SŌPBÄKS

Royal Roads University Project - Supporting Primary Education in Uganda

2011-09-05T20:28:00.000-07:00

I hope this email finds you well and enjoying the last "official" days of summer.

I've had a busy summer, my program at Royal Roads University BCOM program is now halfway complete. As part of my current Entreprenurial Management course, my group and I had to set up an e-commerce business of our choice and donate all profits to charity. For our project, my team and I came across a very cool initiative, already in progress and we decided to build a website to support it. We are supporting a fantastic cause: primary education in the village of Kibuye in Uganda.

The website is http://supportuganda.org/

Please check it out and pass along to anyone who you think might find this interesting via email, Twitter, and/or Facebook. The project ends on September 18 and we are graded on the number of website visitors and the number of sales.

Unfortunately, access to education does not come easy in many countries of the world. In Uganda, education is often a luxury reserved for the wealthy and sadly not many children are granted access to the wonderful world of learning.

The situation is even worse for young girls. Boys are often given priority to attend school, as the girls are needed to help at home. There are many organizations trying to rectify this and provide access to education for all children. We came across a group of women back east, who three years ago started an initiative to build the village of Kibuye a primary school by selling necklaces made from the villagers themselves.

Beads are made from colourful, recycled paper, strung into beautiful jewellery and shipped to Canada. ALL 100% of the profits are returned to the village and support the education of boys and girls in this village. Our website gives this group e-commerce functionality to spread the word across all of Canada to this worthy cause.

I would appreciate if you could take a few minutes to check out the website, and of course would love your feedback.

Thank you so much!

Jessica Ransom

604-616-1275

jessica.ransom@mac.com

http://supportuganda.org/

My life according to Bad Religion

2009-09-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

This is a Facebook thing but I thought it was interesting. Some of my answers are true, some are just for kicks. Guess which ones are which ...

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Pass it on to 15 people you like and include me (presuming I'm someone you like). You can't use the band/artist I used. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "My Life According to (band name/artist)".

Are you male or female: The Hopeless Housewife

Describe yourself: Individual

How do you feel: Hooray For Me...

Describe where you currently live: Land Of Competition

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: New America

Your favourite form of transportation:
Walk Away

Your best friend: Prodigal Son

You and your best friends are: The Hippy Killers

What's the weather like:
The Gray Race

Favourite time of day: In The Night

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called: Frogger

What is life to you: Boot stamping on a human face forever

Your relationship: 1000 Memories

Your fear: 10 in 2010

Thought for the day: What Can You Do?

How I would like to die: Big Bang

My soul's present condition: Spirit Shine

My motto:It's A Long Way To The Promise Land

Other songs:

- how much is enough?

album: "Bad Religion" (1981)

Bad Religion (Theme Song)
Politics
Sensory Overload
Slaves
Drastic Actions
World War III

album: "How Could Hell Be Any Worse?" (1982)

We're Only Gonna Die From Our Own Arrogance
Latch Key Kids
Part III
Faith In God
Fuck Armageddon... This Is Hell!
Pity

Damned To Be Free
White Trash (2nd Generation)
American Dream
Eat Your Dog
Voice Of God Is Government
Oligarchy
Doin' Time

album: "Into The Unknown" (1983)

It's Only Over When...
Chasing The Wild Goose
Billy Gnosis
Time And Disregard
The Dichotomy
Million Days
Losing Generation
...You Give Up

album: "Back To The Known" (1984)

Yesterday

Bad Religion (Theme Song)
Along The Way
New Leaf

album: "Suffer" (1988)

You Are (The Government)
1,000 More Fools

When?
I Give You Nothing (Tom Clement...)

Forbidden Beat
Best For You
Suffer
Delirium Of Disorder
Part II (The Numbers Game)

Do What You Want
Part IV (The Index Fossil)
Pessimistic Lines

album: "No Control" (1989)

Change Of Ideas

No Control
Sometimes It Feels Like... *?!%+!*
Automatic Man
I Want To Conquer The World
Sanity
Henchman
It Must Look Pretty Appealing
You
Progress
I Want Something More
Anxiety
Billy
The World Won't Stop Without You

album: "Against The Grain" (1990)

Modern Man
Turn On The Light
Get Off
Blenderhead
The Positive Aspects Of Negative Thinking
Anesthesia
Flat Earth Society
Faith Alone
Entropy
Against The Grain
Operation Rescue
God Song
21st Century (Digital Boy)
Misery And Famine
Unacceptable
Quality Or Quantity

album: "Generator" (1992)

