Friday, December 7, 2007

Exams :-(

http://xkcd.com is a really cute site for nerds. Someone kept typing it in the UWDC++ chat.

I know I haven't updated in a long time. I've had a continuous stream of assignments followed by midterms, which led into finals. I have so much to update, but not enough time or energy!!

I'm so tired of exams and studying for them and I just had my very first of many to come for the years ahead. AFM101 (Accounting & Financial Management) is done. I've lowered my standards and all I ask is to pass...

I just want it all to be over with and to go home for the holidays. *sigh*

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

All Black

What I'm Listening to: All Black by Good Charlotte. I didn't like Good Charlotte before, but some of their songs are rather catchy. (MediaFire won't let me upload the mp3 right now, so check back later)

It's been a rather long day today. I didn't have time to have anything for breakfast because I spent all my time on getting dressed for class. It helps to explain why I seem to have lost weight recently, especially since I've been following a strict popcorn and cereal with soy diet. The exact reason why I am restricting myself like this is rather complicated (i.e. I don't really know).

In accordance with the title of this post, pretty much everything I'm wearing is all black, except for maybe some silver accents. My nails, boots, eye makeup, lace gloves, dangling earrings, wrist cuff, rings, new phone (I'll make a post about that sometime), both jackets, sunglasses, stockings, boots, the stripes on my shirt, Emporio Armani watch - all black. I get very much annoyed when I get a run in my stockings, doesn't matter what kind. I finally found one in good condition this morning (that's why it took me so much time) and guess what? By lunch break, I got a run along my left leg. I'm not sure how it happened. Last time, the zipper on my boots got caught on my fishnets and I couldn't come up with any feasible way to fix it, so I was rather disheartened. Today, I decided I would layer them and neither of the flaws would be very visible and I'm happy to say that my plan worked fairly well :]

I'm not sure why the quality of these photos are so poor, but I will look into it and try to adjust the settings. The "House Mom", Mary, who is in charge of cleaning our building was hanging around and that made me really nervous, as you can see from the strange expression on my face...

My brother picked out the silk stripped shirt when he was home for Thanksgiving weekend, I had bought the blazer for DECA competitions but I've had the pleated skirt for quite a while now, but I didn't really have the audacity to wear it. I got it at a store for little girls...just making up for lost time...

I bought the lacey gloves and the pyramid-studded cuff yesterday at Ardene's at Conestoga Mall and it counted as one of the 3 for $10 items. I am wearing the chrome spinner ring and the four-leaf clover one at this moment. I forgot to take a picture of all my earrings, but they're not very exciting, so maybe next time.

It's gloomy and rainy outside today, but I wore my sunglasses because I'm trying to be optimistic ^^
I was wearing that star pendant and chain this morning, but when I got to Davis Centre just before Economics, I saw that there were some local vendors and took a look at what they had to offer.


I managed to bargain the price for the two pins and the ring to $45 altogether.


I was wearing the chrome star cocktail ring this morning and it had occurred to me that I do not own a diamond ring - yet. I've been playing with the idea of getting a brilliant diamond-cut ring for the past few days and I told my mom about this one night when I called home. Keep in mind: my father was asleep on the couch during this conversation on speaker phone...

Me: You know what's completely off-topic and just occurred to me?
My Mom: What?
Me: I want a massive diamond ring.
My Mom: Real or fake?
(Before I got a chance to reply)
My Dad: Plastic...
Me: Isn't he asleep?
My Mom: I think so, looks like it.
Me: So he's talking in his sleep?
My Mom: I don't know if he's actually awake, but we shouldn't talk about him anymore when we think he's asleep...

The next day, my mom called to tell me that she bought me a Russian diamond four-leaf clover pendant. I promised my mom that we'd go shopping for diamond rings this weekend and I'd buy one for her. We don't need some guy to get them for us XD

I am really, really looking forward to the weekend :]

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

"Wine" & Cheese

Sherri, the Don of my building, is hosting a "wine" (most of the people in this building are underage) & cheese night. We were invited to dress up, but I was pretty much the only one who put any effort into it at all. I never miss an occasion to dress nicely :]

I have to go submit my assignment now and it's about 3 degrees Celsius outside right now, but it feels so much colder, so I'm going to have to change out and switch shoes or risk a very embarrassing fall on the slippery wet ground. And yet another bruise...

(Sorry about the poor posture and lighting, that assignment was some seriously back-breaking work. The other pictures are even worse).

