Thursday, December 30, 2004

Islands and Alpacas

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. I went to Vancouver Island with my parents for four days. Greg was supposed to come, but at the last minute was scheduled to work (he'd taken time off due to the liver damage). So it was just me and my parents, although Claire and her parents were already in Victoria, so we met up with them for dinners and other activities.

The trip had a few highlights, including the ridiculously good food had at the Sooke Harbour House, makers of amazing hot chocolate and incredible minted strawberry ice cream. The set menu format, with four courses, did mean the meal was somewhat lengthy. I think we were at the restaurant for four hours, in the end.

Also, Claire's mom, Marie, drove us to see Claire's cousins' new puppy, and labrador-poodle (labradoodle?) named chester, who was adorable. Then Claire and I went shopping a little. I found a pair of pants that I loooved, but they didn't have them in my size (argh!). Claire found some cute pyjamas at La Senza, with polar bears (so cute).

My mom taught me how to knit on the ferry ride to the island. I can't say that I'm as proficient as Tessa (I'm leaving the whole bead thing up to you), and certainly not as good as my mom, who knits at a rate comparable to machines, but I'm not too bad, and I seem to have mastered the whole "even knit" thing, so after making a sizable block, which I'm told is called a "sampler", we went in search of a wool store. We first went to a needlework store, the Button and Needlework Boutique, and they pointed us in the right direction, to the Beehive Wool Shop, which was HUGE. Apparently, it's the biggest wool store in BC. It has so many different kinds of wool I never knew existed, and was quite the adventure for me. There was this gorgeously-soft "rowan" wool (I haven't the slightest idea what that means, but it was beautiful). It was also, however, $17 for 140m. I ended up with some pure Alpaca wool, at $7.50 for 180m. Not cheap, but super soft, and a pretty colour, so I can make a scarf (I enjoy straight lines, as they're far simpler). I'm pretty happy with it, if only because saying "Alpaca" is a lot of fun.

Today we basically just made our way back home. Picked up some sushi for the ferry ride, and drove to Schwartz Bay. On the ferry, I found a book of logic problems (yes, I'm a dork. Get over it), as well as the new Martha Stewart Weddings (woo!). So the ferry ride ended up being quite nice.

All in all, a good trip. Although I'm glad to be home. I was starting to go crazy, what with only my prents to socialize with (Claire and her parents left on the 29th), and Victoria being somewhat small.

And in a few days, school starts again! Yikes.

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Christmas at Casa Jan

Christmas's Past;

1989-1999
5:00 am
Greg and J-Bird: IT'S CHRISTMAS! WHEEEEE!
(us running downstairs to the living room)
Greg and J-Bird: STOCKINGS! YAAAAAAYYYY!
(we go back to bed, so as not to wake the Ghost of Christmas Grouchiness (my mom) or the Ghost of Laborious Christmas Chart-Making (my dad))

7:00 am
Greg and J-Bird: Wakeupwakeupwakeup! It's time for PRESENTS!
Parents: Nngh.
(Greg and I run down stairs and hyperventilate with anticipation)
Greg and J-Bird: Dad, hurry up!
Dad: Just wait, I have to have glass of orange juice first!
(10 minute pause. Seems like 3 years)
Dad: Okay, I'm finished my orange juice. Now just let me find the ruler...
Greg and J-Bird: Noooooo! Why do you have to make the gift chart every yeeeeaar? Why can't you make it yesterday? Why can't we just open our presents!?
Mom: (crossly) Oh, just let him make the chart.
(20 minute pause, while Ghost of Laborious Christmas Chart-Making finds a ruler, pen, and clipboard, draws up a chart worthy of a draftsman's certificate, and then settles himself with pen, chart, and ruler, should there be any unanticipated gifts. Us kids annoy the hell out of my mom, until she makes her annual proclamation of Christmas being a Waste of Time)
Dad: Okay, now, let's see, Greg first, this one's from Aunty Paula, so that's...square B4. Okay, go ahead, I'm ready.

2000-2003
5:00 am
Greg: J-Bird! Get up! It's Christmas!
J-Bird: Nngh.

8:00 am
see 1989-1999, 7:00 am

Christmas Present

2004
5:00 am
(everyone is sleeping. I awaken, to smell Christmas baking. My mother has gotten up at 5 am on Christmas morning to bake. I go back to sleep)

9:00 am
Greg and J-Bird: Okay, we're up! Let's open presents!
Dad: Well, you slept in long enough for me to start a grapefruit, so you're going to have to wait until I'm done.
Greg: Oh god, we'll be here forever. Where's mom?
J-Bird: She's been baking since at least 5. I wonder if dad's made the chart.
Greg: Oh God.
Dad: I thought I wouldn't make the chart this year.
Greg and J-Bird: YAY! It's a Christmas Miracle!
Dad: Okay, I'm almost halfway through the grapefruit...

Yep, you heard me right. No chart. The Ghost of Labourious Christmas Chart-Making has retired. And my mom was relatively un-grouchy this year, baking and all. Merry Christmas, everyone.

He Sprang To His Sleigh, To His Team Gave A Whistle,

And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he flew out of sight,

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Friday, December 24, 2004

And On Christmas Eve...My Brother Is A Moron

So, I was just sitting in the TV room, reading a book, while my brother was watching Sportsnet, and they replayed that clip of Artest losing his mind, and I said "ugh". My brother's response? "What? I think the fan (expletive) deserved it." This was the opening of a dispute between the two of us, which basically comes down to the fact that he believes that if someone calls him a name, he now has full right to beat the crap out of him. I, I'd like to make very clear, do not. I happen to be one of those people that doesn't think violence should ever be the answer, although I understand that sometimes it's the only response available (say, as in self-defense). His rebuttal? "If a guy's pointing a gun at your face, the law says it's okay to kill him." Um, there are conditions to that, and it's only because it's assumed that the guy is trying to kill you. Also? While I don't believe in breaking the law when it comes to violence, I don't think the laws as they are writ are necessarily the best definitions of morality.

His arguments got more infuriating as the discussion went on. And when I told him that no, when someone calls you names, the law does NOT accord you the right to punch them, his response was "Well, I don't agree with the law most of the time. The law is wrong." Then don't use it as part of your supporting argument, idiot. Ugh, I was so angry. That kind of world-view is exactly what modern laws are trying to prevent, and is apparently even more prevalent in our world than I'd previously believed.

So for Christmas, I'm wishing for peace, and happiness for all, as well as for the remaining countries to sign the Kyoto Accord. I'm looking at you, States.

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Good Food

So today, I went with Amanda, Evi, Geoff, Sean, Joan and Marijka to The Roc, an establishment serving that most delightful of brunches, dim sum. Quite frankly, I would guess that dim sum is the most frequently mentioned food on this blog. That is because it is Incredibly Tasty. Anyhow, we had a lovely lunch, made all the more exciting by the erroneous address listing of the phone book, and the novel 'self serve' policy they seem to have regarding tea and cups. However, the entire meal came to $4.50 a person, and we were all stuffed. Afterwards, we headed to La Casa Gelato, Land of Ice Cream Goodness, where I had one scoop of Chestnut, and one scoop of Peach Plum Jasmine gelato. Needless to say, I've been having some pretty impressive food today.

Also, I went Christmas shopping (again. I refuse to do more, I'm going mad. And broke), and read some of Sophie's World, which I've never read, but am quite enjoying.

And that's just today! In the past few days, I have: gone to the new Park Royal Village, where I had a lovely hot chocolate at Cafe D'Artigiano (seriously, best hot chocolate ever), and went into Kiss and Makeup, a new makeup store (fell in LOVE with Fresh products). I met my friend's puppy (beyond cute), saw Spanglish (really liked it, but it's far more drama than romantic comedy), attended a tacky gift exchange party where I received a pair of cow slippers in return for the beeswax tree ornament depicting a nativity scene that I donated (clearly I came out on top there), went to the seniors' residence to volunteer, AND visited the Festival of Lights with my lovely sorority girls. Phew. That was a long list.

PS It's Hil's birthday today. So happy birthday Hil! You're awesome!

Monday, December 20, 2004

What Christmas Is All About: Mexican Food

I spent all afternoon, and good part of the evening, shopping yesterday. It was somewhat productive, but not nearly enough. I still have seven presents to get. Seven! Ugh, far too many.

On the bright side, after the shopping, I went to a Christmas Party at Girly's house. There were many fine guests, Amanda, Evi, and Tessa among them. It was good times, and included such wonderful foodstuffs as 5 layer dip, and mini Jamaican Patties. I don't have the slightest inkling as to the recipe for the patties, but for the dip (which is a hit at any party) I do in fact know the recipe, and so, you will be treated to your very first Never Reason Recipe;

5 layer dip

Ingredients
Refried beans
Guacamole (ie. avocados, lemon juicce, diced tomatos, maybe some sour cream)
Salsa
Sour Cream
Grated Cheddar

Preparation
1. Get a large serving platter. Something with some depth. Kind of like a big plate with a wall around it. Or a bowl with a flat bottom. Hell, just use a casserole with a large surface area.

2. Spread the ingredients all over the bottom in this order (like in layers): refried beans, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, cheddar.

3. Grab some tortilla chips, cause you're done!

Sunday, December 19, 2004

Events Are Once Again Occuring!

I have stuff to tell again! Yay!

(Note the first two paragraphs are pretty tedious, and extremely girly. If you're a guy, don't say I didn't warn you)

So, today I woke up in the morning and had a long shower, that involved a lot of shampoo, for two reasons. One, (and sorry, this is kinda gross) what with exams and studying, I hadn't had time to wash my hair in the past week (yes, I showered. I just didn't wash my hair. I have long hair, okay?!), so it took several shampoos to clean it. Approximately four. Two, I realized after I washed my hair that there was no soap in my shower. I'm not entirely sure what happened to it, I think maybe Greg just steals the soap into the other shower. Anyway, by then I was sopping wet, so I ended up washing with shampoo. Which I have to say, is not as nice.

After that, I went to get my eyebrows threaded, and am now thankfully bright-eyed and not-so-bushy browed. I then went on a rampage. I had three hours in which to buy three Christmas presents, all for cousins. With a little help from Claire, I managed to get it done, and even have time for sushi! Also, she introduced me to the wonder that is Purdy's English Toffee. If you like skor bars, this is your dessert.

