Just quickly posting this before I hit the books. I love solving math problems now, I really do.

In the summer, for a time, I was drawing these little love pictures / notes on Post-its, and then photographing them with my iPhone, and then Instagramming them, and then sending them to my love in the middle of his busy days at work as ‘Midday Notes’, in hopes of lighting a smile, warming a heart, and breaking a thought away from work for a few seconds. (We both work for Canon, by the way). This went on for about a month and so we have a number of these Post-its now posted all over his refrigerator. They are all drawn in pencil with red Sharpie accents, as shown. Something so simple that was only intended to be a sweet gesture for my love has now sparked a new idea – I have an urge to start a blog for it, charleneprecious.com/ middaynotes (for your love), as an extension of this photo blog. Or if it’s too far from photography, I may just create a standalone domain for it. And who knows, perhaps one day, the drawings are reproduced and printed in some way or perhaps not – but if we went down that road, it would mean that we’d need a good scanning solution in place. Anyway, the idea itself, the styling, and branding, are all in its infancy and I have to think this through a lot more before moving forward, but the foundation is certainly there. I realize it’s a lot of cheese, but we are also well aware that there is a sizable market for these things. I’ll post a few more examples of these notes in tomorrow’s post.

So: instead of a photo blog like this one, contents of the Midday Note blog would be cute love sketches drawn by Charlene Precious – some are original and others are inspired by existing images and re-drawn to carry the same branding and theme and perhaps an altered message. It is just another means for creativity since I do like to draw. I speak of these ideas as though I have all the time in the world to implement them. I am in dire need of time with my current commitments as it is, so we’ll see how to squeeze this in. When there’s a will, there’s a way!

We’ve been under a dark and rainy cloud for seven days.
Thank goodness for my love, who is my constant sunshine. This is us. :)

My love and I are just staying in to binge on burgers, fries, and horror movies. :)

I scored 600 on my GMAT practice exam on Sunday. :) That was enough of a confidence booster that I finally booked my exam for December 29th, 2012 at 12:00pm – $250 just like that – it makes me a little sick. New Years will be a celebration of a good score and a temporary end to my evening and weekend studies. I might look to replace that free time with volunteering. Or maybe exercising for once in my life. No rest for the wicked! Schulich, I’m coming for you. I’m so excited!!!

Beginning my practice exam in 20 minutes, although I’d rather be on a Ferris Wheel at a carnival on a hot summer day.

Skipped a couple of days because life has been crazy! I’ve had an hour to spend on leisure every night though and have been watching the new season of Dexter and I just want him and Debra to fall in love and be Bonnie & Clyde already. I am also tackling another practice exam this weekend. I’m off to study. I’ll leave you with a goat tonight.

Before going into The Stoning of Soraya M., I wanted to follow up on my GMAT practice exam from yesterday. I scored 550 and am all smiles. That’s 50 points short of 600, which is Schulich’s requirement. That means 50 points more of studying. I’m stretching this mathematically-challenged brain and I’m getting good and getting there. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just can’t wait to stop studying and free up some time again.

I wanted to write a bit about The Stoning of Soraya M. because I am absolutely, positively mortified by the barbaric nature of radical, fundamentalist Islamic “justice”. Here’s my attempted coles notes synopsis of the film (a true story) for those who have not seen it:

Soraya, a loving, kind-spirited, long-suffering Iranian woman, was married to a chauvinistic, abusive, tyrant of a husband, Ali. Ali, for reasons my mind will never comprehend, desired a young 14-year-old teenager for a second marriage and as a result, needed to divorce Soraya. As a woman living in a male dominated world, although mentally and emotionally stronger than we can ever imagine, is virtually helpless without a man providing for her. It sounds extreme but it is reality that a divorce would lead Soraya and her four children to starvation. The men in these societies do everything possible to strip women completely of any power so that they are eternally inferior and dependent. So, Soraya refused to divorce Ali. I’m skipping details in between but essentially, Ali, unable to obtain Soraya’s consent for a divorce, began looking for an alternative way to dispose of her. Aha! Let’s accuse her of adultery, he decided. Under Sheriah law, adultery is a crime punishable by death if the accused is unable to prove her innocence. How convenient for Ali, who then began scheming with the newly installed counterfeit Mullah (a religious leader / clergyman) to accuse his wife of adultery and then went on to blackmail several male villagers to testify on his behalf, ensuring that Soraya had no way of defending herself. A tribunal was quickly called and just like that, all literally within 48 hours, the town came to a decision to execute Soraya by stoning, the most inhumane method of capital punishment that I can’t believe is still an option in today’s day and age. Have they thought about maybe coming out of the 5th century and joining the rest of the world in the 21st century? Might be a good idea. There is just all kinds of wrong in this story, I don’t even know where to begin.

First of all, a little bit of the anatomy of stoning: the convicted is wrapped in a white gown and buried halfway into the ground with their hands tied back. The intent is to hold the greater part of the target’s body in place and keep them from flinching or moving while they slowly get stoned to death. Stoning can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours and stones are deliberately chosen to be mid-sized so that they torture rather than kill too quickly.

I am dedicating a post to this film because it hit me like a brick in the face. When they say ignorance is bliss, sometimes it really is. I like to focus on the nicer, more beautiful things in life and could certainly live without ever knowing about any of this. But now that I did rummage through a can of worms, my eyes have been opened to the injustice and such backwards thinking in many parts of the world. Life is just so different and we have it so good in the world we know. Puts my petty little problems to shame. I think I’m a tough girl until I see what these women have to go through. In the world we know, our careers, accomplishments, and ambitions often define our strength. But I would argue that women like Soraya, although stripped of opportunities to drive a career, be ambitious, and accomplish things in life, are stronger than many of us. Unfaltering strength is required to persevere through all of those mental and emotional battles, injustices, and abuse.

Anyway, watch the film and get some perspective. Maybe today, don’t worry so much about the fact that you spilt coffee on your shirt, missed a deadline, got disciplined by your boss, fought with your boyfriend, or almost failed a midterm.

I watched Chernobyl Diaries, The Devil Inside, The Stoning of Soraya M. and Sinister in the last 48 hours. My capacity for dark, morbid films have reached its limit this weekend. I enjoyed the scare from Chernobyl Diaries and The Devil Inside but critics seemed to have hated both movies. I even more so enjoyed the scare from Sinister – I’d consider it one of the better and more original horror films that have come out in a long while. The Stoning of Soraya M. was based on a true story and was a whole other disturbing eye opener that I’ll write about another day.

I am writing a GMAT practice exam today. Moment of truth. I’m excited and nervous.

Team Canada beat Team Cuba. :) I know nothing about Soccer but it was a fun time with great company. Sometimes, I would think that the ball went in the net and would jump up from my seat, cheer, scream ‘yeah’, and wave my flag around only to realize that I’m the only one doing it because my untrained eyes (for sports) have told a lie. It was okay the first few times it happened but after about the 4th time, it got to be very embarrassing more than anything. How do those guys play soccer in such cold conditions? It was -2 degrees last night. You’re bound to catch Pneumonia sweating in the cold like that. But then they have millions of dollars to get treated, so I guess it all works out.

Here’s another donkey – who knew they were so cute?