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Halloween at E3


For this month's East Cup, we had to decorate our lounge for Halloween. I dressed up a bit as the undead, but my camera is out of batteries, which also explains the lack of posts. Luckily, Simon took pictures of the pumpkin I carved. Unfortunately, we didn't win because E4 went all out, so we tied for second place. I ended up stabbing it with forks, knives and scissors, but they're not included in this picture. I also added red paint to its innards for a more grisly effect. I forgot to take off my watch, so it got a bit wet, but it still works.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The Tudors


I am currently watching The Tudors, for the sole reason that Jonathan Rhys-Meyers stars in it. My hearing is very poor, so it is difficult for me to follow it sometimes, but I think I manage alright.


In honour of the show, I am wearing my elaborate red shirt today. Again, I happened to bump into my Algebra instructor who commented on my absence yesterday (I slept in because I wasn't feeling well), as well as the high collar that he expects would be uncomfortable. Actually, this one actually feels better than the previous shirt I had on last time.


I got the shirt at Pacific Mall, I can't remember for how much exactly, but I really doubt it was expensive. I got on the wrong bus on the way back from Grand River Hospital last week and ended up at Conestoga Mall, so I called up Gregory to keep me company and help me find my way back. We wandered around and I got the pin at Le Château for $4.99. I've been searching for a cameo pin, but I really like this one, even though it's not quite what I had in mind. Good price, too. I have a whole collection of metal rose earrings, necklaces and rings, and I thought the red rose dangling earrings and the ring would go well with my outfit today. I got the pants for $10 with 10% off, so it was about $9. :]

I'm a bit annoyed today because I think I've lost my Computer Science course notes. I brought them with me to the exam yesterday and I think I forgot to bring them back with me. I hope it turns up soon.

Monday, October 15, 2007

UW Style (or lack of)


I took these pictures in the full length mirror in the washroom here at residence this morning before I put on makeup because I forgot. I started editing them during Accounting, then I got to Economics and tried to upload them, but blogger was having some kind of problem, and I had to wait until after Algebra and Calculus to get back to writing this post. I have an Algebra midterm tonight at 7-8:15PM and I really should be studying but I'm taking time out right now because I just got out of class.

Hmm, my face looks really round in those pictures. I think it's the collar that does it. :(

I got the top half of my outfit during the shopping expedition my brother and I went during Thanksgiving weekend and we had a blast. The white shirt was $30, the white blazer was $40-45 or something like that and the vest was just $20 less 10% with my SPC card, so about $18. I made a post on the skirt last time and it was purchased as part of a combo, so I can't really say how much it was. I've been waiting for an opportunity to wear my fishnets. I 'm a bit annoyed that the zipper on my boots got caught on the other leg while I was walking and so there's a hole, but I'm not too upset because I don't think it cost me very much at all. They'll be on sale again this year after Halloween. XD

I would have worn different boots, but I had four classes today and involved a fair bit of rushing around, so these were my safest bet. No PUMA shoes for this occasion. I need to buy proper semi-formal dress shoes. Without really high heels. Not PUMA. Not running shoes. Not long boots, because I already have several pairs. Short ones would be okay.

In general, people here at UW dress rather poorly, in my humble opinion. They can't be bothered to switch out of their pajamas before getting to class. That is, if they bother going at all. It shouldn't be that difficult! Even if they don't go to class, a lot of these people don't even have the decency to dress properly when wandering around in public, across campus.

My Algebra teacher asked me if my shirt was uncomfortable because the collar seemed really high. I don't know, I don't mind it too much. I think it might have been in comparison to what everyone else was wearing, or rather, the baggy clothes he was wearing.

The following is an excerpt from the conversation I had with Gregory during Economics class today. I hate that class...

Gregory: "[UW is] dork central. There are more guys who at least try than girls. Any Asian girl who can't get an Asian boyfriend easily without trying can get a dork white guy, so nobody tries. And for dorks, fashion is only about getting in a relationship. Then the track pants come out."

That's a very accurate description of how things are around here.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

More about my ear...



I actually found the photo of my ear that I took a couple years ago...

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Tragus Attempt #2


The first time I tried piercing my left tragus it tore out when I was changing clothes after a few days. I was working on catching up on Financial Accounting when I had an overwhelming urge to mutilate or harm something this morning. I tried a number of things to distract myself; some made it better, others worse. I debated and discussed it and decided that I wanted to pierce something, so I chose the tragus again since it has now healed. I feel so much better now.

I have another picture from a year or two ago and I had more piercings then. A lot of them have filled up since then, except for the seven loyal ones (5 on along left, 2 on right lobe).

I'm in too much pain and I have too much work to go on that road trip today which is a shame, so Sherri, my don, is going all by herself because everyone canceled on her. I think I might do my laundry today and maybe go to the lab to do my CS assignment. Maybe meet up with Gregory. I should also start working on the Algebra assignment.

I got a chance to chat with a number of my friends, some of them whom I haven't contacted in a little while, like Grant and ES, which was very pleasant.

