Delusion-Elle

Können Sie Deutsch sprechen?

2012-02-11T23:30:00.000-08:00

Nein! As my life has found a certain rhythm and routine, I've come to realize that I have quite a bit of free time on my hands, so I've started to learn German. I'm following BBC Languages' "German Steps" to give myself some structure and a syllabus to follow. The aspect about this BBC Languages guide that enamoured me is that they send me weekly e-mails telling me which unit I should be working on in order to keep on track to finishing the "course" in 12 weeks. However, I do find that the BBC Languages guide presents information in a somewhat jumbled fashion where phrases are favoured over individual words so I have come back to this blog with hopes of sorting things out in a manner that seems more logical to me.

Lesson 1: Basics
- To me, the way to learn language is to pick up the basic building blocks first -- not to have structures presented to you to be memorized for duplication. With the basics, I hope to get the simplest bits of language into my arsenal early so that I do not doubt myself when these bits come up later in much more confusing contexts. This information by itself is not very useful, but they are common knowledge: pronouns, verbs, numbers, months of the year. The vocab is not meant to be memorized right now, but rather my intent is for early exposure to get these things to stick in my memory better.

Pronouns:

German	English
ich	I
du	you (informal)
er/sie/es	he/she/it
wir/sie/Sie	we/they/you (formal)

*Note about 'sie':

It can mean...	When...
you (formal)	It starts with a capital letter The verb ends with -en
she/it	It starts with a lower case letter The verb ends with -t
they	It starts with a lower case letter The verb ends with -en

Basic verbs:

Sein (to be)
ich bin
du bist
er/sie/es ist
wir/sie/Sie sind
Haben (to have)
ich habe
du hast
er/sie/es hat
wir/sie/Sie haben
Können (to be able to)
ich kann
du kannst
er/sie/es kann
wir/sie/Sie können

Numbers:

1 - eins

2 - zwe

3 - drei

4 - vier

5 - fünf

6 - sechs

7 - sieben

8 - acht

9 - neun

10 - zehn

11 - elf
12 - zwölf
13 - dreizehn
14 - vierzehn
15 - fünfzehn
16 - sechzehn
17 - siebzehn
18 - achtzehn
19 - neunzehn
20 - zwanzig

21 - einundzwanzig
22 - zweiundzwanzig
30 - dreißig
34 - vierunddreißig
40 - vierzig
50 - fünfzig
60 - sechzig
70 - siebzig
80 - achtzig
90 - neunzig

100 - (ein)hundert
101 - hunderteins/hundertundeins
132 - hundertzweiunddreißig/hundertundzweiunddreißig
200 - zweihundert
300 - dreihundert
400 - vierhundert
500 - fünfhundert
600 - sechshundert
700 - siebenhundert
800 - achthundert
900 - neunhundert

Months:
Januar
Februar
März
April
Mai
Juni
Juli
August
September
Oktober
November
Dezember

Obligatory 2011 Post

2012-01-01T02:15:00.000-08:00

I've abandoned this blog for far too long (again) and we've hit that time of year again where everyone has problems writing down the date and people finally start to recover from their holidays hangover.

2011 was a very trying year. Thinking back to last January, I can honestly say that a lot has happened since then. The good things included finishing 2nd year (not with flying colours, but with a somewhat respectable GPA) and landing a co-op placement with a company focused on creating products that I would actually be passionate about. I became closer to my friends during the summer and had a great time with them every Monday night when we'd talk and jam out playing Guitar Hero. They are such good people. I could not ask for a better set of friends to genuinely care about me. Much love.

The bad was, simply put, bad. I let my heart get away from me for a few months, and even now, almost half a year later, I'm still trying to get a complete hold of it again. My cat passed away, and even as I type this, I feel the tears spring to my eyes. He was a fantastic cat. I won't say that he was better than my last, but he was mine and I loved him -- still do. I miss him every day. Every time I remember him and how loyal and gentle he was, I miss him like crazy. The only solace I can get out of this is that he's in a better place with Grizz and my grandpa and they're all waiting for me. And I know that they all love me and they will wait for me -- just like when they were here on Earth -- until the end of time if they have to. They're watching over me and what keeps me going is just this weird belief I have that I am doing this all for them. I want to make them proud even though I know that no matter what happens, their love is unconditional.

Another tragedy to strike was the death of my math tutor, also the husband of my piano teacher. He and his wife had such a hand in raising me. They were truly good people, helping out with charities and fundraising, while still spending time with their family and teaching their students not just piano/math/etc., but also life lessons. He was so young, too -- not even 60 yet. I cannot even begin to imagine how his loved ones are coping with his passing. Only the good die young.

I want to end this post on a somewhat encouraging note, so I'll try to come up with some New Years Resolutions, or rather just a few small goals for myself this year:

Learn German up to a basic level following the BBC Languages guide
Lose 5 pounds
Stop being afraid to write more music
Do not lose myself in trying to please anyone else
Curb spending (especially with my credit card)
Read more books
Finish proofreading my NaNoWriMo from 2011 & order the physical copy
Don't fall for anyone
Don't compromise my own values and beliefs and comfort levels
Experience and live more

Love and peace. Hoping (and praying, literally) that 2012 turns out better than 2011!

Work & Clubbing

2011-10-13T23:46:00.000-07:00

So, an update from me about how things are going. I'd say that in the grand scheme of things, life is treating me well. I do envy the people at work -- well-established in their fields and happy and stable -- but I'm trying to tell myself not to worry about them and my own future too much. My co-workers think it's funny how young I am. I don't feel young at all, and I certainly see no humour in being this age. The project that I'm working on has gotten much harder to make progress on, partly because the concepts are all completely foreign to me and also because my brain cannot function from the hours of 7am to 1pm, which is sadly a good chunk of the day. What doesn't help is that I have these (probably) unreasonably high expectations for myself, and I'm imposing them on all of my co-workers, which is very unfair, really. But enough of my complaining. I'm mostly okay. I just do not enjoy showing my work to people higher up... I don't want them looking at my shoddy progress and having it reflect badly on my project manager (who hired me in the first place). I really should stop caring so much.

I hate still being so tired after and during work. Some days are worse than others. I really must go for a walk every day, I think.

Going back to the short bulleted list I made last post about things to blog about, I'm going to recap what my experience at the Library Square Public House was like.

I was there as a birthday party guest. We didn't make reservations and there were about 20 of us so it was very nice that they managed to squeeze us all in without making us wait. The atmosphere there is typical of a pub -- dim lighting, plenty of TV's around playing whichever sports games are on, a bar, and generally a cozy feeling. Though the lack of space may have contributed to the coziness.

The food was... not very good. Or at least, my food was alright -- not really good, but as I was hungry, I ate it. I believe that I ordered a hamburger. On the bright side, the patty was massive and looked to be maybe an inch thick, but aside from that, there was nothing special about it. I believe that there was a tangy sauce, which was interesting enough, but I felt like it didn't do much for me or the overall taste of the burger. The appetizer I split with a friend was the chili squid, which was calamari in chili sauce. It was not bad, but a bit too spicy for my tastes. Though that might not have been helped by the fact that the only drinks I had were red wine (which doesn't taste all that good, I have to say, though nothing with alcohol in it is very taste; I think I had it to be "cultured") and water.

At around 9pm, the dancefloor was opened up and the place pretty much transformed into a club. The music was loud, deafeningly so, but I didn't realize it until after I'd left. It was 90's night, but I did hear a good number of more recent songs (LMFAO, I'm looking at you. And glaring.). The dancefloor filled up pretty quickly, and my friends and I ended up at the bar, where I had a 151. And this is where it got exciting. So we ended up getting the 151's "en fuego", and apparently that means "on fire". When we clinked shotglasses, the drinks spilled over and so did the fire. So yes, I was literally on fire, or at least my hand was. I'm still sporting scars from the burns, but the blisters are finally gone, which is fantastic.

After downing the (very nasty-tasting) 151, I ended up dancing. Much of the time I was on the edge of the crowd -- which actually suited me just fine -- and I ended up pressed to a wall -- something I was also very much okay with. I have to give my friends props for trying to include me and pull me back into the thick of things. :) That was so very nice of them. I actually quite enjoy dancing so that was nice, though it was kind of painful getting stepped on and elbowed. I ended up staying there until midnight or so, which I think was fine.

In conclusion, yeah, sure, I'd go clubbing again if it was part of a birthday event or something, but do I care to go again of totally my own accord? Not really. I don't really care to see people dancing sexily close to each other. And yeah, they're strangers, but I'd rather not see it.

Also, I don't know if this is true for other people when they go clubbing, but I distinctly remember thinking that despite being part of a large crowd, I felt horribly alone. And I don't really want to feel like that again.

Momentarily back online

2011-10-02T02:15:00.000-07:00

Hello. I am back. I am not certain if this is temporary or permanent, but I felt like I needed an outlet where I could write lengthy posts that aren't saved on my computer, but aren't read by lots of people (i.e. tumblr -- honestly, personal posts have very little place on tumblr, or Twitter -- ditto).

My last post was back in July, and I feel as though a lot has happened since then. I suppose that's true since it is October now.

To follow-up on what I was blogging about back in July, me and my Australian pursuer are through. I don't have the time or energy to talk to him and it's been I think 3 weeks since I last talked to him. I'm happy to be free of him.

Just less than a month ago, I started my co-op work placement with a company downtown. I won't disclose which company exactly, but our products are for mobile devices and what I'm currently working on is a simple game for our platform. And the game is all my own, which is pretty darn cool, but also kind of nerve-wracking because it's my baby, and I'm 100% responsible for it. Work in itself is draining, I find, though perhaps it's because this working full-time thing is a very big change for me. It is incredibly nice not having homework, though I do miss my Music assignments. I've had dreams about taking Music classes, further cementing that I will most definitely be upgrading my minor to a major once I'm done my CPSC degree.

As it is October now, I am definitely excited about the NHL hockey season starting back up again. Funny look into my life: my dad, avid Habs fan that he is, bought a new phone just so he could stream Habs games anywhere. I am not even kidding. He really is pleased as punch that I was able to find streams for him. Granted, yes, my dad loves technology and electronics, but I thought that the phone he had was adequate.

My life has been focused around a few select things as of late: TV shows (Doctor Who, Community, Adventure Time), reading, gaming (L4D2, Sanctum), spending gratuitous amounts of money on food.

Hopefully I'll get to blog a little more in the next few coming days about some things that I've had on my mind, but it's 2AM right now and I'm dead tired.

Things to blog about in the future:

teen fiction (and the sad state that it is in)
my first 'clubbing' experience
Doctor Who
2011 NaNoWriMo experience as it happens
going to the VAG (you'll only get it if you're a Vancouverite)

Good night!

Tea Will Rock You

2011-07-21T00:42:00.000-07:00

So it seems that summer is officially over in Vancouver. We get the occasional sunny day, but as of late it's been a constant blanket of grey clouds, with the ever fear-inducing possibility of precipitation. But you know, a little rain never did any harm to anyone.

And that is why on a cloudy, grey Sunday, my friends and I went to Adonia for high tea. I went for afternoon tea back in London last year at the Orangery at Kensington Palace so my experience with high tea is limited to that one previous instance. Sadly, this blog entry will not be about this, despite the eponymous title.

Adonia's located in Kerrisdale between East/West Boulevard and Maple Street on 41st, so it's easy to access via the 041/043 or 016 buses. It's fairly small inside with most of the seating set up for small groups or couples. The décor is wannabe Victorian and screams stuffy, stodgy, and snobby. Not that that's a bad thing. That's what makes this so stereotypically British -- tea and teatime and scones and crumpets. Interestingly enough it seems that their clientèle is mainly (if not solely) Asian. That explains certain items on their menu, I suppose. As the place is so small, it was a little cramped with our group of 7, but we managed okay by being careful with our elbows.

The food was alright. This kind of food is not spectacular and such high expectations should not be mixed with pastries and savouries. Of course the highlights of the meal were the different flavours of tea. Since we each ordered the full-sized 3-tiered afternoon tea we got 12 little pastries/savouries as well as a pot of tea each. The flavours we got were Tiramisu (x2), Peach Nectar, something Macchiato, Chocolate Mint, Blueberry Yoghurt, and Earl Grey (you honestly cannot go wrong with Earl Grey). The Tiramisu was surprisingly rather tasteless -- it just tasted like very plain tea with a bit of a tiramisu after taste. The Blueberry Yoghurt and Peach Nectar were quite flavourful, though I thought that the Chocolate Mint matched its name fairly accurately. I still think that the Earl Grey turned out to be my favourite. Maybe it's because I like those creamy British teas (English Breakfast, Afternoon tea, etc.) but there were some nice spices thrown in there so I felt like there was an actual solid flavour to it. But then that's just me.

In other non-tea related news, I've now gone to see the last Harry Potter movie twice and I am slowly coming to terms with my childhood ending. Yes, I cried the first time I watched it when Fred, Lupin, and Tonks died, and especially during Snape's memories. Like, I was straight up crying, not just tearing up silently. Also, this is quite possibly the most awkward hug I've ever seen (note: this was edited to make it even more awkward, but essentially, yes it was this awkward):

Which is probably about as awkward as my hugs.

Also. My pursuer continues pursuing. The poor sap. I think that he's really deluded himself into thinking there is a possibility of something happening despite being an ocean away.

2011-07-11T03:57:00.001-07:00

Excuse me while I rofl quietly in a corner of my room as it is 4AM and some pretty weird things were said to me.

EDIT: Honestly, when someone says, "im going to bne honest with you, youre pretty amazing. cute asian girl who likes good games" I cannot keep my shit together. I downplayed it, obviously. To be honest, there are tons of prettier/cuter Asian girls out there who play video games. So I reminded him of that. But then... "yeah but, youre better. idk why. you just are :P" BRB rofling.

Why I Hate Dental Appointments

2011-07-10T03:17:00.000-07:00

Today I had some cavities filled. Cavities that my dentist had found LAST YEAR, but decided to get filled this year. *headdesk*
So it was supposed to be 2 appointments because I had like 4 cavities or so, but my mom pushed to get everything done today, which sounded like a good thing to me. Except when they started the anaesthetics I was in an intense amount of pain. Why they had to stick the needle in my mouth for so long, I'll never know. What I do know is that whatever nerve they jabbed on my right side took out the feeling in half of my nose and my right eyelid. That was indeed a fantastic feeling. My entire lower jaw plus tongue were numb as well so dinner was a difficult and late ordeal.
The thing about my dentist is that she points out tons of cavities that need to be filled, but when this other dentist that works there and sometimes fills in for her for short check-ups takes a look, he sees little to no work to be done. I understand my dentist wanting to be on top of things, but it seems nearly fanatical. I mean, it's not like we have an unlimited amount of money for these dental appointments. .___." Yeah, my dad's plan from work covers a good chunk of it, but still.

In other news, after being out all day yesterday, I came home to find some money from the government (yay for low income!) and my ballot for the HST vote. I haven't been keeping abreast of the local politics as of late, but after seeing all of those HST stick-figure commercials during the NHL Playoffs, I have an idea of how I will vote.

It seems that South Sudan officially became a country recently, as well! Amazing. History is happening even as we speak.

And to continue with the topic of my previous blog entries...
"hey there love" -- someone slap me. I can't get over that. Who the hell starts a conversation like that? And then continues with: "i missed you, just sayin' >.>" Hon, I didn't talk to you for, like, a day. And the last two times we conversed, you only gave me 1-word answers. Though today is much better, surprisingly. I guess he figured out that my PMS can only last for a week (and yes, he asked if I was still in my monthly grump mood lolol). Oh wow, we're actually having a normal conversation. Well, as normal as can be when video games are involved. This is absolutely amazing.

ALSO. I really miss hockey season. T_______T

2011-07-07T02:38:00.000-07:00

I am a very happy girl. I really didn't think that it'd help so much, but I think my piano saved me from a meltdown of sorts today. Man, I should've been doing this all along. And I improvised something very nice (Baroque-esque using a synth-ensemble patch, sounded kinda 8-bit; but improv'd so it's gone) so that cleared my head up a lot. The problem with summer time is that I have time to think and thinking leads to small revelations about myself and those just make me feel crummy. So. I'm trying to do something productive with my time.

I swear, every song is pretty much just comprised of 4 chords, plus another few chords in the modulation/inevitable key change section. But that's it. I've got "Judas" down (mostly, I think) except for the little spoken word section before that lovely little "I wanna love you, but something's pulling me away from you" section.

Also, my Australian pursuer has not spoken to me for 2 days. I mean, I'm down with being friends. But you can't just hop from smalltalk on Twitter to awkward one-word replies on Skype. Though now that I think about it, the timing of his responses on Skype is kind of strange. If the topic was "interesting", he'd answer right away, but all of the other times it's like he was trying to remain calm and collected. Which is stupid because he pretty much said that he goes gaga over someone with the attributes that I possess. I mean, once you say that, dude, it becomes rather silly to feign disinterest. Or if you really don't care, then maybe you shouldn't've jumped the gun on the whole "you should like add me on skype" thing. If he actually isn't interested in me at all, then that's fine. I can understand that completely. But don't give crappy responses.

Regardless, I'm feeling pretty alright right now. I can't wait for Monday so we can start working on arranging.

OH JESUS CHRIST, I SPOKE TOO SOON. I just got a tweet from someone. Like a couple minutes ago.
adsfasfdasfdasdjfk;. I think I need my Swedish friend to be online when I talk to this guy just so I can at least have SOMEONE on my side who can think clearly and interpret things correctly when I can't. Because I usually end up talking to my Australian pursuer late at night and my mind is mush at such hours.

Like right now. I'm laughing really hard at his tweet and I don't even know why. If he's smitten, then I'm really really sorry but his behaviour is just hilarious. Sweetie, we've talked for all of, what, 4 hours? Plus whatever disjointed minutes we logged on Twitter. But really. Actually respond with more than one word. Please. And also, use smileys/emoticons. You sound like an insensitive jerk, even though when we mic chat'd you sounded nice and we actually had a normal conversation.

2011-07-06T01:58:00.000-07:00

I spent like 3 hours with my flute, keyboard/piano, and guitar today.
If you want fulfilling happiness, then that's the way to do it.
Still got the vibrato. Still can get in tune in under 3 minutes. Still can improvise. Still can follow tab and play "Blackbird". I guess you never really lose it.

I realized that if you take all of the electronic elements out of GaGa's "Judas", the song is fairly simple -- the vocal line is not hard at all to figure out (10 minutes max; hint: lots of E-flat for verses and the key is C minor) and from there you just have to do a metric reduction and figure out the chords. It's also not a hard song to sing. None of her songs are that hard to sing. Or maybe her range just fits mine a lot better than a lot of artists'.

My brother asked when our first gig is. I laughed so damn hard.

I also really would love to be able to do this with my "bandmates":

Also, I'm pretty sure that being "Forever Alone" guy is fine since hanging out with my instruments today was one of the best feelings I've felt in a long while. Hanging out with friends is dandy, too.

Adventures in "Being Pursued by an Australian Through the Internet"

2011-07-05T02:01:00.000-07:00

"[...] and thank you for being lovely."

Is it possible for anyone to keep a straight face, after being thanked for "being lovely"? Maybe I'm just a (hormonal) jerk (right now), but I cannot see that without laughing or at least snickering. Is this guy for real?

So. It's been... 3 days now that we've spoken? Day 1, we talked for like 15 minutes and after I logged off he told me that I'm cute. Day 2, we had decent conversation for maybe 30 min., I was a hormonal wreck, and he reiterated his sentiments from Day 1. Day 3, he was being a moody bitch who hated people. And then he thanked me for being lovely. How was I being lovely if we talked for like 30 min.? And the conversation consisted of me trying to work humour into things while he gave one-word replies. While he was being a huffy bitch, I suppose that I did tell him to not let stupid people get him down. But that was it. That's like the only possibly "lovely" thing I said. He didn't respond so I just logged off. Jesus Christ, I thought *I* was supposed to be the moody bitch who hated people. This is not going to work.

And now I'm looking back at this tweet going, "What the hell does 'keep getting better and better' mean?" ...Oh dear. I hope not. I guess 'better' was me stating that I was Asian. And then being able to speak English and French (only) just added on to that 'better'? Merde. Maybe I'm interpreting it all wrong, but this is my current interpretation. Herp derp. I didn't think that life as an Asian girl was so dangerous.

In other news, I finally reconnected with my Swedish (online) friend and we talked about this ridiculous situation I've been caught in. Really, that was the talk that I needed; talking with someone who thinks like me but is male (and not currently hormonally imbalanced) and is able to pinpoint all the important details that I gloss over. I feel very thankful to have such a good friend with whom I can be candid and silly.

Also, the little Guitar Hero "band", Shiet, that I formed with a few close friends is going to be doing something very interesting. Or rather: Shiet's getting real. I mean, between the four of us, we can play about 6 or 7 instruments -- why haven't we been making use of these talents? I'd love to be able to use the transposition I learned from theory classes in a relevant, real life application (should it be necessary). So yes. I don't think that I need to be any more detailed about what we intend on doing as nothing's really happened yet (it's all talk at the moment), but if this should become a reality, that'd just make my summer.

It's already July. Dammit.

2011-07-03T01:05:00.000-07:00

Oh FML.
Just another white guy hitting on me because I'm asian and I play video games. I think if I had said that I was an avid anime fan, he would've just jizzed his pants right then and there.
herp derp
Except this one is actually cute (not really in his Twitter pic, but on Tumblr, oi vey). But he's on a different continent. Which is kind of a good thing in this case. Because really, I think he's tweeted me like a billion times on Twitter now. If I look at his timeline for the past two days, it's been all directed at me + a few retweets. I've talked to him for like 2 days so far. And he's using hearts. And he's telling me I'm cute.

Okay, I'm just going to go rofl quietly in a corner of my room now.

EDIT: and I'm super hormonal right now (in a bad way) and I've upset him. lolol what am I doing?! I think me being hormonal and tired is a horrible combination to have to converse with.

Pokemon, Work, and Hockey

2011-06-24T02:57:00.000-07:00

I'm contemplating whether or not to go for a promotion at work. It wouldn't be something happening imminently, but once Fair rolls around and we hire en masse, it'd be nice to be differentiated from everyone else. And I'm responsible. And I've been here for almost 3 years now. Plus, once I pop into work on Sunday, I will be the proud possessor of 2 Spotlight Recognition cards. That must mean that I'm doing something right. I'm also fairly good at working cash, since the most I've been off by this season so far is $0.10. However, in a way, I'm content not having to deal with that extra stress. The pay is only a few dollars more, but generally everything negative that comes to me gets redirected to the supervisor. And with my co-op work term limiting my availability in the Fall, I'm not sure if it's totally worth my while to even try.

Also, my life is being consumed by Pokemon Black. I think I spent an hour today just trying to figure out how to make an awesome team using the pokemon that I have. Though I think I forgot to save that Notepad file. D'oh.

Now that the NHL Awards are over, it's really starting to sink in for me (as it does every year around this time): hockey season is over. Although I don't blog a lot about hockey and the weird fascination I have with it, it is a rather sizable part of my life. That's something that I can't really help; I was raised on it. My dad would tape games and we'd stay up late watching them, partly because I was one of those 2 year olds who couldn't sleep at night and also because my dad apparently loved that he could watch hockey with his daughter. Like, psh, who needs a son when I have a daughter who wears a Habs T-shirt (there is pictorial evidence) and sport Avalanche tearaways? Anyhow...

I've been up since 7:30AM. It's now 2AM and I feel like rambling. I was talking to my mom the other day about how I got that co-op job placement (because I still can't believe it) and she said that my dad had a part in helping me get it. This confused me, but then she reminded me of how he got me into hockey and how I ended up blathering on about hockey and the Canucks and the Bruins and Tim Thomas and the Canadiens during my interview. Yeah, I guess I wouldn't have been able to do that if I didn't live with such a hockey fanatic. So here's a look at my strange relationship with hockey.

Hockey has been a constant in my life. It's been a way for me and my dad to communicate -- he's not so good with words or feelings, and frankly neither am I -- but it's also been a way for me to connect with others. I still like to think of myself as a fairly objective hockey fan. Sure, I can cheer for a team, but I'm not in denial when the team I'm rooting for lands a dirty hit or pulls cheap tricks. Maybe I just like to play Devil's Advocate every once in a while. But during those 17 years of watching this sport, I've come to accept that I am not a "true, hardcore" fan. I don't think that I could ever be. To me, what a diehard "true, hardcore" fan is, is someone who knows the sport inside and out and memorizes stats and facts and figures. I can't do that. Hockey is more than numbers to me. I just like to watch, absorb, and focus on the dynamics on the ice. If I really think about it, hockey has introduced 3 teams into my life which I liken to friends.

Firstly, there are the Habs. Also more widely known to those new to the sport as the Canadiens, I grew up watching them thanks to my dad's undivided loyalty to them. Sure, the Canucks are our hometown team, but my dad's watched hockey from a young age, from before the Canucks were even around. And Montreal has always been his team. The Habs are, collectively, that one old friend that your folks adore. Maybe because that friend is respectful and has always been respectful and your parents like that. This is a friend that's just always been there, maybe not always doing so great, but there nonetheless, and you go way back.

The Canucks are my hometown team. To me, they've always been a team full of superstars that have had a great deal of ups and downs just keeping them away from the coveted Cup. Fitting this team into the friend analogy, I'd have to say that this is the friend that tries so hard time and time, but just can never quite reach that level of being the absolute best. And you support them through all of the downfalls and heartache, though even you sometimes wonder whether it'll ever happen. Regardless, you still support them and every time this friend is down, you pick them right back up to try again. I still don't like Luongo, though. ~~You seriously do not go and blame Sami Salo for "making the puck drop 3 feet" for why you are a human sieve in Boston.~~

Finally, the Red Wings just kind of exploded into my life. I remember going to my first hockey game back when I was 10 with my dad. It was Vancouver against Detroit. And Detroit won. I remember my second and third hockey games. Detroit and Detroit again, victorious. I even got a puck from a referee at one of these games. The fourth Canucks game I went to was also against Detroit, but finally, Vancouver won. The thing is that I had always respected this team, as did my dad. But seeing them winning game in and game out was... kind of amazing. I was disheartened by Vancouver's losses, but Detroit was sharp on the ice. And they were really fun to watch. In this instance, I'm not sure what kind of friend the Red Wings have been to me. I didn't know them all that well for years, and I didn't like that they were beating the Canucks at all these games, but when I finally got to know them a bit, I was blown away. I don't follow the Red Wings religiously (I watch Habs and Canucks games much more regularly), but perhaps that adds to why I find them appealing -- they're not something I watch all the time, which is like a treat. It makes them a little bit glamourous, which I suppose is a kind of friend -- the one you don't see regularly, yet still manages to capture your attention when you do see them.

Also, it sucks when these teams face off against each other and I have to pick a side. I usually end up sitting kind of silently not celebrating goals for either side, oddly enough.

It's Over

2011-06-16T02:38:00.000-07:00

The 2010-2011 NHL hockey season is over. It was a rocky season with ups and downs for everyone, but tonight it all came down to one game.

I spent my evening at home, talking to my cousin on Skype. Since she's back east doing co-op for a term, we've been communicating regularly during Canucks playoff games. I have to say that I love talking to someone knowledgeable and passionate about the sport, and she has both of these things as she's been a Canucks fan since she was 6. My excuse for staying in for the night was something between keeping my cousin company as well as studying for my Math final on Friday.

The game ended in a blowout: the Bruins beat the Canucks 4-0 with a empty net goal late in the 3rd to seal the deal. A part of me is unsurprised -- this trend of defeat is not foreign to anyone who knows the Canucks -- but at the same time this is crushing. It feels like this team, this franchise, cannot win the most coveted prize in hockey. The team was strong this year, but maybe just not strong enough. In this series, where the teams were so evenly matched it seemed, both teams won their games on home ice. But for Vancouver, those games were all very close, in fact, I believe that they were all decided by one goal. This was not the case for Boston, as they consistently outplayed the Canucks and made a fool out of Luongo. I won't comment too much on tonight's game as I'm not the right person to do such a thing, but I will say congratulations to the Boston Bruins. It was not an easy series for the Canucks, and it was not an easy series for the Bruins, but in the end, the Canucks could not follow through and the Bruins stepped it up. I remember back in the regular season when Boston would quite comfortably trounce the Habs, my brother would say, "Boston for the Cup!" I guess he was right.

In spite of all that, I found this interesting article written before tonight's game, which really highlights a lot of the similarities between the two teams as well as summing up this whole series. And in case you're wondering, yes, Peter Forsberg did play for the Nashville Predators. I had to look that one up. (Forsberg is synonymous with the Avalanche in my mind.)

The aftermath of tonight's game is just... well. On the one hand, I understand upset fans -- true fans. But a group of hooligans who don't care for the sport, who just want to cause trouble is something that I don't want running around my city, setting it ablaze and essentially destroying it. Watching the coverage on the news, I could tell that these were not Vancouverites. The demographics were all wrong. I know that we're multicultural and that we were the 2010 Olympics host city. Everything that I saw on TV tonight was not us.

Sure, these people are from the Metro Vancouver area. But these folks are from the suburbs. And I don't want to pick on Surrey -- I've met some great people from Surrey; a little rough around the edges but still really friendly and nice -- but after seeing one young man show off his shirt listing the different neighbourhoods in Surrey to the camera, I am not happy with the way these people have come into the heart of my city and wrecked it. Again, if these were fans, I'd understand it. But these aren't fans. These aren't even Vancouverites. In some ways this year's riot was worse than the '94 one in terms of the number of people standing around trying to capture the moment for the sake of social media, but at the same time, I think that there were fewer retailers affected as the action was taken off of Robson. All in all, it is a sad time to be a Vancouverite. Whether you are a devout hockey fan or just someone who appreciates this city's beauty, today is a sad day.