The paternal side of the Jan Clan had Christmas dinner tonight. I have two little cousins, and I always get them books. Since they've already opened their gifts, and don't read this anyway, I'll list them;

The Reluctant Dragon, by Kenneth Grahame
The Balloon Tree, by Phoebe Gilman
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
Madeline, by Ludwig von...something. It's Madeline, you know the one.

They were well received, which was nice. The dinner was fun, and included a heavenly cranberry-apple sauce. Mmmm, apple sauce.

Friday, December 17, 2004

Fini

Well, the finals for this term are finally over. Thank goodness. However, I've now realized that for about three weeks, my main mechanism of distraction is no longer available. What on earth am I going to do with myself? Oh well, I'll figure something out, I'm sure.

The finals went okay. They weren't phenomonal, but I had a pretty good start with my midterms, so I'm not too concerned. And they're over, so I no longer have to list Woodward Library as an alternate mailing address, which is kind of nice.

I'd try to type something interesting here, but let's face it; very little happens to someone when they spend almost every waking hour in a biomedical library. So you're going t have to wait until after tomorrow, when I venture back out into the real world, before I can be expected to produce something interesting. Until then, to tide you over, check out engrish.com. It's pretty good times.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Halfway There, Or Halfway To Go?

I've done half my exams, which is a relief. Unfortunately, I woke up this morning, and could feel a cold seeping its way through my body, and as of now it has definitely taken over. So I'm trying to study with a brain cavity full of fluff. Clearly I'm extremely productive.

In happy news, a friend of mine just got a puppy! I'm excited to see it. Her name is Chloe, and she's a little maltese, and let's face it, all puppies are entirely adorable.

Talked with some friends today. One of them asked if I was seeing anyone (HA! No.), and I realized that instead of finding some new guy to distract myself, I've instead just poured myself into school, studying way more than I would have had the ex and I not broken up, or if we'd never dated at all and I was still single. This isn't a bad thing; my grades have sky-rocketed, and ultimately they'll probably have a bigger effect on my life. Perhaps I should tell him so, next time I see him.

"Thanks for dumping me, my grades have gone up by a lot!"

Monday, December 13, 2004

Tally

The crisis mentioned last post has been resolved, so that's good. I had an exam this morning, that I think went well, so that's good. I have an exam tomorrow, and I'm not nearly ready for it, so that's bad. I also have two more exams on Friday, that I am also completely unprepared for, and that's also bad. And, on a more personal note, I was once again reminded of the "one step forward, one step back" principle of my life, so that's bad (because the most recent was a step back).

Saturday, December 11, 2004

Ech

So, things have been a little hectic lately. My dad lost his job, which is always stressful. One of my best friends has just broken up with her boyfriend, right in the middle of exam period, and is understandably pretty upset. And now, when my own personal life had just kind of started to settle down, something has happened that I didn't even hear about until way after the fact, and now I'm pretty sure someone thinks I stabbed them in the back, and isn't speaking to me, and I don't know what to do, because I didn't do anything.

This sucks. All this weird, awkward, "not talking often because, well, it's awkward" has now officially resulted in a huge misunderstanding, and I feel totally crappy, and there's nothing I can do about it. I hate feeling totally unable to do anything. Why doesn't the crappiness ever STOP?!

Friday, December 10, 2004

Kablooie

Everything goes wrong at once. Just let everyone get out of exams in one piece with decent grades. Also, bad things? You have horrible, horrible timing. And I hate you.

Thursday, December 09, 2004

Attack Of The Spores

So T has mold growing in her apartment. It's somewhat localized, in her closet, but it's pretty persistent in chewing through anything it can. And it's gross. She's had a cough for a few weeks now (and hence the broken rib), and we think it's coming from the spores being released by the mold. Her landlords agree with us, and apparently the last tenant "had to leave, because she was allergic to something". ie. SPORES. Naturally, T isn't terribly pleased, especially since she keeps coughing, but there isn't much that can be done. Her and her landlords have been trying to find solutions, but her desperation is clearly growing, as she keeps trying to find something that will work. Crazy-sounding conversation follows:

T: My landlords got me a dehumidifier, to control the spores.
Me: Is it helping?
T: It makes the air too dry to breathe, and then I can't sleep.
Me: So...no.
T: I think I'm going to stick the dehumidifier in the closet (ostensibly to kill the spores), and then open the window (to let more humid air in), and put the fan next to my bed with a damp cloth over it (again to increase humidity).
Me: ...
T: What?
Me: Them spores is a bitch.
T: Tell me about it. Gahd!

So...spores 1, T 0. Yep, they may be tiny, but they'll teach you good.

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Ladykillers

Last night I watched The Ladykillers with some friends. I wasn't terribly impressed, but I definitely liked it better than any other Tom Hanks movie I've seen. In general I find him too sickly sweet and "I'm just an average guy" for me. He seems contrived.

Talked to Girly last night. She's been sick, and the doctor says she has either mono or strep throat, so we're clearly all rooting for the strep throat, because I like to steal her food. That and her love interest will be entering stage left (from Montreal) in a couple of weeks, and mono means no kissin' for Girly.

That's pretty much all I have to say. My time has been pretty much all spent in the library. Ah, psychology. How you encourage my literacy.

(Note: It's been a long few days, I'm sorry if I'm loopy)

Sunday, December 05, 2004

Christmas Cookies

Today, I went to Tessa's house, and Anna, Tessa and I made Christmas cookies. They were lemon-y, and really, really good. So good, in fact, that we ate every cookie we made. It was awesome. We also watched Holiday Inn, which was pretty good, except that both of the men in the movie were, honestly, not that appealing. One was a total jerk, a womanizer who used people to his advantage, and the other was a coward, and sneaky. Anyway, the movie had what I assume was meant to be a happy ending, so that was okay. And the costumes were cool. I love old clothes.

Songfest!

Last night, the Order of Omega (a greek honours society) held Songfest, a competition where all chapters that are inclined to do so put on a musical number, with all the singing and dancing normally in such performances. Proceeds go to a different charity every year; this year, they were donated to the BC Burned Children Fund. I, being horribly uncoordinated, was not part of my sorority's performance, so I took part by being on the judging panel. All of the shows were really great. Some groups performed some pretty original selections: Rocky Horror, Willy Wonka. Others picked staples like West Side Story, Cabaret, and Rent. As for my girls, they did a Fosse mix, that included "Sing Sing Sing" and "Hernando's Hideaway". I must profess that I'm not terribly familiar with musicals, but to me it was a good choice, because I'd heard the songs before, but had no preconceptions whatsoever as to how they should be performed (I didn't even know who Fosse was). I'd like to end this paragraph by saying that we WON.

Now, I'm not sure how to say this without bragging, but they were amazing. I tried to make sure I didn't show it too much, but while I was watching from the judges' row, I was physically shaking I was so proud of them. We had at least twice as many people on the stage as anyone else, and the choreography, to me, looked professional. Granted, I can't claim that the girls were at Broadway-caliber level of synchronization, but Dew (who gets major, major props for doing so much ahrdwork, including all the choreography) could have a career in choreography if she wanted.

To warn you, I'm now going to describe some aspects of the performance, in detail, so if you're uninterested, feel free to skip this.

There were two groups of dancers; the "boys", and the "girls". The boys were wearing black pants, black long sleeve shirts, a pink tie, white gloves with pink cuffs, and a black bowler hat with a pink ribbon and a pink feather. The girls wore black dresses (knee length with slits) that had a crossing strap and a pink sash, and a pink, sort of Alice in Wonderland-style hairband, with their hair backcombed a little behind it. The costumes were all the same, because we all made the pink accents together, and Ariko made all the dresses. To measurement. When the first group (the boys) first came on stage, the girls behind me said "they look so good". I'm not going to try to describe the dancing, because really, that never works. I will say, however, that my favourite part was with the canes.

After the show was over, we all went to the Pit to celebrate. I was wearing my new shirt from Express, and actually having a good hair day, and so was feeling pretty good. Plus, I got lots of compliments, which is always nice. I basically just mingled, danced, and danced more. I had a really, really good time, and it was a great way to cap off what has been an unexpectedly good term.

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Holiday Dinner!

The sorority had our annual Holiday Dinner tonight. It was really, really good. Not only were there ridiculous amounts of food, but the house was also full of amazing people (of course).

We also got our Holiday gifts; I got a really pretty pair of earrings, made of shell, in the colour I own everything in. I love them, and will definitely wear them soon.

It is, however, 1 am, and I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to go to bed. Definitely time to get some sleep. 'night, all.

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Wear A Little Red Ribbon

Today is World AIDS Day. Not enough can possibly be said about the amazing amount of work that needs to be done in relation to this disease; education about its cause and spread, research towards its cure, and ackonwledgement that it is indeed a big problem in the world. Most people my age know or have known someone who is or was HIV positive. Wear a little red ribbon, and show your support.

Sunday, November 28, 2004

Are There Any Songs About Seattle?

I'm not aware of any. But Seattle is where Greg, T, Tessa and I went today, for a little south-of-the-border shopping. It was fun. We went to Northgate, a suburbia mall, as well as wandered about downtown. We met up with T's mum, and she came with, which was awesome. I found a new favourite store. Sadly, it exists only in the US, but that's likely for the best when considering my financial state.

We found one interesting difference between BC and Washington while ordering food at Red Robin's. I ordered a burger, and the waitress (who, by the way, was very friendly and helpful) asked me "would you like a little pink in your burger, or no pink?". She asked Greg the same question, and he just looked at her, completely confused, until I told him "no pink". This pink vs. no pink thing is not an option I've ever come across before. I assumed no one liked pink in their burgers, because of E. coli. I'm pretty sure burgers can't be pink here at home. Anyway, it was pretty funny, as Greg had no idea at all what was going on.

Another thing we noticed was that there were far more babies and toddlers in the mall than in Vancouver. I don't know whether Seattle just has more babies, or if it's a cultural thing, and Seattle...ites? bring their kids shopping more. It was cute though, little tots running all over the place.

