So my absence on here is never really a surprise. Just thought I would dedicate a post to what's been keeping me occupied this past month.
Ok let’s get the bad out of the way first…
Thing that has been making me miserable: statistics course.
I hate math. I do NOT fit the stereotype of Asians and math. Give me a quill and paper over a calculator any day of the year. I just want to study the kind of psychology that looks at behavior disorders and suggest different cognitive behavioral therapy methods with clients during their sessions – not freaking calculating binomial distributions and hypothesis testing! Why oh why must the latter be a prerequisite for the former?! <queue in frustrated scream here>
One thing I’ve been really itching to buy: One Step Land Polaroid Camera with the rainbow stripe
Really just look at this camera. It’s so puuuuuurdy. I just want it to call my own and attempt to capture beautiful instant images. He would make a great companion to Stewie (current FujiFilm Instant Camera). I am seriously in love with the potential quality of these films. I actually first found out about this camera from an Instagram pic and immediately dug up some research on the camera and it turns out I totally missed out on the chance to buy the Limited Edition version of this camera last summer. I read that some of the specs were just spruced up a bit and a new film number was created to go with it but I was also informed the original vintage version of the One Step Land is compatible with the new film. The older cameras are going for about $40 on ebay (it’s the price of film that kills ya) which leaves me with the “do I” or “don’t I” invest and just buy it… hmmmmm…
What the silver shade film is set to look like
What the coloured film is supposed to look like
Fashion trend I am on the fence about: coloured denim
Ok so I get that colour is supposed to be good. I am trying to move away from the greys and blacks. And it did take me like 15 years to even warm up to the idea of wearing jean denim and being comfortable with it. Let’s hope it won’t take me that long to come around for coloured denim. Out of the all the colours that are readily available I am most intrigued by the green and I’ve come close to just buying a pair, but what always gets me is the same question that really comes to mind whenever I make any purchase for articles of clothing for the lower half of my body: “How will my thunder thighs look in these?” More specifically, “how will my thunder thighs look in green pants?” Will it not just accentuate the thunderous size of them? I mean these are the big questions in life, aren’t they?
Movie I am absolutely STOKED to see: The Hunger Games!!
Two words: Team Peeta!
Enough said.
Don’t know what the Hunger Games is? Get out from under your rock you caveman! The countdown is officially on until I get to see it tomorrow!! Currently 5:10pm while I am writing this so that makes it a little less than 31 hours!!!
Food I’ve been craving a lot lately: breakfast food
Sister's plate
My plate
Ok who doesn’t like breakfast food? Well it’s just I’ve been craving it all the time. Last really great breakfast meal I had was when I took my sister out for a birthday brunch over a week ago and the food – as simple as eggs, bacon and pancakes can be – was just soooooo good! Breakfast any time of the day is just awesome. And it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve had breakfast food in the past week because I just want it again the next day. In factI am kind of craving pancakes again right now…
Current app-craze: Draw Something
It’s like Pictionary but easier and harder at the same time. Easy since they give you a set of letters with the answer scrambled in there; hard since I can’t draw for shit. But it’s crazy-addicting and has been taking up a lot of my attention in lectures. Plus it’s a free app so bonus! But exhibit A of my awesome drawing skills...
And the n look at these total overachievers...
Album I’ve been listening to non-stop recently: Sucker Punch Soundtrack
Surprisingly the movie was not too bad – well not too bad as a bunch of girls in skimpy school girl and or leather outfits in action scenes could be. As a person with no extensive knowledge on CG and special effects, as an avid-movie fan I can admit all of that looked really cool even from just a computer monitor. What really made the movie for me was the soundtrack: it had everything from Bjork to Silversun Pickups, with even a few tracks sung by the lead actress herself, Emily Browning. The soundtrack has that “heavy metal/rock meets electronica” sound to it topped off with some haunting female vocalists. Moreover there is a pretty wicked Queen mash-up on the soundtrack that brings “We Will Rock You” to another foot-stomping level for me. Yet I have to say that my favorite song by far is Emiliana Torrini’s cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”… it’s just one of those rare moments when you go from liking an already good original song to loving it even more after hearing the cover.
Something that totally impressed me recently: sister’s mad cooking skills.
Ok so her cooking skills aren’t that much of a surprise since I’ve always known she was good at what she makes but she just recently tried something new and it was incredibly tasty! She found a recipe online to make dim sum and she totally aced it! Everything was homemade by her and they just look like the real deal you pay $5 for at a restaurant! Way to go sis! Now go make some more (please)!
Youtube history: The Graham Norton Show
(First Graham Norton interview I ever saw)
So I discovered Graham Norton back shortly after the first Lord of the Rings movie came out. Orlando Bloom was the IT guy and I went on this huge rampage of being obsessed with him and subsequently looking up anything I could find about him or with him in it on the Internet, which led me to his Graham Norton interview. I didn’t look anything up Graham Norton-related for years until quite recently when I came across his interview with Adele and since then I’ve just been looking up ALL his interviews. He is quite hilarious and there is something about British shows where not only do they have a different, smugger sense of humor but they can pretty much get away with talking about anything on his talk show.