Do you want to know the difference between a Vancouverite and someone from the outskirts? This is what Vancouverites do. And the hooligans? I think it's clear what they do.

One More Night

2011-06-15T02:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the last night that the Chicago Blackhawks can be touted as the current Stanley Cup champs. Tomorrow night all eyes in the hockey world will be on the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks. And it's going to be bloody exciting.

I don't usually blog so extensively about hockey, but I'm high on cold meds (again), and this is probably my last chance for the season. I am, in no way, an expert on hockey. My guy friends are. I am not, so everything said here should be taken with a grain of salt. Oh, and I'm only semi-lucid right now so who knows what exactly I'm going to be saying.

The Canucks-Bruins match-up is an interesting one. One, a relatively young franchise, though still Cup-less, and the other a part of the Original Six, having produced many great hockey players, though pushing 39 years of being without the Stanley Cup.

As someone living in Vancouver, I've gotten a very interesting perspective throughout these playoffs. Firstly, my #1 team, Detroit, was eliminated in the second round, so I was able to take a step back and observe things from a slightly less heady point of view. Don't get me wrong, I most certainly do follow the Canucks. It's just that my first love is for the Red Wings. Canucks and Habs are probably next. Firstly, the Canucks bandwagon has exploded, and this is an issue that I am torn about. On the one hand, I love to see people (seemingly) passionate about the sport. I've grown up watching hockey, it's always been a constant in my life (minus the lockout year), and I am excited to see people embracing hockey. I mean, as fans, everyone's got to start somewhere, and the Canucks' fated playoffs run has brought this city together. On the other hand, I cringe at people new to the sport commentating as though they know the sport inside and out. I've also witnessed newly proclaimed Canucks fans call other new fans "bandwagoners". To me, this is ridiculous. Unless you've been with this team through the ups and down, through the West Coast Express years, through Linden's retirement, and the Bertuzzi-Moore incident, are you really truly a fan?

I certainly understand "jumping onto the bandwagon". It's just that I want to know whether you are going to jump right back off, or if you are delusional and therefore uneducated about the sport, or if you really do want to get into hockey. The fact that there are so many uneducated -- and I am using this term loosely -- "fans" irks me to no end. Again, I understand wanting to be a part of this great excitement and trying to get into this sport, but you have to do your homework. I'm going to liken it to becoming a fan of a certain band or artist: if you're a fan, you know the band inside and out -- you know the names of the members and you've gone through the trouble of looking them up because you are hungry for information about them, because you want to be able to converse with other intelligent fans, such as yourself. It's exactly the same with any sports organization.

Bandwagoning aside, it's been highlighted how "unclassy" the Boston fans are. My response to that is: look in the mirror. First of all, hockey is not a classy sport. Sure, you do have classy players -- Lidstrom comes to mind -- and you can have classy coaches and classy fans, but at the end of the day, hockey is a contact sport. It is physical and people who are fans, especially in areas where hockey is not the biggest market, are insanely passionate about their teams. On both sides the antics have downright horrid at times. Of course, diehard fans will defend their teams' fans, but again, as someone who is not a "diehard" Canucks or Bruins fan, I see the classlessness and "dirtiness" of both sides. If you look and don't turn a blind eye, I assure you that it is indeed there.

What with all of the injuries sidelining players, I figure that I'd may as well comment on those as well. Yes, this does tie in directly with the fans' behaviour, but I want to look at all of the finger-pointing Canucks nation has been doing. The Bruins are an Original Six team. I feel like this is something we should remember sometimes. It means that their fans, their diehard fans, are absolutely nuts about their team, and for good reason with that rich history, and of course Bobby Orr. We mustn't forget about that man. That all aside, it seems to be a general consensus that both sides with the best for all of the injured players. The Rome hit was an open ice, to-the-head hit. Rome left the ice. Horton was down and out. I hate to blame the victim, but yes, he probably should've had his head up. That being said, Horton was one of their star players in these playoffs. Boston definitely came out of this incident the losers. Hamhuis is out, for something undisclosed, and now we come to the Boychuk hit on Mason Raymond. From what I saw, the hit, albeit late, really did not look very bad. Yes, the positioning was definitely awkward, but as far as I know, it wasn't a hit to the head, and really, it was all just very bad luck and unfortunate. It's horrible that MayRay will be out for 3-4 months because of this, but it was bad timing and bad positioning. It was hard to tell what exactly had gone wrong.

When the fans were chanting and jeering just after the hit on Raymond, I know that Canucks fans were truly incensed. "Flopper", the Boston crowd called. From what I've read off of various hockey blogs by writers in love with teams all around the league, I have to say that the Canucks are seen as a team of divers and floppers. It's not me saying it, it's what everyone else is saying. I personally believe that the Canucks team this year is extremely talented; they're the right combination at the right time, and I honestly think that this group has what it takes to end the 40-year long drought. Back to the Boston fans jeering, a part of me felt that this was in bad taste (though I have to go back to what I said about hockey not being classy), but after reading a piece by a Boston fan, I can understand what went through their minds. The hit, like I said, really did not look all that dangerous. Awkward, yes. But there was no way to know just how serious the injury was. Heck, no one knew just how bad until the word came back from the medical staff at the hospital. And given all of this, I do see where the NHL is coming from with the calls they made. I don't necessarily agree with them -- I mean, Horton is up and walking around and I really don't want to bring up the Chara-Pacioretty hit -- but I see the logic behind it, as flawed and inconsistent as it may be. But then, Canucks fans, do you really want to dig into the Burrows biting incident?

At the ends of the ice, we of course have two stellar goalies. I'm not going to deny the success that Luongo's had this season and his acquisition of a gold medal at the Olympics. Those are all facts -- the numbers and the medal. But his performance in the Finals have left much to be desired. What bothers me about Luongo is the fact that he often pins the blame on someone else -- what was it, Game 4 or so when he blamed Salo for a goal he himself let in because according to Luongo, "when the puck hit Salo, it dropped 3 feet" -- and he tends to run at the mouth when it comes to the media. Okay, so he commented on Tim Thomas letting in a goal that he, Luongo, would've have been able to save because he, Luongo, doesn't play with Thomas' aggressive style. I don't want to look into that and yell "arrogant!", but it's hard to take his statement seriously when he's let in so many goals at TD Garden and has been pulled twice now in this series. If playing in the paint would've made that save for Thomas, how's that tactic holding up for you, Luongo? Beyond that one statement on Thomas' playing style, Luongo has also stated that he is unhappy about the lack of complimenting Thomas has done on his, Luongo's, playing. The fact that Luongo has praised Thomas is not something that I am going to say is either good or bad. Luongo chose to say that, and whether he was just baiting Thomas or he truly felt inclined to compliment his opponent is not something I know. But to expect Tim "Sassy" Thomas to "pump his tires" in turn is just... it's funny. Whenever Luongo has a bad game and Thomas is asked to comment, he merely declines to answer. Tim Thomas remains neutral. He won't say bad things about Luongo, but he won't go out of his way to say good things. And really, he shouldn't be expected to praise his opponent. Thomas has already said that as a goaltender himself, he respects all of the goalies he's come up against because he knows what it's like, he understand the pressure.

I myself am a Tim Thomas fan. I find it hard to dislike the guy. He's 37 years old, and he's worked his butt off to make it where he is. As quoted by a writer for ESPN:

Tim Thomas is 37, a 217th overall draft pick who toiled for years in the minors and in Europe, who had to fight and scratch and claw for a chance at a starting job, which he did not earn until he was 31. His livelihood was in question as early as this past season, when he underwent hip surgery that threatened to derail his future.

A part of me definitely feels like this man deserves a Cup. But at the same time, this Canucks team has done incredibly. Despite having Luongo in net. One comment I heard on Team 1040 radio last night (as my dad turned it on just before sleeping) was this:

For getting $10 million a year, this shows us that Luongo can't play in every arena. Back when Patrick Roy was having that spectacular year, did he have arenas that he couldn't play in?

Indeed this is something to think about. $10 million a year. And what did he spend 50 minutes doing last game? He sat on the bench.

Beyond Luongo, I actually do love Schneider. He's played very solidly when he's been called upon, and I hate to see him go, as will most probably happen. He's too good to just be Luongo's backup. He's also been blogging during the Playoffs and he seems like a funny and intelligent man.

And yes, maybe it does seem like I'm defending the Bruins more in this post, but believe me, I most definitely feel like they are the underdogs in this series. The Canucks have a great chemistry this season, and when they play well, they play really well, despite the refereeing and injuries. However, Boston is a team that just lost one of their star players, and from seeing them play against the Habs, they are a team that perseveres. Sure, they choked last year, but with Tim Thomas at the helm, they've managed to get to Game 7 of the Finals.

One game. One goal. One Cup. All it takes is one. But will we end up being the ones left in the Cup drought again?

One thing is for sure: whoever gets the Cup tomorrow night will have deserved it.

Birds in the sky, you know how I feel...

2011-06-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

Sun in the sky, you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by, you know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good

Right, so I think that I've gotten myself into a relatively happy patch right now. Which probably explains the lack of updates; I blog when I have something to share or if I have worries that I only want to broadcast to a select readership.

The first thing that I want to mention is that I really do love the Scandinavia and the World comics. I found them on deviantArt and I have spent far too many hours going through them all. What I love is how they're actually fairly educational, but also funny in how they poke fun at different country's stereotypes and images. I was up until 3AM last night learning about this little island called Hans Island that Canada and Denmark fight over. And really, it is probably the tamest fight in the history of fights. Canada and Denmark take turns re-erecting their flags on this tiny island and, hell, sometimes even leave a bottle of whiskey there for the other country.
So yes, I basically stayed up until 3AM to read up on some history. If that doesn't make me the epitome of "geek", I don't know what does.

Also, I miss writing so I'm warning you that a long, rambly, verbose blog entry lies ahead full of details of my life...

On Thursday, I got a job offer. 16 applications and 4 interviews later, I've officially got a job placement for September. I won't say which company, but it's a mobile app developer position, though the job posting listed a range of skills their were looking for, including testing and web application dev. To be honest, I applied to the posting on a whim; I didn't think that I had what they wanted and given the early deadline (May 15), I didn't put much effort into my cover letter. I wasn't contacted for an interview until a week after the deadline -- which surprised me since the other interview requests I had received had been put forward very shortly after the deadline. A week after the interview request, I actually went for my interview. At that point I had already had 3 interviews, all of which I thought had gone relatively well, though the lack of job offers was really making me nervous. My interviews, I'd felt, had gotten increasingly better, with the last one for a position out at my university raising my confidence substantially, only to go a week without hearing back from any of the 3 companies. My fourth and last interview was late in the afternoon. I skipped school that day so that I wouldn't be rushed to get downtown on time. I was right in the middle of my cold -- my throat was all phlegm-filled and my speaking voice was definitely a little on the raspy side. Needless to say, I had no hope for getting this job.

Mind you, that didn't stop me from giving myself pep talks. I had seen the names of the other two candidates they were interviewing from the invitational e-mail. I didn't know the people, but I inferred a few things. One, they were both Asian -- Chinese and Korean. And two, the Korean girl was not a native English-speaker. Yes, I inferred. Yes, I assumed. But at the same time, this assumed knowledge didn't give me any advantages. If anything, I felt as though the company was expecting me to be Caucasian or First Nations (based on my name, not gonna lie I know a cute little First Nations girl with almost the exact same name as me though 1 letter is different in her last name), or at least be something other than Asian so that it'd seem that they weren't solely interviewing Asians. I mean, I believe in diversity, but I also believe in the merit system. Again, this was something I was inferring, and this time I felt like this was an obstacle. That's when the pep talks started. I told myself that since I didn't have any more interviews lined up, this was probably my last chance in at least a week or two to do an interview and be that close to a job offer. I also reminded myself of all of the jobs I've gotten in the past. Sure, they were seasonal jobs, but I still did well on those interviews.

The interview itself was -- well, to me -- unusual. Next to my HMV interview back when I was in high school, this was probably the most casual interview I've ever had. It began with a fairly generic "What do you know about our company?" and from there bounced around from talk about my favourite course to the previous night's Canucks game to what video game I'd last played. They told me that they weren't really looking for someone with a specific skillset in mind, but rather someone who would fit in with their team. I managed to keep the conversation moving for about 25 minutes, after which I ended up going across the street to chill at my dad's workplace. Yes, for serious. My dad will be working across the street from me come September. My dad, Mr. "If you get a placement in Montreal, we're moving there". This is your cue to roll your eyes, snicker, or facepalm.

A week passed after my interview, and from my last blog entry, I'm sure you can tell that I had given up hope in terms of getting this job. I remember waking up Thursday morning and thinking, "It's been a week. This company seems to have a week in-between everything they do in this co-op process. Maybe today's the day." But I didn't linger on that thought. I went to school, met up with my friend, got introduced to her boyfriend (who is an odd fellow, I daresay), went to class, checked my e-mail, and started silently freaking out.

Essentially, that is the story of how I became happy. Right now my happiness is helped by the fact that I wrote an 8-measure long transitional phrase that sounds really cool. Sometimes when I listen to things that I write in Mixcraft, I just sit there and go "how the hell did I do that? I don't think I could repeat making something like that up". It's a nice feeling.

And now I've got to work on my math homework and send a message to someone who's not doing so great right now. But God knows I'm just going to be working on this piece which is currently at 2:19-long, but is going to be much longer though it already has so much material and substance to it already asdfsafdj;l

2011-06-10T00:37:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day.
I'll elaborate more later.
I still have a cold, but it's starting to kick in and I am going to be out like a light in about 5 minutes.

I just wanted to say that I am just so thankful for the support system that I have.

Also, I'm going to be working in one of those tall buildings there come September.

I am a failure

2011-06-06T01:28:00.000-07:00

WARNING: 1AM musings/whinings which may frustrate you. Or just make you hate me more. Which is good, because that's what I was aiming for.

And I know that should I actively express this to people, they will try to convince me otherwise, but I know who I am. And I am not good enough.

I suppose that I owe it to you to explain myself. I have officially screwed up 4 co-op interviews now. Yes, 4. Four. FOUR. And the worst part? I thought that all 4 of them had gone fairly well. I must be losing my touch in terms of reading people. There was not a single question that I left unanswered.

What am I doing wrong? I smile, I talk, I don't get the job. Four times. I've gone for mock interviews with my coordinator and the only thing she really says I can work on is the depth of my answers. Apparently I'm shallow. Or at least that's how I answer questions. The co-op coordinators have all of these acronyms for everything. I just can't follow them. Acronyms are too set in stone. I struggle to answer anything according to acronyms.

An example of my shallow answers occurred in my last mock interview with my coordinator. She asked about how I was using JavaScript on my webpage and my experience with JavaScript in general. I said that I was following the tutorials on a website to try and get the basics and syntax down, and then I explained exactly what I was using the JavaScript for on my website (collapsible menu, blah blah, aesthetically pleasing, blah blah, practical use, blah). And yet, I'm still shallow. Apparently I'm supposed to delve into how I actually went about trying to code that menu. Like, did I follow a template? Did I try to copy code? I guess the thing is that it's all so obvious to me what I did that I'm having problems thinking of that sort of thing when I discuss my projects.

I'm starting to lose all hope. The only things keeping me going are Kamelot and the fact that my friends are wishing me luck and just overall think that I'm doing well already just by landing so many interviews.

But that's all just technical writing. That's the kind of crap that I'm good at. Then, shouldn't I have more interviews lined up? My queue is empty right now.

In short, I'm just really really down about this whole co-op thing. I'm feeling like a failure who can't do anything right. I mean, I don't take these interviews lightly. I get nervous and jittery and awkward over them just like anyone else. And yet, you'd think after 4 interviews maybe I'd have smartened up or something would've clicked in my brain to actually get some success rolling in.

What is wrong with me? Why won't anyone hire me? What am I doing wrong?

What's worse is that I feel like people call me in for an interview based on my name with a specific image/demographic in mind. And then I waltz in and "oh snap, we already interviewed 2 Asians, we thought she would be white, eh -10000000 mental hirability points".

~~Honestly, I don't know how many times I've cried over this now.~~

Sorry for whining. It's just that... I tell my friends and they're still optimistic. I tell my mom and she's pretty much like "that's the way the cookie crumbles, it's not your fault". And a part of me wants someone to say that yes, it is most definitely my fault. Because I suck and I'm a failure. Someone just confirm it please.

Thing about co-op is that it's just a way to have you heart broken over and over and over again. It's like life, really. All the great, fantastic, good-looking, awesome people get jobs and don't get their hearts broken. Meanwhile, the rest of us go from job posting to job posting, hoping and praying that maybe this one will be The One to finally not reject you.
/okaythisgottoopersonal

2011-05-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't been feeling 100% since about Monday of last week. So that, plus the busy-ness of schoolwork and co-op preparation has made me lazy in terms of blogging; micro-blogging has just been a lot easier.

Entering the Stanley Cup Finals, I'm sad that there isn't hockey on every day. I mean, the next game isn't until Wednesday. What am I going to do with myself until then?

Catch up on House episodes? Did that yesterday.

Do Math homework? It's due Tuesday.

Apply to more co-op jobs is another option, I guess, though, I'm feeling pretty discouraged right now by the number of interviews that haven't resulted in anything. What a contrast compared to all the interviews I've been through before for those summer jobs and seasonal positions.

Oh, and to top it all, my desktop's USB ports won't detect any devices. At all. I've restarted my computer and whatnot, but I think that a fix will have to do with hardware, and that, I'll leave to my dad. Though, what with co-op job searches going on, and several tabs open with job postings that I'm interested in, I'm loathed to shut my computer down and actually let my dad work on it.

I'm feeling kind of woozy right now, so I think I'll go back to bed.

Co-op Worries & Ramblings at 1AM

2011-05-18T01:45:00.000-07:00

~~I just spent the last 10 minutes staring at pictures of my favourite hockey players. Someone help me.~~

Once again it has been far too long since my last blog entry. I feel that with my short attention span and love of instant gratification I have been spending much more time on Tumblr. It probably doesn't help that I am pretty darn busy these days.

A standard day for me used to be this:

9:30am: wake up
10:00am: procrastinate online
11:00am: play Heart's "Alone" on piano + random movie soundtracks
12:00pm: eat lunch
12:30pm: go to school
5:00pm: arrive back at home + watch hockey
6:00pm: eat dinner
8:00pm: do homework
12:00am: sleep

But now my life has been flipped, turned upside down. I have 3 interviews for co-op coming up, one on the 19th, one on the 20th, and one on the 27th. Two of them are IT support type jobs for the federal government, and the last is actually for the Engineering faculty at school to work on their web courseware. I'm most keen on the school one (strangely enough -- I mean, how much more unglamourous can you get?), but the interview for that isn't until the 27th. I'm just freaking out over what these next few weeks will be like, what with interviews, school, work, driving lessons, applying to more jobs, and trying not to be totally anti-social.

Not going to lie, I felt like throwing up today when I found out that my interview on the 19th would force me to miss school and was less than 24 hours before my interview on the 20th. Good thing I hadn't eaten yet.

If I had one of these right now, it'd be a huge patch of unhappy.

WARNING: long, somewhat personal, soul-baring diatribe ahead.

I went into this telling myself that whatever the first offer I got (should I get one at all), I would accept it. Really, that's how co-op works, anyway. Once you apply for a position, presumably you do want it and so it is expected that should you be offered a position, you would accept it. And really, I did want the jobs when I first applied for them. But having talked to my coordinator today, she asked how many IT support jobs I had applied for with implications abound that I should not have applied for them, that I could land an actual coding gig. She's always emphasized aiming and shooting high -- "I'd rather you say more about yourself and really sell yourself and have to hold you back than you saying too little" -- and I feel as though she's got her bar of expectations set this high while I am really only aiming for something below that. And honestly, my confidence and self-esteem is probably 6 feet below that.

I really had no (emotional) problems before talking to her about those IT jobs. Now I feel regret. Like I shouldn't have applied to them.

But on the other hand, I really don't have any job experience with computers, not in the IT field or the coding field. I mean, yes, ideally I would get a nice little web developer job and look at HTML and CSS all day, but "ideally" tends to pass right by me.

The bad thing about co-op in my faculty is that it's at my own pace and I'm very much at the mercy of the employers. If I get an offer from job A and just barely handed in my application for my dream job, job X, then I'm kind of stuck with job A. My mom just told me to look at it like this is just the beginning of my co-op career. Yeah, these positions are for 8 months, but that's only 2 work terms and I need a minimum of 4.

"Next time," she tells me. "Next time you can be a little pickier and go for the coding ones."

In terms of applying for things, I think that I've applied to around 11 jobs now. The deadlines for maybe half of them have passed, and of those 6 or so, I've gotten 3 interviews. That's not bad, really. I'm rather surprised. And if it weren't for the current remorse/regret/guilt trip that I'm currently on, I'd be really pleased with those results. There haven't been any really exotic positions that have come up (I think the closest was a general posting for IBM saying "go check their site", though their only positions in Europe are in Italy [WHY COULDN'T IT BE FRANCE? OF ALL THE ROMANCE LANGUAGES. HONESTLY. THEY WANT SOMEONE FLUENT IN ITALIAN. MIO DIO.] and Israel), though I'm working on applications for positions in Ontario and Quebec.

How cool would it be to work for RIM in Mississauga or EA in Montreal? My brother is already (and falsely) saying "When you're gone..." to me and lamenting how sad he'll be, which is really kind of adorable and endearing. He says that I have to Skype him every day, and of course he tries to cover up his sappiness by saying "Because you'll need to ask me for recipes and on how to cook because you can't do it by yourself". Haha, what a cute kid.

And really, that's better than my dad who says "If you're going, then we're moving there." Really, dad, really? You of all people?! I guess my mom was right when she told me that my dad and brother always whined about me not being home that often during the school year. And then he got all excited about how if I get a position in Montreal and we move there that we could go to Habs games and have lots of fun and yaddi yaddi yadda.

My family. Honestly. They need to get a grip. It's not even like I do anything at home. I just sit at my computer and argue with people.

So yeah. This is going to be a fun couple of weeks. I feel like rolling up into a ball and just dying. Or playing in traffic. On Knight Street. With all the cargo trucks. Fun fun fun.

Bored at 2AM

2011-05-09T02:08:00.000-07:00

It feels like ages since I last blogged on here.
But really, that's because nothing much has happened in my life.

I spend my time either watching hockey (which someone pointed out to me meant spending 6 hours a day glued to my TV), applying to job postings for Co-op, playing video games, going for driving lessons, eating, sleeping, or writing. 'Tis a sad existence. But school is starting back up again for summer term on Tuesday for me so I guess that will cut down on my time for... everything.

Sadly, hockey is the most exciting thing in my life right now. The Habs are out now, but I'm still following the Canucks and Red Wings, though I foresee the Red Wings being knocked out very shortly (much to my chagrin).

I suppose that applying to job postings is somewhat exciting, though reading the requirements just makes me go "WHY AM I SO INADEQUATE?", but oh well. My coordinator said to apply for a job, you really only need 50% of what they're asking for. Nothing really exotic's come up, the most exotic postings being for companies in Boise, Idaho, and Cupertino, California (Apple, which is pretty freaking exciting). In terms of the companies making the postings, there are some fairly well-known companies (Capcom, Demonware, etc.) with facilities in the Lower Mainland here so that'd be good for my wallet. God knows I probably would die if I had to live by myself right now. I'd be awake until the wee hours of the morning all the time. There are some postings for jobs in Ontario that sound pretty interesting. And if I do end up in Ontario, at least that's still in Canada so it's still kind of "home" (meh, sorta), and since I haven't been back East, that'd be pretty fascinating. Ontario's where all the action is.

I'm actually spending a lot more time on Tumblr nowadays. It's so easy to get sucked in. It probably doesn't help that I actually run a blog on there now with a decent amount of followers (a whopping 175! In like a week and a half or so?). So if you're ever curious as to what I and my followers (who submit things) deem to be Vancouver-exclusive sorts of things (and my judgment is way off sometimes, I know), then feel free to pop on over. Or you can go to my personal tumblr (see link in sidebar) if you care to see what kind of useless crap I'm interested in or am whining about currently.

I found this article on Cracked today about the 5 "shocking" ways in which we overestimate ourselves. It kind of surprised me that I didn't find any of it surprising (yay for confusing sentences!). I recently came to the conclusion that human beings are inherently selfish. Sure, people share and do things for others as a way of being nice, but in the end, who are we all looking out for? Number One, that's who. Because no matter how much you care about someone and what is going on in their life, you cannot think nonstop about them. You just can't. In the end, you really just don't care all that much, especially compared to yourself. But it's 2AM and I've digressed. Go read the article and hate yourself a little more... I kid, I kid.

Anyway, I'm just going to finish writing up this scene and go to sleep.

Eyes on Britain to America

2011-05-01T23:37:00.000-07:00

In just a matter of days, so much history has occurred.

The Royal Wedding took place a few days ago. Due to the stupid discrepancies in timezones, I stayed up until 5:30AM to watch Prince William and Kate Middleton get married. Yeah, that was probably kind of stupid and silly of me, but it wasn't as though I was doing anything that day. So I fell asleep right away and woke up at noon for around 6.5 hours of sleep. A part of me wonders why I stayed up to watch. I mean, who are these people to me? Yes, they are the Royal Family. Yes, Canada is part of the Commonwealth. But are these people I really care about? No, not really. Admittedly, I've always been a little bit fascinated by the English royalty, aside from the fact that they kind of owned my country for a good chunk of Canadian history in textbooks. It started with the Tudors, continued with the fact that I share a name with a British monarch, and ends with the controversies of the present-day Royals. I'm starting to wonder if this is a genetic thing as my grandparents apparently had a picture of the Queen up on the wall looking down over the dinner table during all of my mother's childhood, and my mom herself is a big Lady Diana fan.
Certainly, it was exciting waiting to see what it would be like and to see what everyone would be wearing. And I'm not even one of those kinds of people who cares about fashion or clothing. Period.
Of course what was ground-breaking about this Royal Wedding is the fact that Kate Middleton is a commoner (a wealthy commoner, but a commoner nonetheless), putting the whole "fairytale" sentiment into many people's minds. What interested me about the whole thing was just seeing William and Harry all grown up. I kind of grew up with them; when their mum died, it was a hotly discussed topic in my little grade 2 class. It's good to see what kind of men they've grown to become.

And of course with today came Obama's announcement that Osama bin Laden is dead and that the US has his body. That's right, after ten long years of searching for this man responsible for the 9/11 attacks and other acts of terrorism, he is finally dead. Obama's an interesting man these days. After the whole "birth certificate" thing with Donald Trump, Obama turned around and joked about his own birth using some footage from The Lion King. Awesome. I mean, I don't dislike Donald Trump, per se. I respect him as a successful businessman who is obviously very good at what he does. However, the whole possibility that he will run for presidency next term is a disturbing thought. So with all of today's news surrounding Obama, I'd just like to say America/Obama should probably proceed with cautious optimism. Who knows what Donald Trump will do next to try and make America turn its back on Obama (honestly, the birth certificate thing was ridiculous)? And who knows what the Al-Qaeda are planning for revenge? That being said, I don't mean to compare Donald Trump to the Al-Qaeda. Heavens to Betsy, definitely not something I want to be doing.

Anywho, in terms of ~~quotidienne (why is Chrome underlining this word? Isn't it a word? Is it a French word that I thought existed in English?)~~ quotidian life, I got into a very minor car accident the other day when I decided to man up and drive to work to pick up my uniform. Essentially, the driver ahead of me turned right, I was clear, I moved forward to turn left, and the driver previously ahead of me suddenly reversed into me because another car was coming up the street towards him. I'm okay, the other driver is okay, and the passengers are all okay. My mom's Volvo... eh... Well, lucky for me, it wasn't my fault at all and the insurance people are going to be blaming the other driver 100% so I'm relieved. I have to admit that after that, I kind of feel better about driving. I can say that I was in an accident. And I didn't die. Whew.

Also, co-op job postings are up. Or at least 10 of them are. For now. Great. My free time = over. Darn it. So far there seem to be some great jobs in the Lower Mainland (thankfully for my bank account) so it's likely (looking at things from this point and extrapolating a pattern from there) that I can get something in the Lower Mainland... If not... Oh well. BOISE, IDAHO, HERE I COME! (Honestly, I don't even know where Idaho is though there is a listing for Clearwater Analytics based there.)

After sweeping the Phoenix Coyotes, my Detroit Red Wings are losing to the Sharks. Argh! Come on, Zetterberg!

~~... I've also realized that Finnish hockey players are mighty attractive...~~

The End of Round 1

2011-04-27T01:16:00.000-07:00

EDIT: Apparently me at 1AM forgot that Detroit is in the Western conference *facepalm*

So it's the end of Round 1 for the Canucks, at least. I've only really been following teams in the Western conference plus Montreal (... which is like 60% of the teams in the playoffs...), but I'm aware that there will be two Game 7's on tomorrow. Exciting!

Anyhow, I don't have too too many thoughts on the Canucks' win tonight. I'm not an expert hockey analyst or an avid fan with all the memorized statistics or anything, but I do have some thoughts. I'm still of the opinion that the Canucks should've eliminated Chicago ages ago. Chicago definitely isn't the same team this year as it was last year, and they barely even made it into the playoffs this time around. The fact that they were even able to tie the series came as a shock to me. Yes, the Canucks won this series, but it went all the way to Game 7. That's got to be tiring for them. I mean, they played and traveled 3 more times than Detroit had to, and I don't think that Detroit is nearly as good this year as the Canucks were during the regular season. That being said, that was the regular season; everything changes come post-season.

What doesn't sit well with me right now is the fact that Vancouver is celebrating right now as though we've already won the Cup. To me that means: a) You're just looking for an excuse to part, and b) You don't have faith in your team that they'll make it through any more series hence the early celebrations. I mean, the crowds on TV... I haven't seen the streets that filled since the Olympics! This was just Round 1, people, there's still a long ways to go.