It was a fun trip, although now I'm exhausted. And I didn't even really do anything; we conned Greg into driving.

Saturday, November 27, 2004

Calendar Girls

So T and I rented Calendar Girls last night, which was a really sweet-hearted movie. It was funny and light and based on a true story, apparently. I would definitely suggest it.

Yesterday I tried Starbucks' Eggnog Latte, and I have to say, I wasn't terribly impressed. I completely enjoy eggnog mixed with coffee; I prefer it to both the ingredients on their own, but the starbucks mixture is, I think a little too coffee for me. It tasted bitter. See the reason eggnog and coffee is so good is because I don't like the bitter of coffee, or the cloying sweetness of plain eggnog (plus it's too thick. Ech). But mixed (although apparently the ratio is important) these two unpleasant features cancel each other out, making a perfect holiday drink.

Mmmm, gotta buy some eggnog.

Thursday, November 25, 2004

In Which I Ramble, And Then Rant At Bus Drivers

Well, I have to say that I'm not entirely sure what I've been up to these past few days. I do know that I haven't been studying, and this is bad. Also, I watched Oprah's "Favourite Things" episode,which always makes me feel a little squicky at the rampant commercialism and sponsoring. However, at least all the people getting the favourite things were deserving teachers, and not like the latest WB stars or something. Also, I completely agree with Oprah's fascination with this dryer. It's genius, and eventually I plan on having one. On an unrelated-to-Oprah, but shopping-related note, I've decided that the classic and simple (but still ridiculously expensive) Tiffany engagement ring is my favourite. Not that it needs to have the Tiffany & Co. label on it. It's just so...elegant.

I understand that so far, this has been a pretty shallow entry. In my defense, it's been a long day, and you should all be kind of used to it by now. So now the bus driver story.

I have class starting at 2pm, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I live about 10 minutes by bus from campus, so I left my house at 1:25, which according to the bus schedule was ample time to get to my class. I get to the bus stop, and wait for about 15 minutes. I see the bus coming. I get up to get on the bus, and instead of stopping, the driver honks at me and drives off! I mean, he obviously saw me, because he honked, and when I saw he wasn't deccelerating, I flailed my arms like an orangutan. Often, bus drivers will do this when an emptier bus is right behind them, but there were maybe 3 people standing on his bus (ie. it wasn't very full), and there was no other bus. For half an hour. Finally a bus comes (and stops for me), and I end up getting to campus 15 minutes late for class. I'm still miffed, and still confused as to why the bus driver didn't stop. I mean, what was that?

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Ah, Electricity

So, our power went out for about...oh, a minute, today. This isn't normally a huge inconvenience this time of year. I mean, we aren't in Quebec, so cold isn't a big problem, and yet it's cold enough today that we could've put all our fridge-necessary foods on the deck outside (although that may have been asking for more raccoon-visitations). However, for reasons unknown, our burglar alarm has reacted to this particular outage by becoming extremely enthusiastic in its...alarming. Every time the doors (or windows, I'd assume) are opened, the alarm screams. So, now that the power's back up, we've gone from the no-power 'don't open the freezer' to the power-able 'leave and enter the house as fast as humanly possible or the rest of us will kick you out the door and lock it'.

Security is a marvelous thing, no?

Monday, November 22, 2004

Ech, Mondays.

Yeah, so today wasn't fantabulous. It actually wasn't bad either, though. The operative word here would be bleah. On the bright side, my mom made chili for dinner! So good. And Girly got home! Yay! On the not so bright side, I've been feeling all conflicted, pretty much for the past couple of weeks, and I am so over it. Except that I'm apparently not. So yeah, fun times.

Oh well, hopefully the rest of the week is better. Bloody Mondays.

Sunday, November 21, 2004

No Medium

Looking back on the past few months, I've discovered that my shopping behaviour always falls at one end of the extremes. For a good while there, I almost never went downtown to shop. The past few weeks, I don't think there's been a week without my going downtown. It's very odd.

Yesterday, it wasn't really my fault. Greg wanted to go downtown, he "needed" some new clothes. So off we went. Of course, I ended up spending $60. In my defense, only $15 of it was for me. I got my mom something, and a couple of Christmas presents. But still. I think I'm going to have to lock my wallet at home, because Christmas is comng, and there's no end in sight.

Sigh.

Friday, November 19, 2004

The Best Part About E-Shopping...

...Is getting your purchases in the mail. Today my books arrived! I ordered six books from bookcloseouts.com, a site with amazing discounts. The prices are in American dollars, but the warehouse is in Ontario, so I don't even have to pay for cross-border shipping! And example? The shipping for my six books came to $4.72. Total. Seriously, y'all need to check it out.

Anyway, I'm really excited, because now I have tons of books to read! I may save them for Christmas, but it is far more likely that I won't. Heh. I've come so far in discipline, and yet...

So here's what I bought;

In Paperback;

College of Magics, Caroline Stevermer (never read it, but it sounded good, and I liked a book she co-wrote)

In Pretty, Pretty Hardcover;

The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin (one of my favourite books of all time. I now have two copies)

Sorcery and Cecilia, Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer (also an incredible book, also already owned)

Wild Robert, Diana Wynne Jones (another amazing author, ver Harry Potter-esque, but most of her stuff is pre-Harry Potter)

A Stir of Bones, Nina Kiriki Hoffman (yet another great author, love everything of hers)

The Marquisarde, Louise Marley (again, an awesome author. I'm now only missing one of her books)

DONE, People!

Almost. I have a little more formatting, and as we speak T is going over it, but the paper will be done in less than twelve hours, so wooo! I wrote my last midterm before finals today, andonce I hand this in, I'm officially finished until finals. So excited.

What will I do with myself, in all my new found free time, do you ask? Well, at some point I'm ging to see The Incredibles with Girly. Also, I'm meeting with the photographer who will be doing my portrait (what a weird phrase. I don't think I've ever said that before), and I'm going to go Christmas shopping! Also, I'm going to study, so I don't die in finals. But whatever. I'm free!

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Spreading The Word

This paper is killing me. There isn't enough to write, and I don't know where to put what there is to write.

Anyway, I thought I'd take a break and introduce you all to two new additions to my link list. Veiled Conceit and The Fug Blog, both of which are hilariously funny. So check them out, because everyone needs to laugh.

Sunday, November 14, 2004

Complaints, Ramblings And Recommendations

Ech. I've been trying to slog my way through this paper, and I think it's slowly killing me. Not because it's difficult; that I could handle. The problem is that I can't seem to discipline myself enough to sit my ass down and write the damn thing. I've now read my articles, sort of, and boiled one of them down to the essentials. I'm supposed to be comparing two articles, but my two examples of case studies are both deficient. One is just...kind of poor workmanship on the part of the author, and the other is pretending to be a case study. It's actually an amalgamation by the author of several patients that were treated, which sounds to me a lot like...fiction. Seriously, how does that get published? The concept sounds distinctly unscientific to me, but what would I know? I'm just an undergrad.

I've been living half at my house, half at T's for the past few days. Although if by 'living' you mean 'sleeping at' then I've been living at T's. Basically I've just been eating at home (mmm, home food). Tonight Claire and her parents are coming over for dinner, and my mom has made pumpkin pie, a food I would write songs about, if I had any such skill. Let's face it; I'd write the songs without the skill. In fact, I think I have sung songs about it. As you probably can tell, I can't wait.

Also, my new cover-my-whole-foot shoes are great, and do, indeed, cover my whole foot. I love it when purchases live up to my expectations!

Now for my current recommendations, of the music variety. Here we go;

See You When You're 40 - Dido
Respect - Erasure
Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright
Independence Day - Melanie C
Sparks - Coldplay

Friday, November 12, 2004

Tired

Wow, it feels like so long since I've posted. I've been ridiculously busy for the past two days, so I'll recap the interesting parts for you.

Wednesday:

Got my eyebrows done (finally), and was busing home when I got a distress call from T, who had managed to fracture her rib a few days earlier, and had just managed to tear a muscle in her chest. Needless to say, she was in quite a lot of pain, and shortly afer we talked she headed to the hospital, where she was told that she had a fractured rib, and a torn muscle. Ah, medicine.

That night, I stayed at T's, as no one else was home with her, and she was all doped up on elephant tranquilizers. I'm totally joking, she was on T3's. But her dosage was pretty high, and her mobility was limited, so we watched TV and talked until about 4 am.

Thursday:

The next morning, I had breakfast with Tessa at De Dutch, which I have to say, was pretty good. I then went to meet Girly, who wasabout to explode with excitement, as she was going to Montreal. We went shopping, and I finally got shoes that, you know, cover my whole foot, as well as fun shoes, and a bag. Girly bought a pair of boots, which I think cost about as much as all my purchases combined. They are however very nice boots. We then went back to her house, where she got ready to go to Montreal, and waxed rhapsodic about Montreal and its residents (one in particular). We also had a very lovely dinner and dessert.

So that was my Wednesday and Thursday. Nothing really happened today, although I found out I got an 86% on one of my midterms, so woo!And the average was 68%, so I'm even doing okay relative to other people! Also, thank goodness it's Friday, because I need some serious sleep.

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Copycat

I can't think of anything to write right now, so I'm stealing a questionnaire from Dancing Brave and UltraTart, which are both excellent sites. So here we go;

What to wear: Hmmm. I'd have to say, there are a few things I think are important. One, the clothes should fit. Two, a nice top can make an outfit. And three, if you have really, really good hair, no one will care what you're wearing.

What NOT to wear: Ponchos. I will never never like ponchos. Also shirts that are too short. I have a long torso, and understand that sometimes the tee and the jeans just can't meet, but seriousoly people, there's a difference between one inch and three.

What to shoe: I have to admit, I suck with heels. I can't walk properly, they make my feet hurt, and they're just too expensive for me to buy, when I only wear them Out. So, I'd have to say either runners, or my Aldo clogs, which are pretty standard, but go with everything.

Biggest Shopping Splurge: I just bought a new coat from Jacob, and a new watch from Guess, so...you pick. Before that? I guess my prom and grad dresses. I really don't spend much on single items of clothing.