(Definitely worth watching this video compilation of all the funniest moments on the show)
My “who knew cats could be so cute” epiphany: The Scottish Fold
I mean, come on! Just look at this cat! Look how cute it is! That round head, its soft looking fur, its cute little poses!! I want one soooooooooooo bad!! I mean I’ve never really been a cat person but this is something I just want to have curled up on my bed with me! It is impossibly hard looking for a breeder in Vancouver and that aside these little furballs are hella expensive! But I am totally looking for one still. I am thinking my best bet is to look for a U.S. breeder since those seem more common, especially in the Washington or Oregon state. I mean this is the kind of pet that if I knew someone who had one, it would not be below me to steal it from their homes. Seriously! So cute!! You couldn’t blame me if I did!
(Hands down the CUTEST Scottish Fold out there, I mean come on! Look at that box sliding!)
Whatever I am feeling... I am blaming it on having an extended case of the Mondays (more of a month-long thing), lack of vitamin D (yes, it has been sunny but I am always inside in class or at the Centre), and topped off with school.
School is usually the root of the problem to many things. But I think that’s what happens when you take 5 courses without an elective. Why oh why am I taking so many? *shouting out to the “heavens”* Oh right, it’s because I prefer to finish my undergrad before my ten-year high school reunion. That doesn’t seem likely. I am probably more likely to change my major again right before I am supposed to graduate. It’s kind of my thing.
I don’t really know what to write about. Sadly I have been able to keep up with all my 2012 resolutions except for keeping up maintenance on here. So what random thought can I share?
*thinking* ...
I am missing California. I really want to go there during spring break. I think it would be good for my mental and emotional health. Also just so I could get my Polaroid-photography on. Plus my shorts are collecting dust...
(Pacific Coast Highway)
Ever since I first went there, it just feels like a part of me stayed there. It’s found its niche there. Maybe it’s not that I miss California then; maybe it’s just me missing the part of me that’s back there. Or maybe I just miss the person I am while I’m there. There’s a lot of sentimental ties between me and that place.
(Santa Monica walk post-sunset)
So to help me quell my longing for the Golden coast, I have a playlist to help me whenever I fall into this mood. Here are just a few of the songs in an increasingly-growing playlist:
San Diego Serenade – Tom Waits
O Valencia – The Decemberists
California Love – 2Pac ft. Dre (Yeah, how could I not add this song?)
California Waiting- Kings of Leon
Santa Monica – Everclear (Probably one of my faves)
California – The Kooks
California English – Vampire Weekend
California Queen – Wolfmother
California Sun – Ramones
In California – Neko Case
New York to California – Mat Kearney
Snow in California – The Stills
The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie - Red Hot Chili Peppers (So not exactly a song about anything California-related but it showcases Venice Beach wonderfully.)
Maybe if I do enough penny-saving I can do a quick trip up and down. Granted I survive midterms... fingers crossed.
Despite the rain that seems to be plaguing Vancouver, there is an undeniable feeling of winter in my bones that makes me feel equally excited and calm. The excited part may have something to do with the fact that there’s exactly a month left until Christmas Eve.
Personally, I can’t wait for the snow. Granted, I should clarify that I am only a fan of it when I am either inside watching it fall down gracefully, or I am outside the next day and everything is covered in white and the sun is out.
What I am not a fan of is watching Vancouverites assuming they can resume with their regular 80 km/hour speed on roads and be utterly surprised when one minute they are driving down a street and the next, their car is teetering on the edge of a ditch. ROAD SENSE PEOPLE, ROAD SENSE!
But seriously, all those non-winter fans! What's not to enjoy about this season! Hot chocolate (or vanilla lattes, white chocolate mochas, spiked egg nog [really the list goes on and on here]), snowboarding (or whatever other snow activity that you prefer), fireplaces, the Christmas buzz (even if you're not a fan of the shopping-for-gifts aspect, there is a sense of community comradery that exists this time of year - and if you don't feel it then you are hanging out with the wrong crowd), and not to mention bundling up in all those layers of clothes (yes, you can be fashion-forward and still look good when you're wrapped up in layers upon layers to the point you can't see your toes anymore).
And don't get me started on the view...
That's a view up on cypress. Looks amazing, doesn't it? Or what about...
Up in the Okanagan. Views like this are gorgeous and are worth waking up early in the morning to see or to take a moment for yourself in the evening.
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
Now this song isn't winter/Christmas related to the average listener, but the piano in it gives me this majestic feeling where I imagine myself walking in the woods as the snow falls around all around me just as the sun is setting... maybe right during twilight (yes, those that know me well can laugh at me for that).
The song is called "Let Me Fall in Love" and is written and performed by Marketa Irglova. For anyone who is having one of those "she sounds so familiar" moments, she is one half of the Swell Season and starred in the indie film Once alongside Glenn Hansard. They won an Oscar for their song, "Falling Slowly" in the film.
I got to see her perform this past September when she opened up for Iron & Wine. She was a perfect fit for him as the opening act since she has that soft, lullaby voice as well. Best way to describe her performance was that she had the whole audience captivated.