Big kudos to Corey Crawford. He's the only reason why the Hawks were able to stick around at all. And he's probably the most under-appreciated goalie in the league right now. I mean, I had hardly heard of him before the playoffs.

Anyway, that's it for tonight.

I don't mean to be bashing Vancouver (should anyone misconstrue my 1AM ramblings here), but I just think that people should be a little more grounded. Sure, celebrate a little, but it looked like a pretty rockin' party downtown right now. In the end, what I'm saying is just an opinion, and I'd be glad if yours is different.

To show that I still do love Vancouver, you can puzzle over these articles on how beautiful Vancouver men and women are. I am not even kidding. Two separate articles/photo gallery pieces on attractive people and beautiful women and Vancouver is included in both lists. I'm not sure if I should laugh or just roll my eyes.

Return to Blog Life

2011-04-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

I've been neglecting this blog. Yes, I admit it. I finished finals on the 20th and it's now the 24th so a little recap is in order.

My music final was straightforward, my 221 final was actually easy-ish (for the most part), and my 213 final was... well, it was better than I'd expected, but I'm not 100% confident about it because they mark fairly hard for the course. Anywho, my exams are over! And I've got until May 9 to sit tight and enjoy myself. :)

In much sadder news, the lead singer of my favourite band resigned and I am absolutely heartbroken, so I'm avoiding anything having to do with that band.

Now that I'm done with school (temporarily), I have time to actually watch hockey and play video games. I've already completed co-op with my brother in Portal 2. Portal 2 was fun! Much like I expected: equal parts frustrating and fascinating. It always feels so good and rewarding when you complete a level in that game, and some of them were extremely extremely tricky. I won't give any details away since most folks are working on the 1-player campaign first, but I was so thankful that my brother is a Physics geek and excellent puzzle-solver.

Oh, the Royal Wedding's going to be aired at 1AM on the west coast. My mom's got this latent obsession with the royal family so I bet that I'll be watching it, whether live or recorded is up to how tired I'll be.

In other world news, Time reported that America is not the happiest nation in the world. In fact, they couldn't even crack the top 10:

Denmark
Sweden
Canada
Australia
Finland
Venezuela
Israel
New Zealand
Netherlands
Ireland

That being said, of course it doesn't matter where you are, so long as you make the best of it and can appreciate what you have. Or at least that's what I believe. Nice to see that Canada's in the top 5. :)

And in terms of most livable cities, I know that I've brought this up previously, but given the sources last time I was skeptical, but Time says that Vancouver trumps them all. In fact, this information aligns exactly with those previous articles I linked to, complete with the fact that Calgary and Toronto also make the top 10, though Australian cities took 4 spots of the 10.
That's still pretty fantastic, I think, for a country that is generally believed to be comprise of mostly ice and snow. And health care. Mustn't forget the health care.

And probably the most interesting article I found on Time.com was this one about how swearing helps relieve pain. Awesome. Can I just cite pain as being the reason why I swear like a pirate on occasion?

tl;dr version:
- finals went well
- Roy Khan left Kamelot (I am heartbroken)
- Portal 2 is awesome
- Royal Wedding's coming up
- 3 articles: here / here / here

April showers bring hockey players

2011-04-16T01:54:00.000-07:00

So the NHL Playoff season is in full swing now with Game 1 behind everyone. Exciting, exciting! Unfortunately I have to study for finals. :( Ah, the life of a university student.

Tonight should be Chicago's last night in Vancouver (possibly for the season), and apparently the Blackhawks have been roaming around town, eating sushi and whatnot. Although I live in Vancouver, and I've mentioned this before, I'm not going to root specifically for the Canucks to get the Cup. I do think that that'd be nice given the fact that we've never won the Cup, but it almost seems too good to be true that we'd kick ass in the regular season AND also do well in the post-season. I'm just going to enjoy watching whatever hockey games are on when I can catch them and hope that one of the 2 Canadian teams can bring home the Cup this year.

And in the spirit of all that is hockey-loving and silly...

Dear Alexander Edler,
Why do you have to be so adorable when you rock the Robot?
Signed,
me.

I still can't believe that a political debate has been moved because of a Habs game. That is hilarious. But then, that's Canada.

My Stats final was today. It was alright, overall. We had a question about pokémon on the exam. To be more specific, "You are a pokémon trainer from Pallet Town. You speak to the local professor in your town, Professor Oak, and you decide to become a pokémon master. In the long grass, on average you can find 12 pikachu with a standard deviation of 3, and 34 pidgey with a standard deviation of 4. What is the probability of finding over 50 pokémon total in a day assuming that it follows an approximately normal distribution?" I'm fairly confident that I passed. Unfortunately the one or two questions that I weren't too sure about were worth quite a few marks. But oh well. It's over! Hopefully that's the last Stats course I have to take ever! I was actually starting to miss taking Math courses while I was preparing for this bloody exam. And missing Math courses is a something I don't ever want to feel again. It feels weird.

Okay, time to stay away from non-school-related things on the Internet until I'm done all of my final exams.
...
I had a dream about David Tennant.

Tour of the 3DS

2011-04-13T23:32:00.000-07:00

I'm in the mood to write, but I won't let myself get caught up in any fictional worlds right now. There'd be no hope for studying if I started writing fiction right now. So I'll dabble in a little non-fiction...

The 3DS was released March 27, 2011, in North America, and my brother pre-ordered it so we got it right on release day. There wasn't any massive launch party for the 3DS, but there were a few chaps who lined up early to get their hands on some of the first ones in Vancouver. Strangely, my brother didn't actual start playing with the 3DS until days after its release, probably due to schoolwork, I'm guessing. I don't know, I am always busy with schoolwork so I assume that's the case for any student.

I'm not going to do an in-depth review of all of the software on the 3DS, because although it didn't come with an actual game cartridge, there are actually a few games incorporated into the OS. Fascinating.
I'm just going to do a little tour of the 3DS unit itself and maybe I'll review the software aspects with a video some other day... When I don't have an imminent final exam.

Alright, so here's what the thing looks like:

(Yay fingerprints! Yay smudginess!)	This is what it looks like when you open it. Notice the standard ABXY buttons on the right, but below that (in the glare of my desklamp) is the power button, so no more sliding to power on/off. On the upper left is a joystick (albeit much flatter than its predecessors) reminiscent of the PSP one. Based on its position and the awkwardness of using the D-pad (bottom left), this joystick/thumbpad will be the main control in terms of moving characters around in games. And below the touch screen, you can see 3 words. From left to right they are: Select, Home, and Start. And they are actually buttons. Select and Start are nothing new in terms of DS hardware, but the Home button is a feature taken from the Wii OS. So yes, that means that the 3DS has a home menu. On the top half, you can see the 2 speakers on either side of the screen, a camera just above the screen, and to the right, just smallest little silver slider. This here is the 3D slider. On the far right of the hinge, there is a little LED that is a notifier for incoming messages and the like. Also, when you turn this sucker on, a little "3D" lights up just to the right of the screen.
	Closed... Notice the 2 cameras here on the lid. These are used to create the 3D effect when using AR cards (more on these later) and when taking pictures. Also, just to the right of the camera lens on the right is a tiny little speck that probably looks like dust or something. This is a little LED that indicates if you're taking a picture, I believe. Or at least, that's the only time I've seen it light up.
	Okay, so this is kind of upside down. I am a derp, I admit it. So we see the lid here on the bottom (notice the silver slider for 3D). Above that is a switch for the wireless. Now, as of right now, wireless does not actually work on the 3DS due to browser support or something like that. I'm not totally sure, but apparently you can set up the internet (ours is set up), but the wireless will not actually work until the update is released, supposedly soon. And just to the left of the wireless slider is the little LED indicator for the wireless.
	Okay, so this is the top of the 3DS when the lid is shut. So we have the charging port (I think it says 4.6V on it? Don't quote me) on the right here, the DS cartridge slot in the centre, the stylus just to the left of that, and some other infrared sort of thing on the left. I think that the infrared thing is for the StreetPass and SpotPass features which essentially allow for magical things to happen when you and your 3DS in sleep mode pass someone else with a 3DS in sleep mode. One thing to note about the stylus is that it, like the phone antennae of yore, can extend. Which looks pretty slick with its silver coating and whatnot. Kind of a cool and maybe pointless feature. One other thing to note is the cartridge slot. Currently my brother put a DS game into there and it clicks into place fine, but there's a little gap to the left here so I'm guessing that that'll ensure that 3DS games (probably slightly larger cartridges) offer no compatibility with DS's of previous generations. And the last things to see on this side of the 3DS are the L and R trigger buttons. As you may or may not be able to see, there are little camera icons on them. Apparently my brother recently unlocked and bought a special feature for the 3DS (using the in-game coins got from daily physical activity) that allows photos to be taken at any time using the L and R buttons. To me, that's kind of strange, but whatever. Yay screenshots?
	So this side of the 3DS features your volume slider and a slot for an SD card. Given that there is a music-making feature and tons of photo-taking encouraged, it's not surprising to see the SD slot there.
	And of course, this most boring of sides (minus the bottom which I'm not even going to get into) features a few indicator lights (battery/charging, etc.) and of course the obligatory headphone jack so people can't rock out to the Super Mario theme with you and will merely give you strange looks as you bob your head in time to the catchy catchy tunes.

All in all it's a comfortable unit to hold, though in terms of using it, previous owners of the previous generations of DS's may find a small period of adjustment in terms of where to power on/off and dealing with the whole idea of the little Select/Home/Start section. The only awkward I really found was in the use of the D-pad (a.k.a. control pad) as it is only natural when holding the unit to put your thumb on the thumbpad/joystick. For an extra set of buttons merely used for occasional access, I can see the point of the D-pad, but otherwise, it's not in a comfortable place for regular use.

A few other things to note about this new handheld is the strange setup for charging. I don't have a picture of the cradle/stand used for charging, but yes, the thing comes with a stand for charging. It doesn't save space in any way, nor does it seem very useless. I haven't looked carefully enough at it to see if it can be charged without it (I'm sure it can), but this cradle charger is very impractical. I mean, if I'm going to be travelling and I should want to bring the 3DS, I wouldn't want to bring the entire cradle. On the topic of charging up, the 3DS has a ridiculous small battery life. 3 hours! 3 freaking hours! Yeah, that's ridiculous. If you're really only a very very very casual gamer, that wouldn't be really bad or anything, but should you want to have wireless going, 3D on, and the audio at an audible level while being totally immersed in a game, this could be a nuisance. It might encourage more frequent breaks in gaming, but not much more than that.

Je suis heureuse!

2011-04-11T15:36:00.000-07:00

I am extremely happy today. My friend told me something about my most favouritest band and I've found some peace of mind, or at least enough peace of mind to be able to hunker down and do some actual studying.

Alright, so Amaranthe's self-titled debut album was leaked (released?) today.

Band: Amaranthe
Album: Amaranthe
Download: here, here, or here
Disclaimer: I do not own this music. I did not upload this album. I am merely providing download links for anyone who stumbles upon this blog and would like to follow along with my little first impressions review.

Leave Everything Behind: This was one of my favourites off their EP and with the polished production, it gets even better. This song is easy on the ears and pretty catchy, too.
Hunger: They've also released a video for this song (see end of blog entry) and this one was also on their EP. It's also really catchy and the producing and mixing for the album did wonders for this song. I don't like this one quite as much as "Leave Everything Behind".
1.000.000 Lightyears: This song is great! It's catchy and somehow very pleasant sounding. There aren't too many growling vocals on this song, I find, but that's not a bad thing.
Automatic: Oh my goshhh, that opening synth riff. I don't even know if that's a riff, but just an effect. But it sounds like the one in that Top 40 hit that goes "I only want to break break break your break break your heart" (1 Google search later, I've come up with "Break Your Heart" by Taio Cruz, whoever the hell that is). Ohhh, but it transitions into something a lot heavier. It really sounds like a rock song or hard rock song in the pre-chorus. Ahhhhh and the synth returns for the chorus. It sounds... cute. Okay, there's this little 3-note motive (too small to be a motive, really) that it's in the TSN SportsCentre jingle and also in a song by another band (Seventh Wonder's "The Angelmaker", I believe). I think it's just a +2 down and back up, but yeah. It's weird hearing that in so many places. Oh man, that's some pretty intense layering of voices.
My Transition: Oh interesting. They didn't open with the chorus. For some reason I feel like I expect that from them. This chorus sounds very much similar to that of another song, which bugs me a little. But I really like the syncopation in their guitarwork. It makes it a lot more interesting and it creates a good amount of tension.
Amaranthine: I'm quite liking the little touch of synthiness in this song, which mainly seems to consist of piano and vocals. OKAY, IF THEY HAVE GROWLS IN THIS SONG, IT COULD VERY WELL RUIN THE SONG. If they are going to use their growler, the growls will have to be EXTREMELY well-placed. The only thing I'd change about their vocalists in general would be to not have them doubling on the same melody line. It'd be nicer if one took the harmony, I think. But then I'm a sucker for nice harmonies. Okay, they had a growling bit. Eh, it was alright. I'm glad they didn't reuse that chorus melody. OH GOOD, IT'S LIKE THEY LISTENED TO ME ABOUT THE HARMONIZING BIT. That was a nice way to end it. This song actually sounded different from the others. Which is good.
It's All About Me (Rain): Woot, driving guitar and drumwork. It kind of makes me want to jump around my room. Oh wow, male vocals star in this one. Which is actually a really nice sound. Not that I don't like Elize's vocals, but her style is very much pop, and it works well as a highlight (as in this song).
Call Out My Name: Okay, this is definitely synthy. Wow, they really like to the toe the line in terms of genres, don't they? Wow, this is sounding very industrial right now. Holy crap I swear to God this is a dance track with heavy guitars and growls. I think her vocals are absolutely perfect for DDR-type music. Honestly. Oh my goshhhhhhh especially with that little dance beat. This song is messing with my head. But that's kinda cool. I'm actually sitting here laughing. This is an aural assault.
Enter the Maze: Ahh, this was on their EP as well. I wasn't too crazy about this track before, so let's see if my feelings change now... Right, so the chorus is reminiscent of another song's chorus. Again. I think. Or maybe y'know, it's just all the mess in my head. Which would probably do this album no favours. I like the non-chorus parts. It gets a little repetitive with the repetition of the chorus at the end there.
Director's Cut: Oh I think this was on their EP, too, though I didn't pay this track much attention. I'm getting some pretty strong imagery from this song -- I don't even know it, none of it is relevant to the song. This is a good song. I don't get the title, but this song is good. If I think about it, it's a little generic, but given that it's Amaranthe, it doesn't sound like a lot of their other songs.
Act of Desperation: I can't remember if this was on their EP or not, but the song title looks familiar. Okay, so it opens with an Elize-focused verse which sounds like it could be out of "Hunger". Okay, taking turns with the vocalists now. Ohhhh wow that chorus. It's like parts of it are stripped away so I can hear all that dancey synth underneath. This is not a bad song.
Serendipity: It's kind of funny to hear the word "serendipity" being sung. The lyrics are little silly and contrived, but it's alright. Oh wow, Elize's verse sounds similar to something... like a mix of a verse from a Britney Spears song (sorry, folks) and from their own song "Hunger". Ohhh guitar solo.

This is overall a very solid debut album. I only hope that their follow-up still has all of the elements that makes them unique, as well as some more experimentation. I felt like I was hearing a very firm establishment of their sound, and I think that it'd be nice to see them branch out. This album is definitely still worth a listen, especially if you like the juxtaposition of dance/pop and death metal. Oh, and also if you don't like raw-sounding music. This album really became polished with production, but I can see some people being turned off by that.

Something about UBC.

2011-04-09T00:41:00.000-07:00

And LipDub.
My school's kind of mental. And it can't lip-sync very well.

Bonne fête à toi, Vancouver

2011-04-06T22:43:00.000-07:00

Happy 125th birthday, Vancouver!
The article by VanCityBuzz, "125 Things That Make You Great", is certainly an interesting read for today. And I thought that the header image they made for the article was actually pretty cute. It took me a couple viewings before I realized that the houses were actual mini Vancouver Specials.

I have a newfound appreciation for Haydn. Generally I just think "Oh yeah, Papa Haydn and his Surprise symphony", but his works that we studied in 121 are really nice sounding.

Alright, so tomorrow's the last day for classes this term! I just have my music classes, though one of them is going to be a quiz on our Haydn/Mozart unit. Hopefully I do okay. Time to get some studying done!

The Day I Reawakened 15-Year-Old Me

2011-04-04T00:02:00.000-07:00

Also known as the day I (finally) went to a My Chemical Romance concert. Feel free to ignore this blog post.

Setlist:

Edit this setlist | More My Chemical Romance setlists

I got to my concert buddy's place at around 7:20 and the concert started at 8PM so we hustled our way to the skytrain station. It took us maybe 15 minutes to get to Granville and then we got lost looking for the venue. Luckily my buddy brought her GPS with her. Note to self and anyone who is attending a gig at the Centre for Performing Arts: it is across from the Central library and there are many stairs inside the place. If you have balcony seats, then "many" means several flights of them.

We weren't aware of the tickets being on sale until months after all of the closer seats were sold so we got seats on the upper balcony. I didn't really think that that was horrible or anything, after all, I've moved on from MCR, for the most part. So as we were going up the stairs, I noticed a long line-up forming from the second floor up the stairs. With my keen eye (lol), we realized that it was the merch line-up. Holy Jesus. It was long. No pics for you since we joined that line as quickly as possible. And it went decently quickly, though we still missed the entire set for the first opening act (the Architects). I wasn't too bothered by that.

We caught the second opening act, Neon Trees, and they were alright. Nothing overly special about them, but apparently one of their songs was featured on Glee. And I actually had caught that episode. Obviously they aren't all that memorable... But major props to the drummer. She sang while she drummed. What a badass.

MCR came in during their intro ("Look Alive, Sunshine") and launched right into "Na Na Na". It was a great track to lead with -- definite energizer and the first song anyone heard off their latest album. The next song they played was from their sophomore album, called "Thank You For the Venom" which starts with a memorable, quick little riff. Not my favourite off Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, but it isn't a track I'm thoroughly opposed to. Another high energy song with fast riffing and a driving rhythm. The entire setlist seemed to alternate Danger Days songs with older favourites. "Planetary (GO)!" was next. Meh, I'm not crazy about this song, but at least it was lively and I could remember one line about velocity making someone sweat. Heck yes. The next track was "Hang 'Em High", another song from their Revenge days. It made me realize that I really quite miss their old style.

The next two songs, "SING" and "Vampire Money" are from their new album and I'm not overly fond of either of them, though "SING" has a great message and it is probably their most well-known track (to the mainstream crowd) thanks to it being featured on an episode of Glee. I have to say that I'm glad that Glee didn't do an MCR song that I'm fond of. That'd ruin it for me, I think. And about "Vampire Money", the song is allegedly about how the band was asked to do a song for the Twilight movies but didn't want to just buy into that franchise to make megabucks. I knew that there was a reason why I liked this band. Anywho...

They went back to their Black Parade days with "Mama" which is a bit more downtempo, but it's a fun song (even if it is a bit depressing and cynical). They followed this with "The Only Hope For Me Is You" which was initially my favourite song off Danger Days. They revisited The Black Parade again with "House of Wolves" which is quite honestly one of my favourite MCR songs ever ever ever. So I think I was hopping up and down for a bit when I realized what they were playing. This song is red red red!

"Summertime" was next, which a lot of people around me seem to adore ("OMG I LOVE THIS SONG!"), though I don't see the beauty of it. Maybe I'm too old to believe in magical summers. They kicked it old school with "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" next. Okay, this song, I know for sure that I hopped up and down for a bit at the beginning and smashed into the middle aged mother on my right. Oh, right, yeah. The crowd was a pretty varied bunch, though they were predominantly scene/emo/goth. I was surprised by how many middle-aged people there were, though some were probably just chauffeuring their children... The middle aged folks (dressed smartly with bright red dyed hair) around me weren't...

The next song was "Famous Last Words" which was just... yessssssss! I remember listening to that song when I was down years ago. Actually, I'm pretty sure that MCR is really what got me through those teenage years. Kamelot was there for me when I became stable. "DESTROYA" was next, and though I didn't know all of the words exactly, I had a good time dancing to this one. "Welcome to the Black Parade" followed "DESTROYA" and at this point, my voice was really almost entirely gone. I wasn't even singing along at this point, just shouting awkwardly. They rounded out their set with "Teenagers" (hella fun live) and "Helena". I think that I've waited like 4 years to hear "Helena" live and experience the little singalong that goes with it.

They came back for one encore song (I WAS VERY DISAPPOINT), "Bulletproof Heart", and then it was time to retrace our steps and go home. I really really really wished that they had played more songs, but in total, that's like 17 songs? And that's a good number. They've been touring for months now so I get that they're probably tired. And they played plenty of stuff that I enjoyed, anyway.

I think that that was the most energy I've expended in a while. And that was the most I've ever let go at a concert, I think. Not that I was full on headbanging, but I danced a lot and didn't give a damn what anyone thought.

Concerts are like drugs.

thisBlogEntry = rand();

2011-03-28T23:06:00.000-07:00

Right, so I've got to be heading off to bed soon, but I just have a few things to say. They're kind of random thoughts from throughout today. So enjoy.

To everyone in Vancouver who is scared about the big earthquake that has been long overdue for us: calm down. Life is too short. I'm not saying "don't be prepared", but preparation-wise, you've been through drills in elementary school and high school. Yeah, those drills aren't as serious and in-depth as the ones that the Japanese stage every so often, but for the amount of quakes we get and the magnitudes of the ones we *do* get, what you know is all that you need to know. Because really, how else can you prepare for an earthquake? The Japanese are probably the most prepared on the entire planet for earthquakes and yet they were still devastated by that 8.9 one. I understand the fear and the uncertainty, but that possibility is just something that comes with living in this beautiful city. People are well aware of the fact that we're on a fault line, and yet people are still coming. In hordes. The last thing I'm going to say about this is that if you honestly are terrified of the possibility of a major earthquake on the west coast, then move back east. Move to Toronto. Sure, snowstorms are bad, you argue. But really, what's more devastating -- a snowstorm or an earthquake? Everywhere -- and I mean EVERYWHERE -- has its pros and cons. It's just a matter of what you're willing to put up with and what you can deal with. /rant IDK, I admit that I worried about the earthquake possibilities, too. But it was like I had an epiphany the next day about how little worrying over it will do. Live in the now.
I've probably said this before, but I'll say it again: I have no respect for people who constantly need to be in a relationship. I don't know what sickens me more, that or how some people think that having a significant other = only way of having a social life. Yes, what people say irks me. I just do a good job of not showing it in front of them.
Classes are done in a week and a half! Yay! Lookin' forward to final exams! After an entire term of waking up at 6AM and getting home at 5PM practically every day makes me thankful that the period during which we have finals doesn't require a 6AM wake-up every darn day.
I realized that the only programs I can think of writing for fun are ones to help cure my indecision. Okay, maybe not "cure" per se, but help me deal with. An idea is forming slowly but surely. If I can get it done (it'd be so easy to implement, I swear to God), that'd be a nice little thing to put on my resume especially in terms of co-op. And I could make it into an app that anyone/everyone could use. :D Though it'd only be useful for indecisive people (which seems like a lot, actually).
I can't believe that my variations actually sound ... good. The little 12-measure phrase as a whole doesn't sound completed, but my prof said to end on a half cadence so there you go. Half cadence = create tension & no sense of completion.
I have no time to watch Doctor Who T___T
I have 2 assignments due at the end of term and 2 quizzes in the meantime.
My comp sci friends are really square and boring. But they are my kind of people (but much smarter).
This unit of music history class is on Mozart. So excited!
I think that the nicest/most meaningful compliment I've ever received was about how my important my opinion was on a matter that was very very very important (as far as I'm concerned, it was). :) I've realized that those are the kinds of compliments that matter and stay with me.
I am liking this new Within Temptation album more and more.
OMFG MCR CONCERT ON SATURDAY. THE REUNION OF MY CHEMICAL BROMANCE ON SUNDAY. OH HO HO THIS WEEKEND WILL BE SICK. And full of chemicals. *flails*

*passes out*

So Yesterday

2011-03-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a day of going out and celebrating the birthdays of two of my friends. Can I consider them longtime friends now since I've known them since grade 8? That's like... 7 years ago. Boy, time sure passes quickly.

Alright, so yesterday we had a buffet lunch down at the RiverRock Casino/Resort in Richmond. This was the view from my seat. Yay, it wasn't raining! The food was alright. I mean, it's buffet food so it's not so much quality as it is quantity. And apparently I filled myself up so much that I couldn't even make myself hungry enough for dinner. I think that's like a first. Another first was the fact that I perused the salad bar for once. They had some yummy potato salad, pasta salad, and some alright Thai noodle salad. There was quite a variety of desserts and I got to try some panna cotta. It tasted much better than it looked -- it has a subtle flavouring and pastel-coloured jelly appearance. And since we were (technically) at a casino, we wandered into the casino where I did not gamble. In a way I regret not getting the free $5 BC gold card thing, but then I don't really need $5. It'd be nice, but it wouldn't change my life so let's just say "no regrets" and not dwell. As far as I'm concerned, casinos are for shady business transactions and old people.

After lunch we took the Canada Line deeper into Richmond to Richmond Centre to watch Rango. For what it was, I think it was a pretty good movie. I went in with little to no expectations so I was pleasantly surprised. Also, quick question, but when did Starbucks' green tea frappuccino come back into season? I don't recall seeing it on the menu back in the winter months, but suddenly I see everyone carrying it around. Admittedly, that's probably my favourite frapp flavour, but then it's not like I drink them regularly or anything. I'm guessing that it's a seasonal thing since I think that I last had one in the summer... like 3 years ago. I'm not good with keeping up with Starbucks and anything they offer.

Anywho, after the movie we went back to my friend's place and watched some TV. We also participated in the EarthHour thing. In a big group, it's hard finding good conversation topics, I think. We're all also very different people so that made things a little strained too. But we got through it.

I like talking one-on-one with people. Me in big social groups = I stop working.

And this is what I've been up to today. It's just been one big group chat on Skype with my comp sci people because this horrible assignment is due at midnight tonight/Monday and people's codes aren't working and blah. D: Yeah, and my friends are trolls.

I'm kind of choked that I haven't started on any of my 3 variations on that blasted Bach chaconne yet. 12 measures. Must get it done!

Spring certainly isn't Too Far...

2011-03-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

... it amazes me how much traffic 4 words have gotten my blog: "too far rich shapero". I'm guessing that his book about "imaginative 6 year olds" in some "imaginary world" is being handed out all over the world, à la Wild Animus. It occurred to me after accepting Too Far from these poor saps to ask them how they came to possess these bunches of dead trees. I mean, are they part of some cult with sects all over the world determined to spread the gospel word of Rich Shapero? Perhaps these individuals were once the brave souls who decided to sit down and read the book(s). And now they stand at doorways and busy intersections -- especially on the campuses of post-secondary institutions -- trying desperately to siphon off these sad excuses for books.

So spring has sprung! Apparently spring started a couple of days ago, and I have to say that the spring equinox seemed to have an almost immediate and discernible effect on the weather. It's been sunny for the past few days, and it's been rather warm. True, it's like 3 degrees at night, but in the afternoon the temperature reaches a whopping 11 degrees. It makes it very hard to dress properly if you're going to be out and about from 7AM to 8PM. It's also really bright outside, most surprisingly at 7PM. Of course it's not like summer time, but it's surprisingly especially since just a few months ago it was nearly pitch black at 4PM.

Um, um, um, other than thaaaaaat... I don't have much else to say today. I just wanted to comment on the 13 hits I've gotten from keyword searches related to Rich Shapero. Oh, and also this pic:

Because my cat likes to drink from the tap. And my dad enjoys taking pictures of the cat doing stupid things. And I spend far too much time on MemeBase.

A Day In the Life

2011-03-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

Today was somehow a good day. For a bit of normalcy, maybe I'll talk about my day for once. I think that's what other bloggers do...?

Okay, well in short:
- Rich Shapero must be a filthy rich bastard
- Memebase runs my life
- Have some interesting articles: 1/2
- And a funny site

Alright, so my day kicked off with music theory. Today was mostly a review of the tutorial on Monday and the previous class on form and how phrases form sentences and antecedent-consequent pairs, yeah yeah blah blah. I studied for my history quiz during this time. My prof wasn't overly funny today, though he is always -- ALWAYS -- a little funny. He said something bizarre today, but I can't remember it right now. Moving on... My next class was music history and we had a quiz on our opera/instrumental music unit. I don't think I absolutely failed it, but my prof asks really obscure things for the multiple choice questions. I mean, I've passed all of the quizzes so far, but my marks haven't been great. I'm thankful that I got a pretty decent mark on my term paper. Hell yes, Vivaldi. Anyhow, we got our notes for out next unit which is on Haydn and Mozart (!). I'm getting ready to unleash my inner Mozart fangirl. And I will kick my next quiz's butt. To the moon.

After my music courses, I had a Stats lab. Okay, what I do not understand about people using that lab room is how random people using the computers (which is understandable in itself) go and plunk themselves down at a computer right smack dab in the middle of a row. And each row can only be accessed from one side. If you are going to be using the lab room in LSK, please kindly put yourself in a corner so the people actually using that lab during lab time can have seats where the board is visible. Right, so lab was okay. I did derpy things but my partner caught them and pretty much told me what to do whenever I sat there like a deer caught in headlights. And let me tell you, that happened quite a lot during that lab.