Generator
Too Much To Ask
No Direction
Tomorrow
Two Babies In The Dark
Heaven Is Falling
Atomic Garden
The Answer
Fertile Crescent
Chimaera
Only Entertainment

album: "Recipe For Hate" (1993)

Recipe For Hate
Kerosene
American Jesus
Portait Of Authority
Man With A Mission
All Good Soldiers
Watch It Die
Struck A Nerve
My Poor Friend Me
Lookin' In
Don't Pray On Me
Modern Day Catastrophists
Skyscraper

album: "Stranger Than Fiction" (1994)

Incomplete
Leave Mine To Me
Stranger Than Fiction
Tiny Voices
The Handshake
Better Off Dead
Infected
Television

Slumber
Marked
Inner Logic
What It Is
21st Century (Digital Boy)

album: "The Gray Race" (1996)

Them And Us
A Walk
Parallel
Punk Rock Song
Empty Causes
Nobody Listens
Pity The Dead

The Streets Of America

Victory
Drunk Sincerity
Come Join Us
Cease

album: "No Substance" (1998)

Hear It
Shades Of Truth
All Fantastic Images
The Biggest Killer In American History
No Substance
Raise Your Voice
Sowing The Seeds Of Utopia
A
The State Of The End Of The Millenium Adress
The Voracious March Of Godliness
Mediocre Minds
Victims Of The Revolution
Strange Denial
At The Mercy Of Imbeciles
The Same Person
In So Many Ways

album: "The New America" (2000)

You've Got A Chance

A World Without Melody

A Streetkid Named Desire
Whisper In Time
Believe It
I Love My Computer

There Will Be A Way
Let It Burn
Don't Sell Me Short

album: "Process Of Belief" (2002)

Supersonic
Prove It
Can't Stop It
Broken
Destined For Nothing
Materialist
Kyoto Now!
Sorrow
Epiphany
Evangeline
The Defense
The Lie
You Don't Belong
Bored And Extremely Dangerous

album: "The Empire Strikes First"(2004)

Sinister Rouge
Social Suicide
Atheist Peace
All There Is
Los Angeles Is Burning
Let Them Eat War
God's Love
To Another Abyss
The Quickening
The Empire Strikes First
Beyond Electric Dreams

Live Again - The Fall Of Man
The Surface Of Me [Bonus Track]

album: "New Maps Of Hell" (2007)

52 Seconds
Heroes And Martyrs
Germs Of Perfection
New Dark Ages
Requiem For Dissent
Before You Die
Honest Goodbye
Dearly Beloved
Grains Of Wrath
Murder
Scrutiny

The Grand Delusion
Lost Pilgrim
Submission Complete
Fields Of Mars

other songs:

Punk Rock Song (German Version)

The perfect pair of tights

2009-09-09T16:37:00.000-07:00

I've been on a hunt for the perfect pair of tights.

My requirements were: don't fall down (like the ones from Aritzia and
not so tight that I can't sit (Spanx will do this).

I was in a cute little store on West Broadway when I came across the
perfect pair. They stay up and I can sit down!

The only downside is my legs get itchy after sitting for too long, but
otherwise they're awesome!

PS: the store is called Flok

If you're in need of a few laughs and a good cry

2009-09-06T00:15:00.000-07:00

I recommend watching Sunshine Cleaning. It's a little gruesome in parts, but has a good story. There are some pretty sad parts, but all in all a good movie. Plus it ends off with one of my favourite songs, Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum, but the video for the version by Doctor and the Medics is just too funny not to post. I can't get over that hair ...

So you think you can dance?

2009-09-05T21:59:00.000-07:00

I know I can't, but I think these people can!

Jazz with Mark and Courtney - The most amazing bloopers are here

Brandon/Jeanine Dance Paso Doble Final - Watch the best video clips here

Evan & Jeanine - Jazz - Funny videos are here

So You Think You Can Dance - The best video clips are right here

Jeanine & Jason - If It Kills Me - The funniest home videos are here

Solo 1 - The best video clips are here

2009-09-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

I am in LOVE with this song!!! I first heard it on SYTYCD, and the dance to it is amazing as well. Here is a link to the dance, but poor quality. I always love Sonya Tayeh's choreography, the dances end up dark and creepy and I love it :)

These boots were made for walkin'

2009-09-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

They're actually really comfy! Which is surpising because all shoes,
especially ones with heels, are painful for me.

I'm pretty stoked on my "back to school" fall boots :)

As Winnie the Pooh would say, "It's a cold and blustery day"

2009-09-03T07:55:00.000-07:00

I love it when things rhyme :) I also love it when it rains,
especially when it's been awhile.