Fashion Security Blanket: Good hair and a fitted classy coat. They ensure that even if you randomly run into someone while on your way to the grocery store, you still look good.

Favorite Historical Period: Um...I know pretty much nothing about history. Also, as a biracial person, my existence would have been far more difficult in any other era than now. So...I got nothing

What to see (movie): Incredibles. And Bridget Jones 2. And Garden State, because my viewing of that was unfortunately postponed.

Favorite Bad Movie: Hmmm. Fast and the Furious? Sad, but kinda true. I'm sure there're more. Possibly 10 Things I Hate About You and Legally Blonde, but I personally don't think they're bad, so I'm not sure if they count.

What to listen to: There are a lot of good songs. Such Great Heights (Postal Service), Across the Universe (Fiona Apple version), I really can't list them all.

What to eat: Sushi, panini's, my mom's cooking, lobster, seafood in general.

Where to eat it: Sushi can be found almost anywhere in Vancouver. They did a survey recently, and there are almost as many sushi places in Vancouver as there are Starbucks's. Panini's can be found at the Citrus Cafe, on Georgia and Bute (down Bute). My mom's cooking you have at my house, with my mom. Lobster and seafood...really, just look it up yourself.

Morning Person or Night Owl?: Kinda neither. I like the middle of the day best, and nighttime only when I have a good book to read.

Worst Vice: Picking at my eyelashes, and rubbing my eyes. Also, touching my hair.

Most Thrilling Famous Person Meeting: I've never actually met a famous person. So sad.

Color That Best Represents Your Personality: I don't know...can one colour really represent you?

Latest Obsession: Getting new shoes and a new bag (I feel like my backpack damages my pretty, pretty new coat). Also, learning to kayak. I will get lessons, dammit!

A Recurring Dream: I don't really have any. As a kid, I used to have recurring dreams where I'd walk to the top of my stairs, and then jump down to the bottom, over and over. That was weird, and I think the source of my fear of the sensation of falling. Ech.

Sunday, November 07, 2004

Now I Get It

So, I think I may have hit on the reason I've been feeling so up-and-down these past two days. Before I elaborate on that, any squeamish boys or extremely polite girls, please read on at your own risk. This entry concerns *ahem*, women's troubles.

Okay, now that I'm left with those of you who are less delicately built, I don't have to use euphemisms and metaphors for everything. Basically, PMS has decided that my emotional stability is enemy numero uno, and that it will not rest until I'm alone, in bed, sobbing like a pathetic thirteen-year-old who's just found out Orlando Bloom is engaged. Normally, PMS is not nearly as much of an issue. I'll concede that I probably get a little more emotional than my normal state, but to be honest, I don't even notice it. It definitely doesn't make me feel like this. It's bizarre. I've learned that when I'm like this, being alone is very, very bad. When I'm alone, I mope, and pine, and then write in my journal until I write something that makes me cry, at which point I stop, because my journal is really, really pretty, and the hell am I getting tears on it. And thus beings the cycle. Write, cry, write, cry, etc. That was the first two waking hours of my day today. Bloody PMS. On the bright side, after this is over, I'm totally going to laugh at myself, because...yikes. But for now, PMS is kicking my ass.

I've said it before, but it's especially pertinent right now, so go read The Menstrual Chronicles. Menstrual Girl? That's me. Except without the hapless boyfriend. Or the cat.

House Of Stars

Last night, a bunch of the ADPi's, including myself, volunteered for the Ronald McDonald House House of Stars Gala, at the Fairmont Waterfront. It was a lot of fun, and I now have a white feather boa for my troubles! It was a really cool event. There was a silent auction, a live auction, dinner, dancing, and a raffle. The decor was really nice too; white chairs, tables, and each chair had a feather boa tied arond the back, which was gorgeous, but meant that all the guests had little feathers all over their clothes. They didn't seem to mind, though; most of the women took their boas home with them, and some had more than one as they were walking out the door! There were also feather lamps in the middle of each table, which were really pretty; I think I may make one.

The one drawback to the event was that I wore heels, and my feet hate me quite a lot right now. It's definitely time for me to go back to the comfy shoes. I guess my inability to wear heels for any period of time pretty much rules out any possibility of me being a socialite. Oh well.

Saturday, November 06, 2004

He's Baaack!

The doorbell just rang, and as my mom seemed uninclined to get it, I went to open the door. At the door was Greg. Greg who is supposed to be in Cuba for another week. Heh.

So he ran out of money, and is back home, apparently a little lighter, both in weight, and possessions (boy got robbed). He is however the proud new owner of cigars and rum, authentic from Cuba, and also a really weird straw hat that he was wearing at the door, which made it even harder for contact lens-less me to recognize him. My mom I think is a little stunned. My dad isn't home yet, but I'm not sure how happy he's going to be when he finds out his camera was among the things stolen.

Yep, things are all back to normal, here.

Say It With Me Now: Focus On The Upside

So, the past two days have been...varied, at least as far as my emotions go. So, in the spirit of ignoring that which sucks/is confusing in an angsty way, I will tell you about the good stuff that happened.

Last night, I went to T's, and we watched ANTM and Queer Eye. It was fun (as always), and I've come to the conclusion that pretty much everyone on ANTM is a little...touched. My favourite part was when Tyra talks about how one of the contestants, Nicole, is kind of anonymous and lacking in memorability. Now, T, Tessa and I have all noticed that Nicole has been getting the editing shaft throughout this season, to the point where no one really knows anything about her. I mean, her presence in the show is entirely limited to the photo shoots, to the point where sometimes I wonder if she even lives in the same suite as everyone else. Anyway, Tyra says her line about forgetting Nicole, and we're all "Psst! Tyra! It's because of your editors".

Anyway, so last night was cool, and then this morning, at, you guessed it, 8:30, we had soccer! Now, when I went to bed last night, it was pouring. And when I woke up? Pouring. A couple of weeks ago, it was a beautiful day, and yet the games were canceled because they didn't want to damage the fields. Today,the games were on, and let me tell you, the fields had turned into marshes. These were not healthy fields. But we played anyway. Oh well, it was fun, and I only bailed once, which isn't to bad, for running around in a mud-patch without cleats.

Anyway, gotta get going; I have studying to do! Atleast I don't have to worry about wishing I was outside. Still raining up a storm out there.

Friday, November 05, 2004

Night of a Thousand Dinners

So last night I attended The Night of a Thousand Dinners, an event for the UN's Adopt-A-Minefield Campaign. It was put on by my friend Claire, who did an excellent job, as she does at everything. It was very informative, and enlightening, if not uplifting. If you don't know about landmines, then you should; click on the link, or google 'landmines'. They are a particularly vindictive and long-lasting form of weaponry, and someone is injured or killed by a landmine every thirty minutes.

The dinner (well, dessert, but that's the best part of dinner anyway) was really nice; I met a lot of cool people, ate some good food (and took some home! There were leftovers), and bid on a couple of items in the silent auction. I even won something! A portrait done by this company. So that was pretty cool.

On the walk home, I saw four raccoons (which are so, so cute) across the street from my house, so my parents stories about seeing raccoons lately are probably true, and not indicative of some psychological disorder. Phew!

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Freak Out

Has anyone other than me realized how soon Christmas (or the winter holiday of your choice) is? It suddenly crashed down on me this morning, and I'm now (metaphorically) hiding in a corner in the fetal position, because I have so much to do. Forget the presents and decorating, I still have midterms and papers, and that doesn't even count finals! And I have no money with which to buy presents! And there's all this socializing to be done around Christmas, and where am I possibly going to find the time, when my every moment will be absorbed by my attempts to make Christmas presents for everyone?

Granted, this fear will probably go away. I love Christmas. It's my favourite holiday, in fact. I have to say, Christmas Day actually isn't that huge of a deal for me, but the surrounding half-month, as a whole, is awesome. Plus, Christmas means Christmas TV specials, like Charlie Brown, the Grinch, and the recently discovered Yogi Bear's First Christmas. Christmas also means Ferrero Rocher chocolates, which are amazing. Yay! Now I'm excited again!

Heh. I may need some sort of mood-stabilizer. On the Christmas List it goes!

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Not Mentioning the Election

Except for in that title. Ugh. Everyone needs to go buy a shirt, like now.

Other than that, my day has been pretty good. I talked to girly, went to class, meeting, and now am finally back home, eating dinner before I drop into bed.

Speaking of bed, and therefore sleep, I actually fell asleep in class today, for the first time in my life. It was really weird. I was writing notes of what the prof was saying with my eyes shut, borderline conscious at best, and it was like my brain blinked. My head fell forward, and apparently so did the rest of my body, because I woke up literally 3 milliseconds after, and there was this random line from my pen moving when my body rocked forward. So weird.

And, as I'm about to do that all over again, I'm signing off. Definitely time for bed. 'night!

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

One Hundred

According to Blogger, this is post one hundred for me. Woo one hundred! Next big milestone; five hundred.

I spent today with Shakey, helping get a mass mailing done. We actually got quite a bit done, which was impressive; it was a difficult day. We only had one big screw-up; we thought postage was $3.20, instead of 98 cents, which is what it was supposed to be. To be fair, the envelopes we were mailing were big, and the price-chart is confusing. Anyhow, our mix-up led to the postage machine running out of money in like two minutes. Oops.

Yikes. My mom is cooking crab, and she bought live ones from Chinatown. One of them is obviously a little more alive than the others, and just pinched the hell out of her finger. I've never heard her yelp like that. The crabs are smallish, too. That one was clearly the badass crab, though; the rest are all kind of sluggish, while this one's dancing around like Sebastian in The Little Mermaid. I shall call him Chauncy, because I like how "Chauncy the Crab" sounds Heh. Chauncy. I'm apparently about to be treated to quite the amazing dinner; in addition to the crab, my mom is also making her dumplings. Mmm, dumplings.

I'm going to go contemplate my food now.

Monday, November 01, 2004

Resolutions and Calculations

So the fury has abated. It was addressed and resolved, and I feel much better. Still not perfect, but at least not like my insides are boiling, so that's good. While I'm still on the theme of goodness, I got 90% on my Psychology of Language midterm! I'm pretty excited.