I finished lab a little bit early so I headed to the SUB without having to battle through any crowds. Yay! As I entered the SUB, I was offered a free book. I accepted. The book I picked up is Rich Shapero's Too Far. Rich Shapero. Rich Shapero. That name. Ah, right. He also wrote that other free book I picked up a month ago, called Wild Animus. A lot has been said online about Rich Shapero and his books. I left my copy of Too Far on the table at school today (I saw Shapero's name on the cover and vomited a little in my mouth -- really, who has the money to self-publish and then promote so flagrantly? Oh yeah, he does. Y U NO DONATE TO JAPAN, RICH?). I admit that I'm intrigued by Wild Animus, which I actually took home. I intend to read it sometime. I mean, this guy must have mega bucks if he can afford to have it given out for free all over the world. Anyhow, I'll be sure to post my thoughts on this purported "piece of crap" when I get around to reading it.

After meeting up with some folks in the SUB and actually buying food for lunch ($8.12 for pasta with toppings... My wallet is crying ;____;), I went for a resume review with my co-op coordinator. I think what my mom said about people not liking me initially is true, because my coordinator sounded a bit disgruntled at the start. Yes, I get that she's supposed to point out everything I did wrong, but I got the feeling that she didn't like me. I can't blame her, really. But once I started asking her questions (were they maybe a little self-deprecating?), she started to smile a lot more and warm up to me. Whew.

I went back to the SUB for another hour of socialization and then headed off to meet up with my project partner (yay no project right now, though!) and head to class. 213 was actually really interesting today. Unfortunately I didn't pay much attention to the first half about the Dining Philosophers problem (click for a fun Java applet and kinda cute graphics!)-- which we covered in 211 last term anyhow -- and some of the IP stuff because my friend was texting me. My friend sat 2 rows in front of me in class. Derp. Along with the talk about IP addresses and ports, my prof talked about how computers access websites on the internet. Essentially every webpage has an IP address. When we type say "google.ca" into the address bar, our computer sends a message out asking who "google.ca" is and one response pops up and the DNS gets that one response's IP address. My prof went more in-depth and stuff, but I'll spare you all the details. I'm not sure why I found that interesting, but I did.

And then I goofed off at home until 10PM and then I wrote like 16 measures of my assignment. Yay.

Okay, time for bed!

The Magic School Data Bus

2011-03-21T00:15:00.000-07:00

I can't get over the fact that I made this monstrosity today. It's a little logo for my little team of two for my 221 project, which is to be handed in tomorrow (though I handed it in hours ago). No, it wasn't necessary, but I felt like having a little fun with the submission since it's otherwise a very plain .pdf file. And since our team name is The Magic School Data Bus (a data bus being a computer part which, I think, is used by components to relay data to each other), I decided to make this. Booyah, like less than an hour in Photoshop.

Apparently I look like a man (says my brother). Also, don't tell my project partner that she used to be Arnold. That might make her freak out. It's kind of sad that it was easier to make Arnold into a teenage girl than it was to make Miss Frizzle into one. Huh.

I contemplated sticking some random prisoners in the back windows but I couldn't think of who to stick in there. God knows they would be prisoners given my driving.

Anyhow, tomorrow will be dedicated to getting my music assignment done as well as getting some studying in for my 2 quizzes on Tuesday. G'night!

It's NOT Friday, Friday...

2011-03-20T02:09:00.000-07:00

In fact, today is the day after Friday. And if you want to get super technical, then it is in actuality Sunday morning (1AM) right now. And I don't want to comment on a certain 13-year old who recently released a pathetic excuse for a music video. Oh, but it looks like I just did. Sorry there.

I am in a decently good mood right now and I'm not sure why. It might be because of the fact that the due dates for two of my assignments have been extended, or it might be because I'm already done one of my assignments due Monday. But enough about everyday trivialities.

In terms of real world events, today the USA launched Operation Odyssey Dawn. With my head stuck firmly in the clouds of university life and the recent Japanese earthquake (and the thankfully minuscule implications it had for the west coast), I admit that I haven't been able to fully comprehend the situation in Libya. As far as I know, as with Egypt back in January, there is civil unrest in the nation. Gadhafi is being a jerk of sorts, especially with his poor treatment of civilians, and the UN voted to go pew pew on Libya, which of course brings us to OOD and the whole no-fly zone in effect. All in all, I understand that Britain and France have been "chomping at the bit" (as my mother puts it) to get America involved, but the fact that civilians have lost their lives just doesn't sit exactly right with me. Don't get me wrong, Gadhafi's attitude and whatnot doesn't sit well with me either. I just think that the world's in a sad state right now, and yet I can sit here and worry about failing quizzes. For once I am grateful that the only thing I'm worrying about immediately is whether or not my 221 project will get done by Monday 9PM.

I feel like I've said this before, but perhaps reiteration will ease my irritation... I've found that I really do not enjoy people in relationships pitying me. I enjoy being single. I enjoy being able to focus on myself and figuring out who I am exactly. I enjoy not having to have that extra bit of responsibility. I like the idea of there being a deeper, greater kind of love that I have found with songs and music -- a kind of love that is unconditional and unadulterated. I don't want to hear "oh you'll find someone someday" or "you've never had a boyfriend? Sadface" or "someone's going to come along that you'll deem worthy". Especially that last sentiment. That one makes me feel as though I am a heartless, complete, total, and utter bitch. I just don't want to hear those kinds of dreamy, "I believe in fairy tales and happy endings" statements. Being in a relationship is not the be-all, end-all. Is it so hard for people to accept that I have embraced the idea of being "forever alone"? Is it so hard for people to let go of the idea that a relationship = happiness? I don't think that I can actually fathom why people want to be in relationships. If they want that feeling of being needed, get a cat.

Also, quick letter to society:

Dear 3 dweebs sitting at the back of the X350 lab room,
The fact that you are so loudly voicing the fact that none of you want to have any daughters is a fact most fascinating indeed. And your reasoning is infinitely sound and understandable: girls are stupid. Yes, girls are most certainly stupid and horrible creatures. God forbid any more of them should be unleashed onto this world. I hope that you make this fact known to each and every girl you meet. Because yes, she will be stupid, and horrible, and she is totally going to dig the fact that you think so poorly of those women creatures. Ah yes, too many of those women creatures in your household would mean, oh what was that term you used so cleverly, that you would be "pussy-whipped". And Lord knows no one would want any of you three to be pussy-whipped.
Oh by the way, did you know that your mother was a daughter? No? Well I guess that that would explain why she raised you to believe that women are worthless creatures, silly creature that she is.
With love,
Me.

Today I watched Black Swan with a few friends just in my basement. That was nice. Having 4 people seems to be just the right amount to get some honest conversation going. So here, have a fantastic version of the Swan Lake theme done in a capella by Canadian band The Agonist:

Also, off the heels of my last post about the new Within Temptation album, I'm absolutely obsessed with this song right now:

Lyrics as far as I can tell:

I've got to try, it's not over yet

The signals of love have you left

My heart is bleeding just for you

Bleeds for only you

And it hurts to know the truth

Are you looking for saviour, chasing a dream

Love turned to hate

Now I'm crossing the border

Sealing our fate but I'm not afraid

Oh Sinéad

For the first time life is gonna turn around

I'm telling you, you will like it I know

(I know, I know, I know, I Know, I know)

Oh Sinéad

It's the first time

Only you can set it free

Oh Sinéad

Come break away with me

This second chance I know won't last

But it's okay, got no regrets

And I, I feel the end near, I'm a fool

Can't get closer

But I'm doing what I should

I've been drowning in sorrow

Chasing tomorrow

Running away

Now you're crossing the border

Sealing tomorrow

But you're not afraid

Oh Sinéad

For the first time life is gonna turn around

I'm telling you, you will like it I know

(I know, I know, I know, I Know, I know)

Oh Sinéad

It's the first time

Only you can set it free

Oh Sinéad

Come break away with me

I've been drowning in sorrow

Chasing tomorrow

Running away

Now you're crossing the borders

Sealing tomorrow

But you're not afraid

Oh Sinéad

For the first time life is gonna turn around

I'm telling you, you will like it

Oh Sinéad

For the first time life is gonna turn around

I'm telling you, you will like it I know

(I know, I know, I know, I know, I know)

Oh Sinéad

It's the first time

Only you can set it free

Oh Sinéad

Come break away with me

Actually, I think that this song might have something to do with my decently good mood.

Leakage

2011-03-16T22:53:00.000-07:00

So the new Within Temptation album leaked on Monday. And I was too wrapped up in schoolwork to notice until today. Damn. Okay, well, I've been craving some new Within Temptation so this thing leaked at a good time. I have just enough time tonight to do a little track-by-track "first impression" commentary.

Disclaimer: I don't endorse the piracy of music, nor do I own this album. This is me test-driving this album. I mean, you test drive cars and try on clothes, why can't I give this album a listen before I buy it? Makes sense to me. I encourage you to do the same. And of course you can listen along as I comment on whichever song I'm listening to.

Artist: Within Temptation
Album: The Unforgiving
Download: here or here or wherever else you can find it. I'm feeling lazy. Let me know in the comments if either of the links go down.

Why Not Me: The intro track. I've heard it before through samples and whatnot. It's creepy and it has a voiceover to set the mood at whatnot. Not all that fond of it.
Shot in the Dark: The drum beat sounds à la trip-hop, which is an interesting quality to introduce to Within Temptation's music. The lyrics aren't all that special. Overall this is a catchy, pleasant-sounding track. Whoa, it's been so long since I've listened to Within Temptation; did they always have guitar solos in their songs?
In the Middle of the Night: Me gusta that guitar opening rift. Minus Sharon's "oooh-oooh"-ing, I like the intro quite a lot. Nice orchestral stabs. I like the energy and drive. The titular line sounds kind of silly to me, especially when it leads into this crazy little riff. I kind of miss Sharon's higher register vocals.
Faster: This is another track I've heard before as it was WT's leading single from this album. (I think, don't quote me on that.) Another pleasant-sounding song, though much more down-tempo than the previous track. Don't get me wrong; it doesn't lose the energy completely, but the contrast was a little jarring for me at first. "AND I CAN'T LIIIIIIIIVE IN A FAIRY TALE OF LIIIIIIIIES" Just noticed at the 2:00-2:15 mark this "Hey! Hey!" chanting in the background. Odd. But I'm liking the little section that got cut out in the edited version. Nice.
Fire and Ice: The string-heavy intro sounds very soundtrack-esque. It reminds me of a particular soundtrack actually, but I can't put my finger on it. At 1:30, I have labelled this as a sleepy little ballad. At 2:00, good to see that it's picked up. This ballad definitely benefits from the added instruments. Now that I've gotten over that little kick of life, this song is still kind of 'meh' as a ballad for me. It isn't at that level that their previous ballads are at.
Iron: Am I the only one reminded of "The Other Side (Of Me)" upon hearing the opening guitar riff? Well, anyway, I like that they've picked up some energy with this track. There's somewhat of a Celtic feel to it, too. Or maybe it's just me. I think it's the lilt. Not loving the lyrics, though I'm liking everything else. I keep hearing "Oh damn ... (the war is coming)" which is weirding me out. Maybe I'm just tired. Unless WT suddenly became obsessed with the word "damn". FFFUUUUU voice over. Y U NO LET THE MUSIC JUST BE? If anything, this song has fantastic orchestration and instrumentation, not fantastic vocals. Oh wow. And a guitar solo! KEY MODULATION. Okay, I'm liking this song more now, even with the vocals. "DON'T WALK AWAY!"
Where is the Edge: This is another song I'd heard before thanks to the little music video for that "Me & Mr. Jones" movie (I probably wrote that wrong). I'm not super crazy about this song, though it's catchy. It has that same catchiness quality as "Faster" and "Shot in the Dark". There are certain aspects of this song I quite like though. For example, the voice distortions at around 1:50 and the little string riff at around 2:00.
Sinéad: The intro is soft and dream-like. Oh my gosh, is this another electronic drum beat? Regardless of whether or not it actually is, it has that same electronic/trip-hop/dance quality to it. Mmm, very nice when the rest of the instruments come in. I like this song. Even if it has this weird kind of fresh, crystalline look in my mind. This song is also a lesson in the pronunciation of Irish names (e.g. Sinéad, Siobhan, other names with that trick 'Si').
Lost: The intro made me mentally facepalm because it sounds like so many of those songs we learned in Guitar class. Arpeggio, let's go! There's a little motive that they keep using in the songs on this album. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, but it's something I've noticed that keeps popping up in a few of their vocal lines. This song is a bit of a yawner. Maybe it needs a few more listens. As much as I appreciate the power in the "HELP ME, I'M BURIED ALIVE" line, it contrasts a bit too much with the rest of the song for my tastes. Overall, not an outstanding song, but pleasant enough.
Murder: Oooooh creepy intro. I'm getting images of one of those black and white movies and a scene with villains in trenchcoats. I like the dark feel to this song, though the vocal distortion is not overwhelmingly brilliant or anything. Actually, I don't like the verses because of that distortion. The chorus is catchy. Interesting little choral runs.
A Demon's Fate: This song starts with a distorted vocal intro. I really like the syncopated rhythm. There's a frantic sort of feel to this song. I like the bridge. The chorus not so much. And the vocal intro comes back from time to time. WHOA just heard the Phantom of the Opera motive. This actually sounds like metal. AND there's a guitar solo. Nice.
Stairway to the Skies: Based on the title of this song, the intro sounds much darker than I'd expected. Ah, there's that uplifting feeling. There are certainly elements of this that are reminiscent of The Silent Force, but overall I can't find any hooks in this song to keep this song in my head. Again, not a bad song, but it doesn't really stand out for me.

Thoughts/Comments: This is an enjoyable album. It isn't mind-blowingly amazing or anything, but it's got its highs and lows like most albums. I think that my favourite tracks are "Sinéad" and "Iron", with "Sinéad" being my current favourite. It seems to me like Within Temptation's shifted the direction of their style again, but it's not bad, just different. You can hear the little electronic influences (is there a reason why the most famous DJs are Dutch? Maybe it's in their blood?), and in comparison to The Heart of Everything, The Unforgiving doesn't have as much emphasis on the spooky choirs. There is, however, much more of an emphasis on the guitarwork which is a nice change. I haven't looked much into the concept behind this album or the companion comic, but once this album's available in Canada, I'll most probably look into adding this one to my collection.

"OOOOH SINEAD, COME BREAK AWAY WITH MEEEEE"

Quick Hello

2011-03-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

Just a quick 'hello' tonight. I know that I have tons to do, but absolutely no motivation to do it so I've decided that my time right now would be better spent sleeping, as opposed to forcing my opinions on the world (aka blogging).

I think that this is the first term where I've passed all of my midterms, not including first term last year. I think I passed all of my midterms then, too. I think. Huzzah! I also somehow managed a 95% on my music assignment (which is my highest university mark on anything ever). Groovy. Feeling so confident about my minor. I'm definitely thinking about upgrading that to a major. Once I'm done my degree, that is.

My day was plenty boring, anyway. Except for a disastrous 213 quiz, the day was rather nondescript, though my 101 class is hilarious. My prof played the German national anthem for us today (which is apparently based on a string quartet piece by Haydn [Emperor]). Silliness ensued. I love how my music profs seem rather stuffy at times, but if you listen closely, you can catch them saying strange and hilarious things: "Everyone had Vivaldi-fever!", "Then you'd jump up a ninth. *sings a squeaky leap of a ninth in soprano range* And the Emperor wouldn't like that so you'd die! *brandishes pencil*"

The rest of my week is as follows:
- Wednesday: volunteering, work on 221 lab, start 213 assignment
- Thursday: work my butt off on my Stats assignment & 221 project
- Friday: work my butt off on Stats assignment, 221 project, and 213 assignment, hand in 221 lab (hopefully)
- Saturday: watch Black Swan with a few friends, work on 213 assignment, work on 101 assignment
- Sunday: Sleeeeeeeeep, study for 121 quiz, study for 213 quiz, catch up on things

Yay, it's 11PM, time for bed.

2011-03-14T00:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've properly blogged. My last post was written on a sort of whim with no real substance or information to it so I'll try to make up for that now, though most of my day has been spent watching Doctor Who.

The past few weeks of my life have been absolutely consumed by schoolwork and school life: midterms, projects, assignments, labs. 'Tis the life. I think that I only subsist on Panago's pizza and Tim Horton's sandwiches now.

Dreary, quotidienne life aside, of course the talk of the news has been the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and its far-reaching effects. My thoughts go out to all of those affected, from Japan to Hawaii to California. And the sentiments that this earthquake was "karmic" for what Japan did to Pearl Harbour (mostly sentiments I've seen online) are pathetic, uneducated remarks, and absolute rubbish. How anyone could say that is beyond me.

With all of the earthquake and tsunami talk, it's nice to find one article not related to the devastation in Japan or the potential in Vancouver. So yes, the lost city of Atlantis may not be quite so lost anymore.

I have lots more to say, but it's already 15 past midnight and what with Daylight Savings in effect, it's time to sleep (only to wake up in about 6 hours time).

Come and Go

2011-03-12T01:47:00.000-08:00

How to read my day as a Harry Potter fan:

After class, me and Dumbledore's Army wandered down the corridor, searching for a room to work on our spellwork. An old grizzled wizard wandering by heard that we were in need of a practice room, and pointed out a secluded chamber with a flick of his wand. We stepped inside with little to no expectations; we knew all of the rooms available to us and this was not one we had known about. To our surprise and delight, the room turned out to be quite large, and it was already stocked with supplies for us -- anything we could ever imagine. And so we realized that we had indeed been led to the Room of Requirement.

How to read my day as a normal, boring person:

After lab, me and my group of CPSC buddies wandered around the 3rd floor, looking for a project room to work on our lab in. An old grizzled janitor walking by overheard our complaints about how all of the rooms were being painted, and he pointed out this one project room that was done being painted, though the "WET PAINT" and "OUT OF ORDER" signs were still taped outside it. Plus, it was this room that we didn't know we could use. Also, this man had a mop. We stepped inside with little to no expectations, but lo and behold, the room was actually pretty big for a project room. We had lots of tables, lots of chairs, and even 2 whiteboards already stocked with markers and erasers. And so we realized that we had indeed been led to the Room of Requirement.

No lies, we deduced that we had indeed run into Dumbledore and that this room was made available to us as we required it.

Memememememe

2011-03-08T23:28:00.000-08:00

Today I had two quizzes -- one in music history, the other in 213. My music history one was meh, as usual. I've realized that I really need to read my textbook and stop relying on what I gleaned from History 4 ages and ages ago. My 213 quiz on the other hand was easy peasy, and we went over the answers in class immediately afterward so I know that my answers were right, though I might not have backed them up properly. Oh well. Aside from my quizzes today, my lectures were rather nondescript other than the fact that I got my Vivaldi essay back.

The thing about writing term papers where there are books set aside as course reserves in the library is that you're expected to use ALL of those books on course reserve. ALL of them. And if you're me, you'll go to the library 4 times, and only be able to ever find 3/5 of them. True, 1/5 went missing, but there was another 1/5 that I just never was able to get my hands on. Hell, I don't even know what it's called. Despite being docked marks for leaving that book out, I still managed to get an A- on that essay, which is a mark I'm quite pleased with given that it took minimal effort and little to no editing (I was feeling lazy).

Today was International Women's Day! Hip hip hurray! It's even a day off in certain countries:

Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.

I admit that it's rather surprising that there aren't more European nations on that list, since a lot of them are so "progressive" and femme-centric. I WISH WE HAD A DAY OFF IN CANADA.

Also, my friend told me that Sweden intends on doing away with postage stamps and instead will be using a text message payment system. Interesting. Not quite sure what to make of that. On the one hand, yay fewer trees are killed to make stamps! And on the other, stamp collectors would be out of a hobby. And I am an ex-stamp collector so I feel their pain. D:

I have a midterm tomorrow night so hopefully everything goes well, though I kind of wish that I hadn't wasted all of my time on Memebase.com, procrastinating and such. I mean, I'm on page 200 of that site now. My conscience is hurting so badly. Almost as badly as this:

Alright, it's time for bed now! And hopefully I'll dream about unicorns galloping in fields of cotton candy and gumdrops. God knows I need a little bit of happy these days. I don't even have a specific reason for being all mopey.
On the plus side, it's nice getting hugs. :) Especially from people who give substantial hugs and not just the limp-armed pat-you-on-the-back-tentatively ones. Just saying~

Life on the CPSC Scene

2011-03-06T00:51:00.000-08:00

I already have forgotten the last time that I blogged since it didn't feel like having a real blogging session or anything so perhaps I can make up for it here and now as there are obviously "a lot more details to take into consideration" that I've just upped and forgotten. Well then.

It's only been a couple of days really since my last entry, but it's felt like ages. School has been thoroughly exhausting. Yesterday I was at school until 1AM working on not one, but two CPSC assignments, one for each course. Thankfully I did finish my weekly 213 assignment at around 4PM and it's all handed in and done, however even after spending a good... 9 hours on it yesterday, I was still not done my ruddy written assignment for 221 that even now, I am still not done. Granted, me and the two guys I was working with aren't the best at writing proofs (and neither is my assignment partner), but it was difficult even getting a hold of someone who could help us. I think that each of us made a phone call to try and get someone to help us, but alas, our contacts were: a) not answering, b) working on an assignment for another course, and c) drunk. So we watched YouTube videos, discussed the differences between males and females in regards to romance, found out that I can do video Skype calls on my new iPod (my brother's getting my old one since there's supposedly going to be a Minecraft app/game coming to an iPod near you), marveling over how many gadgets we had between the 3 of us, singing The Lonely Island songs, and BS'ing proofs. It's fun hanging out with guys. Even if you get to hear about their porn stashes and hear comments from one about how the other fails at shaving. Oh men.

Today it was apparently a nice day out. Though it's not like I knew; I was indoors all day either sleeping or working on this written assignment. It should honestly be illegal to assign something that requires 6 different proofs. That being said, I think that we were productive for most of the day, despite me being forced to listen to Disturbed, Mudvayne, and Slipknot, the two former being bands that my super girly giggly assignment partner likes, and the third being a band that puts her to sleep. I kid you not. Also, she drew pictures on our printouts of the assignment. Crazy girl.

Also I want to make a statement about my Facebook account and what the point even is in me having one.
I like to think of this as an experiment. I am redefining the word "friend" in a Facebook context and injecting a bit of fun into the use and abuse of this site. Because Facebook is just that horrible. Also, I'd like to prove that it's not as addictive as everyone seems to make it out to be.

The Facebook Experience Experiment

First and most foremost, I am not using my real name. I have several reasons for this. Of course, there is the obvious reason related to Internet privacy and the likes, and in the incredibly tech-savvy field of Comp Sci it is practically a given that future employers will stick my name into Google. However, this is not my sole reason for using an anagram. Yes, I initially used the anagram to stay off of most people's radar, but I've realized that it not only does that, but it requires an extra step of people who do want to befriend me on this godforsaken social networking site. More often than not, people were required to speak to me and ask me for my Facebook name. And if they didn't, then they most probably had to do a little sleuthing to find me, albeit fairly menial sleuthing, but sleuthing nonetheless. The fact that people would have to take this extra step indicates to me (no matter how superficially at this point) that they put even that little bit of extra effort to do that little something for me. And of course, it's nice to know that I'm relatively safe from creepy TAs and the likes.

What I've found to be a sentiment more common than I thought was one about how having a Facebook account is somewhat of an obligation; they just have one for the sake of saying that they have one. Honestly, where's the fun in that? It seems to me that the befriending craze that runs rampant on this Facebook thing has its repercussions; people are expected to interact with mere acquaintances and/or those they'd just rather not socialize with. People are forced to interact with people they don't necessarily want to enough in real life, why drag that into Facebook? For this reason, I've decided that my Facebook "friends" will actually most certainly be friends, or at the very very most, be people I've known for a long time that I get along fairly well with and/or have a mutual respect for.

In terms of improving the "fun" factor of Facebook, I think that I've already made some progress. I don't think that I need to go into all the gory details, but I have a feeling that whatever my antics are, they're maybe possibly slightly more interesting than people's clubbing pictures and requests for asinine things in Farmville. Oh yeah, and "for fun" is essentially the whole reason I'm doing this. I'm really not using my account as a communication tool to keep in touch with anybody or anything. This is just a crappy, overrated, browser-based MMORPG as far as I'm concerned. :P I'm not saying that my arguments are sound, reasonable, or logical. They're just my reasons and they make sense to me; no point in trying to argue them.

Sorry, no linkspam tonight, kiddos. Though, the Canadian dollar is absolutely rockin'. I think we exchanged some CAD for USD the other day and we got about $18 more. I'm sure that America's economy will pick up again within the next couple of years and we'll be left in their dust once more, but right now, it's a great time to exchange your money and go shopping stateside.

Back for now.

2011-03-03T21:24:00.000-08:00

It's been... an awful long time since I last blogged. In fact, I think it's been more than a week as it is now March. Despite the passing of time between my last blog post and this one, my life has remained static.

Well, I've found an article that actually seems to have viable and legitimate sources to back up the claim that Vancouver is the top city for "liveability" (that doesn't look like a word to me). So that's the end of that.

I also just found out today that that 10-year-old girl who sang GaGa's "Born this Way" and is now a YouTube sensation, will be performing with the GaGa herself. The little girl is also Canadian. Weird. And somewhat Bieber-ish.

Today at my co-op workshop, my coordinator went over the three types of jobs available to co-op students: QA, PM, and SD. QA stands for "quality assurance", which is essentially just a fancy way of saying "testing". PM is an abbreviation for "project manager", and SD is short for "software developer". Based on everything I've heard today during the workshop, I think that I really would like to get a PM job/placement. Granted, it of course would be based on what I apply for, but I definitely will be applying like mad for PM jobs. I don't have the patience for QA and I don't think I quite have the technical skills to be an SD. Aaaaaand I dunno, I just plain felt excited when my coordinator started talking about the role of a PM in the workplace. That being said, I think that I'll be concentrating most of my application efforts on PM and QA jobs since QA seems to be the most common one for co-op students.

I've found that the people I've most recently befriended think that I'm "confident", "assertive", a "people person", and a "heart breaker". People never cease to confuse me.

Alright, so my view of the upcoming week:
- Monday: 221 written assignment due, 221 lab due, 213 assignment due
- Tuesday: 121 quiz, 213 quiz
- Wednesday: 221 midterm
- Thursday: 101 assignment due
- Friday: 221 milestone due

Yaaaaaaaay, life = over.

I feel like writing. And getting all of my daydreaming out of my system. But I can't. There's no time.

Local & National Hodge Podge

2011-02-23T21:42:00.000-08:00

So according to The Vancouver Sun, we've been the most livable city for 5 years straight.
The full list of top 10 cities is:

1. Vancouver
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Vienna, Austria
4. Toronto
5. Calgary
6. Helsinki, Finland
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Perth, Australia
8. Adelaide, Australia
10. Auckland, New Zealand

Some of the comments on this article have incited a sort of pro/anti-Vancouver argument, one in which some people claim that this article is propaganda and lies. I have to say that I have no idea where The Sun got this data from exactly -- "With files from Postmedia and Reuters" sounds kind of vague to me -- but I am not going to look into it. It's a known fact that Vancouver is (pretty much) universally deemed one of the world's most livable cities, so who really cares if we're #1 or #5? For most cities in developed countries, I don't think that it matters too much how the cities ranks in "livability". How "livable" your city is what you make of it; Vancouver is great, but if you're dead set on hating it, you're not going to like living here.

Other local news, reported by The Sun, is the sighting of Tom Cruise at yesterday's Canucks game. Apparently he's also been bringing his daughter to the main library downtown. Gosh, that is a strange thought. Rumour has it that they're also still filming Hellcats at UBC, and I did see tents on Main Mall by Buchanan so maybe there's some truth to that rumour. All I know is that the food trailer accompanying those tents has some pretty fantastic-smelling food. Namely garlic bread-esque aromas, but all in all, better than the sandwiches I get for lunch.

And in national news, Swiss Chalet is going to be launching a 24-hour chicken channel, à la Shaw's Yule Log and that Aquarium channel. As ridiculous as it is that we will soon be able watch a chicken roasting on our lovely HD television, you've gotta love CBC for running this as an actual news story.

Bringing things back around to real life...

my 213 midterm yesterday was alright. I flubbed up the 2nd question (of an exam comprised of 3 questions total) -- worth 30 marks -- but I'm decently confident about the other 2 questions.
I got some of my marks back for some of those weekly assignments that have kept me out at school until 9PM on Friday nights, and I've gotten some surprisingly high marks (especially given the fact that I spend most of my lab times gesticulating wildly while I distract my lab buddies). Pleasant surprise of the night!
I also got my mark for my first 221 project and... with some insane dedication from my project partner, we managed to get 100%! Yay! We probably could've done some of the bonus things (since they were apparently in the textbook... derp), but I'm very happy with the mark we got!
I did well on my music theory midterm! \o/ My minor is starting to look more and more like my major, based on my marks. @______@ Ah, well.
my second 221 project is due Friday and I am kind of fa-reaaaaaaking out because me and my partner only really worked on it on Monday. ;________; Someone pray for my soul.
I have a Stats midterm on Monday and I need to find my graphing calculator and program some functions into it. Blah. My week & weekend is going to be hellish.
tomorrow is my Employer Panel co-op workshop, which means that I have to come up with questions to ask those employers and also be prepared to answer interview questions. And I mean questions other than "Oh, do you know _______? Yeah, he's my mom's friend's husband." Not gonna lie, but my mom's friend's husband actually does work for MDA (the company that programmed the Canadarm space station thing).
I just found out that my grandma likes chips and pop. And she enjoys going to pub night at her care home. Where there's some singer singing Roy Orbison songs. And everyone drinks beer and whiskey. Holy Jesus, my grandma's social life is kicking my social life's butt to the moon.

Alright, enough dithering for tonight. Time to work on my project ... by myself. ;______;

Blueberry (c)

2011-02-21T23:52:00.000-08:00

Edited for grammar, because I cannot write when I am dead-tired without some grammatical mistakes.

