Nov

2

“THERE HE IS!” (Unrelated to this post, don’t worry)

Posted by: | November 2, 2008 | 1 Comment

AWKWARD. I came here with a specific writing topic in mind, and as soon as the Write Post page came up I lost it. Dorkus maximus.

Anyway so now that I lost my original train of thought, I feel like talking about books.

I don’t know if you know this, but I read ALOT. University life has not stopped my addiction (I’m trying to quit!), so since I’ve been here I’ve read a couple of books that are totally not on my reading lists. Mind you they’re totally mindless and talk about fashion, boys, secrets, “magical” powers, etc etc, but they’re addictive I swear! I’m not gonna lie though, a big chunk of my addiction for one of these series is because the Twilight series is over (don’t even get me started on what I think of Breaking Dawn..).

First things first: The Private series by Kate Brian. ADDICTIVE SERIES AT ITS BEST. You literally pick up a book and hours later you are A) wondering where the time went and B) angry that the next book doesn’t come out for months. I finished reading the latest book in the series (chronologically at least), Revelation, a few days ago, and the cliffhanger was OUTRAGEOUS. I keep trying not to think about it actually. The next book (titled Paradise Lost. Epic much? Yeah) doesn’t come out until February (February!!)!!! I won’t tell you exactly how Revelation ended, so I’ll write an ending comparable in intensity.

I watched in horror as she pulled a long, gleaming knife out of her coat. Instantly all the air seemed to leave the room. I couldn’t believe my eyes. How could I have ever trusted this girl?

“Karen, put the knife down!” Trey shouted as Beau held him back. “You don’t really want to kill Chloe!”

“Yes I do!” she screamed. She slowly walked around the room, shortening the distance between us.

“My life was perfect before I met you,” she said, meeting my gaze, “and then you came here and made me this. You’re the reason we’re here. You’re the reason you’re about to die.”

Karen stopped walking a few feet in front of me. She raised her knife just as a gust of wind blew through the room, and then my world went black.

It was kinda like that, only more intense and with better writing. You get my point though, HOW could Kate Brian leave us hanging like that for four months!! grrr. She does have a new book out though, titled Last Christmas, set before the first book in the Private series. I’ll get it the next time I make a trip to Chapters. Why am I specifically going to Chapters, you may ask?

Because Revelations will (eventually) be there! No it’s not the same book I was just talking about. This title is plural, duh. Revelations in the third book in the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz. While not quite as addictive as the Private books, this series nonetheless has had me waiting anxiously for MONTHS. And when I say months, I mean forever. The last book was published May 2007. MAY 2007. WHAT THE HECK. Not as bad as the wait for the final book of Libba Bray’s series though; there was literally like a 3+ year gap between the second and final book of the trilogy.

Anyway so the Blue Bloods series is about vampires, only they’re fully involved in society and are basically the richest and most beautiful people in New York City. Quite a bit of page-space is spent talking about what the characters are wearing and how much Mimi spends at Barneys, but those are totally some of my favorite parts. Come on, when am I going to be able to head to Barneys after school and rack up a 5-figure charge on daddy’s credit card?

Revelations was actually supposed to come out on October 28th (Melissa de la Cruz’s blog SWEARS that the Canadian Hyperion rep SWEARS that they were supposed to be out that day), but here I am a few days later, totally NOT having read it! I went to Chapters on the 28th, nothing. Waited a couple of days, called in, nope they don’t have it. Called in Friday afternoon, THE LADY SAID THEY HAD IT. I went, all excited, only to find out that the fool had been misinformed (LIAR, I SAY!). I haven’t given up yet though. I’m going to call tomorrow morning, and if they don’t have it then, then I guess I’ll give in to the dark side.

I’ll order it online.

Not that I haven’t done that before, but some of the magic is lost when it shows up in a box, as opposed to talking into the Young Adult/Teen section of the bookstore and finding the newest book facing out amidst the other books of the series.