On the not-so-good side of things, I did some financial calculations, and while I'm still in the positive numbers, it's a little too close for comfort. So...more spending-control is going to be put in place.

I hate unsettling financial news. But 90%! Yay!

Sunday, October 31, 2004

I Have The Best Friends

So, I've been swinging on the rope of moods all day, which I guess makes sense; my friends kept me so busy yesterday that I all but forgot my anger and hurt. Today of course, it's back, but I luckily have amazing friends, who have my back always.

This morning, I gave Tessa a call, and we chatted and caught up on each other's lives, which was, as always with her, awesome. She also commiserated with me about the joys of getting a long-desired piercing. The wise Tessa told me it's so satisfying because it's something you do purely for yourself; it's entirely selfish, and that makes it even better. And it's true. It's like when I got my hair cut. It made me happy because it was all for me. I think I lost some of that when I was still a 'girlfriend'. I lost some of my autonomy. That was entirely my fault, he never asked me to give it up, and I would never imply it was his idea. It is very nice to have it back though, so i think next time I start dating someone, I'm going to have to make sure I keep it.

I also talked to Jo, who was a wonderful listening ear, and didn't give much advice, which is exactly what I needed. I feel much better now, less anxious and sick. I really do have beautiful friends. They're always there to listen or help, and I love them for it.

Guess What I Did...

So, yesterday ended up being a wicked day. After the soccer game, me and T were going to go to the library, but we decided since it was beautiful outside, we were obligated to enjoy the sun. So we went shopping instead.

We headed down to Robson, met with another friend, and the three of us just wandered around. We actually did have a mission in mind; I, for one, need a pair of shoes. The only wearable shoes I have right now is a pair of Aldo clogs that are really comfortable and nice, but what with the lack of a heel, are not useful when it rains. All my other shoes have holes in them, one pair to the point that you can see my socks when I wear them! I also wanted to find a winter coat, to cash in on my birthday present from my parents. T wanted a bunch of stuff (shoes, hoodies, etc.) and our friend was just along for the ride. We looked at shoes first, and I've decided that not only are shoes vastly overpriced, but most of them make my feet look weird. T did find shoes, but sadly, I'm still in the market. I did find a completely elegant watch in Guess?. I tried to find a picture of it online, but I got nothin, so I'll have to try to describe it. It's a really classy, timeless watch (forgive the pun), silver link strap, round face with a slightly pearlized white-gray face and silver hands. It's beautiful and I love it, and as an added bonus came with a ten-year warranty.

Now, T, for years, has gone earring-less. She'd been talking about how she wanted to get them pierced, so I suggested she do it while we were downtown. T was wavering in indecision, while we (us other two) kept trying to ascertain if she wanted to. And admittedly, try to convince her to, because we both knew it'd be really flattering for her. She finally came to the conclusion that she was just scared, so she should do it. Unfortunately, our friend had to leave to work, but T and I headed to Claire's Accessories to get it done.

While she was looking at the various earring options, I started to think about how I'd always wanted to have a second earring in one ear (I think you're possibly seeing where this is going now). I've wanted one ever since somewhere around grade 9, which means for the past seven years, but I never mentioned it to anyone. I think I had some weird delusion about the earring, my image, and how much people would like me (remember highschool, everyone?). But I've always wanted it, and I thought "well, seven years is a pretty long time to have not gotten over this. I may as well get it." So I did. And I love it. It's not as noticeable as T's, as she had no piercings, but it's there, a tiny little cubic zirconia, and it's really pretty. T looks utterly lovely with her little zirconias; we were both left wondering why the hell she hadn't gotten it done earlier. Judging from her reaction yesterday, she'll spend some time at the mirror marveling at the pretty, and some of it trying to assure herself they aren't off-center (T, they are not off-center. That's why it took you twenty five minutes of dot-placement before you actually let her pierce the ears). Mine, I sometimes barely notice, and that's exactly how I wanted it. I really really like it, and I'm still so glad I got it. That'll probably be it, piercing-wise though. I may consider getting an analogous one on my other ear, but I'm not too into the whole bodypiercing thing.

Anyhow, we moved on from Claire's all excited about our new jewelry, right into Jacob, where I found The Coat. Jacob has no online store at all, so there can be no link to my beautful coat. It's black, very nicely cut, and it has I guess what you could call a soldier's collar; not like a suit or button-up shirt, it goes around my neck. I tried it on, and loved it, and therefore The Coat (which was most reasonably-priced) became My Coat.

Awesome day. Bet you wouldn't have guessed about the earring!

P.S. Happy Halloween everyone!

Saturday, October 30, 2004

We Won!

We won our excruciatingly early soccer game today, and by quite a margin too! It even managed to distract me from the anger for quite some time, which is pretty impressive. The game was actually a lot of fun; we had a full team, with a sub, and we were all a little more relaxed because of it. The field was mud from goal line to goal line, with a nice little 'lake' on one side of it. We all managed to stay standing, except Hilary, who can now say she has taken her first soccer mud bath (way to go, Hil!). JJ was awesome, as always, scoring all but two of our goals, and it was truly a lot of fun.

Anyway, I have to go study now, so I'm off to the library with T!

Anger

I am so, so angry right now. Angry and hurt. I understand that some of this is inevitable, but...don't lie to me. And don't ever ask my friends to lie to me. They'll decide what to tell me and what not to, in my best interests; don't ever try to get them to work in yours. Lying's the fastest way to invalidate everything before, and it hurts so much. Funny how the one thing I asked wasn't possible. Now I'm just angry, and hurt, and wanting to hurt something back, anything. Why did you do this? How did you possibly think it was a good idea? You betrayed me when I thought it wasn't supposed to be possible anymore. I feel like it's August again, and it sucks.

Friday, October 29, 2004

Ah, Correspondence

So I just got a couple emails from my brother in Cuba. Big surprise, the boy needs money. I love how he wants me to ask my parents for him. Ech.

You know what I really enjoy about halloween candy? The serving size. While I am sometimes kind of in the mood for a large amount of candy, I find that after the first two or three bites, the flavour stops being quite so amazingly good. It's like my tongue stops being all excited and sending a million signals to the brain, and starts slacking off with more of a 'repeat previous function' sort of signal. With halloween candy, there really only is two or three bites, max, and therefore it seems like flavour perfection every time. Kind of makes me realize the truth of the 'smaller protions is better' thing. Except when it comes to pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie is always good.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Reunions, Panini, And Other Such Ramblings

This morning I got to see Shakey, an alumnae sister who is incredible. Honestly, a ridiculously amazing woman. And an extremely good listener, to boot. It was great seeing her after so long (she was living in China for a while), but I wish she wasn't leaving again.

We went to lunch at the Citrus Cafe, a tiny little place on Bute St. It was really good! I had a turkey panini, with spinach, pesto and mozzarella. Paninis are amazing. Other sandwiches wept the day paninis arrived. And I don't mean the fastfood imitation, either. I mean the kind that are made with the incredible fresh bread, melted cheese oozing out, and veggies inside that are still crisp. It was delicious. And extremely filling.

After seeing Shakey, I went to class. I have to say, so far I'm not a huge fan of speech perception. I'm one of the few people I know that actually likes my Language Psyc course, but we've just started the speech perception part of the course, and I don't find it nearly as interesting as the previous sections. Oh well, maybe it'll grow on me.

Definitely time for me to go get dessert. My mummy baked cinnamon buns! Mmmm.

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Arguments For Pinata-Making.

A good friend of mine, who is awesome, was recently having boy-trouble. Unfortunately, it wasn't the 'talk to him and it'll get better' kind of boy trouble, it was the 'this sucks' kind. So we were discussing the problem, and I gave her two possible solutions, which I might add could be used for any situation in someone is being a total ass (we will call this figure 'the annoyance' from now on);

1. Kick him. Hard.
2. Make a pinata of his head, fill it with candy, hang it from a tree, and beat it with a stick. This is an older idea of mine, but it is very versatile in its possible applications.

There are several advantages to the pinata plan. One, when you beat a pinata, it is not a crime. This is in direct contrast to beating a person, which is most definitely a crime. Two, the venting of the rage can not only be done without the annoyance's presence, but without his/her knowledge. And finally, were you to beat the annoyance, would candy fall out, rewarding you for your exertions? I didn't think so.

I rest my case.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Fire Alarm, Anyone?

So, for the second time this year, my Psychology of Language class was interrupted by a fire alarm. Generally, there are two reasons for a fire alarm going off at UBC.

1. There's a fire. (doesn't happen often, except in the chemistry building)
2. Someone has an exam they want canceled, and they think pulling a fire alarm is a good way to make that happen.

The first time the alarm went off, it was the third day of class. The third day. No one has an exam on the third day of class! The third day there are still some profs going through the syllabus. My prof was so confused by the fire alarm that we all stayed in the room for a few minutes while he was deciding what to do. Luckily it was pretty nice out, so I ran into friends outside and we chatted.

Now, pulling a fire alarm today would theoretically have made more sense. After all, this is high midterm season. But (and you know there's always a but) whoever pulled it did it 15 minutes before class ended. I don't understand this at all. Say you pulled it during your midterm. Clearly, you weren't in class at the time. Do you really think, that after an entire class has been writing their midterm for over an hour, your professor is going to 'cancel' the midterm because of 15 minutes? They'll scale it, numbskull. Alternatively, let's assume that the miscreant pulled the fire alarm before he was to write the exam. Half an hour is plenty of time for the fire department to sweep the building and deactivate the alarm, buddy. As was shown today, when everyone's 3:30 pm class went ahead as scheduled. Honestly, if you were just smarter, you'd know when to pull the fire alarm. Of course, you possibly would be smart enough to just write the exam too.

I actually find it interesting when a fire alarm goes off. Considering what fire alarms are supposed to be warning us of (ie. a blazing inferno of death), the general reaction is remarkably apathetic (again, except in the chemistry building. There, a fire alarm goes off and people are bodysurfing down the stairs to avoid the toxic death that would result form a fire in a building full of poisons that go boom in especially colourful ways). What do you think when you hear a fire alarm? Long gone are the days when I think 'Fire!'. I don't even remember those days. Now, I think 'God, I hope it isn't raining', and 'did you ever think about studying? Just a thought'.