So I am apparently a crackhead now. No, I'm not doing drugs. No, I was not a crack baby. But yes, I have a Blackberry now. *waves small Canadian flag* It's this ugly old thing here, but apparently I am a dinosaur-lover, says my mom. I admit that I squealed like a... I-don't-know-what when I found out that Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and the Toreador song were ringtones, but it's not like I'm totally in love with this phone. It is huge. And very plasticky-feeling. But so far I like the simple interface and the scroll wheel (so old school that there's a scroll wheel on the side). I'm definitely starting to see the appeal of the Blackberry, with the nice QWERTY keyboard and all, but the size/shape is bulky and bothersome right now. Also the 'a' button is practically falling off the front side, but I can work with that. For some reason, I really like just checking on my phone every once in a while. I know that this ancient piece of technology doesn't have access to the App World thinger, but I definitely think that I have to check out the variety of apps available for the Blackberry before I decide on my next (new!) phone. And in case anyone is wondering why I'm using this Blueberry thing, it's because...
[small anecdote]
I was running for the Godforsaken 49 bus and the phone bounced out of my pocket (which sounds much better and blameless than "I dropped it"), it hit the pavement, the back cover flew off, the battery flew out, and everything got allllllll scratched and banged up.
[/small anecdote]
So I went back to my LG Neon phone (piece of junk where I can't hear ringing or who I am calling for the first 20 seconds of a call so I have no idea when anyone picks up), which didn't bother me all that much, really, but my parents were sick of hearing me breathe while saying "Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?!" over and over again. And this old Blackberry was a gift from my mom's boss from way back in 2003? 2001? But my mom had her old Telus phone and didn't see the need to switch over and use a Blackberry so it sat forgotten in a cupboard for years until my dad suggested I unlock it for use on Fido and actually use it. And ta-da! A crackhead was born.

Actually, it probably really doesn't help that I have small hands, in terms of feelings of bulkiness. Oh well.

Also, as shown by tonight's episode of The Bachelor (oh shush, my parents watch that reality TV show garbage), Americans cannot pronounce "poutine", no matter how close they are to Québec.

So tomorrow I have a midterm for one of my CPSC courses. Unfortunately, the prof hasn't been interacting with the TAs much (the only human contact we students have with course administration), nor has the prof been posting any of the things he promised (practice exams, review questions, in-class examples). Essentially, tomorrow's exam is just a disaster waiting to happen. Time to get maybe 6 hours of sleep! \o/
Hopefully tonight will be better than last night where I kept waking up. 'Twas annoying.

Quantity Over Quality

2011-02-20T22:45:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a long blog entry, not so much in terms of words I am typing, but mostly due to the sheer size of a few videos I'm going to post. Just a little "quantity over quality" warning.

To get the boring "real life story" part of my blog entry out of the way, yes, today was another glorious day spent at home. And by "glorious day", I really do mean that it was a nice day today. The sun was shining, the sky wasn't clouded by grey storm clouds. It looked like spring or early summer. The temperature was chillier than summer or spring at 4 degrees C, but it was still really beautiful outside. But I spent my day indoors studying for CPSC 213 and watching the Tim Horton's Heritage Classic game between Calgary and Montréal. Calgary totally kicked butt.

My brother updated me on the whole Minecraft infiltration of the Swedish subway card contest today. Apparently there is a new Minecraft creature up for voting called the Sad Squid. I cannot facepalm any more at that name/idea/concept. Sad Squid. I haven't even played enough Minecrap to know what this Sad Squid thing looks like, but God forbid that it should resemble a blocky cubic squid that is frowning or, nay, crying. From the forum post:

*UPDATE*
The creeper made it to the finals.
The Pig will make it to the finals!
Sad Squid is up for voting!

Help the Squid become happy!
Click on "Rösta"/Rosta http://design.sl.se/bidrag/8469/- This could be on the Swedish subway cards!

Right, well... If a Minecrap critter makes it onto the subway card, I can just imagine my brother's latest arguments for wanting to go to Sweden: "THERE'S A MINECRAFT CREEPER/PIG/SQUID ON THE CARD. I HAVE TO GET ONE! AND I WANT TO MEET NOTCH." I mean, why would you choose a Minecrap thing over this delicious ice cream? Or these awesome cupcakes? (I'm really liking this Amanda Cullbrand woman, no lies. And if I'm being serious, okay, delicious desserts might not be such a great idea either. But hey, ice cream >>> cupcakes >>>>>>>>>>> Minecrap anything) ... And after going through a bunch of those entries (looking for more yumtastic entries), I've realized that I'm slowly picking up words (I think). >___> "Ett hjärte för dig" = "A heart for you", I believe (not Google translating to check). Oh Jesus, I've even come across an entry featuring Försberg, which I guess makes more sense than the JBiebz entry (no link for j00). Sverige är konstigt. So very konstigt. @____@

Speaking of yumtastic, and tying that into the Heritage Classic, someone on Twitter posted a picture of a special Tim Horton's Heritage Classic donut. I'm trying to figure out if that is Photoshop'd or something, but regardless, that looks delicious. I love Timmy Ho's donuts. And speaking of food and hockey...

Do not mention "East Side Mario's" to me. Do NOT. For those of you who are reading this, scratching your head, not comprehending the significance behind those three words concatenated in that order -- probably because you don't watch CBC during hockey games -- then let me show you the thing that haunts me in my dreams, the stuff of nightmares... THIS is East Side Mario's:

Oh and I came across this today after UndefinedLimit tweeted some East Side Mario's lyrics at me:

I miss those "History Will Be Made" commercials. I swear to God, CBC only ever spams this commercial during hockey games.

I'm also trying to decipher the lyrics to "To India's Shores". I'm am almost 100% certain that this song is about Christopher Columbus. I'll list my reasons after my attempt at transcribing...

She wears a ruby necklace
She's got those emerald eyes
Her pace is graceful
And her words are wise
Hoping my pleading
Can get the treaty signed
I tried so hard and failed again
But something's changed her mind

So my time has come
Nothing is impossible
It can be done
A course no navigator sailed before
To India's shores

The conquest of Grenada
Impossible they said
But she has courage
No one's ever had
She proved them wrong
And so will I
My dream will never die

So my time has come
Nothing is impossible
It can be done
I sail into the west, I'm showing
Everyone
That nothing is impossible
I'll be the one
To find a course no navigator sailed before
To India's shores

Oh, when I close my eyes
I see cities made of gold
And a land where nobody grows old

So my time has come
Nothing is impossible
It can be done
I sail into the west, I'm showing
Everyone
That nothing is impossible
I'll be the one
To find a course no navigator sailed before
To India's shores

Right, so...

Chris Columbus thought that he could reach India, and actually mistook America for India, hence the naming of aboriginal people as "Indians"
If I heard correctly, Grenada is mentioned and it is/was a Spanish colony, I think. I'm not well-versed in Spanish history or anything, but it seems kind of Hispanic and is giving me the "I got pwned by a European country" vibe.
I don't know why, but the "emerald eyes" and "ruby necklace" remind me of Isabella of Castille, and I think she was Columbus's benefactress and was responsible for the Grenada thing.
... further Wikipedia research has confirmed the Columbus-Isabella-Grenada connection, though she apparently had blue eyes. Derp.

Anywho, I've found the lyrics for Kalafina's "Magia", as well as an English translation so I'm having fun trying to sing in Japanese. Let's hope that no one barges into my room (which is bound to happen) while I am mid-squeaky-voiced-Japanese-word. And if you made it alllllll the way to the bottom of this post, you deserve a hug. *e-hug*

Death & Bibliography

2011-02-20T00:52:00.000-08:00

Right, so I'm technically done my paper, but now I just have to do up the bibliography and endnotes and print it all out. It looks like it's going to be 7-8 pages so I'll be scrounging around looking for a duotang or some sort of folder, I guess.

Oh, and I totally just killed a spider on the wall. Bitch didn't know what was coming.

So while I indulge in some lucubration (dictionary.com word of the day!) by writing up my bibliography, I'll give the new Serenity album a listen and do ~~a little~~ some massive track-by-track "first impressions" commentary.
I mean, it's not like my day was very exciting or anything anyway.

Alright, let's start with a little basic info:
Band: Serenity
Album: Death & Legacy
Release date: le vingt-cinq février (Feb. 25/11, whut up!)
General Intro/Disclaimer: This is my first impression of the album. Granted, I've heard 2 tracks already from the music video and single, but aside from that, these are my first thoughts hearing the album. No, I haven't read anyone else's thoughts on this album so I'm not biased. I don't own this album (yet) nor do I endorse piracy. I think of this as trying the album out before I buy. To me that only makes sense that you'd try before you buy. And if I like this album, then I fully intend on doing my very best to get a hard copy. Please note that I am not the uploader.

Go download the album from here to listen along with me. Or if you want direct download links then try this, this, or this. Ahem...

Set Sail to... (Intro): Not a particularly musical or melodious intro track, but it definitely sets the whole "I'm on a boat" (lulz) sensation up for "New Horizons"...
New Horizons: I like the opening riff! Actually, I really quite like the instrumentation overall. And that double kick drum work. Niiiiiiiice. Sounds very much like power metal. My guess is that it's about Napoleon Bonaparte? Unless I am mixing up my facts (I thought I heard "Elba"). It's a very solid track.
The Chevalier: Oooh the intro! It starts off with a stately little strings rift backed by a choir before absolutely rocking into that signature Serenity sound. I've already listened to this track plenty of times before back when the music video was released. In fact, I think I posted that video. In short, this song is thoroughly enjoyable and is very catchy. And the female guest vocals (Ailyn of Sirenia) sound better here than in her own bloody band. "TONIIII-EEE-IIII-EEE-IIIGHT"
Far From Home: This track starts with a lot of aggressive energy. Not a bad thing. I feel like as it transitions into the chorus for the first time... it's a letdown. Like the chorus could've been some super catchy powerful thing, but it fell a little short. That being said, by the second chorus, I'm starting to really like the nuances of the chorus. It's catchy in its own way, albeit not very in-your-face. Definitely liking the little bridge with the vocals on the offbeats. Another very solid track.
Heavenly Mission: Oh interesting layered vocal intro. And of course, we kick it into high gear after about 20 seconds. Hmm, there's this strange heavy sound. I can't quite describe it, but to me it's heavy and dark brown. All I know is that it's on the downbeat and I like it. It makes the song stand out. As we transition into the chorus, I realize that I quite like this song. It's a little slower than the last few tracks, but it seems more melodious. Oh, and I've figured out that it's some sort of drum or percussion instrument. Great variety in instruments in this song. I'm hearing: "The chocolate frost is growing pain" (at 4:18). I am lol'ing. Oh Georg, don't ever lose that accent~
Prayer (Interlude): Ah, bells! Tolling! ~~John Donne!~~ And a choir. Ah, and now I understand why Ailyn is credited as being featured in this track as well, with her being Spanish and all. I admit that she doesn't have a fantastic voice for this kind of atmospheric thing, but whatever. Pleasant enough, I suppose. Fairly nondescript track. Feels like wannabe Kamelot, but not quite reaching that level in creepy/cool/confusing interludes.
State of Siege: Interesting percussion-heavy intro. Very marching band-esque. And an oboe solo it sounds like. Definitely getting the "let's go to war, guise!" vibe. Whoa. The guitar came in and smothered the drums. Nice. And vocals come in 2/5 of the way through. Sounds very standard power metal with some very tasteful symphonic embellishments.
Changing Fate: Acoustic guitar starts this track off, accompanied by some strings and jangly percussion. This song sounds rather nondescript so far. Pleasant, but not outstanding, really. Ooooh Amanda Somerville does the guest vocals! I quite like her. And she adds some life to the song. When Georg and Amanda sing together, it sounds nice. Alright, things have livened up, especially when the guitar solo came in. I feel bad for thinking this song boring initially. I'll have to give it another listen with the lyrics in front of me.
When Canvas Starts to Burn: Some heavy guitar riffing starts this one off. This song sounds hella ~~agressive~~ [French has evidently degraded my English] aggressive. Hm, the song mellowed out a little. And has gone back to being aggressive. I'm really digging this aggression, not gonna lie.
Serenade of Flames: ADFAFDADSJFKL; I adore this song. Honestly, I really truly do. The opening guitar riff is catchy. The chorus is catchy. There is just a hint of aggression in the guitar following the intro. Charlotte Wessel's vocals are spot-on. Her voice has a different quality to it, and it's one that I like so I was definitely looking forward to hearing this song when she was announced as a guest vocalist. Yes, I've listened to this song before, but I didn't fangirl over it quite so much as I am now. :)
Youngest of Widows: Oh cool layered vocals for an intro! The guitar's really driving, but there are some nice orchestral stabs. This song really has that uplifting feeling (à la standard power metal, yeah yeah you're sick of me genre-dropping). And I really should stop saying "really". This is a limited edition bonus track, but I think that I like it more than "State of Siege". Ah well.
Below Eastern Skies (Interlude): Whoa, trippy intro. Definitely has that Middle Eastern feel. The female vocals sound kind of thin to me, but oh well. They're not supposed to be the focus or anything. I do think that Serenity did a good job of capturing the Middle Eastern vibe. And I can't help but be reminded of Kamelot ("Desert Reign/Nights of Arabia").
Beyond Desert Sands: [added later, after "My Legacy", see "To India's Shores" notes] NIIIIIIGHTS OF ARA--oh wait. Nah, doesn't sound at all like "Nights of Arabia", but I'm definitely hearing Kamelot influences. Liking the guitar a lot. Ah, okay, this song is catchy. And has those kickass double kick drum sixteenth notes. Oh, random female backup vocals! I love random female backup vocals! "SEVENTEEN YEAAAAAAAARS"
To India's Shores: Sounds so pretty! *0* I'm a sucker for pretty string arrangements, and this song does indeed start with a pretty string arrangement. Wait, am I missing a song? ~~Where is "Beyond Desert Sands"? Oh Jesus. This kind of... messes things up. Anyone care to link me to a download that has "Beyond Desert Sands" or just send it to me? T^T~~ [found it, WMP is being a derp and isn't including it when I just play the Death & Legacy album. Quoiiiiii?]... but holy fripping Jesus, this song is pretty. "SO MY TIIIIIIIIIME HAS COOOOOOME"
Lament (Interlude): Sounds like Italiano to me. Though it could be Espagnol. Translation pls. My knowledge of French doesn't quite make me fluent in all Romance languages.
My Legacy: Interesting way to start off the track. There's a feeling of urgency with those starting lines. Sounds like a pleasant, pretty standard Serenity track. Bits of it are quite catchy, but I think I'm still trying to get over "To India's Shores". Holy crap, that was pretty.

Holy Jesus. "To India's Shores" is like. I can't describe. It's epic and beautiful. HOW IS IT ONLY A LIMITED EDITION BONUS TRACK?! And it's this beautiful shade of blue. I thought it'd be red or something more "Indian", but it's like this beautiful cerulean. And I can't help but make weird faces when I listen to it. Good weird faces. Oh God, I love music so damn much. My thoughts feel all jumbled and my heartrate increases when I listen to this song. Is this love? Okay okay okay. Ahem.

Overall, I feel like this is a very solid album. It has its ups and downs, but the majority of this ride is on the up and up. If you like symphonic power metal, then I highly highly suggest this album. I wish I could tear myself away from "To India's Shores" to give the album another go, but... I can't. Maybe tomorrow... Or next month. I think ratings are stupid and no number or fraction can really capture it all, so I'll just leave you with this statement: TO INDIA'S SHORES. LISTEN TO IT. NOW.

Cravings, the Concerto, and C++

2011-02-19T02:32:00.000-08:00

I feel like I made a lot of progress today in terms of my term paper, the subject of which is focused on Vivaldi, Venice, and the concerto. I started today's ongoing essay-writing session at 852 words and now I'm at a jubilant 1338. I hope to get this done before going to bed tonight!

(Word count: 1338/1600)
So my day was another uneventful day spent at home. Not that that's a bad thing, really. My project partner came over to try and start working on our project (I hate C++), but we kind of got distracted by hunger and pokémon and animé. More specifically, this animé:

It's called Madoka Magica or Puella Magi, I'm not sure which exactly. And apparently it has a lot of elements of/parallels to the story of Faust, which appeals to me, though I am not really seeing it. And I've been forced to watch like 7 episodes of it so far. So yeah. I'm not a big animé person or anything, but it seems alright.
I actually quite like the closing credits theme song, which is "Magia" by Kalafina. That being said, I don't think that I'm turning Japanese or anything.

The harmonies are so nice *0* And it is amazing to see some Asian (non-Filipina) girls who can actually sing. Or maybe I'm just used to seeing all those sad sap talent competition contestants on TV at my grandparents'. Anyway... today was not a productive day in terms of CPSC.

(Word count: 1447/1600)

In other news, America is contemplating charging us for crossing the border. When my mom first told me about it, I was all "oh noes, now how will I buy cheap things?!" until she clarified that people driving down in private vehicles wouldn't be charged. Whew. Though honestly, I am not digging the charging extra for flights. The USA is a swell place to vacation in, but it's already kind of expensive to travel by plane, and now, if this proposal becomes anything more than just a proposal, it just tacks on another cost. I suppose that, like with most "extra fees", I understand the point of this, but it just seems like an extra nuisance. I like things the way they are, thank you very much, Obama.

(Word count: 1500/1600)

I was looking at some random articles on Wikipedia about the European Union (a concept that was unclear to me, especially after reading an article mentioning the Eurozone) and I saw some pictures of Finland and Estonia. And man, I am having another one of my bouts of Eurocrave (because the Euro- prefix makes everything cool).
And speaking of Europe, I came across this deviantArtist who's doing this little series called "Scandinavia and the World" where countries are personified and stereotypes are glorified. Silliness aside, it's actually kind of interesting to see these stereotypes in comic form. Her comics are also rather educational if you aren't Scandinavian and/or don't know Scandinavian history.

(Word count: 1607/1600)
Yesssssss, I've reached my minimum word limit! Time to turn in!

Also, I've just realized that I've had pizza for at least one meal for 5 days in a row now...

Let's see what my word count is now after about an hour and a half of alternating between reading, blogging, watching YouTube videos, writing, and Googling for download links.
(Word count: 1813/1600)

Vidspam Friday

2011-02-18T01:31:00.000-08:00

Yay it's 1AM and so it's officially Friday now!
...
No, there isn't really much of anything to say "yay" over. Reading break is almost over and I've still got tons of crap to do. Ughhhhhhh.

The good news for the day is that I'm just over halfway done my paper! Though I will probably have to do epic amounts of editing (writing at 2AM will do that) and formatting to get all the footnotes in. And then I have a few questions left for my theory assignment, a 221 lab to finish, a 221 project due in a week, and studying for my 213 midterm on Tuesday!
Yup, I'm kind of dead.
And I'm also kind of sore from laser tag. No, more like very sore. I haven't done that much kneeling/crouching in a long time.

So yesterday night I got caught up on watching Jeopardy, as it was the end of Watson's little stint on the much-loved game show (well, God knows I love Jeopardy). Watson did extremely well, and really, I'm a little disappointed in how Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter did, though if it came down to button-clicking, I can't really blame either of them, I suppose.
Also, this has apparently spawned a heated discussion about whether or not America or Canada is the better country (don't check the comments):

And that Ken Jennings. He's a real card.
(Skip to 8:24 if you don't want to geek out and answer along to the Double Jeopardy round)

Also, I only very recently caught this commercial, as all of the super special SuperBowl commercials weren't aired in Canada. The Star Wars fangirl in me loved it. And even the cynical "I dislike children" side of me thought that it was cute:

One thing I've noticed that comes up when people from all over the world talk online, is the subject of bagged milk. And most of the time the country of discussion with this weird phenomenon is Canada. I have to say that I have never seen milk in a bag. Granted, I've pretty much been confined to B.C., but I don't think that it's a matter of what side of the Rockies you're on to experience this. As far as I know, it's only Ontario and Quebec with the whole milk in a bag thing going on. But! If you're curious as to how them Easterners deal with milk, here's a video by some chick who felt the need to prove that she's Canadian by wearing a shirt saying so:

Mmkay, that's all for now. Have a good day!

I'mma firin' mah lazer

2011-02-17T02:20:00.000-08:00

Before I pass out for the night (and maybe get in another 100 words for my paper), I'll do a quick review of the last two days...

Tuesday was my Guitar Hero party. It was also the day that my high school friends met my CPSC friends. Le gasp. Luckily things went well and I couldn't be happier with how things turned out, really. I think because the group was split pretty evenly in half (in regards to the "type" of friend), there was little to no exclusion, and things went pretty much the way I wanted them to, right down to the time the last of my friends left.
And apparently my friend went to the wrong house. He didn't even tell me about it, but he did tell my mom. Seriously. He told my mom. As my mom relayed it to me today:
"I didn't know what to say to him. Like, was I supposed to say: 'Oh wow, for such a smart kid, you sure are stupid'?"
Th-thanks, mom. @_____@ Thanks for not saying that. Whew.

Today I celebrated my friends' birthdays by playing some laser tag (at Planet Lazer, where Bieber punched a kid in the face, and then proceeded to buy new equipment for the place) and then going out for hotpot. Laser tag is really quite fun. I even managed to get a somewhat decent score. Honest to God, this was the... third time in my whole entire life that I've had hotpot. So yeah, I admit that I was a little slow to start because I was trying to very slyly watch how other people ate so I wouldn't have to ask embarrassing questions. There were also some absolutely fantastic birthday cakes from Thomas Haas.

Alright, time to get that word count up a bit before passing out for the night.

Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T02:25:00.000-08:00

So today was Valentine's Day, and I have to say that today I probably had the most enjoyable Valentine's Day of my short little life so far. No, I didn't have a hot date or anything, but I *did* get to hang out with probably my 3 closest friends. The day consisted of watching television (How I Met Your Mother & Jeopardy) and playing a few games of Pyramid that my friend made using PowerPoint. That was great fun. Lots of inside jokes were spawned from that.

Earlier in the day, I played a bit more Minecraft on my friend's server. I should've taken pictures of the insane detail put into the pyramid and Parthenon on his server, but unfortunately I didn't. And I died today so I'm allllllll the way back at the spawn point, which is very very far away from the fancy architectural stuff. Darn it.

In Minecraft-related news, my brother told me that Sweden's subway card may feature a creeper. The fact that the Obvious Troll-face is in the running just downright confuses me. I mean, yeah, we had some pretty crappy name ideas for our transit card, but having a creeper or Obvious Trollface on your transit card is just plain... weird. I'm not sure exactly how the creeper design is faring as a finalist as I am nowhere near fluent in Swedish (I swear to God, all I can decipher is "Here are"), but it seems to be doing well vote-wise. In conclusion: Sverige är strange (or whatever 'strange' is in Swedish).

I'm just going to finish this post with some picspam of the wand I got in Seattle the other day at the Harry Potter Exhibition. It's a replica of Hermione's wand and it actually feels rather weighty. My guess is that its made of epoxy.

Smoosh desperately tries to play with it.

Fun fact: Hermione's wand is about as long as my cat (minus the tail).

Here's the wand in its box with the little "official" card denoting its officialness. Oh and a cat.

My bed covers are messy, but oh well. Not like anyone cares~~~
For all you melancholy folks, have a ~~Single's Awareness~~ Valentine's Day song.

It's 3 quarters after 1, I'm all alone and I need...

2011-02-14T01:56:00.000-08:00

... sleep now.
Said I wouldn't blog, but I lost all control... and I need sleep now.
And I don't know how I can do without... I just need sleep now.

Yes, I am alive.
Yes, my life has been busy.
Sure, I'll recount a bit of what it's been like.

Friday: I went out for dinner with my family as a sort of late Chinese New Years celebration. Unfortunately the meal was... yucky. The restaurant (Golden Swan, 38th & Victoria) just went through a change of ownership and a new chef was hired. It wasn't even the level of unprofessionalism regarding the menu (half of which was crossed out, and another quarter was of items that the new chef couldn't cook that not even the servers knew whether or not the chef could cook the dish), but rather the quality of the food. In short, the presentation of the food was as plain as I've ever seen it, the pancake thingies (I have no idea what they are, really) for Peking duck were stiff as boards, and the sauce for the lemon chicken was a veritable mess of lumpiness. Well, I can tell you right now that that restaurant is not going to be popular with anyone my family knows. I have to say though, this was definitely one of those occasions where everyone in my family had similar opinions so yay for family bonding?

Saturday: On Saturday me and my family woke up bright and early to go down to Seattle for the day. The purpose of this trip was to go see the Harry Potter exhibition at the Pacific Science Centre (I'm probably misspelling "centre". Oh well.). The trip down was about 3 hours, most of which I spent sleeping. It's been a few years since I've been to Seattle, but the space needle and Experience Music Project were familiar sights. I've been to the Science Centre before, but that was ages ago when those Science-World-y type places were novel to me. We pretty much got there just in time to pick up our tickets and walk to the exhibit. One thing to note was that we ran into some very nice Americans when we were parking the car in the super cramped parkade. Since there's a metre system or sorts, the folks in the spot we wanted gave us their receipt which would cover our parking until 3PM. We got there at about 11AM. That was pretty fantastic.
The exhibit itself was very cool. I was surprised at the varying ages of the people there. The couple in front of us during most of the tour was middle-aged to say the least (and childless as far as I could tell). I won't give away too much of the exhibit, but photography was forbidden so no pics for you guys. Unless you want to see the souvenirs I bought in the gift shop. All I can say is that I went in thinking that it would be somewhat boring as the exhibits were all movie props and costumes, but the scenery and setup were great and really captured the feel of the movies. I have to say that they definitely got a lot of the really badass props. Also, we weren't allowed to touch anything (except for the mandrakes, which we were supposed to pull up so we could hear their crying), but my mom (being who she is) of course reached out and unthinkingly touched a prop (the giant moving rook in the Philosopher's Stone chess game at the end). I wonder if she has some Rupert Grint DNA on her hands now or something.
After we were done with the exhibit, we headed home and stopped at a few of our usual smalltown shops to load up on that oh so exotic American food. And by exotic, I really do mean stuff that we don't get up here in Canada. Like some new candy (which we probably *will* get, but like months later and at a jacked up price) and some orange Mountain Dew. :O

Sunday: I just stayed home all day, played some Minecraft on my friend's server, and watched the Grammys. My friend and *his* friends remade the Parthenon and the pyramid of Giza on their server. They're also working on making a skytrain line. Pretty fantastic. I'm currently in the middle of exploring the pyramid without triggering any of the traps they set up. Oh yeah, I also really need to start working on some homework. Like my term paper. I'll do that in like 5 minutes.

Also, Happy Singles Awareness day, everybody! :)
Because couples are the most boring people ever. Ever.

And to pay my respects to the "Song of the Year"...

I swear, this is like the only "country" song I can get into. Big congrats to Lady Antebellum!

Phone Headaches

2011-02-11T23:35:00.000-08:00

It looks like I am probably going to have to phone Motorola to see if they can shed any light on what's wrong with my phone, since it keeps getting stuck on the start-up animation and restarting over and over again in what is probably a case of an infinite loop. For all I know it's the battery, but my parents think it's too much work getting a new battery and they don't think that that's the problem. And that frustrates me to no end. Honest to goodness, a new battery is like $14 and they aren't willing to explore that option. I guess I can see their side of the argument, but right now $14 seems trivial if getting a new battery was the answer.

I think I'm partly so adamant on trying the battery thing first because I really really really would rather not phone Motorola. I don't enjoy making phone calls and the previous times when I've phoned cell phone companies, the representatives I've spoken to have given me a hard time. I mean, if that doesn't instill a weird kind of fear of calling phone carriers, I don't know what does.

So that leads me to looking at new phones. And with BestBuy's "Free Phone Fridays", I'm starting to explore options and try to start my research. My plan runs out at the end of August so that's just... 6 more months or so where I have to tough it out with this old LG Neon. I'm fairly against the idea of an iPhone, to be honest. Maybe it's my weird rebel mentality (yay rebel without a cause) or the fact that my first smartphone was indeed an Android one, but I don't understand the hype. In a way I do, but I don't want to be like everyone else. Brands and names have never meant much to me so getting an Android phone that isn't really well-known, but still has all of the wi-fi capabilities and a decently large app catalogue (which is kind of a given if it's an Android phone). That being said about Android phones and all, I am also seriously considering getting a Blackberry. I know that a lot of people have them, and somehow they don't seem to be very obnoxious about them. They look very professional and the QWERTY keyboard is something that I actually do like about my LG Neon. Plus Blackberry also has an app world and for all I know, I could be a co-op student for RIM during one of my 4 co-op work terms. The only thing about the Blackberry for me that makes me iffy is the fact that it isn't (generally?) a touchscreen. And once you go touchscreen, you can't go back (or so I heard). Granted, the virtual keyboards on touchscreens are crap, there's something about the functionality and/or navigation that just... feels good. And natural.

I'm also looking into the Samsung Focus with it's Windows 7 OS, but the browser is IE and I hate IE with a passion (it's a given if you're in CPSC, I think).

Well, we'll see about the phone thing. I've still got months to sort it out. If RIM takes me on as a co-op student, that could definitely be a deciding factor. I mean, gotta be loyal to my employer, right?

Anyhow, cue Reading Break! :)

2011-02-10T00:06:00.000-08:00

I've got a music theory exam in 8.5 hours and in 9.5 hours a music history quiz so I should get to bed now that I've gone through all the material once. And I'm going to stay late tomorrow (later than I already stay at school thanks to that 3:30PM course) to work on my Stats assignment which is due Friday. I haven't started. This should be fun.