I’ve taken over one of the private study rooms in the Commons Block, and I feel kinda bad not doing any work AT ALL in here, so that’s it for now. On to French exercises..gr. šŸ˜‰

Oct

21

Quit Playing Games With My Heart

Posted by: | October 21, 2008 | 1 Comment

Recently I’ve been nostalgic for the 90s, so I’ve pretty much been playing 90s music 24/7 around here. I’m talking old school Jessica Simpson, Goo Goo Dolls, TLC, Savage Garden, Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, various Disney songs, the whole shebang. It’s pretty epic actually. Like I bet most of you guys have forgotten about the timeless musical stylings of S Club 7, but I haven’t!

I haven’t done anything crazy like trying to collect pogs again or play Skip-It, but I may start saying “SIKE!” after everything I say. SIKE! šŸ˜‰

Oct

12

Dim Sum Sundays

Posted by: | October 12, 2008 | 1 Comment

Every Sunday afternoon in the caf here at Totem they serve dim sum, and it’s basically the highlight of my week. I always get some to actually eat there, and when I’m finished I get some to go as snack food for later on when I’m studying. In fact, as I type there is a box of dim sum sitting next to me, taunting me. I’m trying to resist though, because it’s only 2pm and let’s be honest, I won’t study until way later.

Since it’s Thanksgiving weekend, I swear over 95% of Totem Park is gone. On my floor there are only five of us still here (out of like 35 girls?), and last night my friends and I went around looking for people and failed miserably. In a way it’s nice: no lines in the caf, we can blast our music and no one cares, heck we haven’t even bothered locking our doors when we go out! But on the downside: it’s so quiet it’s rather eerier, walking around at 11pm at night was weird because the place is a ghost town, and I miss the noise and comfort of having everybody here.

Somehow it’s also harder to study with everyone gone, but I’m pretty sure that’s just me. I suppose it’s because I’m an extroverted person and get the energy to study from other people, and well HA no one’s here! Thank goodness my roommate is here making sure I get up in the morning, otherwise who knows what I’d be up to right now. I’d probably turn nocturnal or something.

In other news, I’m entering this Poetry and Short Story Contest put on by the Tenth Annual Vancouver InternationalĀ  Writers & Readers Festival, and I have noooo clue what to do. Obviously the chances of me winning are very slim, but this is a perfect excuse to get me writing again. I used to write all the time in high school, but now that I’m here the only things I’ve written are my name on tests and post-it note reminders. Lame!! I’m leaning towards writing a poem because those are always easier for me, but I have more ideas for short stories bouncing around in my head, so I can’t decide. I’m considering just writing both and then deciding once they’re finished, but I’m not sure yet. I almost wanna do the short story just because I’ve already won a poetry contest (Melissa de la Cruz started it, and I was one of her top 4 “Funny Poems”. I won a sneak peek at her new book AND this amazing lip gloss set from Urban Decay. Glorious!), and figure I should go the other route this time.

Oh hey and last night I met the love of my life, but genius here forgot to give my name and get his name, so uh this sucks. Story of my life.

Sep

30

Day of the Longboat 2008!

Posted by: | September 30, 2008 | 1 Comment

If you ever get a chance to jump into a boat with seven friends and paddle into the Pacific Ocean, DO IT! Some of us Blog Squad-ers signed up for Longboat, and on Saturday, we BROUGHT IT. Okay sure we brought it last, but it was brought nonetheless.

The day was a blur of sand, leg warmers, beautiful water, and life jackets, but it was completely unforgettable!

Oh!! And some media guy followed us around the whole time, documenting our experience. Apparently it’s going to show up on the LEAP website? Anyway I felt a sudden sympathy for real celebrities, because even though it was just one guy with a camera following us around, it still was odd to know that I was being shadowed. Any of the other bloggers feel the same way? Mind you it was pretty cool, though! I was sooo tempted to be like “Dahhhhling no pictures!”

I was able to take a few pictures of us before we got all sandy and wet, though. Yay!

Tamryn and Lindsay (or was it Lizzy? You guys confused me that first day at the tomato place!)

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Diggin’ the Strawberry Shortcake leg warmers.

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My leg with the amazing technicolor leg warmer

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I really wish I had taken more pictures, but alas..I didn’t. I took one with Synne but she asked me not to post it, and by golly I will honor my promise!