I hope this Ear-Clit piercing is secure enough not to tear out again. Not fun. My tragus really isn't very big, so there's not a lot of space for it. I also left my proper earrings at home, so I'm just going to settle for these studs.
Maybe I should try the mall around here and see if they have Ardene's or somewhere that sells earrings for cheap. An industrial bar would be nice. I'd do new piercings for that. I also want a tattoo, but one thing at a time...

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Alarm Clock

People come into my room and, as Ken-Ken pointed out, there is a sequence of things that they always do. They have to touch my clock, my plant, comment on this and that, etc. It took an entire elaborate expedition for me to find and buy this alarm clock the night before I was moving out. And now I don't even use it, thanks to those birds I mentioned in the previous post.

Vacation

What I'm Listening To: This song suddenly popped into my mind with the thought "I need a vacation". I'm actually alright, I don't really need one that badly, but here's Vacation by Vitamin C anyways.

I realize I haven't updated in quite a while. Yes, I have been rather busy. I'll post more pictures when I have time. I brought this doll with me so that I could take photos of it before I mail it out. I think it's probably one of my favourites. It'll be traveling to my good friend 小吳 (Xiao Wu) in Shanghai.

She's wearing a heart-shaped bikini made from bright blue felt and is adorned with small pink star beads.

It's so dark in my room and it's difficult to take good pictures. My room is right by the door, so it can be noisy when people keep moving in and out of the building. However, the geese and seagulls are by far the worst. My classes start at either 9:30 am or 11:30, so why am I up at 6-something in the morning? I never set an alarm clock because they wake me up by 7 am every morning.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Prozzäk's Hot Show

Prozzäk was really 'kewl' in the late nineties with its state-of-the-art animation and highlights on futuristic information technology trends, such as ICQ and websites (www.nevergetoveryou.com) I had no idea they were "still around". Remember the "Incoming Contact," "User is Online," and all the UH OH's?!?



I'm kind of disappointed that www.nevergetoveryou.com isn't an actual site anymore. I think they might have only been popular in Canada though, I'm not sure. However, Prozac is quite popular everywhere ;)

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

My Neighbour Totoro!

My Neighbour Totoro was the beloved animated film of our childhood.
Who didn't want to get to school on the cat bus? I even had dreams about it.


I started working on Totoro at about 10 am this morning and I've just finished at 9 pm. It wasn't exactly constant work, but pretty close. I listened to the audio book for Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis on my laptop while working. I also stopped for some Mika interview videos on Youtube, chatting, browsing, showering, one popcorn break and dinner.

I contemplated about whether or not I should take the time to make arms because I was pretty tired of crocheting by then. My dad thought its tummy was a giant mouth. My parents didn't think it needed arms until I showed them the original and they agreed that it would probably look more complete. I agree. Otherwise, it was kind of like a ball with ears and a tail.

I kind of made it up as I went along. I made a lot of mistakes but I didn't correct them because I figured it was just a prototype and they wouldn't be too visible. Otherwise, I made the other arm, eye, or ear the same way, so it'd be intentional :]


It has little claws, which were very visible in the cartoon. These whiskers are movable, unlike the way I usually sew them onto its face.

It bears a striking resemblance to Catbert.

In fact, the real life totoro is said to be the chinchilla and I wanted one for the longest time.

My Neighbour Totoro!

I'll make a proper post in a second, but here are the photos for now...

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Ring Ring

I've had Life in Cartoon Motion by Mika for some time and I never really got into it until late in the middle of the night. I haven't been sleeping properly for over a month so I lie in bed awake and listen to my iPod. Playing solitaire in the dark used to work because it'd get my eyes sore, but I think they've adapted since I've been trying that every night and I'll bet I've damaged them. Ring Ring is definitely my favourite song by far, so I wonder why he released it as a 'bonus track'.


I was going to upload the the mp3, but this video is pretty well done and I can't remember where I saved the file. It's really quiet so turn up the volume. Ring Ring is followed by a performance of Stuck in the Middle. He's surprisingly brilliant when performing live, he seems so insanely happy. His music videos are pretty flashy, especially the one for Love Today, that really made me dizzy so I'm not going to post it.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

A Sorta Fairytale

I just thought I'd post this video I saw so many years ago (2002) and I've kept the song on my mp3 players and iPod. It was the video by Tori Amos with Adrian Brody that really made an impression in my mind. You'll see why...

Friday, August 10, 2007

In Response to Pastafarians...

I don't know if I like the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster so much. There's something that bothers me about it. I still think I favour the Church of Hot Addiction. The music video gets really strange around the end, so you should click on the link and download the track I've uploaded for you.