And fire alarms are actually the more innocuous illegal method of exam-avoidance I've seen. At the end of one of my chemistry finals in second year, we were all confronted by police officers with a tape recorder, asking us to identify a (modulated) voice on a recording that had placed a bomb threat on our exact room at the exact time of the exam. While we did not in fact blow up, I find it not terribly reassuring that they didn't tell us of the threat until afterward. Of course, it may have had to do with the phrasing of the threat, which was so remarkably stupid that I still remember it;

"Hi,...I'm calling to say...the people in Chem 150 on Tuesday the 17th at 3 pm had better watch it...or else they'll blow sky high...while I watch them from upstairs...(click)"

I'm sorry, he was going to 'blow me sky high' while he was watching upstairs? And this guy was in a chemistry class? Did he not want to write the final because he was now invincible?

How is it, that when it's so hard to get into university, so many idiots are here?

I'd Better Not Be Psychic

Have you ever had creepy, overly-relevant dreams? I was having a pretty restless sleep, and I kept having really vivid dreams, one of which is a little too on-topic for me. See, I wouldn't even be home right now, except that my parents have finally purchased a new washer/dryer set, and I have to be home so that it can be delivered. That's fine; it gives me an excuse to sleep in. But I had the most bizarre dream, where the delivery men tried to knock me out with ether, and then rob my house, but I held my breath (to counteract the ether) and bit one of them (for self-defense, I assume). I'm not too concerned, because the laundry room in my dream was a bout the size of my entire house, but still, it's weird. I just got the call from the delivery people; the set is coming in the next twenty minutes.

Crazy dreams...I've got to stop snacking before going to bed.

Sunday, October 24, 2004

I Love Dressing Up

Last night was POP, otherwise known as Pride of Panhellenic, a huge formal for all the sororities. It was at Science World this year, and it was a lot of fun. I got to get all dressed up, and I felt gorgeous, for which I must thank Karen for the (gold!) dress, Steph for the earrings, and T for doing my makeup. Also, I'd like to thank my ingenuity for solving my slippery-shoe problem. Are your feet slipping right off your strappy shoes? Spray the bottom of the shoes with hairspray! It works.

So, it turns out Science World can be pretty swank-looking, with the right lighting. I wasn't too sure how it would turn out, but it was a definite improvement over the warehouse-venue of my first year. It was fun to see everyone all dressed up, and to dance with all my girls. Also, it was T's birthday yesterday, so happy birthday T! Your present will come later. I pretended it was my birthday, because that pretty much was my fancy-dress-up party. It was a great time, and now I am exhausted, and must study for a midterm. Sigh.

Oh! And I got my birthday presents back, so yay!

Friday, October 22, 2004

Yesterday (and Today, Too)

Other than the exam, I had an awesome birthday yesterday. People came over, and we just chilled, talked, and ate cake. I got some very pretty birthday cards (thanks Anna, Mo, Evi, Jessie, Jo, and Girly!), a gorgeous pair of earrings (thanks Alex!), and a giraffe and toucan. That first is a stuffed animal, and the second is a balloon, those metallic kinds that stay inflated forever (thanks Girly!). The giraffe doesn't have a name yet, but he is awesome, and a perfect size to sleep with. Karen and Tiff came by, and Karen brought me a gorgeous gold dress (it really is pretty, but if I try to describe it it will sound like horror, so you'll just have to take my word for it) that I'm going to wear to POP tomorrow!

Today, I woke up with that dry chapped feeling in my throat. I am NOT keen on getting sick, and therefore not terribly impressed. However, I got to have lunch with Girly (mmm...all you can eat sushi/dim sum), and got a new journal, and a new shirt that is pink, and pretty.

Tonight, Jo and Tamara gave me a birthday present, and it's really pretty! It's an adorable little writing set, to put on my desk. I also got a birthday card from Hilary, but I didn't get a chance to read it, because it got cleaned up by some of the girls (sorority event tonight), and I have no idea where the card, or the present, went! I'm actually a little upset. I'm sure they'll pop up, but I want my birthday presents!

Heh, I'm a whiner.

Thursday, October 21, 2004

TWENTY-ONE!

Yep, I am officially twenty-one. I'm still awake because I was studying my ass off. I'm going to bed once I finish writing this. I unfortunately lost some study time today, what with meeting, and the Ghost Train (in Stanley Park; it is possibly one of the funniest 15-minute rides you'll ever have the chance to go on). However, I think I'll be okay so long as I get up tomorrow morning and continue the hitting of the books.

But it's my birthday! And you know what is awesome about my birthday? I've been twenty-one for less than an hour, and I've already gotten 2 e-cards! And they were cute! Also, as a birthday treat, I think I'll go buy the new Martha Stewart Weddings magazine. But for now, I've decided to spend a good 7 hours of my birthday sleeping. 'night all.

Twenty-one.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Only One Sleep!

This is the last day I'm twenty. Yay! I'm actually not excited about being twenty-one (drinking age in BC is 19, and I don't even drink), but I am excited for my birthday! Yay!

I'm not terribly for my midterm tomorrow though. Oh well, necessary evil, right? On the bright side, I went to go see my TA about the other midterm, and she'd mismarked one of the questions, so my mark went up a little. Not a lot, but enough to make a difference. Alright, time for me to go do some more reading.

Almost there!

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

2 Sleeps!

In not so exciting news, I got one of my midterm marks back, and it was not what I was expecting. Ech. Anyway, I'm definitely going to see my exam for that one.

I also got a flu-shot today, so that I may continue working with the elderly at the seniors' residence. It's been a while since I've gotten a shot, and Ihave to say, I'm not a huge fan. But I suppose it's better than getting sick all the time, so I'll grin and bear it, with the help of a trusty bandaid.

Time to go to class, and study for my next midterm. The hell I'm getting a low mark on that one.

Monday, October 18, 2004

Countdown! 3 Sleeps!

Til my BIRTHDAY! In three days, I will be twenty-one. Woo! Unfortunately, I will also be writing a midterm on my birthday, which I can assure you is far less 'woo!' and far more 'ech'. But whatever. Twenty-one!

Today went pretty well, although class alternated between boring and depressing. The topic of the day was suicide in my abnormal psychology class, which in general is not a very uplifting topic. But it was interesting, and apparently, since I'm neither male, nor white, I've managed to dodge two big risk factors. I believe our next topic is eating disorders, so as a female college student, I get to fall under the 'high-risk' bracket for that one.

So excited for the birthday! But til then, I have some journal articles to read. And by 'some', I mean 'lots'. Wish me luck!

Sunday, October 17, 2004

Nice To See You Too

So my parents just got home. Literally 39 seconds after they got in, my mom started deeming our upkeep of the house inadequate. And Greg isn't even here, so I get to hear about it all, which is especially irritating, because I actually did most of the stuff that got done. Greg kept saying he'd do things, but then didn't. Honestly, I'm so glad I don't live alone with him. He's ridiculously lazy.

Anyhow, I've got to get studying/trying to appease my mom before she explodes into a jet-lagged nova of crankiness. Yep, good times ahead for me.

Saturday, October 16, 2004

One

That was the name of the restaurant we went to for Alex's birthday. It was pretty good, a little pricey, but definitely a cool atmosphere. You can find out about it here.

Today was quite full of emotional activity. T had to say good bye to her boyfriend, who was visiting from Holland. I had a couple random encounters. Alex, as I mentioned before, had a birthday celebration. All in all, I'd say my day went pretty well. The birthday dinner was really fun; good people, and good conversations. It's actually kind of nice to go out with a group of people that you don't know too well, but really like. Oddly, I find it easier to do it if I don't have a really good friend accompanying me. I think maybe I lean on them too much when I have the opportunity. My best friends are also a lot more outgoing than I am, as a rule, so I guess it makes it even easier to just let them do the talking. Anyway, it was a good night, and I'm glad I went. But now I am exhausted, and I'm going to sleep! Finally!

Up And At 'Em

Well, got up at seven today to play soccer. Seven. Needless to say, I'm pretty tired. Next week I have midterms again, and I haven't been studying nearly enough, which is scaring me. I'd fix this, but somehow,in a weekend where practically nothing is happening, I'm swamped. Teas, soccer games, birthdays...it's insanity. And that isn't even counting the fact that my parents get home tomorrow, and the house is not ready for their arrival. Aie.

In better news, I had a pretty good night last night. I went to the Ronald McDonald House to drop off some cookies, and then hung out with two of our adorable new ADPi girls. I love them! And this morning was okay, soccer was fun, except we once again had the bare minimum of players, while the other team had two and half times the people necessary. I know I'm not terribly physically fit, but sprinting for 40 minutes straight? Difficult! Thank god I had water.

All right, I'm just procrastinating now. Gotta go get some work done. But first, I will read The Onion.

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Do You Know What Is Super Fun?

Roller Skating! Seriously. We had a roller-skating exchange last night, and it was awesome. And this from a girl that is notoriously bad at anything skate-related (I'm not allowed to rollerblade. I become a national hazard). The lack of the ice cold rink, the improved stability of the wheels, the fact that pretty much everyone is awful at it, they all add up to a great time. Plus, the rink is painted all funky, and they play oldschool music.

If only the rink wasn't all the way out in Surrey...

But I still totally recommend it.

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

The Two-Minutes-Before-I-Have-Class-Entry

Yeah, so I'm on campus. Last night I tried to post, but my laptop decided at the very last second that it hated blogger. Arrgh. Anyhow, the post wasn't terribly interesting, so I'm not too concerned.

My first class is the boring one. Luckily, the lovely Jordan is in my class, but it honestly is painful. "How To Think Straight About Psychology". Ech. But my other two classes today are much better, and after meeting tonight, we're going roller skating! So that's awesome. Plus, it's on a rink, so there're no opportunities for me to uproot an entire bed of tulips or anything. Not that I've ever done that, of course. Ahem.

Tessa came over last night, and we watched Queer Eye. We would have watched ANTM, too, but my tape sucks, and didn't tape it. Stupid tape. I've got to go to class, but you can all get through the rest of your day knowing that you, too, are cosmeceutical.