I went to bed at like 4:30 last night (I was reading) so I’m gonna go catch up on my lost slumber right now. YAY!!

Sep

30

Philosophy 220…

Posted by: | September 30, 2008 | Comments Off on Philosophy 220…

…Is royally kicking my butt.

That’s all I have to say about that. Go look it up on the course listings and you’ll understand the madness that I am taking “just for fun”. Don’t get me wrong, the material is really fascinating, but for the life of me I don’t think I will ever fully understand Tarski’s Blocks World (go Google it, I dare you!). le sigh.

Sep

18

Sick :/

Posted by: | September 18, 2008 | 2 Comments

I’ve been sick for about two days now. It’s horrible.

But I’m weird and don’t take any kind of painkillers. I remember when I took my driving test (the behind-the-wheel one) a couple of years ago, I had like a 102 fever (again, that’s in Fahrenheit. I don’t even know how hot that would be in Celsius..) and refused to take medicine. It’s not even because of the whole it-doesn’t-really-cure-you-anyway thing. I just think back to my cavemen ancestors, sitting in the ice and eating raw meat with a migraine (all the while fighting off a wooly mammoth or something), and I just KNOW that my body can fight it off perfectly fine without any help. Besides, taking medicine really does only take away the symptoms, and I’d rather actually get better sooner than feel better sooner.

I know I said I was going to go do homework, but PSSHH. Apparently I’d rather keep staring at a brightly lit screen and type away. Story of my life.

Sep

6

First Week of College…Check!

Posted by: | September 6, 2008 | 6 Comments

Today marks my 7th day officially on my own, and it is GREAT! Mind you I’ve been so busy that it wasn’t really until today that it dawned on me that I hadn’t blogged here since BEFORE I left the U.S., but I’m here now!

Right now I’m just chillin my room, taking a break from practically nonstop action 7 days in a row. The weather is absolutely gorgeous (still what I consider winter weather though), and because my roommate has a small obsession with incense and oils, this room always smells like various incensy-things.

I promised myself that I would stay in for a couple of hours and catch up on some reading (can you believe it, I’m already behind!), but about 10 minutes into my online philosophy class I found myself on Facebook and AIM. I’m praying my laziness and short attention span today is a one-time thing, otherwise by next week I’ll be failing my linguistics class or something. NOT something I want to be doing!

I find it hard to organize my thoughts into anything other than lists since before I left for UBC, so I guess I’ll make more sets of lists to describe the inner workings of my mind. To make it easier though, I’ll separate everything into categories, so if you don’t want to hear about my First Week experience with academics, you can skip ahead to the section on parties.

MY FIRST WEEK AT UBC: CATEGORIZED

DORM LIFE
-My roommate and I get along incredibly well. Before we moved in we had talked on Facebook a couple of times, and officially declared each other “not crazy”, so even then things went well. Now that we’re all moved in, the shared living space operates almost seamlessly. We only really have one ground rule: respect. Oh and we’re both free to use each others stuff: she’s free to use my coffee pot and Brita filter, I can use her kettle, we can both use each others movie collection, etc etc.
-Concerning the rest of the floor, I’m a bit surprised at how well we all get along. We tend to hang out in giant herds, and most of us feel no inhibitions about walking into an open room and saying hi. It’s sort of become a habit to walk up and down the halls before meals, knocking on people’s doors and asking if they want to come with.
-Despite previous fears, so far I have NOT had to wait for a toilet, shower, or sink to be free.
-Caf food is pretty good. Mind you, it’s not glorious food sent from the gods or anything, but considering the horror stories I’ve heard about other schools’ caf food, Totem’s is pretty good. I haven’t tried Vanier’s yet though, so I have yet to pass judgment on their food.

