes flying…
And flying…
And flying.
But he’s persistent, and gets right back up for more killing.
One of my favourite lines in the movie occurs when Andy is about to torch Chucky in the fireplace:
Chucky: “Andy, nooo. Please. We’re friends ’till the end, remember?”
Andy: “This IS the end…. friend.”
Brilliant. Whoever wrote the script deserved an Oscar. Something tells me, though, that the writer never received an Oscar for this movie.
“Andy, nooo. Please. We’re friends ’till the end, remember?”
“This IS the end… friend.”
But is it really the end? *suspenseful music*
As great and amazing as this movie was to watch, the acting was sub-par. I know he’s just a kid, but Andy’s acting was hilarious! Out of curiosity, I wondered what ever became of the actor who played Andy in the movie. The all-knowing Google came to my rescue. Turns out that after Child’s Play 2 and some other movie, he quit acting. But like all child stars, they resurface at some point. Also, I found out that the actor who played the terrible cop, Mike, is Chris Sarandon, whose first wife was Susan Sarandon, which is how she got her last name (born Susan Tomalin). Who knew?
From TMZ. Alex Vincent as Andy in Child’s Play, 20 years or so later.
So what’s next on the retro horror movie list? Maybe Pet Cemetery (1989). Or if we’re looking for something legitimately scary… A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Last I remember, that movie was SCARY!
A Nightmare on Elm Street. CLASSIC!

Skiing in the Rockies. Finally.

I finally went skiing in the Rockies. Yay! (At Lake Louise)

I’ve had the question many times since moving to Alberta: 
Person: “Do you ski or snowboard?”
Me: “No, I don’t.”
Person: “But you’re so close to the Rockies!”
Me: “Yes. Yes I am. What’s your point?” *punch to the face*
Okay, so I never punched anyone in the face. And I never did say “What’s your point?”. If I did, their point would be that I’ve lived almost three years in Calgary without taking advantage of the world-class skiing and snowboarding just outside of the city. In general, I’ve had a bit of fear when it comes to downhill skiing, since my previous experiences have usually resulted in almost breaking a limb. So I was hesitant. But should that stop me from ever trying skiing again?? That ish is cray talk!

A bit nervous before ascending the gondola at Sunshine

So now I can finally say that I’ve tried skiing in the Rockies. Twice this season, to be exact.
The first was at Sunshine Village at the beginning of February. The weather conditions were incredible! It was about -1 degrees and completely sunny. Of course, after skiing there I wondered: Why did it take me so long to do this! It was a very pleasant experience. I had a few falls, but nothing to cry about. The second was this past Friday at Lake Louise, which was also fantastic and so enjoyable. One bigger fall, but it was all in good fun. Pinecone Way was definitely my favourite :). (Well, it was my favourite out of the green runs, since I’m a newb and didn’t attempt any runs above the green circle.)

Sunshine Village
A snowboarder at Sunshine

So I’ve realized that as long as I’m living in Alberta, I need to take advantage of those ski hills! I may be all over the mountains in the summer with hiking and such, but since winter feels like 8 months of the year here, I may as well occupy my time with winter-like activities. Yes, I know… this makes sense. Next season, I look forward to attempting snowboarding. Thankfully my bro lent me his snowboard and bindings, so once I get some boots, I’ll be good to go. Whoohoo!

At Sunshine. The weather was incredible!
At Lake Louise. There’s always time for a mid-ski photo-op!
Robbie is all cl-ass! (He was posing. His form is much better than this :D)

Thanks Robbie for helping me cross off an item from my list. Well, sorta. Number 9 on the 31 before 31 is to “Try cross-country skiing”, which was added so that I do SOMETHING this winter. While this is still do-able, the craziness of life these days makes it difficult to fit this in, so I’ve changed it to “Go skiing in the Rockies”. And that I gone done did right there…

Sunshine Village

My Shocking Top 25 Playlist!

According to iTunes, this is my favourite song. Ever.

Maybe I have a problem. Or maybe I just know what I like. I was going through my iTunes playlist recently and doing techie type of things. By techie, I mean syncing my iphone to my playlist (…I know… this is advanced stuff people). I clicked on my “Top 25 Most Played” playlist and had a good chuckle. Not that it’s any surprise whatsoever, but Beyoncé was on the list. Many times. In fact, “Halo”, which is probably my favourite Beyoncé song, was at number one with an astonishing 413 plays. And apparently, I’ve proclaimed 381 times that I don’t want to be a broken-hearted girl.

Wow. But this really isn’t a surprise.

Looking at the rest of the Top 25, they were all songs from strong, powerful and independent female vocalists- Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Adele, Katy Perry (Firework- I still love that song!… to remind me that I’m a firework), Sara Bareilles, Florence and The Machine, and Ingrid Michaelson. So if anyone hasn’t figured it out by now, I’m proud to say that I’m a huge fan of strong, powerful and independent female vocalists. And I love Beyoncé. The End.