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Cosmeceuticals

My new favourite word. When something sucks, it isn't cosmeceutical enough. When something is awesome, it is so cosmeceutical. The best part about the word? I have no idea if I'm even spelling it right!

In other news, my cell phone is found! Woo! Props to Giselle, who found it in her car. Thank god it's found; now I don't have to have my parents come home to a lost cell phone, on top of the half-painted disaster area that will be my house, unless Greg gets on his ass and finishes the painting job. Ech.

I need to get to bed before I pass out. It's only Tuesday, after a long weekend, and I'm already exhausted. Pathetic.

What The Reeves Taught Me

Christopher Reeve passed away on Sunday. It's sad, having someone so iconic, someone who's remained so iconic after so much, pass away. I'll mention that he was a relentless fighter in the battle for stem cell research, and that without him, many programs would never have been started, or given the funding to be completed, but that isn't what I really want to talk about. What I want to talk about is his marriage.

His wife, Dana, stuck with him through it all. And while I believe the 'til death do us part' is the essence of what the love in a marriage should be, that doesn't make what she did any less admirable. In interviews all down the years, it was very clear through body language and how they spoke that this was a couple very much in love. More in love than many. For one partner, after a horrible accident that has permanently damaged their love's body, to say 'it's still you, and I love you', is amazing. To follow through on it is incredible. Because yes, I do believe that that is as it should be in all partnerships, but I know enough not to believe that most are like this. But they did have this; not once was there the air of a martyr in her, nothe spirit of one pitied in him. Their love was still pure, even after a horrible accident.

That's the kind of love I want. Sometimes I feel like I shouldn't expect so much from love, but I do. I guess it's just nice to know that it can and does exist. I know that demanding that from love carries some risks, not the least of which being me ending up alone; after all, how many guys are there out there looking for the same thing? But I'd rather be alone, I think, than be in a lesser relationship. I'd always be looking for more. The good news is, I know now that I can love like that. I just need to find someone who can love back the same way.

Monday, October 11, 2004

How Was Your Thanksgiving?

Mine was awesome. One, there was more food than I can possibly describe, including the all-important pumpkin pie, and I wasn't forced to eat any brussel sprouts. Also, great conversation and not an awkward moment in the mix. And lord, was I full.

A brief sampling of the happenings;

Gail: Oh no, the middle of the grape-cake didn't get cooked properly!
Alec: Gail, I love the middle of the cake!

Jaman:...And then she was like "I'm only telling you because you can relate", and I was like "I can't relate!"

There was lots more, but the tryptophans made me forget.

Sunday, October 10, 2004

Thanksgiving Checklist

1. Invitation - Check. Thank GOD.

2. Dinner
a) Turkey - Check
b) Cranberries - Check
c) Stuffing - Check
d) Yams - Most Likely
e) Vegetables - Check
f) Potatoes - Check
g) Brussels Sprouts - Inconsequential. They're gross.

3. Dessert
a) Pumpkin Pie - Check
b) Who cares? There's pumpkin pie.

4. Good Company - Best there is!

5. Well-prepared stomach - I've been training all my life.

6. Mental Mindset - "Bring it ON"

Quote of the Week

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Thanksgiving weekend, all.

Saturday, October 09, 2004

Makeovers!

So, went to MAC for the makeovers. Can I just say that that store is so much fun!? And that it is horribly dangerous? I really need to stop spending money. Like, really. All the bank cards are now staying home. Cause I'm getting out of control.

But on to more positive things. The lady who was making me over/helping me was super good at what she does, and did an excellent job, to the point that I actually bought stuff, which was weird for me, because I'm so not a makeup person. But anyway, I bought stuff, and their makeup is super expensive, so now I'm so not buying anything again, ever. Especially since a quality, non-archaic hairdryer was on sale, so I went and bought that too. All of which makes Jan a beautiful but poor girl.

So today was a great day of luxury for me, with zero work done and lots of relaxing, but I think tomorrow, it's time to get back down to work, a bit with the studying, but lots more with the consumption of turkey. Wish me luck, all!

Laundry Day

This morning, having finally gotten my head out of the psychology midterm vortex, I realized that I have basically no clean clothing. See, normally my mom does the laundry, not because I wouldn't do it on my own, but because when I try, I'm told "It's a waste to do just your laundry. Do everyone's at once, don't waste time or water." And then when I do actually get to do the laundry, I hear "You're doing it wrong. Move over."

But my parents are still in Austria. And what with the mad studying, I haven't been at all keeping track of my clothing supply. So, this morning, I've been doing laundry. Lots of it. Which in itself is not a problem. However, the day my parents left, our dryer broke. So, while I have lots of clean clothes, I have no dry clothes. And our house looks a lot like that scene in Beauty and the Beast where the wardrobe explodes while attacking the village mob. Clothes drying everywhere.

Which, incidentally, isn't actually all that unusual, as my mom generally considers our dryer to also be 'a waste'. She did however, use the dryer for sheets, towels, and socks, which get a weird stiff feeling if they don't dry while being agitated. I personally would use them for my jeans too, but they don't pass the dryer-necessity test (possibly because my mom doesn't wear jeans), but the one time I can do my own laundry, putting my jeans in the dryer isn't even an option. So, no dry clothes for me. Which is a shame, because I have this M.A.C. girls' night thing where I get a makeover, and then we're going for drinks, and dammit, I'm going to take advantage of the hotness!

Gotta find me some clothes...

What A Week

Ew ew ew. Thank god this week is over. I finished my three midterms (woo!), went to the Cheer-Off (which is way more fun than it sounds), and now, finally, I am home. And at 1:30 in the morning, writing a post on the blog. I did lose my cell phone somewhere at the cheer off. I'm hoping that turns up.

I would first like to say that I love my girls. I love them for distracting me and squeezing my arm or giving me a hug whenever they think I might be not having the best time, and for listening to me when I'm not having the best time. You help me remember that I will be okay, and that generally, I am okay. You are amazing, and I love you all.

I'm also really excited to go to Girly's for Thanksgiving dinner, because I will get turkey, and pumpkin pie, and there will be no mention of any sadness, because it is the house of 'eat, drink, and be merry'. And I shall. Especially the pumpkin pie. Mmmm.

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Theft is Bad.

Someone stole my umbrella today. And I know someone stole it, because I put it on a desk in one of my classes, and two minutes later, it was gone. I was quite angry. After all, I lose enough umbrellas already without having them stolen from right under my nose. Plus, it was absolutely pouring outside, and if it hadn't been for the generosity of the lovely Steph, I would have been drenched. Plus, it meant I had to go buy another umbrella. Down another $9.15 because of a thief. I have this to say to you, thief; my new umbrella is shiny, and has a different colour on the inside than the outside. My new umbrella is better. And my old umbrella? It had a pin that always stuck out on the handle, and I hope it stabs you.

Bloody umbrella thief.

Monday, October 04, 2004

Mish-Mash of Information

I spent much of today studying. It was boring, but nice to actually get some work done. I still have to go back to the library later tonight though, I have midterms this week, and I'm somewhat behind. Ah, school; now I remember what I didn't miss about you.

My GST refund came in the mail today! That's $56.00 in the bank, people! Wooo! Yep, it's good times. I actually really do need the money, so the pleasure of getting that surprise cheque in the mail was even bigger than usual. Now I can pay off (part of) my visa bill!

Greg and I have nothing to eat that's actually in a food group, not that this comes as a surprise after looking at our shopping list, so we have to go to Safeway and get some food. We suck at Home Ec. On the bright side, the bank is next to Safeway, so I can deposit my cheque. We did actually have a healthy dinner last night, when we baked a lasagna my mom had left for us in the freezer. It was so good. I think I may be getting malnourished.

And finally, I forgot to mention that on Saturday, I bought three gorgeous white shadow boxes, and I am now having way too much fun organizing them. I'm going to take down all the little frames I have in my room, and just focus on the really great pictures and momentoes. So excited!

Gotta go, we're off to buy some edibles. Can't wait for real food! It feels like it's been so long!

Saturday, October 02, 2004

Superstore Seduction

That should so be the title of a romance novel. My story however, holds no romance whatsoever. Except for the eternal romance between myself and brie cheese. My parents, as I previously mentioned, are in Austria, and Greg and I have exhausted our house's supply of food, so we decided to go to The Great Canadian Superstore. Let's just say that when Greg and I grow up and have families, will not be responsible for the family grocery shopping. This was our haul;

655 g sour patch kids
645 g sour keys
495 g fuzzy peaches
2 boxes lemon tea
toiletpaper
2 bottle 'POM' pomegranate juice (I am a Queer Eye WHORE, people)
5 cans 'pulp-free' orange concentrate (my brother rebelling against the pulp)
1 bag Lays chips (Greg's)
2 bags Miss Vickies chips (mine, sadly)
1 wheel brie cheese (we do battle over this one, but it is an entire wheel)
16 bottles koala springs soft drink
20 bottles IRN-BRU soft drink (if you don't know what it is, you're missing out)
5 bottles assorted soft drinks we've never actually had, but thought we'd try 'just for the heck of it'
Goat cheese
Swiss cheese
3.78L Ocean Spray Ruby Red Cocktail (amazingly good, and I can pretend it's healthy)
1 jar Nutella (again, if you don't know it, check it out and learn to love it)
1 O Magazine (mine)
1 InStyle Magazine (mine too)
1 'Laughs' Archie and Friends Double Digest (Greg's. Heh.)

Yep, we're a healthy pair, the two of us. We must be genetic freaks.

In other news, I clobbered the hell out of my head this morning. Walked outside into the corner of an open window. There was a visible dent in my forehead, but it started bleeding, and the scab covered it entirely. Super attractive, I know. Hurt like hell too. Ech, I hate pointless injuries that result from my own stupidity. Luckily I can go drown my sorrows in IRN-BRU, Koala, and sour keys. Woo!

Heh. All that shopping, and we still have nothing for dinner.

Friday, October 01, 2004

Friday!

Woo! It's Friday! This would be far more exciting if I didn't have three midterms next week. Ech. At least I can get them out of the way. But, along with being Friday, it's now October! And 20 days to my birthday! Tessa tells me it's my champagne birthday, as I am turning 21 on the 21st, but I have no idea what that's supposed to mean, so I'm just going to focus on the birthday part. Wooo!