ACADEMICS
-It’s only the first week of school, but so far all of my classes have been just like high school classes. You get the syllabus the first day of class, prof explains his/her expectations and grading policies, then if the class is long enough you go into the first lecture. I quite like my English teacher, my French teacher is alright I guess, my linguistics teacher seems funny, and I am SO excited about my class on natural disasters. That one is supposed to be taught by five teachers, each an expert in their field, so that’s pretty cool!
-I do have another class though: an online philosophy class entitled “Symbolic Logic.” What. Is. That?!?! I just started reading the material today, and while I can understand the introductory material (which is, hello, always geared for 10-year-olds), I know that in a couple of weeks I’ll be sitting underneath my bed with my laptop in front of me, crying about how I wish I had just taken a calculus class or something.
-So much homework and reading. Blech. I’ll probably end up reading into the wee hours of the morning this coming week, because so far I’ve read like 10 pages altogether.

FASHION
-I’m a girl, couldn’t help myself.
-Maybe it’s just because it’s the first week, but altogether people dress nicer than I expected them to. I mean I’m no exception, I can’t bear to go out in public looking anything less than presentable, but so far I haven’t seen any people going to class in pajamas. The only exception is the caf on the weekends, but that’s comparable to going to your kitchen at home in your pajamas, so it’s fine.
-I’ve noticed myself slowly but surely adjusting to the weather, so now I’m talking around in thin jeans and a tube top in like 60 degree weather (that’s in farenheit, I refuse to convert to Celsius just yet).
-Thank God I brought good shoes..I swear you have to go uphill both ways to go from Point A to Point B and back again anywhere in UBC.

MONEY
-I’m still not used to Canadian money yet. The lack of one dollar bills CONFUSES THE HECK OUT OF ME, because I’ll just lump them in with the rest of my change, so I’ll be like “Oh darnit I only have 5 bucks with me, but in reality I’ll have like 20 with all the toonies and loonies and goonies or whatever. But I think the different bill colors are pretty!
-I’m so glad I found an ATM that accepts my Bank of America card! I went around almost the entire SUB and the Totem Commons Block, but it wasn’t until I was walking back from my natural disasters class that I found it.Ā  If I recall correctly, it’s just off of Agriculture as soon as you get to that street that leads to Flag Pole Plaza. Main Mall?

PARTIES
-THANK GOD I chose Totem Park! And maybe I’m just biased, but Kwakiutl is THE BEST house! GO KWAK! Oh yeah and I gotta rep the best floor in Kwak too. GO 6TH KWAK: LADIES ON TOP!!
-As you can probably tell, Totem is the place to be for parties. Last night a bunch of us were walking out of Kwak to check out Haida (another house in Totem), and like 50 Vanier (pronounced van-yay, who knew?!) kids were just standing there looking for a party. Then after we had gone around the other houses looking for a party, we realized that OUR house was the one with parties going on. lol!
-I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about stuff like this on this blog..but I will say that when people party at UBC, they PARTY. That’s all I’m gonna say. Yup. *cough read between the lines cough*

I think that covers most of my UBC-related thoughts this past week or so, because I doubt you want to read about how I’m in desperate need of new flip-flops or how I really want to continue reading Angels and Demons by Dan Brown but I just have no time. You definitely don’t want to hear about how I NEED to do laundry but just haven’t done it yet, and no way will you care about how I have a small obsession with keeping my Brita filter always full with water. Oh and NO ONE will care about how it’s almost not worth going to Wreck Beach because of the trek back up, or how my roommate and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our mini-fridge. Yeah, no one would care about that kind of stuff so I’m not even going to bother writing about it. šŸ˜‰

Tomorrow I’m basically busy all day with a Blog Squad meeting, studying, and Roommate Boot Camp. Concerning the Blog Squad meeting, I totally wish it were in the afternoon or something. I keep trying not to think about the ungodly hour, but I have to meet some other Totem people in front of my house at like 8:30 tomorrow morning, and it’s like..I went to bed at 4 AM this morning..gah. I also haven’t yet figured out how I’m going to incorporate going to church tomorrow, which uh, sucks.

Anyway, I’ll stop here. Later days!

PS: Getting books from the UBC Bookstore takes forever. :*(

Aug

21

Pre-UBC Feelings

Posted by: | August 21, 2008 | 1 Comment

Hereā€™s to my FIRST BLOG POST! Yay!

Right now itā€™s T-minus 5 days and I am freaking out! My thoughts are so jumbled itā€™s not even funny, so I guess the best way to explain my pre-UBC feelings is through bullet points.