If there is any place in the world I belong, when it comes to weather,
Vancouver (or Seattle) is it. I love the rain! I love the way it
smells (which I have learned is ozone and something else) and I love
the way the air feels clean after it rains. It's just super!!!

That's not to say I don't enjoy the summer while lying on the beach a
mere 2.5 km from work or home. However, I don't really enjoy being all
hot and sweaty in work clothes on a bus.

Anyway, this is a view of Shangri-La from my office on the grey, rainy
day that it is today.

This one is for garlic lovers only

2009-08-31T15:21:00.000-07:00

The more garlic the better if you ask me! There's a little hole in the
wall called Le Voyeur in Olympia, WA (my home away from home). The
service is terrible, but their garlic fries are deLICIOUS! Sometimes
they're a little over-salted, but not this time.

I got them to go, assuming they would take a long time to make them,
and wandered over to the bus stop to eat them.

I managed to strike up a conversation with someone about them when he
smelled them from 10 feet away (yes, they are THAT garlic-y). I love
random conversations about food :)

Anyway, if you're in Olympia and want to keep the vampires away then
you should check it out...

Miss Kitty takes a catnap in her kitty carrier

2009-08-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

Little does she know, she'll be going for a car ride in it to the cat
hotel. Miss Kitty doesn't like car rides ...

I've considered turning this into a ringtone

2009-08-30T15:18:00.000-07:00

Imagine sitting at work and all of a sudden hearing a train go by, but you're nowhere near traintracks. I think it would be hilarious! I took this audio clip while waiting for the Amtrak train home from Dan's. I haven't figured out how to share this in a better way, so it will download the audio file if you click on it.

Today I get to take it non-stop, no transferring to a bus! ... Well, so much for that. The bus schedule was posted wrong and I missed the last bus that would allow me to catch the train, so I'm going home tomorrow. Not impressed. I do get one more night with Dan though :) So YAY to that.

We like to snuggle

2009-08-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

It's actually ridiculously cute how she snuggles with Dan and I in bed.

Miss Kitty is the prettiest kitty

2009-08-30T15:11:00.001-07:00

We both share a love for this BLUE blanket. Dan seems to think it's
black, but it's not :)

Subway ain't got nothin on Jimmy John's

2009-08-28T16:34:00.001-07:00

839 calories worth of yummy in my tummy. The beach club makes my day

Smith Tower

2009-08-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

What I would give to live/work in this building ...

The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle

2009-08-28T16:15:00.000-07:00

Well, not today the sky is kind of grey/gray but on a clear day it's
beautiful.

Taken at high speeds on the I-5. If only cameras saw things at the
same distance as people do.

I wish I had a faster reaction time or could take pictures by blinking my eyes

2009-08-28T16:11:00.001-07:00

Because this is something you had to have seen to believe. You're
really missing out on an extremely funny image ... I'll try explaining.

Imagine a beat up old jeep, with no top or doors, being driven by a
guy with a shaved head, holding in his lap ... A fluffy, white Lhasa
Apso!!!

I almost burst out laughing on the bus. I love it! Someone please draw
this for me!

... Sent while sipping Starbucks in downtown Seattle, a block away
from my favourite building, Smith Tower ... I'll post a picture, I
take at least one every time I'm down here.

Miss Kitty ...

2009-08-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

So I found this old video

2009-08-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

and OMG it's priceless! This is my niece when she was almost 2 years old. Dan was telling her what to say. I LOVE IT!!!

While perusing the inter-web

2009-08-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

I email things I find to my mom (she's an interior designer). So, I thought it might be fun to go through my email (and facebook) to see what I've sent her.

I found this on Dwell and thought it would be quite handy-dandy

PS: Pictures do not go into the proper place so I will be linking wherever possible instead.

And on Unclutterer I found this.

I LOVE this artwork

I never fit properly into nylons/stockings/leggings whatever you call them, but THESE are beautiful

If I could have any bedroom in the world it would look like one of these ones

I absolutely adore this, I love lime green!

I'd love a combo washer & dryer

My mom tells me this was my favourite book when I was little.

SOMEONE PLEASE BUY THIS FOR ME FOR MY BIRTHDAY OR CHRISTMAS!!! <3>

I also send my boyfriend things I like :) ... like this song ...

I wanted to go to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park over the holidays but we were both super sick and didn't have time either. Maybe this year!

We like kitties, so I send him ridiculously cute pictures & videos of kittens LOL I must say that song (Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Cover by Jack Conte) on the YouTube video is pretty sweet. To keep it fair, here's a picture of my kitty! That's MISS Kitty to you ;) Isn't she pretty ...