I'm starting to wonder if it's the year of the goalie fights or something. Though both of them (occurring within 7 days of each other) have been pretty lame, I have to say. Today's was more of a dance than a fight.

~~~
I swear to God, you said all the right things. It's been a while since someone cared that much about my stupid life. Thank you. I love you as much as a straight girl can love another straight girl.

Creepers gonna creep

2011-02-08T23:48:00.000-08:00

No, not the creepers from Minecraft.

I was going to do a little post-221 midterm blogging yesterday, but I came home exhausted and lackadaisical. Overall I thought that it was an okay midterm. I'm not super confident about how I did, but I don't think I did too badly. I had enough time to do it, for sure, and it WAS an open-book exam, but unless my mind worked in a mathematical proof fashion, then I probably didn't do fantastically well on it.

[long account of creepiness]

On the topic of CPSC, I hung out in the CPSC building today before my 213 class and not even 5 minutes after I had sat down, this guy came up to me and sat down 2 seats away. I didn't really pay him any attention until he started talking to me. Turns out it was the creepy guy who was hitting on my project partner. I wasn't 100% sure that it was him (... all Asians look the same. Or at least the ones I've met in university.) so I started off by saying "I think I forgot your name". He reminded me of it and mentally confirmed that it was indeed that creep. I busied myself with checking Twitter on my iPod and madly texting my project partner (who was on her way to meet me) to turn around and go somewhere else. There was silence, and then he asked me a question. This went on for about 10 minutes -- he would ask me a question, I would give a succinct answer, we would lapse into silence. Generally he just asked about how 221 and if I was taking 213 and how my courses this term compared to last term. And then he asked what I was taking this term and I told him and he was all like "LOL DO YOU HAVE EXAMS IN YOUR MUSIC COURSES?" I mean, really now. REALLY. I explained what my theory exams are like and threw in enough jargon to confuse/bore him. He also asked after my project partner and I guess because I sound ~~borderline~~ obnoxious he assumed that I am "smarter" (lol no) and that I am the "leader". Well, I am bossy, but it's a freaking partnership aka team of two. Yeesh. And then he brought up co-op and asked if I actually coded things for fun and I mentioned my website. Unfortunately this incited him to explain that he had transferred out of CPSC (wait, wtf was he doing in the CPSC building?) and needed help making a website so could I please help him or teach him HTML/CSS/PHP. He even offered to pay me. I told him that it was easy to learn those languages and that 10-year old me had learnt them so yeah. Man up. This also led to him asking me what area of CPSC I exactly wanted to study and I said that I wanted to take courses in different areas of study to keep my options open and to not close any doors. Apparently he didn't understand what I said about not closing any doors. I think my obnoxiousness went up by about 200.

Oh yeah, and then he asked me for my zodiac sign. I tried to play dumb by asking which zodiac he meant exactly (I was hoping that he would say the Chinese one or something) and that confused him so I asked if it was the zodiac where Sagittarius was included. He said yes. I told him my sign. I ran off to class.

Jesus actual Christ. Why me?

[/long]

In other news, I'm done my Music assignment (yay! Fixed all those damn parallel octaves/fifths! Yay for weird doublings!) and just have to study for my midterm and work on/finish my Stats assignment.

Also, because I watched the Glee episode today, I have to say that I wanted to headdesk repeatedly. I swear to God, the amount of drama those kids cause is absolutely unreal. Or maybe my high school group just really had little to no drama because we weren't all dating each other. That being said, aside from all the coupledom and PDA everywhere, I quite liked what that Mercedes girl said about being single and how it doesn't matter because you can just express that loneliness and whatnot through singing/art/whatever.

Anyhow, I'm dead tired now. Yay 8AM class tomorrow!! /sarcasm

2011-02-06T19:55:00.000-08:00

I'm a hopeless case. I've been up since 10AM and I've gotten maybe an hour of studying done. I'm still not done my 221 lab and it's due tomorrow. I haven't felt like studying at all in the past few days, except for last night when it was 2AM. Studying at 2AM is a bad idea, though. Here's hoping that I don't totally fail my midterm tomorrow afternoon!

In other news, I've got more stuff done on my webpage. I've fleshed it out a bit, but most of the accomplishments I've achieved today were behind-the-scenes, coding aspects.

Some articles of interest I've found while getting lost in the blackhole of the internet known as ListVerse (and not studying).

Top 10 Bizarre Modern Paranormal Phenomena - Not saying that I believe in the paranormal necessarily, but I think it's interesting that people across the world can have the same hallucinations. Unless they're all lying about the strange things they've seen. Regardless, kind of an interesting read if you want to be minorly creeped out.
Interesting Facts About Canada Video - This one isn't actually an article, but I was curious as to what kinds of things anyone could dig up about Canada that would be considered "interesting".
Top 7 Urban Love Legends - For the hopeless romantic in you. Essentially this article debunks some of those statistics you hear about marriage and divorce and such.
Top 10 Bizarre Cryptids - Pair this with the first article I link and you might become kind of disturbed. Or maybe you'll become even more skeptical. I just think that this is great fodder for story writing. Follow it up with this list.
World's Most Famous Photos - Some of these photos are unsettling to say the least, but I still think that it's a list worth checking out. What a strange world this is.
10 Creepy Mysteries You Haven't Heard Of - I'm on a roll with creepy things. Maybe because they mess with my mind and I'm in the mood for epic amounts of all-mind-consuming procrastination.
10 Examples of Human Laterality - If you were ever curious about handedness and the likes, then this is worth a read.

Okay... 8:30PM... I will start to study. I just can't do it right now. D:

2011-02-05T00:51:00.000-08:00

Short entry since I'm dead tired, but ... I'm having fun just refreshing my fansite because of the random song lyrics I have that randomly appear. I need to get some sleep.
Also, I will be extremely dead this coming week. Expect even less blogging than usual.
I can't believe that I was at school today from 8AM to 8PM. Fffuuuuuuu

Bullets All Over (aka listmania!)

2011-02-03T23:20:00.000-08:00

Today my mind's been all over the place ("Oh, like normal," you say) so I'll do up a little list of things I made mental notes to myself about:

... I didn't wish anyone a happy Chinese New Year. I barely even remembered that it was today. If it weren't for the radio DJ's mentioning it while I was in the SUB this morning, I totally would not have remembered, save for a couple mentions on Twitter.
My mom just came up to my room with a bowl of chips. "In an attempt to appeal to your Asianness, here are some lobster chips," she said, and plunked down a bowl of red chips in front of me. They tasted fairly generic in terms of seafood-flavoured Asian chips. Now I have crumbs all over the place. Greaaaaat.
I don't understand why this Asian guy in the SUB was wearing a Reebok jacket that said "Sweden" on the back of it. In Swedish. o___o
People annoy me. The first CPSC friend I told about my Guitar Hero party offered to invite people for me. [bitch] First of all, this is my party. At my house. I kind of would want to know who these invitees are. And I don't know *that* many people in CPSC so I don't think there would be much overlap between who he'd invite and the people I know and am comfortable enough with having at my place. Second of all, dude, I've known you for all of... 2-3 weeks? I never said that I was throwing this party specifically for CPSC peeps. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I started by saying that my friends were going to come to my place for a GH party. Please don't jump at the opportunity to invite people like it's half my party and half your party. It isn't. I'm being a possessive jerk, but it's the truth. [/bitch] I mean, I'd love for my group of friends to meet my CPSC friends so they know that I'm not just referring to phantom people all the time, but seriously.
I didn't do any homework today... BUT I DID MAKE A WEBSITE. Here it is. It's going to be a fansite dedicated to my favourite band in the whole wide world. I don't think I'll have time to really add content/other pages until reading break (maybe) so you can take a look now, but don't expect any big changes or updates for a while.
It's kind of depressing knowing someone who is kind of like you, but like a thousand times better. I would create a chart to compare and contrast but that would be unhealthy methinks.
In an attempt to find some good in me, I will think about what my two little piano students said yesterday about how it was like "being in a music video" when I played something (but on an actual piano-not-keyboard it sounds loads better -- yay overtones!) I wrote for them. x)

I realized that if I don't specifically figure out what I need to get done, I don't get anything done. So, for my school career's sake, here's what's going down before reading break:

Stat 241: assignment 2 [due Feb. 11]
CPSC 221: midterm 1 [Feb. 7], weekly labs [due Monday]
CPSC 213: weekly assignment [due Saturday night]
Music 101: midterm [Feb. 10], assignment #5 [Feb. 10]
Music 121: term paper [Feb. 21] (start it before reading break!!!!!)

One of my relatives tweeted this little infographic about sleep and its importance. So I guess I'll be going to bed soon. Here's hoping that I'm more productive tomorrow. *crosses fingers*

Not So Pretty Life

2011-02-02T23:51:00.000-08:00

Ohhh Twitter, how you have become my go-to news source now that I have no time to read newspapers and watch news reports. Today was certainly an exciting day in the NHL. As the St. Louis game yesterday was postponed due to inclement weather (that was supposed to affect eastern Canada, too, but kind of died before reaching us), I was expecting more announcements of games being cancelled today. But I suppose that after yesterday's 13 games, today would be fewer and they wouldn't feature cities affected by this blizzard. I found this article on why Americans hate hockey the other day. Interesting read, though I don't really agree with the things they foresee/hope for in hockey's future.

My free time is being dedicated to this right now (see right). Actually, I didn't have much free time today (Stats assignment! Studying for 221! Studying for 101! 121 paper! 221 lab! 213 lab!), but I wasn't in the mood for doing anything directly school-related. On the other hand, this fansite thing that I'm working on will look good on my resumé especially to web developing companies, and in regards to co-op. In other words, yeah, this is going to be my "personal project". And I'm kind of loving it. I have a little notebook dedicated to designing it and I've got the basic layout already done up in Dreamweaver. I can't wait to get the final product out and hopefully start on my own personal web page/portfolio that has been shoved into the back burner time and time again. I've got more ideas this time, and a focus on the word "SIMPLE". Simplicity is something I lacked and ignored in all of my previous webpages (it was designed using a web browser that had an adblocker, I think, so that's why the alignment is off, by the way). I'll blog more about it when it comes closer to completion.

[real life rants/rambles]
I woke up very sore this morning. I thought that maybe I had been super active last night, but then I remembered my horrible bus ride yesterday afternoon on my way home. So I didn't budge ahead in line, despite knowing someone much farther ahead of me, and I ended up standing on an absolutely packed 49 bus right at the very back. Well, on the highway from UBC to Dunbar, some jerk switched to the lane the bus was in and the bus driver had to slam on the brakes. First point I want to make: HIGHWAY. Second point I want to make: SPEED LIMIT ON HIGHWAY. Third point I want to make: MIDDLE SEAT AT THE BACK OF THE BUS. I held on for dear life, and did fairly well in retaining some dignity, though my arm was tensed and my corresponding hand was gripping the pole. And then just at the peak of the stop, the guy (180 pounds?) sitting in the middle at the back of the bus flew forward and crashed into me, pushing me into the guy standing next to me. I am not even kidding about how the guy flew forward. All I know is that today I am hella sore.

So I'm planning a Guitar Hero party and I'm looking at either Feb. 14 or 15. I won't go and give you all a long diatribe on how much I detest Valentine's Day (not worth anyone's time or effort), but because I *do* know some folks in relationships who are Guitar Hero beasts, I'm not going to do it on the 14th. (But if you would like to hang out on the 14th, I am so there. I need some socialization. Like, with real people who I know won't annoy me because I've known them for so long and so I am more than okay with their quirks.) I'm still grappling with my issue of who to invite since I don't want to totally exclude those who wouldn't want to play, but are my longtime friends, and at the same time keeping in mind that my basement can probably hold 11 or 12 people max. And since I'm inviting some CPSC folks, it's like I'm juggling and running through scenarios where I try to get personalities to mesh. I also cannot stop inviting CPSC people to this thing. =_____= I think it's because I want to show off my beautiful, smart, funny, nice friends.
[/real life]

Ahhhh, things are so stressful right now. Damn, not such a pretty life.

(Psssst, Jakalope's Canadian)

Useless Tuesday

2011-02-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

I was going to blog yesterday night, but I was far too exhausted. I'm a bit more wakeful now than I was 11PM yesterday, though I'm still not feeling 100%.

Yesterday was kind of nondescript. This guy that I just befriended (er, not quite friends? Be-acquainted? Acquainted myself with?) who plays the flute asked me to join concert band with him (after my year off doing co-op), and I agreed. Though I really would need to get back into the habit of practicing my flute... Which is something I never really did much of anyway. The more I practiced the flute, the worse I played in class so I just stopped practicing after a while. I dunno what it'd be like to play the flute in a university setting. Probably scary. D:

Yesterday, I also went to the music library so now I've got my books on Vivaldi and I just need to kick myself enough to get some reading done for that paper. What paper? Well, my music history one, which is worth like almost 50% of my mark. The topic I chose is "Vivaldi and the concerto in Venice". I'm a little disappointed that I don't get to write about the oh-so-colourful life of Mr. Mozart, but Vivaldi's probably my second favourite composer of the Baroque-Classical periods. Bach is third, with his 20 kids over the course of 2 wives. I don't know why I still know that.

That being said, music history class isn't particularly interesting right now. We're slowly working our way around to the more famous/prominent composers since we went from Monteverdi to Lully to Purcell. When can we get to some Bach?! It probably didn't help that I was dead tired. I doodled on my page to stay awake. Yeah, the fail attempt at the Kamelot band logo went over the margin. Also, I drew a fish. Farther down the page (not visible) I randomly wrote down something that my prof said that I caught out of context: "Haydn goes to London". I am totally going to write a song with that title. And it is not going to sound anything like Haydn or London. Or "goes" or "to" for that matter.

Of relevance to my Canadian readers who dig Canadian music (lolwut), a list of the 2011 Juno Award Nominees is out. Well, the "key" ones, at least. Which pretty much equals Bieber and Drake. *sigh*

In terms of other real life things, it is a mild 1 degree C right now, though things should be warming up by Thursday as rain is forecast for Raincouver. It was cold today, and jeans don't stand up very well against cold winds (I swear, jeans absorb the cold and make you colder) so I'm looking forward to the rain.

And I'm done all my assignments due this week! However, midterm exams begin next week, and then I have to pick a date for a Guitar Hero party and figure out who to invite (I know too many people, and I have no idea how many of them would actually play) and ohhhhhh the stress. :(
For personal reference: CPSC 221 midterm (Feb. 7) & Musc 101 midterm (Feb. 10, in class)

Hey, reading break! Want to get your butt over here right now?
Life is so boring. And the only course that I'm doing well in so far is... music theory. v____v

YAY I GOT NOTHING DONE TODAY! \o/

Also for personal reference, song ideas + progress:
1. Rain [lyrics + vox]
2. Believe [vox]
3. Dementor's Kiss (Afterglow) [done!]
4. Rapture [finish instrumental]
5. Je suis la nuit [finish instrumental]
6. The Fisherman's Daughter
7. Austere
8. Paint the Walls
9. Fairytales [complete rewrite @___@]
10. Haydn Goes to London

Just Your Atypical Sunday

2011-01-31T00:59:00.000-08:00

Buon giorno, dear readers. Or rather, buenos noches. It's midnight; the start of a new day. Time to catch up on yesterday (er, today?).

I do not understand or like how people seem to bring up relationship problems with me. I mean, I have no idea what to do under any such circumstances. I can't have any idea. I've never been there. I've never felt that exact kind of heartache. Sure, I'll listen -- I'm always a willing ear -- but if you are soliciting for some advice, I cannot offer you anything useful. [/rant]

Today was a day spent on assignments. I'm not totally done everything, but I've only got my music assignment, which is due Thursday. I plan on working on it throughout the beginning of the week. While I worked on finishing up my 221 assignment and lab (from last week -- God, I'm such a fail), I watched the NHL All-Star game! Granted, it was kind of a poor excuse for a game, but it was fun to watch. I mean, seriously. Sedin versus Sedin. I think everyone wanted to know which twin is the better of the two. And it turns out that it is Henrik. Team Lidstrom beat Team Staal by one goal. One measly goal! If only Lundqvist hadn't been pulled so early, Loui Eriksson wouldn't have given Team Lidstrom that extra little push, and we would've gone to OT. And that would've been fun.

And after having streamed many a hockey game online, I've noticed certain topics of discussion in the accompanying chatboxes:

Canadians will bicker and argue over their favourite hockey teams, but mention of poutine will quickly reunite them and cause a warm fuzzy feeling. Everyone else will be repulsed by pictures of poutine, but admit that it sounds quite tasty. Polish folks will look up recipes and insist on recreating it. In Poland.
Canadians have a sense of humour when it comes to Canadian stereotypes. Oh, that reminds me, I've gotta walk my polar bear soon. He's so antsy that he's even scratching up my dogsled. :(
There are a crapload of Finnish and Swedish people who follow the NHL. There are so many of them that it gets to a point where North Americans start crying "SPEAK ENGLISH PLEASE" and all the Swedes just say "svenska" over and over and over again. lolwut?
North Americans hate on Scandinavians.
Scandinavians respond by linking to articles like this on Wikipedia. No one cares about you and how developed you are, Norway.
Everyone eventually starts hating on America.
No one likes curling.

Tonight was DineOut night with my friends. DineOut is a big thing in Vancouver, and it's a big draw for tourists and foodies everywhere. Me, I'm no foodie, but I was looking for an excuse to have a little fun with people I'd already established friendships with and eat food that was guaranteed to be of a fairly high quality. The restaurant we chose was Aqua Riva, an eatery that people had previously voiced desire over wanting to dine at, so it was definitely an experience I was curious about. Firstly, the location is fantastic. Getting to Waterfront is easy since it's a common connecting point for all three lines, and as soon as you step outside, BAM! You're right there. I admit that on the outside, Aqua Riva doesn't look spectacular or anything, and the logo is kind of ... plastic-looking? I can't really describe it, but the blue was too reminiscent of swimming pools at community centres. I'm not sure why exactly, but it did. Anyway! The aesthetics of a restaurant certainly aren't everything.

There was a small waiting area upon entering with small little couches. We waited there for a few minutes (maybe 5?) before being offered coat check and being seated. The picture on the left here was the view from our table. Yes, that's Canada Place and the neighbouring Five Sails Restaurant that we plan on going to next year. It's supposedly quite swanky there. Looking forward to that!

The menu was the seat DineOut one so our choices were fairly limited. Service was quite good and waiting times between courses were long enough to get some good conversation going, but not too long to cause stomach wambling. (Yes, that's the right word, I'm a dictionary.com nerd, shut up.) For an appetizer I chose the salad with grilled salmon. I'm not generally a salad kind of person (having it every day does that to you), but I'm not fond of mushrooms -- an ingredient in the scallop dish -- nor am I overly fond of soups. My beef with soups is not so much the taste or consistency, but the temperature. I always burn my tongue on soups and I'm sick of that happening. I think that I just have a super low tolerance for hot foods.

For my entrée I had the rib-eye steak which was absolutely delish! After the salad (which was mildly yummy veggie-wise, and downright good salmon-wise) I wasn't too keen on the clump of stringy veggies under my steak. On the side were some disks of potato. The steak was oh so very good tasting and juicy! I definitely don't regret my choice. The potatoes were a teensy bit dry (overcooked?), but the flavouring turned out nice once I got over the initial dryness. I could go on and on about the steak, but I'll resist. I tried a bit of pasta off of my friend's plate and it was very tasty, though I was quite hungry and wanted some food of substance. Same goes for the risotto I sampled. I'm starting to wonder if there are restaurants in Vancouver where the food actually tastes horrible. On to dessert!

The last course of my meal was an apple and cranberry crisp, topped off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I chose this over a chocolate banana mousse cake as I'm not fond of banana flavouring. Bananas I'm totally fine with, in fact, I quite like them. But once you use banana as a flavouring (candy, pudding, yogurt, etc.), it just doesn't taste that good. Except for my dad's banana bread. That's some good stuff. Anywho, the crisp was absolutely scrumptious and I was very pleased with my choice. And yeah, I know it's pretty standard to have a bit of ice cream with baked goods like cobbler/crisps/pies, but the ice cream went very well with it and really added a creamy sweetness. On the right (and above) is a picture of the banana mousse cake, complete with banana crisp!

Overall, Aqua Riva was pretty good. I'm not sure if it totally lived up to the (self-imposed?) hype, but I wouldn't say no to eating here again.

I am absolutely in love with this song right now. Music makes things right.

I am kind of upset right now that a friend of mine just befriended that troublesome TA on Facebook. I FEEL LIKE I HAVE FAILED. *puts above song on 'repeat one'*

All photos in this entry are property of B4BYme. Please give her all credit for taking them, even if she didn't, because these pictures are from her camera.

Saturday Night's Not So Alright

2011-01-29T23:10:00.000-08:00

My thoughts go out to the protesters in Egypt fighting for true democracy. Shit's getting pretty real and dangerous over there -- death toll is reportedly up to 100 and ancient Egyptian artifacts are being destroyed. In museums! To paraphrase my brother: "This is one for the history books."

I'll keep this entry short today because I would really like to type up my assignment tonight since I've pretty much written it all out in scratch. Unfortunately I've got a headache (they seem to be nearly daily occurrences now) and I've still got my 221 lab to finish by Monday and my music 101 assignment due Thursday. I also need to look up some books to borrow from the music library about Vivaldi. I'm going to set my alarm for 9:30AM tomorrow, methinks.

Today I lazed about at home working on this accursed assignment and watching the NHL All-Star Super Skills competition. Sadly, watching hours of hockey & hockey-related things (I caught the full players draft from yesterday online today) is probably what caused my headache.

I just realized something late last night. I really missed hanging out with people of different ethnicities and backgrounds in high school. Not to say that my group of high school friends were/are boring at all, but in elementary school I befriended all sorts of people. And that's what I like about university; befriending people of different backgrounds and getting glimpses into life of a different culture. I think that my grade 12 English teacher commented on this weird segregational phenomenon that seems to affect people and their groups of friends from grade 8 to 12. ... That's pretty much the only positive thing I can say about university at this moment.

Back to work!

TONIII-EEE-IIIIIII-EEE-IIIIIIGHT

2011-01-29T01:17:00.000-08:00

I think that music makes me happier than anyone or anything else. I can't even put into words how hyped up I get when I'm about to listen to Kamelot or if I find a new, catchy song to listen to. So yeah, that's all there is to it.

[boring account of my day, edited to remove hormonal comments]

Today was an odd day. Fridays start with my 8AM Stats class, which consisted of me and my 221 lab partner until my friend's boyfriend joined us, and then my lab partner's friend joined us as well. I found out that my lab partner's friend plays the flute. And he takes lessons still. We geeked out about flutes and Berlioz's 'Symphonie Fantastique'. My project partner slept in today and missed Stats class, but I met up with her during my break.

221 started off in a strange way: my prof wandered up and down the rows and tried to match faces to names. He didn't bother guessing my name, though he thought that I was someone else ("You've told me your name multiple times, haven't you?"). The class was spent looking at proofs and comparing recursion and iteration. Meh.

After class was my 213 lab. From start to finish, it was a headache. In total I spent around 7 hours on it, I think. Admittedly, about two hours of it I spent going back and forth between my 213 and 221 labs. My allocated lab time was only 2 hours, and during that time, of the two girls I work with, one never showed up (she's sick apparently), and the other went and sat with her boyfriend (after giving me an apologetic smile). With my 221 project partner skipping French class to work on her Math homework beside me, I worked on my labs alone. Partway through, this guy sat down at the computer beside me and I thought that something about him seemed familiar. After my ~~hot Russian~~ TA came to ask if my little table group was okay, I talked to the guy next to me and realized that he was working on the 221 lab. And so I met my first American UBC student. He's from Vermont, but I have to say that I have no idea where that is. He said that it's near Montreal, but even that just means "back East" to me. Anyway, he was my 221 lab partner's project partner (try and figure that one out in less than 5 seconds), which is why he seemed familiar. And he'd gotten a haircut since I last saw him. ~~So while he was cute before, he's now cleancutandcutewithhisbigblueeyesandblondhair... okay I'll stop.~~ He was also in my 30-person Engl class last year, so I thought that I'd recognized him from there.

I'm finally done my 213 lab, though. And I'm pretty sure that it's a hard lab if my genius friend was there until 6PM, too. Whew.

[/boring account]

So my parents found some article in the paper about LikeALittle @ UBC and mentioned it to me like "Oh hey, we read about this fun site called LikeALittle!". Yeah, no. Not fun. Just creepy. Apparently the examples in the paper were "fairly tame" and "pretty funny" -- so my parents say -- but I'm not sold on LikeALittle. I'd rather not know people's weird fantasies.

Also, the NHL All-Star draft is done and the skills challenge will be tomorrow! I'll probably be missing it so I can get my 221 assignment done, but hopefully I can catch the game on Sunday. Team Staal versus Team Lidstrom. I have to agree with a common sentiment that Team Staal was built on the "buddy rule" whereas Team Lidstrom was actually put together like a team. Regardless, I think that it'll be a great game. However, if I had to choose, then my money would be on Lidstrom, ~~although Eric Staal looked mighty fine~~.

And to end this blog entry, here's what I'm currently listening to on YouTube nonstop:

WHAT CAN I DO TO CHANGE YOUR MIIIIIII-EEEE-IIIIIII-EEEE-IIIIIIIIIIIIIND?!

Vancouver Fail

2011-01-27T23:03:00.000-08:00

[EDIT: Fixed up my grammar since I wrote this entry with my eyes half-closed. Also...]
DISCLAIMER: Upon further reflection and about 6.5 hours of sleep, I realized that I don't really give a flying fig about what the Fare Card's named. The only translink-related project I care about is some sort of rapid transportation to UBC along the Broadway corridor. I'm just not fond of what the choices have been whittled down to.

This is going to sound so ridiculously stupid, but... I just found out that the Blackberry is a Canadian product. And the company behind it, RIM (Research in Motion) is known for taking on a lot of "fresh, young" co-op students. Rad. But yeah, I finally understand all the hype about RIM now. *epic headdesk*

[ranty Metro Vancouver-related ramble ahead! You have been warned!]

In real life news, the winner for the Translink fare card naming contest should be decided tomorrow. Or at least, the voting phase finishes tomorrow. The final 3 names are: Tpass, Compass, and Starfish. First and foremost, I really really dislike these names. None of these embody Vancouver, nor can any of them be quickly and closely related to Vancouver, the west coast, or even Canada. How are any of these things relevant?! Obviously, there are explanations on the voting page, but I want to point a few things out...

Tpass: Yes, the 'T' is kind of our symbol for transit/translink/transportation around the city (so the description says, though I've never noticed any such signage), but this name can so easily be manipulated to be as such: TP-ass. Toilet. Paper. Ass. On this basis alone, this option should be banhammered and whoever suggested it should be told of urbandictionary.com or acronymfinder. Honestly. If the letters "ass" are in anything, you can guarantee that some young people will manipulate the letters so that there is some sort of emphasis on it. The TP is just icing on the cake.
Compass: Can you say 'generic'? Does anyone in Vancouver even carry a compass? Maybe the woodsy hippie folks, but certainly not the hipsters or anyone who has GPS or access to a phone with a data plan. The fact that translink's description for this option includes "signage for the world over" just made this name that less personal. How can Vancouverites relate to it when it could just as easily be the name of a fare card in Nepal?
Starfish: Wait, wait, hold up. "The Starfish is a simple, colourful and striking icon of the Pacific West Coast" Every time I read this sentence, I can just feel a look of bewilderment and confusion cross my face. Since when has the starfish been an icon of the west coast?! Not that Wikipedia's the most reliable source in the world, but I quote: "There are 2,000 living species of starfish that occur in all the world's oceans, including the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian as well as in the Arctic and the Southern Ocean (i.e., Antarctic) regions." When I think of starfish, my mind jumps to Hawaii or some sort of tropical paradise with tons of colourful fish. I think that 'Seagull Card' would be more apt than 'Starfish Card'. The only starfish you can find in Vancouver are in tanks at the Aquarium.

The names that I had entered at the start of the contest were "Orca" and "Otter". I have since learned that Seattle's fare card is the Orca, but I haven't been able to find any results for an "Otter card" through Google so... Translink, you have some explaining to do. We actually have otters here. I mean, their pelts were used as part of the fur trade way back when. I'm honestly very curious as to how exactly these final 3 were chosen. Yes, I'm aware that there was a panel, but I have not seen very much positive feedback at all for these 3 choices. It's like there's a disconnect between those panelists and everyone else in the Lower Mainland.

One suggestion that I quite liked was the "Umbrella Pass" as it would be most fitting: specificity to the Pacific Northwest, and kind of an in-joke for Vancouverites. Because really, we go through umbrellas like they're oxygen molecules. (Read as: umbrellas are essential to survival! And if you don't use one, then you probably have a hood or hat.)

[/ramble]

Well, I'm glad to have that off my chest. The Fare Card Naming Contest has been bothering me since they announced the final 3.

Also, some more Kamelot tourdates have been announced and... Vancouver is not on the list *cries*:

Aug
26 Atlanta , GA Masquerade
27 Springfield , VA Jaxx
28 Philly, PA Trocadero
30 NYC, NY Grammercy Theater
31 Worcester, MA Palladium
Sept
2 Montreal,QC Club Soda
3 Quebec City,QC The Imperial
4 Toronto,ON MOD Club
6 Cleveland ,OH Peabodys
7 Detroit ,MI Blondies
8 Chicago,IL Bottom Lounge
9 Minneapolis,MN Station 4
12 Seattle ,WA El Corazon
13 Portland,OR Peters Room
15 LA ,CA House of Blues
16 Tempe , AZ Clubhouse
17 SLC,UT The Complex
18 Denver ,CO Bluebird Theater
20 Dallas,TX Trees
21 Houston,TX Scout Bar
23 Orlando,FL Club Firestone

They're doing TWO shows in Quebec?! TWO?! Okay. I am moving to Quebec. It is final. Bands ALWAYS hit Quebec. I guess to appease the Frenchies so that they don't totally separate from the rest of Canada. But I don't want the sloppy, overly nasal Quebecois accent. :(

Alrighty, I've got to work really hard this weekend to get everything done by next week. There is no time to catch up. :( I'm ready for Reading Break! Please let it come sooner!

2011-01-26T23:27:00.000-08:00

With my CPSC 221 project done and out of the way, I can now focus on the bazillion and one other things I have to do. These include my unfinished 221 lab, 213 lab, 221 written assignment, and studying for a 213 quiz on Tuesday. Unfortunately these things aren't due until next week or so. This can only mean one thing: Procrastination.

