Happy New Year!

It's the last day of 2013! And I'm already in my pyjamas... But hey, let's still celebrate by summing some things up. I did this last year too, but things change.

2013 IS ALMOST OVER, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
Stayed single almost the whole year? The whole year, in fact.
Were involved in something you'll never forget? I went to Disneyland, it was pretty unforgettable.
Tripped over a coffee table? Oh probably
Came close to losing your life? Not that I can remember. I'm sure that would have been the unforgettable part...
Saw one of your favorite bands/artists live? I saw my favourite author...
Did something you regret? Nothing big, maybe a few tiny things that I've already forgotten.
2013: Friends and Enemies
Did you meet any new friends this year? I met a few new people at college and work.
Did you hate anyone? I would rather keep them nameless... 
Did you lose any friends? I think I've drifted away from some friends...
2013: Your BIRTHDAY!
Did you have a cake? Of course. And it was ice cream.
Did you get any presents? Quite a few, which I posted in my last post.
Did you get what you wished for last year? A few things, yes, and a few surprises.
2013: All about YOU
Did you change at all this year? I'm sure I did. I feel like I've become more responsible.
Did you change your style? Not really. Other than wearing my work uniform for the majority of the week...
Were you in school? Not as much as I had expected. I wasn't too organized in that way...
Did you get good grades? I got a B+ in my last class, and some pretty decent grades in my spring classes from earlier this year.
Did you drive? Yes, and I'm getting better. I started on a hill yesterday... After having my L for nearly two years...
Did you own a car? I don't think I'll own a car for a long time.
Did anyone close to you give birth? My co-worker did, and her baby is adorable!
Did you go on any vacations? Disneyland!
Would you change anything about yourself now? I would like myself to be a little more organized...
Did you dye your hair? Surprisingly, no. I normally dye it at least once a year.
2013: Wrap UP:
Was 2013 a good year? I think it was actually better than average
Do you think 2014 will top 2013? It's possible.
Best thing that happened in 2013? I got a job at Starbucks, and before I've been there for even a year, I'm being offered the assistant manager spot.
IN THE YEAR 2013 I CONFESS THAT I…
Kissed in the snow? Nope
in the parking lot? at the beach ? in secret ? Nope nope nope.
Had your heart broken? Nope
Painted a picture? Nope
Wrote a poem? Quite a few, actually, and not all for class. I'm rather proud of myself.
Ran a mile? Hell no.
Visited a foreign country? Does America count?
Cut in a line of waiting people? I really hope not...
Told someone you were busy when you weren't? Possibly...
Cooked a disastrous meal? I wouldn't be surprised.
Lied about how old you were? The closest would be people assuming I'm older than I am.
Cried yourself to sleep? Hmm, I don't think so.
IN 2013 I….
Broke a promise? I certainly hope not
Lied? Maybe a few white lies...
Disappointed someone close? Again, I hope not.
Hid a secret? My Co-worker's girlfriend bought him concert tickets for Christmas and asked me to give him the day off work, but keep it secret. That's the only one I can think of.
Pretended to be happy? Maybe a few times when I've been very stressed at work.
Slept under the stars? That sounds cold...
Met someone who changed your life? Not that I can think of.
Changed your outlook on life? Hmm, maybe a bit, can't say what it's been changed to.
Sat home all day doing nothing? ...Okay, yeah.
Lost something expensive? One of my rings is on the verge of breaking, but it's not lost...
Learned something new about yourself? I'm capable of taking on challenges and responsibilities
Tried something you normally wouldn't try and liked it? There are a few alcoholic drink that are pretty good.
Made a change in your life? I got a new job that pays well and gives me a lot of hours, and I got accepted into two universities.
Found out who your true friends were? I've always known.
Met great people? At college and work.
Stayed up til sunrise? I've been awake before sunrise...
Cried over the silliest thing? Not really, at least nothing I can think of.
Had friends who were drifting away from you? It's sad to say, but yes.
Spent most of your money on food? That pretty much sums up my whole year...
Gotten sick? Not as much as usual.
Liked more than 5 people at the same time? Like as a crush or like as a friend? Nay to the former and Yay to the latter.
Became closer with a lot of people? I like to think so.

Presents!

I completely forgot what day it was yesterday... Okay, that's not true. I knew it was Thursday, but it didn't click that I had to write a blog post. I'm still on vacation mode.

Speaking of which, I just got back from my holiday vacation! I had a whole five days off of work! It was glorious. When I went back, I was in a great mood. Now my legs are really store and I'm getting a little grumpy. But anyway, presents! They're kind of scattered around my room and I'm being lazy, so I don't want to gather them up to take pictures. You'll have to take my word that they're all pretty. This list is no order except whatever I can think of first.

1) Assassin's Creed: Black Flag for Wii U
2) Olive green scarf
3) two pairs of touch screen friendly gloves (Those seem to be popular this year)
4) Several pairs of socks (I love socks)
5) $50 gift card to Chapters (Already mostly spent...)
6) A spiced apple scented candle.
7) A Legend of Zelda calender (I'll probably take a picture of this later, since it's so cool)
8) A set of nail polish (I'm actually cutting back on my collection, but these colours are beautiful, so I'll keep them)
9) A black lace bracelet
10) A Dance of Dragons (fifth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series)
11) Numerous smaller things as stocking stuffers

And I know that there are a few things that I'm forgetting about, but I'll try to post them if I remember. I might even take pictures and post them at some point. But you know, I say things like that all the time. Just be happy that most of the time I remember to even post something...