Cobra Starship is probably best known for their catchy song, "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)", which was not written or set to the film, Snakes on a Plane. My favourite part in the entire song is by Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes:

Ladies and gentlemen,
These snakes is slitherin'
With dollar signs in they eyes
With tongues so reptilians
This industry's venomous
With cold-blooded sentiments
No need for nervousness
It's just a little turbulence

They ended up making a music video for it with appearances by Samuel L. Jackson and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy.

Friday, July 27, 2007

A Gloomy Friday

Today didn't quite follow my usual routine, but that's always affected with any kind of notable change. I watched Donnie Darko in two segments. It had to be the earliest that I had ever started watching a movie. It was grey outside, but it didn't rain like it was supposed to.




I really liked the song near the end of the movie, Mad World by Gary Jules. It was strange because it suited the day perfectly, as if it was the theme song. It fit in with my research, writing and everything else I was doing, feeling, and thinking about for the entire day. The lyrics are quite clear, so I don't think I need to post them.

I've included the music video for the song and not the ending of the movie, just in case it ruins the movie for someone. Besides, it's a really unique one worth watching and I'd recommend seeing the movie if you haven't already. I've seen it before, but I forgot most of it and I don't think I was paying attention. It made me think, as well as how it would relate it to my own life.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Impulsive Skulls

This post is dedicated to Grant, the only reason why I'm writing it. The pictures aren't very good because I wasn't feeling well. When my mom got home, she commented that I looked so sad and it was only after she mentioned that I noticed that I really was. I don't know why. A busy day with a lack of sleep, plenty of anxiety, hunger with nausea and a stomachache would do it, but I don't think that was all.

I was at Pacific Mall on Sunday, where I bumped into Francis who was killing time until his Casino Rama bus arrived, so we wandered around. I hadn't really intended on buying very much. Really, I didn't. Somehow I was missing $200 when I left and I was still owing $60.

JCY House was having a "sale", like they always do at any given time. They just tag everything in the store with ridiculous prices then offer 70% off. If you so much as stop to look at something, the sales ladies are immediately hovering around you, reminding you that there's a sale and if you're really interested, they'll "see what they can do."

I've been pining after this jacket for a long time now. The first one I saw had a purple design and they claimed that they didn't have it in anyother colour, while trying to convince me to buy it anyways. What's wrong with purple? It's one of my least favourite colours, next to green. After calling all of their ubiquitous stores, they found that they had one left in the warehouse that was closed on Sunday, so they'd call me when it arrived and I'd have to go pick it up on Monday. That turned out to be a lie. They had actually just gotten it transferred from the Times Square branch, but they didn't want me to go personally or else they'd lose their commission.

The collar and belt can be left open or they can be fastened.

On the back, there's lovely pinstripe design and a pocket on the left arm.

There's also a removable hood and there's a second smaller collar underneath it.
There are two pockets on the front, as well as two extra ones on the inside. These clothes aren't very typical of JCY House, because they usually just carry a lot of casual, brand name clothing and apparel, such as those of PUMA, Emily the Strange, True Religion, Paul Frank, and Miss Sixty sometimes. Did I mention that everything is tagged at unbelievable prices?

Yes, I know my hair is getting rowdy. I'm going to get a haircut soon. It's always in my face. I once chopped off a lot of my hair in an effort to lose weight. There was one point when I had seriously thought it through and was ready to shave my head bald, but that's a story for another time. I should probably dye it black again, because I kind of fried it so it looks brown and damaged. I wish I still had my bright red hair, but it fades into a glowing orange too quickly and I used to have to keep re-dying it all the time. Auburn or maroon are both very nice, but they have a tendency to fade to brown very quickly. I like it very unnaturally black, even for a Chinese person, to the point that it's very shiny and almost has blue highlights. Of course, that's hard to maintain for very long, but it's the least fussiest of all the colours. Because I'd have to wash the dye out in the shower, I'd better wait until my *ahem* wounds heal.

I had really only wanted the jacket, but since they thought that they only had the purple print jacket, the lady started to push me into buying the matching skirt in grey. If there was a grey skirt, then wasn't there a grey jacket? It was sold out and I should have come earlier. But I did and it hadn't existed at that time. After the incredible discount on some outrageous sum, she said it would be $110. That is definitely over my allocated budget, but if I really wanted it, "we can talk about the price later."

I have to admit that it was very appealing. It's laced up with ribbons on each side of the outer skirt made up of numerous ruffled layers. It has lace at the bottom of the inner skirt. Pinstripes. Shiny silver buttons. Silkscreen-style prints. Gothic lettering. All of my favourite things :]
I couldn't resist. It also came with a hilarious detachable suspender/hood. The hood is huge. My head disappears when I put it on. In the photo of the two skirts separated, there's a flap at the waist of the outer skirt, which is placed below the inner skirt. The flap is used to fasten the two rings of the suspender straps to the outer skirt. There was also another set with shorts worn underneath in the place of the skirt. Shorts? I never wear shorts. Skirts are infinitely better :]
Say no to "skorts". Just. Say. No.

