Category Archives: Recreation

Feeling creative? Submit to The Garden Statuary!

Posted on 12 October 2011 | 2 Comments

The latest excitement in my life was applying to and getting on board the editorial team for The Garden Statuary, a fairly new student-run journal for creative and academic work. Hurray!

I haven’t done this kind of editing in four years (proofreading people’s last-minute papers isn’t quite the same…) and am looking forward to seeing the kind of creative work that students are producing.

Which brings me to my next and very predictable point:

If you are even the least bit interested in submitting your work, please do! You must be a UBC undergraduate at the time of submission, but that’s about the only stipulation. (Oh, and don’t plagiarise. Because we all know how uncool that is.)

We accept academic essays, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, stage/screenplay, artwork, photography, illustrations, and even film and music. For more details on submission length and format, check out The Garden Statuary website. The deadline for the Term 1 issue is Monday, 7th November.

Alternatively, if you would like to sign up for the email list, just fill out a comment with your name and email below (your email won’t be displayed).

I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Involvement / Leadership, Recreation

A completely necessary and important post to say…

Posted on 2 October 2011 | 3 Comments

Banana pancakes on a Sunday morning are the best thing in the world.

And maple syrup just made them even better.

Amen.

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Recreation, Wellness

AMS Minischool

Posted on 24 September 2011 | 1 Comment

This is the last Saturday night I will spend in the office, I swear. I’ve been saying this for the last four weeks, but the difference now is that I actually don’t have to. No more interviewing, preparation or training weekends until January. Hurray!

Instead, I will spend my time like a good student and actually attend to my studies. I’ll eat and sleep at regular hours and even make a little time to play. It’s really quite exciting.

Speaking of play, now that Rec Shopping Week and Clubs Days are over, the next thing to look at when asking, ‘What (else) can I do at UBC?’ is, of course, the AMS Minischool! Offering a range of non-academic classes such as wine tasting, pole dancing, sign language, guitar, magic, crochet, and First Aid and CPR, it’s pretty safe to say that there are enough courses to cater to many different people. Check it out if you’re still looking for something new to do this term.

I’ve already signed up for one course and am trying to control my urges to join another. The Chocolate 101 class looks so yummy…

→ 1 Comment

Posted in AMS, Recreation

Baking therapy

Posted on 26 August 2011 | 3 Comments

There is nothing quite like beating bananas to a pulp to make me feel better.

When I’m sad, angry or frustrated, I turn to the kitchen to relieve my feelings. I’m not very good at punching a pillow because I feel guilty for hitting the poor, innocent (albeit inanimate) object that serves me so well in my sleep. Creaming butter and sugar, on the other hand, is completely productive and tastes delicious. As for the smells!

The aroma of banana cupcakes is currently wafting lazily through our house, sliding under door cracks and around the walls. I can’t wait for the last batch to be done and to fall asleep to the comfort of this particular fragrance.

Once again, I’ve made more than I intended, but that’s okay because it just means I have more to give away. I think this, more than anything, is why I prefer kneading dough to kneading cushions: I can make other people a little bit happier and protect my pillow while I’m at it.

On a vaguely related note, UBC’s Live Well, Learn Well website has a well-being assessment tool that’s worth taking before school starts to get a good idea of what you need to work on in the upcoming year. Take the quiz and/or read up on some ideas on how to take care of yourself this year.

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Recreation

53. Kayak

Posted on 21 August 2011 | Leave a comment

Thanks to a particularly awesome Groupon purchase, Little-Friend-Ber and I went ocean kayaking for two hours at Ecomarine’s Jericho location yesterday, all for a total of about $4 per person. (Regular price is $49 for a double kayak for two hours.)

Yeah, we’re good.

Also, I want to know why I didn’t do this earlier. This is only the second time I’ve been kayaking, but I loved it that first trial nine years ago and I love it now.

It was an utterly beautiful day, the breathtaking kind where the sky is clear except for the bank of clouds to the west, with plenty of sunshine, a cooling breeze and an intensely blue ocean. We saw several cormorants, seagulls and an eagle, and talked to each other about starfish slash sea stars. The beach we tumbled onto after our two hours were up was deliciously hot and dry and warmed us up in no time.

At the end of the afternoon, I introduced LFB to the ever-delightful Café Salade de Fruits before they go on holiday from now until the end of Labour Day weekend. Mmm, mussels and vegetarian lasagna!

Perfect days shine like golden beacons for the rest of the year. Thank you for coming out and making it one for me, friend. ♥

And the Day Zero list goes tick tick as I scratch another item off.

(Also, if anyone catches the 1920s English children’s story reference, we should discuss our reading tastes.)

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Day Zero, Recreation