maybe it's a good time to run through my education.

that picture on the side is from mid 2017, and i should really upload some new pics. that would make me 36 in the picture; i'm now 39. i know i look very young, and take pride in it.

1) i graduated from st. pius X high school in ottawa in 2000, with 8 oac credits in calculus, algebra, finite math, biology, chemistry, physics, computer science and english. i was lucky to go to a high school with a big music program, but you can only take so many courses. that was the last year for oac in ontario. sort of. i refused to enroll in grade 13 religion under the argument that it was a waste of time, and refused to complete the community service requirements in protest at the obligation to perform unpaid labour. so, i have a transcript (i got 99 in calculus and 97 in comp sci, and maybe should have picked something easier than gravity's rainbow for english), but i don't have a diploma. i'm not ashamed of this; i think my protests were grounded, and i'd do it again.

2) i went to ottawa u for a few weeks in a software engineering program, and switched into math-physics at carleton by early october. i switched into a four-year pure math program after first year, then into gender studies late in second year, and briefly enrolled in an english program in third year. so, i had no idea, really.

3) i dropped out a few weeks into third year to raise money for gender transition, and ended up hitching to bc with a friend, and coming back not much later. i was back in the math program at carleton after skipping a year.

4) i finished a four year b. mathematics (not a b. sc, not a ba. a b. math.) in 2006. i was frequently homeless, on drugs and generally kind of a messed up young person, and my marks reflect it - they're all over the place, and semester-dependent. it's the old oppressed queer kid sob story that is so normal to all of us. so, i got straight As some semesters when i was focused and straight Ds when i was sleeping on my ex-girlfriend's floor, and camping out in the loeb building. it worked out to a strong B+, which put me in a state of limbo for grad school.

5) i ended up working very entry level positions in the tech industry for a couple of big companies like microsoft from 2007-2008, when the tech jobs started disappearing after the crash. i didn't want any more debt, but my dad tricked me into going back to school by promising to pay for it, then bailed at the last minute.

6) so, i was admitted into a qualifying year for a master's program in math in 2008; i was admitted by carleton, but the masters in math (at least at the time) was jointly administered by both ottawa and carleton, together.

7) after my dad bailed on me, i switched into a b. sc. for computer science. my argument was that a masters degree in mathematics is not worth the paper it's printed on, but he insisted on it, and suckered me into it; as soon as i realized i'd have to pay for this myself, and had no ability to pull out (without defaulting on my apartment), i decided to switch into something i thought would be more marketable, in the long run.

8) somebody with a math degree is already mostly done a comp. sci.  degree, so i was able to get to 19.5/20 credits in two years (including the summer). my average over these two years was in the high 90s.

9) but, i had a moment of reflection in 2010 and decided i didn't want to live that way, which led me into a narcotics-fueled mental breakdown, and eventually landed me back in transition. i did not finish this second degree; i'm a half credit short, specifically the honours thesis.

10) despite high grades, i was ineligible for further student loan funding over 2011 because i dropped out in 2010 and got evicted at the end of the year after being unable to find a full time job. i blame this eviction on my then wealthy father deciding to be an asshole and "teach me a lesson" (what a dimwit.), and had to move in with my grandmother as a last resort, after he tricked me, again; he told me i could move home, then refused to let me actually move home, after i'd loaded the truck up with my stuff. i did not speak to my father much after that; he died of brain cancer in 2013. he was diagnosed the same day i was evicted, after suffering his first seizure while i was yelling at him for tricking me into getting evicted.

11) i was eligible for osap again in 2012 and very quickly completed the equivalent of three years of a sociology of law degree (1 first year course over the summer of 2012, the 2nd year requirements in late 2012 and the third year requirements in early 2013). osap is better than welfare, basically. i did not formally switch into a law program.

12) i got into odsp (ontario disability) late in 2012 due to post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from my father purposefully tricking me into getting evicted from my apartment in order to "teach me a lesson". i remain on odsp.

13) from 2008-2013, i quietly completed the requirements of a masters degree in math by completing more than 4.0 credits at the graduate level. i did not formally apply, or even enroll.

so, i have a lot of credits in a lot of different subjects and it adds up to:

0) a high school equivalency, without diploma, because fuck unpaid labour and fuck religion class
1) one official b. math degree in mathematics, with diploma
2) 19.5/20 credits of a b.sc in computer science, without diploma
3) the full requirements of a three year sociology of law degree (a b.a.), without diploma
4) the course requirements of a masters in mathematics, without diploma
5) undeclared minors in physics, economics and music

i'm happy on odsp and would like to stay here, or otherwise move to a gai.

i just don't like people. that's the reality. give me an apartment to read and rant and create in.

am i not entertaining?