At first she was telling me how the skirts were independent of each other and so I could wear them separately - the top one shown above on its own and the lower one over anything, such as jeans. She asked me for my size and since they vary from brand to brand, I really didn't know. Plus, my size is always changing. She took a look at me and guessed far below what I expected would have fitted me. How flattering ;)

She picked out a pair of True Religion jeans, but they really didn't look nice with that shade of blue. I had to rummage through my closet before taking these photos and I was delighted to find a pair of jeans with a dark brown wash from Buffalo Jeans that suit the outer skirt. The top shown above was purchased for $25 the last time I was at Pacific Mall. I like lace and ruffles.

Since she failed to demonstrate that the skirt would go with any pair of jeans and it didn't fit with the dress pants I was wearing when I went in, so I was pretty convinced that it wouldn't match anything else and I wouldn't be able to wear them separately as she claimed. Then she pulled out the matching pants. Unlike the skirt that I was persuaded to buy as a replacement for the jacket, I had absolutely no intention of buying the pants. She made me try them on, just to show how the skirt could still be versatile.

Just as I was about to refuse to buy the pants and insist on just the skirt, another sales lady came to say that they found a grey one. That's when she pulled out the calculator and punched in a jumble of numbers to tell me that the original price was close to $500. That's my cue to gasp and say that I couldn't afford it. But wait! Guess what? I get a special discount. Even more if I bought them together. How much is each item on its own? That wasn't important; they would be sold as a combination so they couldn't really tell me.

I didn't get a chance to say that I didn't want the pants. It just got added up with everything else and I'd have to take them if I wanted a special deal. But if I didn't buy it all, I'd save even more. She told me I "should" buy it as a set - it just made sense.

I can't remember, but I think after my discount, it was going to be $335 or something like that. There was no way I was paying that much. They gave in and said the best they could do would be $285. I don't think so. They asked me how much I was willing to pay. Maybe $220 - $230. That was unreasonable. That was only the beginning of the negotiations.

I started going on and on about how I don't have much of an allowance, how long I had to save up, etc. But it's from Japan. How about $250? Studio Tokyo is a brand name. Really? I've never heard of it. She showed me a picture of a Japanese girl wearing it in a magazine. It was the most I had ever spent on just three articles of clothing. $280 was the lowest price. I don't think my parents would approve, they're very conservative, they'll get angry at me, etc. They couldn't lower it, they really couldn't. I don't really have that much in savings. How about $250? Absolutely not. $255? No, $280.

I was starting to get anxious because I was worried that I was running out of time, but I wasn't willing to just give in. Come on, $255. Fine, fine, $275. That's still too much, I think I might only be able to afford the jacket and skirt.... After much more bartering, we finally arrived at $265. While she was getting her invoice pad out, I asked if we could just even up the number. She seemed appalled and there was absolutely no way that they would charge $250. No, no, I meant $260. She reluctantly gave up on the $5. No tax if I paid cash. Of course.

I only had $230 on me. I wasn't lying when I said I was pressed for cash. Since I wasn't getting the jacket and I still had another article of clothing I was planning on buying from another shop, I paid $200 with part of it being a deposit. I left my name and number but also wrote all of that information down - how much I paid, how much I was still owing. She wrote me a receipt and told me that she'd call me as soon as it arrived. She gave me a plain plastic shopping bag, and because I collect bags of any kind, I asked for a paper JCY House bag - "umm, to advertise for you" - they were more than happy to give me one.

While I was waiting for my dad to arrive, it finally registered that I had spent $260 on three articles of clothing. I usually choose to have more items at a bargain price. I started convincing myself that it was okay because I really liked the clothes and I kind of got a good deal. It's all just a scam. The customer is supposed to feel a strong sense of satisfying achievement. I was wondering how I would get to the mall again tomorrow. I started making my way towards the bank to use their ABM machine, so I wouldn't have to ask whoever might be driving me to make a stop at the bank. I was rather annoyed when I was halfway there and remembered that my dad had told me to leave my ID and all of the other important items in my wallet at home. That included my debit card. I had taken out the cash and put it in another wallet, because there really was a good chance that there might be pickpockets in the crowd. It wasn't such a big deal because I wasn't intending on returning to the store to pay the remaining $60, so I'd have to find another way to the bank. Maybe I could drop in on the way home.

