I remember that as a kid I went to a field trip to the “Dean House,” a place that is supposedly haunted by ghosts. When I was there though I felt nothing; no drop in temperature, no sudden movements, and definately no sense of anything paranormal. What I believe is the fact that most of these reported cases of people who have claimed to have seen ghosts but are the only ones who have actually seen them appear a little to ironic for me. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that there are very few cases which show two people having seen the same ghost, and being alone people are a lot more paranoyed.

Overall I do believe that ghosts exist somewhere in the universe but are a lot less likely to connect within the range of real human senses, but who knows? Maybe a ghost is staring at you over your shoulder right now and watching you read this blog…

Many people have heard strange sounds at night, or heard the wind blow the door shut when the window is closed. Some individuals swear they can see strange shadows in the night, or even experience a dream that is so vivid they find a common connection to reality. Most of these events can be interpreted in two ways; one being a coincidence, and two being a paranormal phenomenon such as a spirit or ghost.

A traditional belief is that a ghost is the soul of a person who is deceased and is unable to move on and as a result are bound to the earthly plane. People who have studied folklore mostly believe that ghosts who have not moved on are prevented from leaving the world of the living due to a certain event that occurred during their time of life.

Some traditions believe that when a baby is born a soul is being put into the body which causes the infant to cry and be in that violent state, and that the soul is also in that same state when it’s ripped from the body after death resulting in a poltergiest. However some of these beliefs show to be untrue as poltergiests are ghosts that are very rare to come across. They only haunt places that are more modern and have a history of death or a significant incident that people believe binds their spirit to that place.

Some cases have even been shown in which poltergiests attach themselves to living people and follow them around wreaking havoc. Most people believe that this is do to the person being involved in the death of the deceased, while other critics argue that some individuals posses a negative energy that the spirit feeds on in order to sustain itself. There have even been reports of ghosts using abilities such as psychokinesis in ways such as moving objects or manipulating electrical appliances, some victims of hauntings have also found that ghosts leave messages in places of the haunted home or leave certain marks on people’s bodies. However, can this really be classified as documented evidence?

1. Library Card

This one should be obvious, but for some reason I still see individuals who do not like to associate with library books due to some sort of imaginary social stigma. Honestly, a wealth of information and wonder and your fingertips, you don’t realize how important it is until it’s gone. Nowadays, the library is so much more than just a library; CDs, DVDs, Ebooks, Articles, Encyclopedias etc. If you don’t have a library card already, go get one!

2. House Plants

You might think this is a stupid idea, but I’ve got a plant in my office, and it makes everything much calmer and nicer. Sometimes it can make a world of difference in the aesthetic and quality of your indoor living space. If you have trouble keeping them alive, just go to houseplant411.com.

3. Socks

1. Empty your sock drawer
2. Throw out every single sock
3. Decide on your favorite pair of socks
4. Buy 30 pairs of that sock

4. High thread count sheets and pillow cases

Ever been to a hotel or hostel, and found you just couldn’t sleep? Trust me here; get something with high thread count, and good quality cotton. A microfiber comforter also falls under this category. Like sleeping on a cloud… well actually not really. That would kill you.

5. Curved show curtain rod

It makes the shower much roomier, plus you don’t get tangled in the gross shower curtain.

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6. Good headphones

I admit, I’m a bit of an audiophile. If I see you wearing skullcandy headphones I will openly laugh at you. The difference between Apple earbuds and proper headset will blow you away. Try the Grado SR60 or some Sennheisers if you’re looking for somewhere to start.

7. Netflix

Even though Netflix in Canada doesn’t have the same amount of films as the U.S. version, you can’t go wrong. Free episodes of most TV Shows (Top Gear anyone?) without commercials!

8. A subscription to The Economist

Phenomenal magazine, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much more aware of the world you’ll be.

9. Slow Cooker (or Pressure Cooker)

15-30 minutes of prep at 10 a.m., a week’s worth of meals at 5 p.m.

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10. Rice Cooker

Cheapest food in the world, especially useful for those in university.

Bonus 11: A good set of tools/knives

Remember if the women don’t find you handsome, at least they’ll find you handy.

On June 2, a few Calgarians likely became the first travellers aboard a plane to use marijuana legally, via utilizing a vapourizer. This wasn’t your Harold and Kumar’s smoking on the plane. That’s completely different.

The four Calgarians were all headed to a conference on medicinal marijuana use. They were not harassed at all by any of the employees of WestJet or airport authority. One of the four, Lisa Kirkman, had undergone a surgery and the pain was too much to bear. Similarly, the rest had been using marijuana for medicinal purposes. Kirkman has stated that using a vapourizer is no different from using an inhaler. So why not?

WestJet had never before been asked by a customer if they may bring on such a device. Up until this event, they had no policies regarding use against marijuana for pertinent or medical reasons. They are still contacting professionals who work with air travel regulations to ensure that such operation is acceptable.

But a few questions come to mind: what validity does the customer’s desire for drug use hold? If air travel regulators allow drugs aboard for medicinal purposes, what’s next? How far are they willing to go to keep customers satisfied and accommodated? Hmm…

Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Twitter is a fascinating social networking site that has so much to offer. It is far more than just posting a 140 character status (which is in fact called a tweet). You can upload photos, videos, links to other sites, and learn a lot from following different people and organizations.

Start out by making your account. {side note: you can change your username in the future :)}
Once you’ve got that down, start following and tweeting.

Following people provides you with a Timeline (similar to your Facebook newsfeed) of Tweets from those who you follow. Your timeline let’s you know “what’s happening”.

Tweet about things you’re interested in, things you’re doing, etc. Retweet other people’s tweets that you enjoy. And be adventurous, try a hashtag (#) which “is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages”. Need some extra help? Check out the Twitter Glossary. 🙂

It’s a fun new world, get out there and see what’s happening 😉

Here is are 10 exciting people/organizations to start following:

YouthAreAwesome.com – @youthareawesome

Youth Central – @YouthCentralYYC

SaM (that would be me) – @Serving0fNeRd

ThinkGeek.com – @thinkgeek

Craig Kielburger – @craigkielburger

Lord Voldemort – @Lord_Voldemort7

College Humor – @CollegeHumor

Discovery News – @Discovery_News

Post Secret – @postsecret

NOH8 Campaign – @NOH8Campaign