Oh, and this coming weekend is the NHL All-Star weekend!! Which means very little work is going to get done.

That being said, I feel like if I just get down to it, I will get things done. That's strangely how things seem to work out for me; I struggle and whine and try my best, and sometimes with a little help, things work out okay in the end. I just wish that the struggling would diminish.

I swear to God, I cannot sit at the back of the long/articulated bus in the mornings anymore. And the reason is that there's this couple always sitting back there. And they talk. And PDA all over the goddamn place. I just want to sleep, thank you very much. So I sit with all the single riders at the back of the front half, even though I feel like I should be sitting on the back since I get off at the last stop and all. Eurgh.

These past few days I haven't been getting any good amounts of sleep so I've been passing out on the bus. Luckily it's always been for just the right about of time. I should be sleeping now and catching up, but you know me. I must subconsciously be a masochist. Or maybe I'm just afraid of the next day coming so quickly. I don't know.

Volunteering today was good. I am in no way a good teacher, but it seems like my two students are starting to get the hang of reading music, though very very slowly. I'm starting to wonder what it was like for me when I was learning how to read music and play piano. It was so very long ago that I have absolutely no recollection of it; I just have a codex in my head of all the notes and key signatures and things. Though, it's definitely something that comes with practice.
Admittedly, the best part of the day was when my students asked me to play something and I played an intro to something I wrote back in grade 11 and they really liked it. :) +50 SELF-ESTEEM.

... is it weird to have started playing the piano at the age of 5? I mean, my students were surprised when I told them, but then they're in grade 3 now, which is... 8 years old or so? But whatever, I never did ARCT so any sort of "oooh ahhh" factor to that fact is negated by my noobiness. It's just that everyone I know who plays the piano that I've talked to started at an early age (usually 5-6).

And to me, this has been old-ish news for a while now, but the fact that OH NOES internet usage will be charged for in Canada is finally making waves in the news! Admittedly, I see the lucrative side of this and I totally understand why companies would want to do this. But this also makes me sad because I don't have oodles of money to feed my internet addiction. :( Sorry, mom and dad. Also, this whole "Canadians are too plugged in to their computers/Internets/social media/etc." point reminds me of how Blenz is going to be offering red bands to single people to put on their coffee to show that said coffee-drinker is single and ready to mingle. Vancouver is a sad sad city, is all I have to say.

Also, I made friends today with my 221 lab partner's friend. They know each other from the shared year or two at the private school they both attended (before one did IB -- OVERACHIEVER ALERT!). I am sad to say that west side private school kids are not as bad as I thought they were. I mean, they're nice guys. And smart. It seems highly unfair that they are nice, smart, AND rich. The only thing is that I get the feeling that they are bit hoity-toity. Like, I swore in front of them and they seemed extremely bothered by it. Did they not understand that I was under intense pressure to finish a project on top of a 6:30AM wake-up?! Oh right, yeah, west side kids' commute to UBC is like half of mine. [/rant] Okay, yes, I'm jealous. I admit it. I'm probably about as green as the Green Giant now. Lovely. It's unbecoming, I know, but it's not like I care.

Have a comic!:

Panic! At the University

2011-01-24T22:48:00.000-08:00

I feel so panicked about school right now, it is not even funny. It's like for some reason I just can't make myself think properly or code or ask for help. I'm just stewing in my failure and letting myself be helpless.

Apparently it's possible to incorporate the word "Vancouver" into song lyrics:

BRB JUMPING OFF OF BUCHANAN TOWER.

Facebook! Just one step above Facepalm!

2011-01-22T17:22:00.000-08:00

As I am currently stumped on my CPSC project, my boredom has peaked and I've decided to set my anagramtastically-named Facebook account open to friend requests. Oh snap, guys.

I'm leaving friend requests open for a month.

I'm still hidden via search, and it IS an anagram of my first & last name so I'm not expecting much action, but if you want, you're welcome to verbally request friendship (as someone has already done) and I'll hunt you down and befriend you.

And no, there's nothing interesting or exciting on my profile.

My initials are C.R.O. if that helps anyone. :P

Yay, halfway done my music assignment!

Yes, it goes on and on, my friend

2011-01-21T21:52:00.000-08:00

Early mornings and long days at school are a brutal combination. I've been headachey all day and I'm pretty sure I could pass out right now, if I'd let myself. NOPE. NO SLEEPING. NOT AT 9:50PM.

As a computer science student, I can confirm that this is true:

No lies, I can think of ways to solve problems presented in my CPSC projects and assignments, but it's just the coding. My friend told me off today for using 5 lines of code when I could have very succinctly stuck it in 2. Well. Whatever. At least it works. That's my main priority when coding anything right now.

I am extremely busy this weekend and next week. Let's organize my life!

Music 101: ~~Assignment~~ (due Tuesday)
Music 121: Quiz (Tuesday)
Stat 241: Assignment (due Wednesday), weekly lab prep
CPSC 221: Assignment (due Friday or Monday after), project 1 (due Wednesday), weekly lab prep
CPSC 213: Assignment (due Sunday), weekly lab prep

It's only the 2nd week back and everything is beyond hellish already. I'm thankful that there'll be some downtime after next week, presumably. Although I'm almost done my 213 assignment *crosses fingers*, I think that I won't be doing any reading this weekend. I need to put X number of hours into my assignments before I can finish them, and I can't afford to spend any of them on somewhat trivial things, like reading.

My past few days have been rather nondescript, but I'll go over the boring details for completion's sake.

Wednesday's classes went alright, and I was introduced to someone else in Stats. Nice. Alright. That brought the total up to 5. Yup, I save 5 seats in Stats for people, not including one for me. Only 2 of them ever seem to come early, and even then it's hit-or-miss. My classes were alright. Stats is starting to get too math-y for my tastes, but 221 seems to be taking mathematical equations and reducing them to simpler terms. My 213 lab also turned out alright and I sat with a girl I made friends with in Math 200. I found out that she went to Windermere, which then led to "Oh do you know _____?" and her being weirded out. I don't even know that many people from Windy. Despite the "alright"ness of my day, I was feeling really down for some reason. Strangely, the only one who seemed to notice was a woman I'd never met before -- a teacher I passed in the hallway at the school I volunteer at. Huh.

Thursday was a typical long day at school, complete with co-op workshop and time spent at my friend's dorm. No cake for me this time (the cake is a lie!), though I was spared the scary animé. I realized that I absolutely cannot pay attention to anything during my music history class. My prof is a good speaker, and he pronounces things in the original German or Italian so that's really good. It's just that I don't think I can just sit and focus for 1.5 hours straight. The same thing happens in 213. However, the encouraging thing is that when I pay attention in 213, it's like everything becomes really clear and I get it. Totally. In 121, I already am familiar with most things my prof lectures about so I just can't find that extra encouragement to listen.

I ought to get a start on my music assignment now. Or Stats. It never ends. D:

If this was a .CPP file...

2011-01-19T00:23:00.000-08:00

... I would totally call it LifeIsBoring.cpp because that's as descriptive as I can make it at midnight. Yeah, I've got C++ on the brain. And yes, life is boring. Well, there are small things that liven it up from time to time, but overall it's fallen into a boring rhythm. And we're only into week 2 of term 2. Woot.

#include "Boring, personal account of the past two days.h"

Admittedly, nothing of real interest has happened in my life. There is no real reason for why I didn't blog yesterday. Oh, except I realized at 11PM that I had done the wrong questions for my music assignment (due today). It took a distracted hour or so to do the right one.

During that distracted hour, I was introduced to this by a friend:

Firstly, "Butterfly" really takes me back to around grade 7 or 8 when I used to be a mallrat and played DDR at the arcade in the mall. This song was also used a lot for fanmade MVs of the animé I was into. Secondly, Pokémon. POKEMON. The nerd in me approves. Thirdly, download link. Now I can listen to this during my commutes and giggle to myself, thus scaring away all of the nearby passengers. Also, the only way to get any decent standing room on the 49 bus when it's crazy crowded is to blast this song.
No, no, I kid. Though, if anyone were to do this, they would have my eternal love~

So, in terms of actual life things, I guess I'll do a quick run-through of yesterday...
Stats -- meh, boring; missed my bus, was jussssssst on time but couldn't save any seats for any of the 5 people I'd promised to save seats for; felt like a miserable failure in that sense.
Music -- tutorial, mildly interesting, but my prof was just trying to show us how to write a cantus-firmus; realized I don't take notes in my music theory class; begins considering maybe taking notes; decides against taking notes for things I learned when I was, like, 13. *headmusicstand*
CPSC -- speedwalked like a beast to class; sat with project partner and could pretty much follow what was going on in class.
CPSC lab -- the first 2 questions of the lab were easy, though my lab partner was having problems with the 1st one and I think he's too proud to ask for my help ("Oh but she's a GIRL. GIRL'S CAN'T CODE."); I know I can't, but if you need help we're lab partners...
post-lab -- hung out in friend's dorm trying to work on project; ended up being unproductive for 3/4 hours I was there; was forced to watch scary animé; it wasn't actually scary but I was being my snarky self; ride home with mom.

Today began with my music courses. Theory was alright, overall. My prof is a very talented sight-reader, I've learned. I used to think he was absolutely boss for just being able to improvise and ornament some really nice chord progressions. But today, he took someone's anthology and just started playing the "Drinking Song" from Verdi's La Traviata (pretty sure I didn't study this opera before, but THIS tune is famous). He used it as an example of a theme/tune that was based on mostly tonic and dominant chords. For some reason, I just could not concentrate on anything in history class. I think we mostly just were discussing music in Lutheran churches. When are we going to study Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Haydn, or Mozart, dammit?!

After my music courses, I had my Stats lab, which went alright, though one guy didn't show up, so our group of 4 was 3 today. Oh well. His loss, in terms of marks, I guess. The other two in my group aren't incompetent so that was good. It was just that one was extremely soft-spoken, though his proficiency with Excel more than made up for that. I felt sorry for the group of two behind me, where one guy had just switched into my lab section, and the other one didn't seem very familiar with the Windows OS as a whole. Yes, I drop eaves.

My break was spent with my high school friends and that was fun. I'm pretty sure that that entire section of the SUB was sick of hearing me laugh and say weird things. I blame that Pikachu Butterfly remix for my silliness. The last bit of my break was spent in the Comp Sci building at the request of my genius friend. Weird coincidences: I complained to him about that TA who was harassing me and it turns out that his friend dated that TA this past summer. And then that TA was wandering through the Comp Sci building ("Oh shit, he's here. Still wanna come visit me?") and I ended up saying "Sorry, dude, if that TA's there, there's no way in hell I'm going to visit you." He ended up leaving and we hung out for like 5 minutes before class.

CPSC class was... Well, my lack of focus continued and it didn't help that my friend pointed out that the girl in the row ahead of us was wearing a grey knit hat that had a drawstring... on the top. And she hadn't pulled it all the way, meaning a 3cm-radius circle of her hair/head was showing at the very top. I'm still trying to figure out if this is just hat fail or a fashion trend. Or maybe it was a poorly-crafted leg warmer that she felt like wearing on her head. I have no idea. All I know is that I wasted my class time trying to find what it was on the internet and ended up finding a "fashun dachshund". I'm pretty sure that my laughter was not well-hidden regarding that horrible joke.

In other news, I'm being urged to report that TA by my friend so maybe I'll get around to doing that. Eventually. When he isn't in charge of my marks. Because he *IS* a TA for one of my courses this term. *sigh*

I'm NOT looking forward to my 213 lab tomorrow (I don't need reaffirmation of how lousy I am at socializing with females), but I'm definitely looking forward to volunteering. I love that feeling of doing *something* even if it's insignificant in the long-run and is unrelated to the alleged track my life is on.

Aching, Ghosts, and Asian Fail

2011-01-16T01:47:00.000-08:00

Here's some reading material for you faithful readers. It's an article regarding a local controversy surrounding the possibility of a hospice being built at UBC, riiiiight by some luxury condos. And since News 1130's articles are fairly short, here's another one with a teensy bit more substance to it. Firstly, I want to know why anyone wants to live out by UBC when they aren't a student or worker there. Based on the interviews with residents during the news yesterday night, the majority of residents are neither. And secondly, I think the logic behind the protests is flawed. I understand that people are superstitious and I can respect that (to a certain extent), but to say that you don't want a hospice nearby because of restless spirits of the newly deceased that would bring does not make sense. And here's why: UBC Hospital. Yes, there's a hospital at UBC. People invariably do die there. It's not an obscure fact that UBC Hospital exists; these people must've known about it before moving in just 3-4 blocks down the road. Granted, the hospice would be right next door, but what, those body-hungry spirits wouldn't be bothered to float 3 or 4 blocks to reach you residents of Hawthorne Place? Riiiiiiiight. Well, maybe I'm just being incoherent as it is 1:30AM, but I don't see what the problem is aside from this being a classic example of "Not In My Backyard". Though, I don't think that a hospice has such negative connotations as a correctional facility or prison does. It's not as though any violent deaths occur in hospices (under normal circumstances -- horror movies notwithstanding).

Really, you can't even play the race card here (though if you broke it down further maybe there *is* a trend) because I've read editorials in the newspaper from Chinese-Canadians who support the building of the hospice. And my parents see nothing wrong with it, as well. Though, they're probably not the best examples of Chinese-Canadians given that they both pretty much said that I could date whoever I wanted, regardless of race. There's slightly more (surprising bias?) to it, but I won't go into it because it's still boggling my mind. My parents also don't give a damn about my marks ("6-0 and go! Just pass your courses!") so they're failing at fitting stereotypes. Ahem. Anywho...

I actually finished all of my readings for the weekend today! And I took in a few hockey games online! :O This is a miracle! I think the fact that I didn't have to make up for things I was supposed to have read before term started helped a great deal. That being said, tomorrow will be dedicated to prepping labs and maybe trying to learn some more programming languages.

For Co-op it's high recommended that I have a technical project so I'm thinking of making a new website (that will incorporate some fancy shmancy DHTML and PHP). The only problem is that I don't know what this website should be about/for. I've entertained the idea of it being another personal website of mine, but then again do I really want my online or musician identity mixing up with my work one? And if I kept it about my real-life-work-school-boring self, what the hell could I possibly offer other people on such a site? The only other idea I can think of is a fansite or something. >____> If I knew my full abilities (coding-wise) and had more time, I think I could make something really cool and kinda-sorta-maybe original. But I don't know how ambitious a project to attempt and I don't really have much time between assignments, labs, readings, volunteering, and attending class.

So. IF ANYONE HAS ANY IDEAS AT ALL WHATSOEVER ABOUT WHAT KIND OF A PROJECT I COULD MAKE/HAVE, DROP ME A LINE/LEAVE A COMMENT/ETC.

They can be totally outlandish, too. I think that the examples in my coordinator's e-mail were a sudoku solver (I don't even get sudoku so never mind a puzzle solver) and a trading card game (wait, what?!). o_o

Anyways, I wasn't feeling so great physically today. Since I woke up at 9, then 10, then 11AM, I've had a headache. I didn't think it was so bad until coughing to clear my throat produced some sharp pains in my noggin. I think this is a side effect of the sleep deprivation accumulated during the week. I've also been grappling with back pain today. This I think is caused by me slouching in my desk chair and bending over my textbooks. Or maybe it's from carrying around heavy textbooks & a netbook in my old and worn backpack. I'm going to assume that my stomachache was caused by overeating (because the gnawing hunger I usually experience at 11PM has been haunting me *sigh*).

But enough about me. I'm not fishing for sympathy, I'm just venting, and in terms of Co-op, I'm asking for ideas since I'm all tapped out.

I awoke from a strangely vivid dream last night. It was like a music video, I think, but not one that I've seen anything remotely like. I wish I could remember what the song was and write it down. It sounded good. Even though I can't remember that exact song, the story to the dream was inspiring.

Let's hope for some more inspiring dreams like that tonight! And less achiness tomorrow!

Also, have a funny video:

iHop

2011-01-15T00:41:00.000-08:00

If Apple ever comes up with swanky boots that will specifically help short people like me hop over puddles (with the aid of propulsion or levitation or anti-gravity, IDK), they definitely should name them the iHop.

In case you actually remembered such a trivial detail as my having a lab on Fridays, I'll have you know that my prof addressed the failtastic lab issues this week (TAs not showing up, etc.) and my lab today was cancelled! Yaaay! And next week we'll be starting anew with lab 1 again, since I think 2 lab sections (out of 4?) were without TAs at some point this week. We also do not have a course website or Vista module -- which is quite sad given that it IS a Comp Sci course -- so there was no easy way to get a hold of lab materials or anything. I guess technically the other lab sections have a headstart, but it sounds like the lab is hard anyway.

Yesterday I neglected to jump on the blogging bandwagon and discuss the addition of a new zodiac sign: Ophiucus, aka some dude carrying a snake. I personally don't believe in horoscopes and astrology, but with this "new" system, I'm aware that my sign has changed. I suppose that I am no longer that melodramatic Leo. Alas, no, I am now an armoured crustacean. Good grief, Leo and Cancer are polar opposites (fire versus water, sun versus moon), too. That right there should be evidence enough that astrology is a load of codswallop. Consider this QED'd. /geekiness

Heh, my geekiness there reminded me of my 221 prof today, which in turn actually inspired the title and opening line of today's entry. We were discussing the speed of running programs based on equations, and the unit "nanocentury" came up. My prof said an easy way to think of a nanocentury is "pie seconds". Whether that was a typo on his powerpoint slides or a pun on his part, I will never know, though it did lead to a weird little anecdote which began with a short recitation of the first 20 decimal points of pi:

"3.14159265358979323846... That's how I met my wife; we met over pi(e). We discussed pi(e) over breakfast at the International House of Pancakes. Her roommate was an international student and so we were at the International House, and it was a pancake breakfast. I didn't get any pancakes."

Anywho, I should get going to sleep so I can get epic amounts of reading done tomorrow. Looking back at yesterday and today's CPSC lectures, it feels really good to actually be able to follow what's going on in those courses.

Also, doing voice-leading exercises where the chord progression is already given to you is strangely enjoyable.

Un peu de tout

2011-01-13T20:30:00.000-08:00

Today turned out to be a much better day than today, at least in a social sense. And in a homework sense, I'm just as hard-working today as yesterday, which is 'not very'...

But first, some articles and things I found online that I found mildly interesting...

In this article that I found from MSN.ca's homepage discusses how one silly Asian woman, Amy Chua, is purporting that her way of raising her children is superior to the "Western" way. First and foremost, I'd like to say that I understand that they are her kids and she can raise them however she bloody well pleases. That being said, I can very confidently say that I do not agree with her views and her oh-so correct methodology for upbringing children. Her definition of a "superior child"...

Her definition of superior is a child that produces high grades, works hard and is talented on either the violin or the piano. Her definition has nothing to do with kindness, humility, humour and compassion. There is no recognition that EQ (emotional intelligence) contributes to success.

is silly. Now, before anyone can call me out on my track record *cough*, I have to say that although certain aspects of me do align with things listed in the first sentence, that is because I wanted them. My mom always supported me, but she never pushed me to do anything. I took it upon myself to do those things. She only ever offered guidance when I asked for it. And yes, Ms. Chua can do as she likes in terms of her children, but given that she is now living in the "Western" world, I wonder if she realizes that it's a different culture here. Given that I've never lived anywhere other than Vancouver, I can't really comment on the culture Chua grew up in, but as far as North American culture goes, there is so much more to life than good grades and doing ARCT in piano/violin. And I firmly believe that EQ is a very important intelligence to possess and work on acquiring. I am not all that sure on how one would go about increasing their EQ, but I do know that EQ deals with interactions with and the ability to read people and act accordingly. In nearly every aspect of life, people are involved. I'm pretty sure that getting an A+ in Physics isn't going to help you interact and empathize with people.

Also, here are some of Amy's rules:

Some of the rules her two daughters live by include:
No playdates
Not allowed to be less than the number one student in all subjects except gym and drama
Must study violin or piano, and practice for two to three hours a day
No sleepovers
No TV or computers

Wow. I've heard of mothers like this, but they had always seemed like an urban legend, creatures of an obscure mythos. As the old maxim goes: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" ... and no, even I didn't practice piano 2-3 hours a day, except for grade 10 in the weeks leading up to my exam. But then those were the few weeks of 6 hours of practice a day.

A relative of mine tweeted this short article/photo gallery today. Yes, the house prices in Vancouver are incredibly high. And apparently, yes, it's true that you can get multiple houses elsewhere in Canada for the price of one home in Metro Vancouver.
Something along the lines of 1 in Vancouver = 2 in Toronto = 4 in Montreal = 34 in Newfoundland.
Wait... 34?! I have to say that of those 34 houses, I probably wouldn't want to live in at least half of them. Granted, I'm sure with some TLC a lot of them would look tons better. I'm just not all that keen on living in Newfoundland and acquiring that ridiculous Newfie accent.

To switch gears here, I actually managed to socialize with people today without emotional meltdown or failure. I even talked to the guy in my Music courses & CPSC class today because I think we have this silent agreement about where we sit in Theory class. Okay, so all I said to him was "Hey, you forgot your coffee!" which he had put on the floor between us. If it hadn't been in such a fancy dancy silver thermos I probably wouldn't have said anything. We didn't say a thing to each other during the entire lecture, though he was late and didn't pick up the notes from the front of the class and I KNOW that he was looking over at my copy. When two anti-social people collide! (In a figurative sense.)

Also, at my Co-op workshop today, one of the snippy girls from my lab yesterday sat next to me and when our coordinator told us to socialize (and make her realize that CPSC students aren't all totally anti-social), I actually talked to her. She seems okay, though she was still in no way as open with me as she was with the other girls in lab yesterday. Having overheard her introduce herself yesterday, I knew her name, but now I'm confused because today she pronounced it in a very anglicized way despite her name being French. She herself is French (she introduced herself on the discussion boards online), but even non-Frenchies with her name have it pronounced in a very French fashion. Je suis troublée.

Now that I've bored you all with my opinion and review of the day, here's an article on the difference between a "possum" and an "opossum".

Also, America is taking over Canada. :( What about my parents' Club Z cards?! They already got The Bay, what more do they want?!

Yes, I have problems refraining from sharing the things I find online. Malheureusement, tout est si intéressant.

Snow Joke How Today Was Teh Suck

2011-01-12T22:31:00.000-08:00

I'll try to keep this as short and non-pathetic as possible.

[angst]
Today there was enough snow to scare people shitless regarding getting to school. Which, I'm guessing, is why my bus was almost completely full this morning. Full of UBC students, that is. Only 2 people got off at Cambie. This was 7AM, people. 7-freaking-AM. Don't y'all have to Canada Line to work?! The most uncomfortable parts of the ride were the fact that I had to stand until Kerrisdale (25 min. while being sleepy enough to pass out?) and that my section of the bus was full of couples being all wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. Or the couple equivalent of that. With much more physical contact and locking of gazes. Yeurk!

My lectures today were alright, though my lab was... horrid. The 213 labs are split into two chunks: a 1-hour session of instruction/tutorial, and the 2-hour lab portion. Today was the 1-hour chunk and: 1) there were no TA's at all, 2) the girls I tried to talk to (I was sitting next to them) gave me clipped answers to questions and then they introduced themselves to each other, 3) the one friend of mine in that lab was sitting with HER guy friends, 4) the guy behind me was clearing his throat every 3 seconds in a most annoying manner that drove me absolutely crackers (me and my 5 hours of sleep), 5) I had no idea what to do in lab.

I think the fact that I cannot even be social with members of my own sex had me feeling the worst. That coupled with my usual sentiments of self-loathing just made today miserable. UNTIL I went to volunteering. It felt good focusing on someone and something else.

And I did no work today, but right now I don't give a flying fig. I feel like I just have to plod through the days until... Until what?
[/angst]

Also, this made me snicker:

POSERS.
(It amuses me greatly when they're synchronized. Because that's totally how you say "hi" in Québec. Right, Fleury, right?)

Logorrhea to the nth degree

2011-01-11T23:42:00.000-08:00

So I've neglected this blog for a few days, just trying to muddle my way through real life, but I'm back and more rambly than ever! And I come with links to interesting articles! And... pie? But you'll have to wade through the epic amounts of crap I blogged about in a fit of logorrhea.
Read more...

NHL All-Star game roster has been revealed! Yay! I'm mildly surprised to see Carey Price on there, though he has done quite well at times in this season so far. It's just that I remember the last time he played in the All-Star game, he didn't do so well and that just broke his confidence leading to a botched season. I guess that's the thing about the All-Star game: it doesn't count for shmuck, and it will probably result in getting hurt, whether it be physical injury or loss of confidence. That being said, from the Canucks, the Sedins and Kesler have made it onto the roster, and should any of them become injured, that would most probably have an impact on the rest of the Canucks' season.

Doing good on one of my resolutions for 2011, I've been trying to make friends and somewhat succeeding. At least, I've had conversations with a few people in my classes. Strangely one of whom is from my high school (ta-da! Instant conversation starter!) and is still attending it. o_o" She's in grade 12, but is in some ACES program (anyone know what that stands for?) and is taking some Music courses. Huh. She kind of remembered me ("OH, YOU PLAY THE FLUTE, YEAH I REMEMBER YOU NOW"), though she doesn't believe that I graduated from high school. Like straight up, she doesn't believe it. At all. She asked me if I really had graduated from high school about 8 times before my prof started talking. Someone care to tell me what I'm doing wrong in my life such that everyone thinks I'm a little kid?! Do I come off as an LG or something?

In another incident of Small World syndrome, my 221 lab partner (who I met through a friend in our class) was in the IB program at Churchill and knows a totally different friend of mine. Yeah. Lovely. We spent an hour after lab just walking around, eating lunch and talking on Monday because everyone else was in class and woooooo joined lonerdom? I learned that he is a Radiohead fanboy.

And since things go better in groups of 3 (or so fairy tales dictate), the last bit of weirdness I'll include involving people seems to be a weirdly recurring one. I was walking to the bus loop with a friend and we ran into one of his high school friends. Strangely, that friend was the cashier at the bookstore the day I went with my CPSC project partner (last Wednesday?). I only remember because his credit/debit terminal was failing and he was all flustered. On Monday when I accompanied my good buddy WizardGoggles to Pie R Squared, he was in line ahead of us. And to top it all off, the friend I was walking to the bus loop had told me before that his flustered cashier friend is into Asian girls and even has a T-shirt that says "Looking for a girlfriend" in Japanese or something. Let's hope I stop running into him before he remembers that we were introduced to each other.

Aside from people popping in and out of my life (I am not fond of people, but alas, they are interesting creatures from a certain standpoint), school has been relatively boring. My first 221 lab went okay and me and my partner left before most of the rest of the class was done. And since people ask me what CPSC is like, (I promise to write a full rambletastic entry on it someday) here's the lab, in case you're curious as to what the silliest labs in all of Science are like. No lies, they are all for completion marks and make up 5% of my grade. Lolwut.

My Stats lab was ridiculously easy. My group was rather lackadaisical -- ugh, men -- so I ended up taking charge and even helped a few of them out with the quartile function in Excel. For some reason I was under the impression that Engineering students wouldn't need my help. At all. What is this?! Me, a lowly female CPSC student helping these 3rd year male Engineering students?! Preposterous. And slightly disappointing from my point of view, but whatever. I'm just upset that there might be someone else with my first name in my class, since my login username consists of only a few letters of my first name plus my last name. Maybe 8-letter-long logins and 8-letter-long first names don't jive. Darn.

Through the trending topic of "Canadian Start-Ups" a few nights ago, I found this article on some promising Canadian tech companies. Sadly none are over on the west coat (is everybody too busy smoking the BC bud?), but I've always wanted to go to Montréal and Toronto -- though, Toronto less so because... their hockey team is just bad and rumours about how rude Torontonians are are quite prolific. Montréal would be extra cool since I could practice my French, even though their accent is different from the Parisian French taught in school.

Through that article, I found this one about how Canadians are online more than anyone else in the world. Interesting statistics. I have to say, the last line of the article got a chuckle out of me. I definitely think that travelling and going on vacation has made me ever more thankful to live where I do.

It is also snowing like crazy outside. For once the meteorologists were right and now this city is going to come to a grinding halt for a few days, it seems. Or however long it takes until the rain washes it away.

Time to decide what cold-defying clothes I should wear tomorrow.

Here's that pie I promised:

(Also I think this layout ate the jump-break code so I had to put my own in because I don't want to clog up my main page. D'oh.)

2011-01-09T23:53:00.000-08:00

Thoughts for the day:
You know things are bad when you get distracted by something while you're procrastinating.
And things you learn while Facebook-stalking can be the biggest turn-offs ever.

I couldn't sleep last night until 3AM, and until 6AM I was still tossing and turning. Bad use of the weekend as sleep time. I ended up waking up at 11AM after subsequently waking up at 9 and 10. Argh! I have an 8AM class and lab tomorrow! I can't afford to be behind on sleep or to sleep in on Sundays resulting in a restless Sunday night!

The weird thing about school being back in session is that the entire week is hellish. You have to be on, mentally, socially, starting Monday all the way until Friday, and then the weekends are just sad attempts at playing catch-up or they're frittered away thanks to procrastination resulting in guilty feelings all around.