Merry Christmas!

First thing you should know is that my dad's side of the family is Swedish, so we celebrate Christmas on the 24th, rather than the 25th. I actually didn't realize for a very long time that Christmas was considered by most people to be on the 25th. So movies really confused me. I didn't understand why everyone waited until the morning to open presents. I thought it was only for stockings. Then I grew up and got a brain. And despite being twenty now, I still like to gloat to my friends that I get my presents a day early. They claim that they like the excitement, but I know they're all jealous. (joking, of course... maybe)

And since tomorrow is the 24th, I will be fairly busy with Christmas stuff. It's nearly midnight now anyway, so I feel justified in posting now. So, for any other European/Scandinavian/ 24th celebrators, Merry Christmas! For everyone who celebrates it on the 25th, Merry Early Christmas! For anyone that celebrates something else, Happy Holidays! I hope you get to spend the rest of this season with family and friends.

Updates on tomorrow night will arrive either Wednesday night or Thursday morning. I'll be working a lot once I get back from Christmas with my family, and hopefully will get the assistant manager training soon, so I might be a bit more busy. Not to mention I'll be going to school for a class in January, with at least a two hour commute, though I really need to test it out before classes start.

Doctor Who review Part Two

I posted a review on Doctor Who after watching the first season. Now that I've (almost) finished watching the series (starting with the ninth Doctor), I feel like my thoughts have changed on it.

First I have to say that I absolutely hate the idea of time travel. It messes with my head and there are so many things wrong with it. No fancy words or plausible scientific theories can fix this. Despite this, I love Doctor Who. I have to kind of ignore all the paradoxes that they just skip over and poorly explain. I just tell myself that it's only a show, and that I have to suspend my sense of disbelief. Which really shouldn't be too hard for me, but I like things to make sense and to have reason.

Something else that annoys me is the complete change between the Tenth and the Eleventh Doctors. I liked the transition between the Ninth and the Tenth because it kept the history and the characters from the Ninth, and even brought back old companions even when new ones were present. With the Eleventh Doctor, he seemed completely new, with not just a new body and personality, but with a whole new life. It's as if he doesn't remember anyone from his past lives. I don't understand why he had to say good bye to them all. I loved having the old companions and friends coming back every once in a while.

However, I still loved the Eleventh Doctor and his companions. It was refreshing to see someone who wasn't smitten with the Doctor, nor an annoying stubborn female who thinks that she can boss everyone around. I have to admit, I have not finished with the seventh season, because Netflix doesn't have it and I'm fed up with risking the life of my computer on some risky online site with a million popups and potential viruses. So I'm not sure if I like Claira as a companion, but from what I've seen she seems really good.

And on that topic, I've changed my mind about Rose. I think she's been the only companion that stuck with the Doctor because of the Doctor, not for the adventure and time travel. She still has the annoying overly clingy moments, but it's better than Donna Noble.

And it's getting late and I have to work tomorrow, so I'll leave it here. I will definitely keep watching Doctor Who, though like everything, it has its flaws.

One More Week!

It's one more week until Christmas! I'm twenty now, and I still find myself getting giddy thinking of it. Especially since I get a few days off work to go see family. And speaking of work, time for some updates!

By the end of this year, on the 31st to be exact, I will be tested and hopefully receive my proper certification to be able to train new people on drinks. Once I'm done with that, I'll be trained to be assistant manager! No more maybes, all we need to do is find a Starbucks that isn't too busy and will be willing to train me. My current manager had to go pretty far and cross a toll bring five days in one week to get her training. I'm not sure how extensive my training will be, or if I'll have to go to the same place as her. Since I don't have a car and will have to be bussing, I hope they'll take pity on me and find somewhere closer to home that won't require me to pay a toll.

So that's that. Look forward to a review on Thursday... If I remember. I was actually going to do it today, but then I only remembered after typing all of this up...

I Am Now a Happy Camper (Mostly)

So Monday I was having a tough day but today I'm feeling much better. My laptop is still acting a little funny, but the pop up that kept telling me to back up my computer is gone, so I think I managed to get rid of it. And honestly, I can't even remember what else I was annoyed about.  That's the good thing about having a short attention span...

First off, I got off fairly early from work, though later than expected. Although I had to work an extra half hour, then stayed another half hour, I feel accomplished, because I was taught how to make a work schedule on the computer. It's small, but it's another step closer to being able to be assistant manager. Of course, the computer decided to undo my last save, so I had to re-print the schedule out once I noticed the change...

It started raining today though, so almost all the snow is now slush, and the bus ride home was pretty miserable. I did get some amusement out of the middle school kids. I looked over at one point to see that one of them had written #YOLO on one of the windows... I am truly concerned for this generation. Let's just hope they grow out of things like that.