The next day I ended up calling them a couple of times because they didn't call me. My mom started to fret about whether they didn't actually have it in stock after all and kept bothering me about what I would do. That ended up getting me anxious. She wanted me to start bargaining to try to get as much of my money back as possible and we were debating how I should phrase it; for example, the pants and skirt should be worth around $150, so they should return $50. Maybe if I didn't get my jacket, then I'd refund everything. No exchanges, no refunds. I hate it when she does that because it makes my head spin. Eventually, I pulled out the receipt and it stated that the jacket costs $88 and so my deposit was $28. Great, but what if I didn't get my jacket? I'd only get $28 back. At around 6 PM, I called again and she said she'd call me back after checking in the back room. Yes, my jacket had arrived. Why didn't they call me if they had already received it? Then I received a phone call not long after I hung up and was informed that my jacket had arrived. I guess I got my phone call.

My dad was not at all happy to see that jacket. He didn't like the skulls. I hadn't really noticed them when I was trying them on. He said I was already down on my luck and black wasn't such a nice colour - but skulls!! He wanted me to just give up the deposit. I didn't even want to say how much I had paid and my dad didn't know that I also had a skirt and pants that had skulls all over them. My mom thought the articles were unique. I was a bit worried that it might give off the 'wrong impression', but if it did, then that's part of my image. I told my dad it was my birthday gift for myself. He said it wasn't a matter of birthday presents or not. He didn't like the skulls and black background. I paid and left as quickly as I could.

Do you really want to hurt me?

Boy George sure does. He's been haunting me all day. The strange thing was that I forgot that he sang "Do you really want to hurt me?" with Culture Club. Good old New Wave. I just kept seeing his face and hearing the song but couldn't make the connection. Strange.

Then I came home, turned on the television and there he was, singing that very song while they were talking about how Boy George dressing in drag was what really made Culture Club stand out and gain popularity. I've never even seen the video before either and I still haven't as I'm writing this post, so here it is:



I was telling my mom about it and she thought I was talking about George Michael the whole time. When she said that she thought he was quite "manly" before it was revealed that he was gay and before the scandal, that's when I realized that she was thinking about the wrong guy. Boy George dressed in drag and his run in with the law was very, very different from George Michael's. "Oh, him! That plump old maid!" Yes, it was very obvious that he was gay. His time in prison really destroyed him and I shudder when I think how awful it must have been for him. He certainly did not get Paris Hilton's VIP treatment.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Village 1 - E3 Single Room

Single Room

  • single bed and mattress
  • closet, vanity & dresser
  • desk, desk lamp & chair
  • bookshelves & waste basket
  • active telephone line
  • ResNet (high speed Internet) connection
  • cable-ready (each student must make their own arrangements with a local cable company once they arrive)
  • approximate room measurements
    3.0 x 2.9 metres

room layout

This is a three-dimensional diagram of a Village 1 single room. The bed is placed next to the door with the desk and bookshelf next to it on the side wall. On the back wall, there are two closets with a dresser and vanity area in the middle. Beside that is the window. The far side wall is covered in cork board.

There are actually a number of configurations. Does anyone else find that their three-dimensional diagram...lacks a third dimension?

Here are some quick facts about Village 1:
  • single, double and interconnecting rooms for 1379 residents
  • 4 quads (North, South, East and West) with 6 to 8 houses in each quad
  • each house has 50-60 students and one don
  • each house is connected to at least one other house by an elevated walkway.
  • houses contain 3-4 floors of approximately 16 students per floor.
  • for first-year students in the fall and a mix of first-year and upper-year students in winter and spring
  • on-site cafeteria and required meal plan
I'll be living on the First Floor in the Third House of the East Quad. With the purchase of the minimum required meal plan of $1580, I'll be getting a discount of 50% off most food purchases made at UW Food Services eateries, because the fixed overhead cost of $790 for operating UW Food Services eateries is deducted from the cost of my meal plan. I'll also save up to an additional 14% because most UW Food Services purchases are ORST (Ontario Retail Sales Tax) and GST (Goods & Services Tax) exempt. However, ORST and GST may apply when purchasing some confectionery and non-food items. The fixed overhead deduction is applied towards utilities, updating and renovating UW Food Services facilities, offering flexible operating hours, facility rental, ensuring a variety of menu items to meet different dining lifestyles, labour costs, and providing conveniently located eateries. The fixed overhead cost deduction works out to be about $7.50 each day of the term.

After all the trouble I went through to upload my own photographs, I just noticed that they had a "Village 1 Virtual Tour" with Java that I never bothered looking at. Since I'm already almost finished, I'm just going to leave this post as is and you can have a look at their cluttered example if you'd like.





"The oldest of the UW residences, Village 1 offers an ideal combination of privacy and community living to first-year and upper-year students. V1 is a traditional style residence with a large community centre and on-site cafeteria. It is located near the north-west corner of campus with Mackenzie King Village and Ron Eydt Village.