Anywho, I think I'm going to lie down and make myself sleep since it isn't midnight quite yet! 6:30AM wake up! FML

Olio

2011-01-09T01:41:00.000-08:00

... is a frequent crossword answer in the 24hours paper. It is usually the answer to a clue concerning a "mixture" or "medley". And today my blog entry is somewhat of a hodgepodge -- as it often is -- of thoughts and observations from my day.

One of the trending topics on Twitter today was Kenneth Tong. Apparently he was a contestant on the UK version of Big Brother and now he's pushing this anorexia pill of his. He states that he in no way encourages anorexia, but rather "managed" anorexia. And of course, he's been getting backlash (from celebrities, no less!) for that. What a little twerp. His tweets include the following:

If your beautiful in your own way, am glad you appreciate yourself, cause that plus size garment can't breathe with your fat stretching it.

Been asked since I've established what Women should look like, what the perfect man should be like. I've a one word answer. Rich.

I wholeheartedly hope I put you off your Dinner. Look at yourself. You are a disgrace. That's why the Guy you like doesn't notice you.

Inner beauty is a myth. You are just fat. You are unloved. People look at you & are pleasant cause they feel sorry for you. Size Zero...

Thankful for this global opportunity to help girls all over the world know that to be skinny is to be perfect & to be fat is unacceptable.

I only have a few words to describe him right now: complete and utter asshat. Yes, obesity is a problem in certain countries and societies, but so is anorexia. What good is it being a size zero? Failing health in your later years? Looking like an emaciated sad sack of skin and bones? Being a pathetic follower of Kenneth Tong? There are plenty of successful, happy people who aren't a size zero. I'm not quite sure I even understand the point this guy is trying to make. Plus, my pet peeve alarm went off with his misuse of "your".

Today was overall a quiet day of reading because, good grief, I have a LOT of reading to catch up on. Apparently I was supposed to have started reading as soon as I had gotten my textbook before school had even started. Wow. Gee whiz. Anyhow, I took a few breaks from reading to catch the end of the Habs game and most of the Canucks game. I watched the Canucks game against the Red Wings on a live stream because the TV in my room is not in a sitting-at-desk-friendly position and someone in the chatbox during the stream posted a picture. Yes, that is Nicklas Lidstrom. Yes, he has a son that looks like Bieber. Lolwut. I swear to God, I did a doubletake and made sure that that wasn't Bieber when I first saw that picture.

And I have to say, Jimmy Howard was absolutely spectacular tonight. I'd say that based on his performance today, he totally deserved that win. And about Luongo and his theatrics? Eh, not so much.

I really really really need to focus tomorrow so I can finish my readings (ha-ha, not likely at this point) and prep my labs. Unfortunately this is the term of the labs. 3 of them, in fact. Oi.

As I was listening to Toto's "Africa" today in a bout of nostalgia, I remembered that this was my favourite song back when I was like 5. I even remember watching the music video on TV very very distinctly: the black and white colour scheme, the rain, the good-looking guys... My parents would even turn it up if it came on the radio in the car. Apparently I was very vocal about the music I liked back then. Funny how tastes can change in 15 years.

"Statistics is USEFUL Math!"

2011-01-07T23:44:00.000-08:00

... said my Stats prof on Wednesday.

I saw this layout and thought it looked nice and thought that it was time for a change with the start of a new school term and all. Plus I need some inspiration for the layout that I'll make when I finally get around to it (probably never).

The weather has been rather typical as of late (a euphemism for "raining like crazy"). But does that explain why I said "leafs" instead of "leaves" yesterday? And no, I was not referring to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the time. Strange. I was also a victim of the Canadian "sorry" today when someone walked into me on the bus. I don't really see what's wrong or overly polite about saying "sorry" when someone bumps into you. For me, yes, it's automatic, but when I think about it, I think I'm apologizing for being in the way. I suppose the goof could've looked where he was going before blindly walking into and stepping on me, but maybe I should've predicted where he would be going a little better. Anywho...

I realized that I didn't blog on Wednesday about my M/W/F classes because I was all wrapped up in the WJHC fever so I'll give my general thoughts and impressions now.

Starting at 8AM I have my Stats 241 class. When I first registered for this course I was confused by the incredibly small class size: 40 people in a lecture hall for 200 and 5 people per lab section. Upon entering the lecture hall it became apparent that this was a class of more than 40 people. It turns out that STAT 241 is combined with STAT 251, which is the required Stats course for Engineering students. 241 is essentially just for CPSC students, and the numbers are different for administrative house-keeping business. And lucky me, I get to save a seat for not only my CPSC friend, but also for my good friend's ex-boyfriend, and some guy from my high school also in CPSC who I'm not even on terms as friendly as those with my friend's ex, but rather civil acquaintanceship, I suppose. From the ex, I found out that it is in fact a 3rd year Engineering course. Huh. So not only am I going to be measured against those smarty pants Engineering kids, but also OLDER smarty pants Engineering kids. Greaaaaat. I do not foresee a very good mark, though I appreciate the eye candy. Smart eye candy. Also, my prof (a pretty cool 30-something year old) mentioned the WJHC and Under-17 on Wednesday so he is automatically a win in my books.

After an hour long break, I have my second CPSC course. I'm surprised I didn't blog about this class sooner given that my prof called on me in class, causing instant mortification for me. I won't relay the exact incident, but let's just say that today was better since there was no picking on me. This is probably the toughest course I'll be having this term, I'm thinking, since I will have to learn another programming language as well as completing projects in this language. At least I'm on good terms with my genius friend and he's nice enough to help me, though I know my stupidity irritates him sometimes. Today I sat with him, my friend also in Stats & CPSC 213, and my genius friend's friend who is a COGS student and is also in my Stats class. COGS actually sounds rather interesting as it is CPSC and Philosophy combined. Fancy that. Anywho we were a somewhat motley crew in class. Woo ethnic diversity and varying levels of stupidity!

I find it highly unfair that my genius friend (who is doing honours and a combined major) doesn't have to take my Stats course. If anything I thought that honours students would have to take more and harder courses!

As I was trying to get in the mood for doing some reading for Stats this evening, I came upon this video which shows the progress of 200 countries in the past 200 years. (And I know that eBaum's World is a rather suspect website in terms of some of its content, but I'm not a regular there and found this interesting:)

This weekend's to-do:

~~Music 101 assignment #1 (notate answers using software)~~
~~Read Stat 241 textbook~~
Read CPSC textbooks (~~Comp: 2.2-2.3~~/~~3.1-3.4~~, ~~3.9.3~~) (~~4.5-4.7~~, 5, ~~6.1-6.3~~, ~~6.5~~)
Read Music 121 textbook
Prep labs (Stat/213/221)

And then the NHL All-Star Game is coming up January 28th! That's always fun to watch. :)
Back to work!

Mishmash

2011-01-06T23:41:00.000-08:00

And Canada tries to cheer itself up by tweeting about that "Unruly Russian" team. Apparently they were booted off by a flight attendant for being unruly. I wonder if the flight attendant was Canadian. I'm not sure if this is really worthy of being a news item, but I think that Canada is clamouring for some justice, and a way to deal with the blow.

Now that it's January, you know it's that time of year again! Dine Out Vancouver will be in full swing January 24th - February 6th. I'm looking forward to tasting more of that west coast cuisine we're apparently known for. Really, people come to Vancouver just for the food. We must have some good stuff out here, but I just don't have the money or time to taste it all. And I don't have the most discerning palate so perhaps it's for the best.

Since telling my parents about getting in for co-op (a feat that was not accomplished purely because I am female), they've been decently supportive, though I can tell that my mom still is rather against me going out of the country/continent. They also showed me this article (top of page 8) today about the top 10 jobs, based on outlook, income, cushiness, etc.

10 best jobs
1. Software engineer: $87,140
2. Mathematician: $94,178
3. Actuary: $87,204
4. Statistician: $73,208
5. Computer systems analyst: $77,153
6. Meteorologist: $85,210
7. Biologist: $74,278
8. Historian: $63,208
9. Audiologist: $63,144
10. Dental hygienist: $67,107
10 worst jobs
1. Oil rig roustabout: $32,143
2. Ironworker: $34,127
3. Lumberjack: $32,109
4. Roofer: $34,168
5. Taxi driver: $21,127
6. Emergency medical technician: $30,168
7. Welder: $35,126
8. Painter: $34,152
9. Meter reader: $34,171
10. Construction worker: $29,211
(All salaries listed in U.S. dollars)

I guess that's somewhat reassuring for me. Though I'm not so confident about anything that I'll go and do an honours degree like what my friend is urging me to do. I'm not sure how much of a difference having a little 'H' next to my name would make in terms of... everything.

I've already got homework (aside from reading) for this weekend, so I'll try to make myself scarce until Monday, or at least until procrastination urges me to post my findings here.

Gold Medal Not Meant To Be

2011-01-05T22:43:00.000-08:00

Like all good Canadian teenagers/young adults, I spent my evening watching the gold medal game of the WHJC where Canada took on the Russians in Buffalo, NY, at HSBC centre in front of a sea of red and white. For this entire tournament, I swear, it's like Canada annexed Buffalo what with all the Canadians there for the WJHC.

After ousting the tournament favourite (USA), Canada was feeling good. We wanted the USA after clobbering the Swiss, and we got them. The biggest act of revenge was over and done with. But we wanted gold, too. Oh, alas, it was not meant to be.

I moseyed on over to the live stream on TSN and participated a bit in the Facebook live chat that was going on while Canada dominated the first period with two solid goals. The second period saw another goal by Canada, but it became clear, most notably during the Canadian power plays, that Russia was starting to wake up. After a 3-0 lead for two periods, Russia charged back in the third with 5 unanswered goals, earning themselves gold medals and the title of champions.

Yes, I admit that I am not thrilled with the results, but considering that this Canadian team had no "superstars" and that they were in no way favourites, they did manage to snag silver. That in itself is quite a feat considering the fact that their pool included some tough opponents.

That being said, the fallout on Twitter was... well, interesting to say the least. Throughout the game, various player names and "Gold Medal Game" trended. After the game, the list of trending topics was invaded by various Russian players' names as well as "National Travesty" and "Soviet Russia". I have to say that "National Travesty" was borderline ridiculous and originated from a tweet by a certain Canadian World Juniors superstar from a few years ago. I admit that I got quite a few kicks out of the "Soviet Russia" trending topic as "In Soviet Russia ..." jokes cropped up, the majority of which contained a bittersweet hockey twist.

In Canada, hockey is srs bznzz, folks. You do not deny this country a gold medal in ice hockey. Ever.
All I can say is that Russia had better watch out next year, when the games will be held on Canadian soil.

Some good did come of this disastrous game, and that includes Brayden Schenn's goal which has him tied for the record of most points in the WJHC. Good on him!

Another good thing that came of this was that I made amends with a friend I hadn't talked to in 6 months.
"How about them sneaky Russians?"

In other news, I think I may have pulled a leg muscle after slipping and falling (into a violent half-split) on the bus this morning. It kind of hurts to crouch down or even go down and kneel.

ALSO. I'm in for co-op! :) This means that every Thursday 12 - 2PM I'll be in a co-op workshop meeting thing. Despite the fact that that means I'll be seeing high school buddies less, my epically long 4.5-hour break will not be quite so long.

Postponing Bedtime

2011-01-04T22:59:00.000-08:00

Despite waking up at 6:55AM today, strangely I am feeling more wakeful now than ... well, every earlier moment of today. I really should be in bed now, but I'm guaranteed to feel tired tomorrow no matter how early I go to bed. Waking up at 6:30AM tomorrow will render any sort of contented wakefulness impossible to achieve.

My morning commute was rather nondescript. I felt awake for the first 15 minutes, and then my eyes began to ache. Luckily I had Homer's The Iliad on me to try and keep me awake for the entire bus ride. My first class of the day was music theory. All in all, I think that this course will be fine except for a few small points: 1) my prof insists on calling on people to answer questions and I am not lucid enough at 8:30AM to be put on the spot like that, 2) possible group assignments. I have been especially aloof in my music courses, I admit, and now that might turn around and bite me. Though this may force me to speak to that guy who was also in my CPSC courses last year since he also seems to be rather anti-social.

The second class I had was music history. The course outline looks absolutely lovely -- Monteverdi, Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart. Yes! Mozart! The only downside regarding this course is that I won't have a midterm or final exam so my mark will rely heavily on quizzes (uh-oh) and the term paper (awww yeah), though the paper is due the day after reading break. Oh goody. I also actually said hi to my cousin's cousin who was in the course last term as well. He didn't remember me ("How did you know that I'm his cousin?!"), but oh well. I just didn't want it going through the grapevine that I was rude. And to family, too! (If you consider a cousin's cousin on the other side "family".)

Next was my epically long 4.5-hour long break during which I sold my Psyc textbook! Yay! I'm quite glad to be rid of that since it was a "no return" text. It was also nice seeing a lot of high school classmates again, though the size of the group was too big in a way. I'm going to guess around 20 people.

The last class of the day was CPSC 213. My prof is unfortunately a bit soft-spoken, but thankfully he seemed a bit more animated when he was talking about actual course subjects as opposed to the obligatory housekeeping items characteristic of the first day of class. It was snowing at this point and my bangs actually caught most of the snow from hitting my face, but they were all stringy and wet and I just wanted to go home at that point.

It's a bit unsettling knowing that going to school, it was before sunrise, and leaving school was after sunset. Actually, that's kind of upsetting, never mind unsettling.

I came across this quote the other day:

The tragedy of Canada is that they had the perfect opportunity to enjoy French cuisine, British culture and American technology, and instead they ended up with British cuisine, American culture and French technology.

- Anonymous

Is there any truth to that statement? Mmmm, maybe, actually. The American culture part is quite sad but largely true, I have to admit.

In my procrastinatory escapades I also came across this article on Wikipedia which compares the IQs of nations around the world. Sadly, Canada places just below America by one IQ point. Though, this makes me wonder, since North America is a land of varied ethnicities, languages, and cultures, were language barriers and cultural differences taken into account? I remember reading in one of my Psychology textbooks that IQ tests and other tests of that sort were not necessarily accurate when used in different contexts and such. For example, would someone in Mozambique have come into contact with a work such as Animal Farm? I'm not saying that an IQ test would most definitely ask about Orwellian works, but there are some pretty big societal and cultural differences across the world. Admittedly, in the article the IQs were determined based on "published reports", but what exactly does that mean?

Ah, it's bedtime for me and I'm obsessing now.
8AM class tomorrow!

Back to School

2011-01-04T00:18:00.000-08:00

I always face the start of another term with a certain amount of trepidation. It'll be gone by the end of the week.

Relatively short entry tonight since I need a good amount of sleep to face my grueling 8:30am - 5pm day at school tomorrow. 4.5 hour long break for the win? NO. Definitely not. ;______;

At least textbook-selling has been going well. By Wednesday afternoon, I should be rid of my old Psyc textbook and my Math 221 text+study guide, as well. In terms of buying, is it worth my trouble to return my textbooks at the UBC bookstore and then buy them at Discount Textbooks (should they be in stock)? Eh, I'll leave it until Wednesday or Thursday to decide.

On the bright side of a generally craptastic schedule this term, I get off on Wednesday at 11am since there are no labs this week! This for sure means that I can catch the final WJHC games! :D I have to admit that I'm surprised that Canada beat the USA today given that the US was the favourite to win AND our goaltending has been rather streaky. I am now under the impression that Canada plays better when I don't watch the game (I don't count snatches of the game as "watching"), especially after the Canada-Switzerland game (which I didn't watch and got updates on Twitter about) and the Canada-Sweden game, which was exciting, but painful to watch in the shootout. So now I'm rather torn about watching the Canada-Russia game for gold.

And seriously, what is with Pierre McGuire and his love for Ryan Johansen? We get it already. Just go marry him, you silly bespectacled bald man.

Maybe it's just me and the fact that I'm tired, but the comments on this WJHC article on TSN are just lolarious. Come on, guys, I really don't think that the Swedish coach's comments were *that* bad.

Have a lovely (pshaw) first day of term 2 tomorrow, UBC students!

2011-01-02T02:11:00.000-08:00

Short entry today since my eyelids are feeling rather heavy and I should sleep soon before my sleep schedule loses all chances of achieving normalcy by January 4th. That sentence sounds incoherent, but oh well! I have but one point to make tonight.

If you aren't familiar with music theory, this post will make very little sense, sadly. Blame my subconscious on this one, folks. I just need a place to ramble about this a bit so I can look at it tomorrow and logic it out when I'm less sleepy.

I woke up this morning feeling very puzzled. Last night I dreamt that I was writing a music theory exam. I was naming chord progressions (with the Roman numerals) in a 3-voice passage and came upon these two chords. The first was EGD and the one immediately preceding it was ACE. I wrote V⁷ - I as the chord progression. For some reason, I knew that the answer they wanted was I - V, and it was at this point that I should've called bullshit on this "premonition" (because it was like I could see the answer key very clearly in my mind's eye) and made it into a lucid dream, but alas! I recall that in the chords leading to the confusing two in question, there were a lot of EGB chords, probably hinting that E was the focal pitch/root/tonic/etc, meaning V⁷ - I would be a tonicization. After the exam, I ended up in this weirdly grand cafeteria place that was this light and somewhat pale shade of blue. Oh yeah, and it looked like a cave, albeit carved out so that there were high ceilings. It kind of felt like I was attending a private school or some sort of literally underground Julliard -- haha, in my dreams. I went to sit at a table with some girls (who I don't think were entirely human, but my memory is fuzzy) I vaguely knew, but didn't talk to. Some guy came and joined us, bringing a salad for me and one for himself as well (who's writing the script for this dream? A salad?! Really?!). And then we discussed that ridiculously problematic chord progression. The end. *headdesk*

Now I am very bothered by what this chord progression is. I really really really think that I - V is wrong, but the stupid answer key in my dream said it was the answer so now I have to talk myself into not believing that.
Le sigh.

Good-bye, 2010~

2011-01-01T01:55:00.000-08:00

One other year has left my life
One year bygone so soon
These were the days I sacrificed
These days were lived for you

Some came with winter in white
Some days were blown away
Some came with sultry summer nights
Some with October rain

- Kamelot, "Epilogue"

2010 is officially over now! It's been a long, stressful year. Of course, being a Vancouverite, the Olympics were one of the big highlights, but 2010 also marked the end of my first year of university and featured my first trip to Europe. But that is all in the past now; it's time to look ahead. Here are some resolutions of mine for the new year:

pass all of my courses in term 2
get back into a regular exercise routine
minimize hunger complaints, no matter how much they amuse certain crazy people
get a new webpage up and running
work on & finish some creative endeavours
minimize being anti-social
have a real jam session -- hell, I don't care if we improvise on 4 chords
don't let my room become the absolute shitstorm of papers and textbooks that it was this past term
return work uniform (it's been... 2 months now. Oi.)
clean my desk
read The Iliad and The Odyssey (they are sitting here staring at me)

And of course I will continue to spread the gospel word of Kamelot so here's a beautiful piece by them. There's something about their live performances that is breath-taking.

Oh how I long for utter silence
But who am I to know
When rain will turn to snow
If life brings another day

Winding Down

2010-12-31T01:34:00.000-08:00

The year is winding down and it's been a full week since my last blog post! Sadly, the urge to procrastinate during the school year is what drives me to blog, otherwise I feel as though I have far more important things to do. Anywho, I'll try to recap the last week that I spent off Blogger.

The 24th of course was Christmas Eve. The afternoon was spent at a surprise going away party for an old high school friend. By the by, did anyone get the fancy dancy "professional camera" photos from that party? I'm curious as to how failtastic they ended up being. From this party, I went straight to my grandmother's place for Christmas dinner. Although I had eaten some at the going away party, I managed to scarf down some more food -- about 2 platefuls. Yes, I'm a fatty.

That being said, I love seeing my cousins and hanging out with them. And even though we don't exchange presents anymore, it's fun just watching TV and playing video games together. Or rather, watching one cousin play video games. x) Watching someone play sadistically hard video games is just as entertaining as playing them myself so that was win.

The next morning was Christmas Day and sadly I ended up waking up the latest in my family. Yup, my parents, who had been up late the previous night stuffing stockings and wrapping things, got up before I did. On the bright side, I got my Christmas wish for more sleep? Anyway, I'll skip the details of the things I got for Christmas since it wasn't a lot, but it made me happy regardless. I will say that my parents got me this as a sort of reminder of our trip to London (and if you squint real hard, you can see my name, too). Supposedly it's for my own place when I eventually move out. :)

I spent the afternoon playing video games with my brother (Donkey Kong Country Returns is ridiculously hard!) and we brought dinner over to the care home my grandma (other side of family) is staying in. Dinner was good: roasted chicken, ham, scalloped potatoes, roasted potatoes, some takeout food, and stuffing! I still find it mildly amusing that my grandma was glad that we didn't bring rice. "They try to give me that stuff every day here. I never eat it." Is hatred of rice genetic?

I don't think that I was hungry for that entire 48-hour period of Christmas, to be honest. The leftovers from Christmas Day have lasted us this entire week. I fear that it will carry over into next week as well. Gah!

Boxing Day was rather uneventful, though I did pick up a new pair of rainboots downtown. The 27th was my Guitar Hero/LOTR/Wii party, which was nice. Maybe there was too much focus on LOTR (I had no idea that other people liked it, too -- or rather, other people found Orlando Bloom & Viggo Mortensen attractive), but we did eventually get around to Guitar Hero with just 3 of us on drums, vocals, and guitar. We played for pretty much a solid 4 hours. To be honest, it didn't feel that long, but the numbers on the clock don't lie. @_____@ I probably had too much fruit punch, which resulted in this tweet:

BrokenMosaic:
Best part of this morning? Either the duet of "Misery Business" - Paramore or the random dancing of "Walking On Sunshine" w/ @DelusionElle.

I'm still not sure what to make of it. Damn Paramore and their catchy tunes.

Oh and I also got a haircut, though there isn't much difference except for the fact that to get my hair to look decent, I have to tie it up, which is very annoying given the bout of cold we're experiencing. Tying my hair up results in poofy hair afterwards so it's all looking rather lose-lose at the moment.

The next day was a day off from socialization, and was instead a day of... IKEA. Waking up bright and early on the 28th, I accompanied my dad and brother to IKEA to pick up some Billy bookcases that were on sale ($29 as opposed to the regular $69). After indulging in a cheap IKEAn breakfast, and buying some kolsyrad pärondryck (that's "sparkling pear drink" to you), we went home and I bought my CPSC textbooks off a girl who was actually in my lab last year, but ended up taking 2nd year courses in the summer. Funny thing is that I didn't know it was the girl from my lab until I met up with her and we were like "Heeeeeeeeey youuuuuu". Lovely. Anyhow, those books are taken care of and my wallet is a good $200 lighter. T______T I then hurtled my way across town to sell my Calc textbook for a measly $50. Maybe I should've asked for more. Oh well. Good thing I'm not in Commerce.

That brings me to today. Today me and my friends finally completed our Secret Santa exchange and I am very happy with my present. :) I definitely will be making good use of all that pencil lead in my music theory course next semester, and the report covers will undoubtedly come in handy for my next term paper. Haha, my days of only dark-coloured hoodies are over. xP

The rest of today I spent on this website listening to clips (I just listened to the complete playlist on YouTube. Twice.) of classical music found in pop culture. I love finally having a name & composer to put to a tune. I fully intend on putting some of those songs on my iPod now that I know what they are.

It seems only fitting that I plug some classical music now.

"If it ain't Baroque, don't fix it."

I think I may play my flute tomorrow.
Sorry for the long post! If you made it this far, you deserve a cookie. Unfortunately I ate them all, so a cat picture will have to suffice.

And the marks are in...

2010-12-23T01:24:00.000-08:00

I finally have all of my first term marks now! And compared to some people, it seems like I'm fairly lucky to have all of them posted already. I am quite pleased with my music theory mark, as it even surpassed my CPSC mark by a few percentage to take top spot. All in all, I'm very happy with my marks for this term. I feel like they answer all of the questions I asked myself about whether or not I even belonged at university in the first place. I also see them as indicating whether or not I'm directing my studies to the right fields. Although Math is most certainly not a strong subject of mine, I think that this means that even totally illogical people like me can do university-level Math. This also means that I should be good to go for co-op next year! :)

Today I ate lunch with my cousin, which was nice since it felt like I hadn't seen her in forever! We ate at Red Robin's which is probably one of my favourite restaurants purely because the freckled lemonade is to die for. The fact that you can get free refills for the thing meant that I downed 3 or 4 of those suckers fairly easily. After moseying on over to Bon Chaz to take advantage of these 'free brioche' coupons my dad got downtown, we wandered through Pacific Centre and Canada Line'd our separate ways home. Unsurprisingly I actually saw a few acquaintances/friends while I was out (2 of which I didn't really acknowledge because they were at a distance and I wasn't sure it was them until too late), including one that I bussed home with. :)

Returning to the subject of school, I put some textbooks up on craigslist. For anyone who doesn't give enough of a damn to click the link, but is interested in some 200-level Math textbooks and/or a 100-level Psychology textbook, here's the basic low-down:

Title	ISBN
MATH 200/253: Multivariable Calculus, 6E + SSM	9780495011637 + 9780495012283
MATH 221: Linear Algebra & its Applications, 3E (cust ed) + SG	9780558311766 + 9780321280664
PSYC 102: Part 2: Psychology of the Adaptive Mind, 3rd Cdn Ed	9780176435578

If you want to see photos of these textbooks (and of the lovely carpeting in my house), please scroll to the bottom of the ad on craigslist. And please either send me an e-mail through the link provided in the craigslist ad or post a comment on this entry (with your e-mail address) if you are interested. I want these textbooks out of my life! ;( And I know that people find my blog by googling ISBN's so don't pretend like you aren't reading this, potential buyers!

And I found out today from my mom that my grandmother apparently used to swear up a storm. In English. Now she's just a nice old lady. Is it wrong that that earns her +10 respect points in my books?

In the spirit of things

2010-12-22T01:28:00.000-08:00

Oh, it's been a few days since I last blogged, so I'm going to play catch-up for a bit.

For the most part I've been sleeping in until noon or so, and then spending my waking hours playing video games of the MapleStory, Animal Crossing, and The Sims 3 variety. For anyone who wants just a tiny taste of what the newly patched MapleStory is like, well, let's just say that I went from level 74 to 78 in a few days' time. Actually, in a few hours' time, if you take out all my sleeping and lazing about doing other things in-between.

And I have to apologize to everyone that I've been borderline ignoring because you've either texted me and my phone decided to restart, left me a message on MSN and I just plain haven't been on MSN in days, or e-mailed me and I forgot to reply and all these other e-mails piled on top pushing yours to the next page. Sorry!

Yesterday I finished my Christmas shopping! Given that people have been complaining about how crowded the malls are, I was expecting unnavigable hordes of people. What I faced was just your normal Saturday crowd at Metrotown. I guess given the fact that it was a Monday this was quite a lot, but I've seen worse. Hell, after doing volunteer gift-wrapping there years ago, I've experienced much much worse. It only took me about an hour to get my shopping done. That being said, I'm definitely thankful that I was only buying for one person and not 8 or however many I ended up buying for last year. Secret Santa is a great time and money saver, I'll tell you that. I was also expecting some inconvenient crowds on the bus and transit routes, but it took me 15 minutes to get to Metrotown so definitely no delays there.

After giving a young couple directions on how to get to UBC ("What's Dunbar? Does this go to UBC?!") and getting a seat on a moderately empty articulated bus (yay), I ended up making butter shortbread cookies with my mom and brother. That stuff tastes so freaking good. I can't even describe it. And I know it's bad for me, but man. Absolutely delish!

Unfortunately after baking I spent the rest of my day sitting in front of my desktop computer trying to fix MSN Messenger and play some more video games. This all led to a headache of massive proportions and a relatively early bedtime of 12:30AM.

Today was a day I was rather torn about. On the one hand, I wanted to have the anxiety and anticipation of term 1 marks to be over and done with, but on the other, I really did not want to know my Math 200 & 221 marks. After waking up multiple times, I finally got out of bed and checked my marks at around 11AM. Only my Math 200 mark was up at the time, but I have to say that it left me shocked. I swear, I just sat there for a full minute gaping at my mark wondering how on earth I had managed to get it. I would never in a million years have guessed that I would snag a B- in the course, especially after having failed that first midterm with a spectacular 29%. Luckily I redeemed myself with the other 3 midterms and apparently did fairly well on the final exam to end up with a B-.

I was unsurprised by my Music 120 and CPSC 211 marks, but my Math 221 mark also surprised me, though not as much as my Math 200 one did. I managed to get a B in Math 221! Who'd have thought that I... I! ... could do 2nd year Math?! Honestly, I didn't think so. My Math 221 midterm marks were also not very high (think "barely passing"), and they most certainly were not B's, meaning that I must've actually done decently well on the final exam. Weird.

Later in the evening, my family went to Chapters to help my brother choose something suitable to spend his $10 giftcard on. He ended up getting two books: a cookbook and a C++ guide. He's quite pleased with both of them and I am quite proud to say that I suggested them. :) My mom picked up some Christmas cards, despite my dad pointing out that her friends are using e-cards now (I fear the day when she asks me to help her send one), and I got this awesometastic book on Mozart. It's fairly large, and looks like it belongs on a coffee table. I'm using the term "book" rather loosely since it contains a CD as well as a lot of reproductions of letters, notes, and tickets for Mozart's operas (in glossy cardboard form). Yes, I am an intense Mozart fangirl. It was a present from my mom for "doing so well in Math".

Yup, that's Mozart's mug on the front. Poor insane, destitute bastard. He wrote some good stuff.

I'm just waiting on one more mark to be released (Music 100), but I'm not worried about it.
Just a few more days until Christmas! And it's time to sell textbooks! Wooooooo!