Gimme some 'za!

2009-08-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

I do love my pizza, but only from specific places. I love living in Kits, it allows me to go to my favourite pizza place and old high school lunch spot, Nat's New York Pizzeria. Their thin crust slices are amazing. I would recommend the Margarita, Spicy Mushroom, 5th Avenue, and Pesto Artichoke (in that order) and HA! just realized that they're listed on their menu in almost the exact same order as well. If you go, you must try putting honey on your cheese slice, "SAY WHAT!?!?" Yeah I said it ... honey. Now, I hate honey, for the most part ... it's way too sweet and it's sticky and has a funny taste, but a few drizzles over Nat's cheese slice and I'm in high school heaven (I would NEVER put honey on any other pizza). If you happen to show up when Nat & Franco are working, introduce yourself ... they'll never forget your name :) I love that about them.

My second favourite place it Fatih's on Broadway & Commercial ... reasonably priced and their potato pizza is awesome. I will always make a detour for some potato pizza with an old friend :)

MmMmMmMmm PIZZA!

I can't help but love Queen

2009-08-25T22:38:00.000-07:00

Especially this song ... every time I hear it I think of Dan <3

I took a ride on the Canada Line

2009-08-25T22:16:00.000-07:00

I didn't go far, yesterday I rode it from Waterfront to City Centre

and then this morning rode it from Yaletown to Waterfront.

The stations are really big inside, and much nicer than our ghetto
Expo Line stations from the 80s.

I can't wait to take it to the airport! Yay Vancouver! 1st Canadian
city to have a train line directy to the airport (we're so high-tech
LOL)

My "Stairway to Heaven" picture from Waterfront station this morning.
Good song, look it up.

On August 17 I opened my email to see this ...

2009-08-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

Congratulations! You have been accepted into the Entrepreneurial Management - BCom program at Royal Roads University.

First reaction - to jump up and down like a lunatic shocking my boss and co-workers just as I was about to leave for the day.

My heart was pounding, I was shaking, and as soon I stepped off the elevator I couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear. I called my boyfriend first, he was so proud (love you baby thank you for your support). Then I called my mom, and she asks me "are you crying?, "haha yeah" I managed to get out, "me too!" she said. Next I called my mother "in-law" (future that is) because she was such a huge help in the application process, which took me forever to complete.

So, to sum it up ... I'm going to finish my degree! It's a tough program to get into, and I wasn't too sure of myself. So I'll be working full-time and working on my degree online for the next two years. Oh, and I'll be the first person in my family to go to university, how cool is that!?!

What an amazing way to top off a crappy and sad week!

Wish me luck ...

Testing Testing ...

2009-08-25T21:49:00.001-07:00

Does email blogging work? If so, my life will be a lot easier and much
more blog filled!

Think Green! Please consider the environment before printing this email

Music is Love in Search of a Word

2009-08-19T21:45:00.001-07:00

I was searching for quotes about music and google found me this.

I had lunch with a new friend today and heard this song. Now, I don't usually like The Verve, but this is a new favourite song.

All You Need is Love

2009-08-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

So, this is my first attempt at a blog post. It's very personal, but a recent event in my life has given me a new perspective on things, and I feel that I should share this.

On Monday, August 10th 2009 I found out that a very close friend of mine had passed away on Saturday. My first reaction was shock and disbelief, then I started to cry inconsolably. I felt terrible for my boyfriend after I realized I probably scared him when I called him sobbing ... I had left his place for the train station and he was still in class, I found out the horrible news just around the time that he got out of class and so I was able to call him right away. I'm sure he thought something awful had happened to me. Sorry hun!

The entire week was like living in a dream world, I was dealing with so many different emotions and trying to be strong for other people. Then on Friday, I went to the funeral. I was dreading it, I thought it would be a day of uncontrollable crying, but it actually ended up being a lot better than I thought. Everyone had such wonderful things to say about him, and although there was crying, the day was filled with more happiness than anything else when we remembered how special he is\was to all of us. I met some amazing people that day, it's interesting how the loss of someone can bring people together. I hope that the friendships I built that day will last for a long time. Needless to say, I was emotionally exhausted and slept all day Saturday.

Anyway, the point of this post is this .... due to the loss of my friend I learned that if you just smile, and treat people kindly that you can make the world a better place. It's unfortunate that losing someone that was already doing that is what really made it sink in, but I'm thankful for what he has taught me ... All you need is love.

Sorry if my thoughts on here are a little scattered, they are in my head right now too :)