V1 was designed to help students meet their academic and personal goals. It is a traditional style residence with single, double, and interconnecting rooms arranged in "houses" of 50-60 students. The on-site cafeteria and location on ring road mean that you can spend more time studying or socializing and less time preparing meals or walking to class."


I didn't take too many pictures of the large community centre because it has a fairly generic cafeteria that wasn't open and a recreational area that was missing its pool table for some reason. I took a picture of the laundry room behind the windows, while standing where the pool table should have been. I believe their machines are paid through the swipe of a WatCard and a deduction from the deposited Flexible Dollars.


I finally managed to bring my lazy self to upload the pictures I took on Saturday to provide a better idea of what a typical single room would look like. I only realized when I got home that these pictures really aren't very good because I had to take them quickly after waiting for people to get out of the way. All the items included on their list are italicized.

The desk and its corresponding chair in this room is next to the door and under the aforementioned desk lamp. It's also in front of the active telephone line and ResNet (high speed Internet) connection.

They failed to mention that I was actually getting, not one, but two lamps - one around my desk and one over my head while I sleep.


This is the included single bed and rock hard mattress. I don't think the way that the corner of that bookshelf would be directly over a person's head is very good feng shui, but the positioning varies every so slightly from room to room, so it depends on my particular room.


This is the closet, vanity and dresser promised. At least the mirror isn't facing the bed.


Here's a better picture of the door from the first photo. It has a little bar over which towels may be draped to dry...
...After taking a shower in the shared washroom on the floor. In case you're as worried as my parents are, "most houses are co-ed but each floor is single sex". They keep asking me about that because they claim that my brother's floor was coed...and so was the washroom. I doubt that, but I don't have the best recollection of his residence which I visited once about four years ago, so I won't argue.


Here are a couple of photos of other rooms. They're all largely the same.

We're looking to find somewhere convenient to put a mini fridge. Since I'm going to be moving in and out twice, we're probably going to rent one instead of buying my own. The one I think I'd choose is something like $75 for one term or $90 for two and includes services/repairs. It would probably cost roughly $100 to buy one, but we'd rather not have to deal with the hassle of trying to move it with our sedan.


This is how it looked outside. If you look closely, I was trying to take a picture of what appeared to be a groundhog. I was in a rush and I was deleting photos at home and I think I got rid of the better ones on accident, but you can see a grey-ish blob if you look really carefully.





In contrast, this is where I would have been living if I had started school last Fall:

All Mackenzie King Village suites come fully-furnished and include:

  • 4 bedrooms - each with:
    • single bed and mattress
    • desk, desk lamp & chair
    • dresser & closet
    • bookshelves & wastebasket,
    • ResNet (high speed Internet) connection
    • active telephone line
    • cable-ready (each student must make their own arrangements with a local cable company once they arrive)
  • living room (live cable outlet, 2 chairs, loveseat & end tables)
  • kitchen (table with 4 chairs, fridge & stove)
  • 2 full washrooms
  • 2 storage closets

room layout

This is an extensive three-dimensional diagram of an MKV suite. The suite is split into two sections with two bedrooms on each side. Each side has its own bathroom and storage closet. The living room, kitchen and entrance are placed between the two sections.

Cleaning and Maintenance

All residents at Mackenzie King are responsible for the day to day cleaning and maintenance of their suite. Early in the term, suitemates should delegate cleaning tasks and set up a mutually agreed upon cleaning schedule. Monthly inspections will be conducted by UW staff (prior notice given), to ensure an acceptable level of cleanliness is met.

A Morbid Anniversary

That's what Mike called it. Francis said it gave him nightmares. That was the beginning of a whole series of events, including the development of a number of friendships, particularly the ones formed with Grant and A.

It's been a full year. A rather busy and stressful one, the opposite of what it 'should' have been.

Most people didn't notice that I changed my birth date on Facebook, which is reasonable because I wouldn't have known if someone else had done that. I wasn't conscious yet at this time last year, in either time zone.

Around May/June 2006, a lot of people had already changed their school/network on Facebook to the university they were going to attend in the fall. I thought that was somewhat...I don't know how to describe it - shameless? bold? I just didn't think that it was 'correct' that people were claiming to be in university when they hadn't graduated from high school yet. Who knows if they would? Either way, that's how I felt about it, so I decided against doing that as I wanted to be precise about my status information. Sometimes I wonder if I had quickly entered 'University of Waterloo' as my school, that's where I would be right now by some twist of fate.

On the other hand, I still haven't changed it this year because I don't believe anything is 'certain' anymore. If someone had asked me where I would be right now and how sure I was of my answer, I would have said UW with about 99% certainty (1% reserved for some freak accident). It would be an understatement to say that a lot has changed since then.