  • Iā€™ve been involved in an epic battle of wits with my room for a few days now, and so far my room is winning. I had no idea I was such a packrat! A couple days ago I found notes I had written with friends from freshman year, and earlier today I uncovered my first pair of shoes (ever). Iā€™m a bit worried about the contents of my closet…with my luck a small Russian man will jump out and say that heā€™s been lost in there for several years.
  • With my time slowly but surely running out, Iā€™ve started to realize how much stuff I still need. Is it bad that I have yet to go clothes shopping? Theoretically I could convince myself that Iā€™ll do the bulk of my shopping when I actually get to Vancouver, but I stress far too much to let myself slide with that. Speaking of which, how in the world will I be able to fit everything I do have into my luggage! Iā€™m pretty good at Tetris, but this will be the ultimate test!
  • Iā€™m a bit worried about the culture shock of college. The different sleep patterns, classes at crazy times on different days, dorm food, Canada in general! Mostly Iā€™m stressing out about the weather. On Facebook someone mentioned Vancouverā€™s summer highs, and after I did the Celsius-Fahrenheit conversion thing it translated to Southern Californiaā€™s winter lows. HA!
  • This is pretty lame, but Iā€™m concerned that Iā€™ll miss my favorite shows on TV. Date My Ex: Jo and Slade is getting pretty intense, and Iā€™ve been patiently awaiting the return of Greek all summer! Hopefully theyā€™ll pop up on Youtube or something; otherwise Iā€™ll find myself convincing my friends to TiVo it for me.
  • Speaking of my friends, only now is it dawning on me that I wonā€™t see any of my friends until mid-December. I donā€™t think Iā€™ve ever gone more than a couple of weeks without seeing at least one of my friends, and suddenly weā€™ll all be apart for 3 Ā½ months! As I type one of my friends may be on a plane on his way to his college in Virginia, and the day after I leave another will fly out to Texas! I havenā€™t really allowed myself to get sad before this, but now I find myself thinking of everything I do with friends as ā€œthe lastā€. I know without a doubt that weā€™ll all see each other again, but I know that it wonā€™t ever be exactly the same as it is right now. In a way itā€™s thrilling that weā€™re all setting off to start our own lives, but at the same time itā€™s terrifying because weā€™ll be doing it miles away from each other. Iā€™m already mentally preparing myself for the inevitable best-friend-withdrawals. *sigh*
  • Sadness aside, I am SO EXCITED to start UBC!! Every time I even glance at my new dorm sheets or see my UBC sweatshirt I get so incredibly thrilled that I wish I were already there. And itā€™s funny because never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine Iā€™d end up going to UBC. I had first heard about the place around the beginning of my junior year through one of those college-matchmaker services, and I remember I really liked it. I just let myself forget about it though; who leaves the country for college! Flash forward to near the end of February of this year, and Iā€™m feeling pretty good about my college applications. I had already sent everything in, and was in that odd limbo where youā€™re waiting to hear if you got in anywhere. I found myself back on the college-matchmaker site, and before I knew it I was filling out UBCā€™s application and asking the counselor to print out my transcript to send in. When I was actually accepted, even then I almost didnā€™t choose UBC, but once I did I absolutely knew without a doubt that I had made the right choice. Now, looking at old pieces of mail from the other colleges I considered, I canā€™t even imagine myself anywhere other than UBC! Perhaps it was fate that I stumbled upon UBC again mere days before the application was due!
  • Iā€™m already starting to miss my cat. Every time I see him I get a bit teary-eyed and pick him up. Itā€™s really hard leaving the dogs too; Cookie and Bear just had two little puppies (we really need to name themā€¦), and theyā€™re SO FREAKING ADORABLE Iā€™m considering getting a puppy-agent so they can be in K9 Advantix commercials or something (you know, the one with the puppy singing at camp).

The next time I write a post it will probably be from my dorm room (Kwakiutl in Totem Park, in case youā€™re curious). By then hopefully these UBC blogs will be all set up so I can put pictures in as well. Until then, wish me luck with packing and saying goodbye to the United States! Vancouver here I come!


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