Bachelorhood; Day 5

If there's one thing that tempers the lonliness of being by yourself at night when you're used to the company of others, it's a new season of 24. There's nothing like a few car chases and explosions to make you feel better. More on that later.

By the way, I must note that I have kept my earlier promise to get back to regular blogging. It's fun being back into the swing of things. The problem (for you, I'm afraid), is that since I don't really have anyone to talk to during the day, I'll be forced to spew forth more meaningless drivel here on a nightly basis. Ah, who am I kidding? It was long-winded before. It's just that now I have an excuse.

Turns out that I was a bit bored last night, so I decided to take a late-night walk (it was about 11:30) to nowhere in particular. It's funny, but being in a small town actually makes me nervous about doing things like that. In the urban environment, there are always people about; they're driving to the late shift, walking home from the local pub, or just being ne'er-do-wells. But in this small town, there's no reason to be out at night, so one who does so risks being one who sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb.

Actually, come to think of it, I'm pretty accustomed to walking places. I guess it's my west coast upbringing, but it's really out of place here. In fact, there doesn't really seem to be anyone out at any time of day, unless they're safely shrouded behind glass and metal, and with hot air blowing through the vents. But being out here in the crisp, cold air reminds me (of a beer commercial) of being up on a ski hill getting ready to glide (read: fall) down with effervescence and grace. Or with swearing. Either way, it's fun to watch.

That whole feeling of drinking in the air and feeling the tingle of your extremities as the feeling slowly leaves them doesn't jive in the utilitarian province of Alberta, however. Why would you go out and just walk for the sake of walking? Especially in winter? What are ya, crazy? Probably. But I still like it.

The walk was good; I ended up going to the end of the street and standing in the field looking up at the stars. Sounds like a personal ad. Really, I'm not that lonely. It was good to clear the ol' head, even if it was late. And hey, nobody called the cops, so I'm ahead on all fronts.

Had some contact with other humans today, though. Two of this semester's classes are heavy on the group work, so I met up with one of the groups this afternoon. For some unknown reason, our prof sees it fit to make a group project due the second class of the semester. Nice. Worth 10% of the final grade, too. Awesome.

You know, no two words struck fear into my heart as a high school student like "group project." I knew that, as one of the keeners, I was a target. It was funny, because when academics weren't concerned, the bullies would eat me for lunch, but when the time came for them to get a little undeserved boost in their grades, who did they come to first? And, of course, being a "turn the other cheek" kind of guy (actually, my motivation was more self-preservation than nobility), I would always oblige. Off we'd go to work on our "group project", when it was actually me doing the majority of the work while the other guy slacked. And, because I cared about my grades, my partner always knew that I'd do the work, even if he didn't. It was a brilliant scheme, really.

I haven't done a group project since high school, and, to be honest, I've always steered clear of them. I'm funny that way, because when it comes to matters of academics or work, I prefer to be alone. Despite my extroverted exterior, I actually prefer being by myself for good stretches of time (a theory that will be tested in these coming weeks) because it makes me feel energized. And I really do find it difficult to work with people on anything more than a surface level. Again, despite the extroverted, I'll-talk-to-anyone exterior, if the conversation moves any farther than "How's the weather," I tend to not know how to proceed. In a lot of ways, my sometimes-overwhelming personality is covering for a lot of insecurity. But before this turns into a tell-all book and you all start to psychoanalyze me, let's get to the point.

Point is that it seems that in college, "group work" takes on a different meaning. Now, everyone's a keener. If they weren't, they likely wouldn't be spending the money and living in Three Hills to be here. They'd be enjoying the benefits of Alberta's robust economy instead of being recipients of government handouts (speaking of which, Steph's EI officially ends this week, which means our total combined annual income is now $0). It was really refreshing to see the members of my group come to our group meeting prepared and actually having something interesting and meaningful to contribute to the discussion.

Since that's getting a little bit on the heavy side, it's time to change topics. I have to say, despite its obvious flaws, I'm really enjoying 24 so far. My dad just called after watching the second half of the season opener, and we had a good ol' many time talking about explosions and the like. Tonight's episodes had everything that I would consider to be "classic" 24. For example...

Working in the most dimly-lit office in LA...check.

Chloe going behind management's back to do some secret satellite surveillance...check. I swear, one day when they're not short on manpower, she's going to have a serious conversation with HR about her order obedience to order disobedience ratio. I'm sure when the cameras aren't rolling, she's reliable, otherwise she'd be out of a job.

Threats to arrest/fire/shoot various crucial members of the CTU team...check.

Killing off a main character in the first four hours...check. Although how many of you thought it was going to be Bill? I tell you, that's guy's a target (as one of my favourite bloggers put it, "tenure, but no backstory").

Playing up all sorts of flag-waving American stereotypes...check. "Does the constitution mean anything to you?" Love it.

Everyone in power ("the man") ignoring the advice of Jack Bauer, despite his experience and obvious credibility, but finding out just a little too late that he was right all along...check. I swear, next season is going to be all about Jack going crazy and finally giving those suits what they deserve.

Jack Bauer, despite being just released from Chinese custody (which really means that when the writers fleshed out that particular story line for the year, they didn't like it and changed direction, a la the foiled assasination attempt on the other President Palmer at the end of season 2/beginning of season 3) managing to find the strength to not only kill a man by biting him in the jugular vein, but also not needing to get something to eat (not even a protien bar? Come on) or use a toilet...check.

The only thing missing, and I truly do hope they come back to it at some point this season, is a mole in CTU. But it looks like they're wanting us to believe that it's Chloe's boyfriend. Speaking of him, not only is he Canadian, but he's also in Little Mosque on the Prairie, which, although it seems like an oxymoron, might actually be a decent comedic show on the CBC.

And is it just me, or are there a really inordinate amount of Canadians on the show that's supposed to be all about the US of A? Tonight even had one of our best Newfie comics playing a terrorist. What, are there no terrorist-looking, Arabic-speaking, slightly Islamic-looking actors in the States? But we're down one Canadian now with the untimely death of that main character.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to another season of implausible-yet-exciting action. But in the more immediate future, I'm looking foward to bed. Good night, and see you back here tomorrow.