Last year, I had planned on being 4-stream, meaning at school for the Fall 2006 term (the four months from September to December), at work for Winter 2007 (January to April) and back at school from May through August. That way, I would be on-stream with everyone I knew. I had also wanted to be living at Mackenzie King Village, in an apartment-style suite with three or four other girls. This year, I had wanted to be in 8-stream, but I still got 4-stream and I'll be off-stream with all my friends, so I'll never meet them regularly at school. I don't think I know anyone with this streaming.

I'm told that there were more students who accepted UW's offer of admission than they had anticipated, so there's a bit of a shortage in residences. I'm glad I submitted a request for a single room instead of waiting and hoping that I'll get my choice through their "random lottery." I picked Village 1, because it's the only residence with completely single rooms. No, I don't want to live in a suite with a "single room" but still have to live with other people. I hate to say it, but I don't think I can deal with that right now.

I went to UW's Student Life 101 on Saturday and had a hard time concentrating to their presentations, so I don't remember much of anything that was said. I bought my textbooks, but I think there might be a problem with the Calculus one. On the sheet, MATH 135 is supposed to require a 6th edition textbook and it warned not to look in the used bookstore because it's a new edition, but they had stacks upon stacks of 5th editions even in their new bookstore. I wasn't paying very close attention, because I didn't realize that it wasn't a 6th edition one until I got home. I thought it looked strangely like the one Puiyan used at UWO and gave me because she heard that it was going to be out of date. I don't think it's my fault, because those were the ones they had set out for this very common course, so a lot of people must have purchased it. I am certainly not going to take this problem up with the department, because I'd like to continue using Puiyan's textbook, study guide and solutions manual. The new package I bought, which costs about $108, has what appears to be the same textbook split into two volumes, in addition to a solutions manual for a non-existent study guide. Very strange. I'm going to keep it for now and hope that it's too late for them to correct their mistake, then refund my package by September 28th.

Aside from picking up all of the textbooks except the one for BUS111W because WLU wasn't open on Saturday, I visited my residence. My particular room wasn't open, but they did have a sample one that would be pretty much identical to mine. I took photos, but they weren't very good, so here's the illustration:

Single room – 3.0 m x 2.9 m

Single room

  • 1 single bed and mattress
  • 1 closet with built-in dresser and mirror
  • 1 desk, desk lamp, and chair
  • 1 bookshelf
  • 1 wastebasket
  • 1 active telephone line
  • 1 ResNet high-speed Internet connection
The room is quite nice, much better than my brother's at McGill. Of course, his school is much older, but his room is at the top of a large hill and quite a distance away from where he was taking his classes. My dad made a lot of comments about how all of the non-single rooms would be really nice - if you were living with good friends. Sure, but not the case for me.

A lot of people were surprised that I got this room and said I was very lucky. I've heard many times that "There's no such thing as luck unless it's the lottery. When it comes to your life, luck is when preparation meets opportunity." That's especially true in this case. I wasn't in the lottery with everyone else ;)

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Queen of the Golden Age of Burlesque



Dita Von Teese is my favourite female celebrity, hands down. I think she's beautifully talented and it was great that she came to Toronto for the benefit event for HIV/AIDS, which is why I was reminded to make this post.

She rose to fame through her relationship with Marilyn Manson, which is when I first took notice of her. They seemed to make the perfect pair at the time, especially when he put out his album, The Golden Age of Grotesque, which is one of the only CDs I've ever purchased. She appears near the end of his mOBSCENE video, but it's unfortunate that I can't embed it, so you'll have to follow the link if you really want to see it her.

From wikipedia:

"Through the wearing of a corset for many years, she had reduced her natural waistline to 22 inches, and can be laced down as far as 16 and a half inches. A diminutive person already, Von Teese stands at only 5'3" and weighs 105 pounds."

I think that's pretty awesome. It's even better that she divorced from Manson. He's getting old and she's too good for him. Think what you like, but she's pretty high on the list of my idols :]

Thursday, July 12, 2007

New Camera

I made it a point not to make any posts in the month of June, because I was putting it off so much that I figured I wouldn't update at all until July. The same thing was about to happen, but I don't like the idea of a completely abandoned blog.



In accordance to the title of this post, I did get a new camera, but I think I spent more time working on it than actually using it. I am please the price has gone up again since I purchased it for $199.99 to $239.99 at Future Shop.

I used the above tools to measure out, cut, attach, trim and squeegee the protective film over the camera's screen after cleaning it with the brushes and cloth included. All of that took me about 30 - 45 minutes.

The intention of buying this camera was really so that I could take pictures and record videos and audio to help trigger my memory. I am going to UW's Student Life 101, so I'll bring it along to take pictures of the campus and maybe make a video of their presentations.

That's it for now. I may or may not make a more detailed post sometime soon because the purpose of this post was to prove that my blog is still somewhat active.