Babysitting was long last night. The parents went to a dinner party, and they didn't get back until 12:30! I fell asleep (oops). But they did make me dinner, and it was homemade macaroni and cheese, and it was really, really good.

So excited, after school I get to see Girly again! Yay! Not sure what we'll be doing, another friend wants to go to Daiso, the Asian store in Richmond where everything is $2 ($2!), and then catch a movie, so we'll see what happens. Hope everyone's had a good week, and has an even better weekend. Later!

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Frivolity, And Then Politics

My horrible day did improve, yesterday, after a rough start. If the dreams weren't bad enough, the beginning of the day was pretty crappy too, though helped by some of my girls (thanks!). Anyway, I went to 49th and Fraser to get some stuff done, and then, on the bus back, Girly got on! So we went and had lunch at Granville Sushi (mmmm), and then I went back to class. That's the perfect kind of bus encounter. It was definitely the highlight of my day.

In other news, this weeks Maclean's magazine came today. Apparently, FOX news is planning on coming to Canada. Spare me, please. Also, did you know the FOX News' slogan is "fair and balanced"? The hell is that? What really gets me, though, is that their newscasts are so, so right-wing, (Bill O'Reilly? Please learn to shut up. And when you get that down, please use your hard-earned new skill), and yet FOX has so many shows (reality and otherwise) that I'm sure Conservatives would consider "morally reprehensible". I find them morally reprehensible, and I'm a liberal! That 70's Show? Always stoned. Family Guy? Amazingly politically incorrect. I watch them both occasionally, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't flow with the Republican dream.

One Bill O'Reilly quote from Maclean's particularly caught my eye. On April 30th, he had this to say to the Canadian Press;
"I got nothing against the Canadian people, but in the last few years you've swung dramatically to the left. And we in America have some questions about that."

This one little quote is quite telling, for me. One, it holds an interesting note of you are accountable" in it, which is interesting. Bill O'Reilly spends considerable (almost all) of his time doing what I assume he would call "holding the Democrats and other Liberals accountable" (others would have less polite phrases in mind), and has now decided to hold us, as Canadians, accountable. What jumps out at me is that Bush and his administration have spent a hell of a lot of effort trying to avoid all accountability. They very much have the attitude "This is what we're doing." Without wanting to reason, explain, or discuss. O'Reilly doesn't seem to be spending any time holding Bush accountable. In fact, he skipped all the way over Bush to Canada.

I am, I'll admit, a huge fan of The Daily Show. As such, I don't even try to suggest that Jon Stewart is completely objective. But the difference for me is that when a Democrat makes a mistake, or does something stupid, the show will still call them on it. Did O'Reilly mention the fact that Bush mispronounced the name of Abu Ghraib during the prison scandal to something I can only attempt to spell 'Abu Gharef'? I can't be completely sure, as I don't wach his show often, but I would doubt it.

The other part of the quote that interests me is purely philosophical. O'Reilly seems to have entirely disregarded the idea of perspective. Status quo, politically, is non-existent. What he sees as Canada swinging to the left, I in Canada see more as the US swinging dramatically to the right. To me, the granting of the right to gay marriage seemed like a natural progression into a more enlightened society. I thought that judge in Alabama with the 10 commandments monument was a yahoo. But I understand that to others, gay marriage is an abomination that grants the 'evil' of homosexuality credence. I completely disagree, but I know that that feeling does exist, even in Canada. The US, right now, is having an extremely difficult time with the rest of the world, and with many of its constituents. As many Americans have noted, it's been a long time since America has been so disliked, internationally. We can all say it's due to foreign policy, or the detriment of women's rights, and I wouldn't disagree. But I think that Bush, and many others, have forgotten that perspective is individual. I voted, in Canada's federal election, for the party that best reflected my views. There isn't one that exactly reflects my views, but that's to be expected. What I was concerned about was whether, even while disagreeing with a party, I could understand and even agree with part of their reasoning in what they wanted to do. I need the part I'm supporting to let the country and the world hold it accountable. I'm not saying that the Bush administration doesn't hold itself at all accountable, but it would do well for them to realize that being accountable behind closed doors is quite different from answering the world's questions of why, and listening to what they have to say afterwards.

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

The Little Jan's In My Head Hate Me

The title will only make sense if you're a Calvin and Hobbes fan (and if you aren't, you're dead to me). Basically, I had two long, detailed dreams last night, and they both sucked. They made me sad, worried, and anxious, and now have me wondering what the hell they mean, and questioning a lot of things I'd thought I knew. I've never been a fan of this type of dream, and yet, the tiny little Jan's of my subconscious decided those were the two movies of the night. If they didnt have such a strong union, I'd fire them all. As it is, I'd settle for a strike.

I have class. Maybe it'll distract me from the stupid dream-induced thoughts that keep circling my head. Here's to hope!

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Quote of the Week

"After he left, I cried for a week. And then I realized I do have faith: faith in myself, faith that I would one day meet someone who would be sure that I was the one."
-Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City

I'm not in the 'I love everything Sex and the City' fan club, but this quote is oddly similar to what I've been dealing with, and feeling, lately. It's part of what I was trying to say earlier, about my ridiculous, but ever-present faith in the world. And I guess in myself too, now that I think about it.

What Have I Been Doing?

Seriously, it's been crazy. My weekend was insanely busy (HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRLY!), and I've been sleeping pretty much all the time since then. I have midterms next week! Eek! But all of recruitment is over now, finally, so I can start studying. Which I will have to do a lot of. Also, my parents left about an hour ago, for their 3 week sojourn to Austria (so...jealous....). Me an Greg are therefore left to fend for ourselves in the food department, which should be interesting (read: frightening), but my mom did leave us with some pre-prepared meals, because she knows us well. Just to make it even more fun, Greg is painting certain rooms of our house while they're gone, so the house will be full of paint fumes too.

Anyhow,the past few days I've been in a bit of a funk, but I'm hoping that I've bounced back (it's one of those things that lurks in the background and makes unwanted surprise entrances). Time, as always, will tell. But I have to go, cause dinner is ready. Mmmm. Later, all.

Monday, September 27, 2004

I Just Want To Sleep

Busiest weekend ever. More details later, I'm going to be late for school.

Friday, September 24, 2004

A Night of Television, Recaptured

America's Next Top Model

Tessa: The hell is Tyra wearing?
T: I kinda like it.
J-Bird: The colours?!
T: No, not the colours. The colours are ugly.
J-Bird: How do you pick a dress that clashes with your skin?!
T: Tyra Banks has a huge forehead.
Tessa: Yes, yes she does. And you'd think she'd have a hairstylist that knew better than to emphasize that.
J-Bird: Why are there girls kowtowing to Tyra Banks?
T: They're kissing ass to try to make it on the actual show.
Tessa: That, or Tyra is their GOD.
J-Bird: Girls need a new role model.

(super skinny girl walks into 'interview' with Tyra, Jay and J.)
J-Bird, Tessa, and T: Augh, god!
J-Bird: Did you see her pelvis?
Tessa: It was like something out of an anatomy textbook.
T: Ew!

(skinnier girl walks in to interview)
J-Bird, Tessa and T: (unintelligible sounds of disgust and horror)
Tyra Banks: I do think you're too thin...
Tessa: Even Tyra thinks you're too skinny, girl.
T: Oh my god, she needs professional help, like right now.
J-Bird: And food.

('plus sized' model walks into interview)
T: Oh my god, her boobs are gigantic!
Tessa: So that's what they mean by 'plus sized'.
J-Bird: They're actually each bigger than Tyra's head. And Miss Tyra has a huge forehead.

(Miss Tyra blathers onscreen)
J-Bird: Whose genius idea was it to bluescreen her infront of palm trees?
Tessa: Realism, by UPN.
T: I love this show!

Queer Eye For the Straight Guy

T: Wow, he's hot.
Tessa: Definitely in the running for 'hottest made-over straight guy'.
T: Aw, he's proposing!
Carson, to the couple: This is where we thought you were gonna say no! (Note: she says yes)
J-Bird: I think I'm in love with the fab five.
Tessa: Too bad you aren't a man.
J-Bird: Two words, missy. Rupert Everett.
Tessa: Shut up.

Kai: I know spa treatments are expensive, but you know what's more expensive? Divorce.

T: This show is so good!
J-Bird: I really can't believe you've never seen this before.
Tessa: We've liberated her from Queer Eye deprivation.
J-Bird: We are truly excellent people.
Tessa: We're horribly shallow, aren't we?
J-Bird: Only once a week.

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Yeagh.

Ech, last night was weird. And by weird, I mean bad. It was just all-around unpleasant. So, should I ever be in a parallel situation next year (god I hope I'm not), please do not let me go to wet rush. Ech.

On the bright side, I think most people had fun. Some had a little too much fun. Heh. But I haven't heard of anyone else so far that had a bad night. To be fair, the night wasn't all bad. There was a period in the beginning, and another at the end, that weren't entirely unpleasant. But I was once again reminded why I have always preferred to be with drunk people I know, rather than drunk strangers who are creepy and weird. Also, that there are certain people I should just avoid when they're drunk, because they get weird. On the bright side, I wasn't drunk, which I honestly think helped avert about a bajillion disasters. So wooo sober (as always) me!

Anyway, it's Queer Eye Thursday, today, with the added bonus of America's Next Top Model Thursday! Greg taped everything for me last night, and a whole gang of people are coming to watch. So give me a call if you're interested!

PS To Evi and Amanda: Sometimes change is good, and we've all changed, in little and/or big ways. Of course cynical J-Bird is still here, otherwise the whole 'logic' thing would fly out the window, and I'd probably have ugly blonde highlights in my hair and chew bubblegum all the time or something. The difference is that cynical J-Bird doesn't really talk as much, and even when she does, I don't listen very often. She cowers in the spatial reasoning part of my brain, and wonders where her megaphone went. As you can probably tell, it was stolen by insane metaphor-happy J-Bird, who is quite at large, and reigning with an iron fist. But not actually. Heh.