When I got home I found an e-mail that could have destroyed or heightened my mood. It was the results of the essay I handed in for my class, which I know was far from my best work. When I opened it, I received 82% (B+, I think), and a comment that said it was well written and interesting. I burst out laughing and just had to shake my head. I now have more confidence for my final grade, not that I was too worried to begin with.

I Am Not a Happy Camper

Rant time! Because this has been one of the worst days this year. I am seriously on the verge of swearing my head off because of my computer. Everyone should know by now that I do not have good luck with electronics. It's a love hate relationship. I love my computer, but it does everything in it's power to spite me. Let's do a brief recap of my day.

1) Last night I was using a site that my friend suggested to me to watch online episodes of Doctor Who, since Netflix doesn't have the whole seventh season. This is when I started having trouble. It was basically a list of sites to try, but a lot of them redirected me to one, which was asking for my credit card for a 'free' account. I kept searching and found two that seemed to work. This morning, however, I turned my laptop on to get a pop up asking me to do a backup. I've never had this before and knew it was a virus, so I just closed it. Later, while opening up a new tab on Google Chrome, I found out that instead of Google, it was Bing. I did everything to get rid of it. Seriously, I have been working on it for hours. I've been to half a dozen sites and forums with people who have the same problem, but either their solutions don't work, or their solutions are to abandon Chrome and use Safari or Mozilla. The problem is, Mozilla is also messed up.

2) After abandoning my laptop for a while to go eat dinner and do some Christmas shopping, I came home and prepared to wrap my uncle's present. Only to find that the woman didn't give me a gift receipt. After a specifically asked for one. The idiocy of some people baffles me.

3) So after fighting with my computer for another couple hours, I took another break to get myself an orange. I opened the box, only to find four rotten oranges that I'm almost certain had not been rotten when I bought them. It was disgusting.

4) And to top it all off, earlier in the day my mom was having troubles with my dad's ipad and getting it to sync with the computer. The ipad has never been synced before, and we have a brand new computer with Windows 8, so obviously it was going to be trouble. I downloaded itunes, expecting that to work, as it should. And of course it didn't. It didn't recognize that there was an Ipad plugged in, and neither did the computer recognize it for at least five minutes.


I don't understand modern technology. I thought everything was supposed to be getting easier, more user friendly. But I'm beginning to see that the old DOS computers, the ones with the black screen that you have to type your request into, were much easier. Everything now is riddled with viruses and convoluted solutions. Not to mention I'll probably have to pay over a hundred dollars to get everything cleaned up, plus another outrageous amount of money for a firewall that'll only last a year before it starts giving me popups to remind me to renew it.

If anyone knows of any way to fix any of my computer problems, please speak up. My head is actually beginning to hurt because of how frustrated and angry I am.

I'mma Astronaut

"You are an astronaut. Describe your perfect day."

Dear Diary,

Best. Day. Ever! I'm writing this entry from space. From SPACE! I know, right? The ride up was amazing. Kind of bumpy, like a roller coaster, but it was fun. Everyone else gave me crazy looks when I raised my hands and started laughing. Jeeze, they really need to loosen up. Now that we're up here, I'm having so much fun. I got someone to film me 'swimming' in air. It was hilarious. I posted it on Facebook and got a ton of likes. Oh, and the view! Who knew that the Earth has phases, just like the moon. And the sky is so dark, all the time. It's like permanent night. But it's day. I think. Oh it's too confusing. I'm going to go eat food out of the air then do some gymnastics. I can't wait for tomorrow! I'll never get tired of this! Never ever ever!

((Note: Yes, it is supposed to sound stupid and fun. I'm not actually that ditzy.))

Don't Worry

Time for another poem! This isn't from the book, just something I came up with last night. It's still in the first draft stage, so there are a couple stanzas not finished, and I feel like there is a lot more I want to add.

Don’t worry about me.

Don’t try to see my future,

or tell me what will happen.

Don’t tell me I chose wrong.

And most certainly don’t give me that look.

The one you always try to hide,

but shows all your doubt.

Because I have it all under control.

I don’t know what will happen.

All I can do is hope

that my plans work in my favour.

And if I get lost

I will shift my direction

and keep going.

I can open a bookstore café

in a sleepy old town.

I will greet each customer by name

and spend more time talking

than it takes to drink a coffee.

I can start a magazine

for the average person.

No hidden meanings or convoluted messages.

No high standards or special degrees.

No philosophy or phycology.

Just stories on happy for enjoyment.

I can be a teacher

to pass on my knowledge of words.

You may see it as a failure, a last resort

but five succeeding students are better

than one successful me.

I can be an editor

to just read what I love

and help others to love what I read.

I can be a critic,

if I just steel my heart

and stop loving these words too much.

I can be so much more than you expect,

because I can read, and I can write.

So please, don’t worry that I chose wrong.

My path of life is not a path at all,

but a wide open prairie,

and the only obstacle

is the reach of my vision.

Future

Back to my book of things to write about!

"Write Facebook status updates for the year 2017"

(Note that I will be 24 years old in 2017)

"One more year for the Evergreen line to be finished, so they say."

"I just bought a new video game system. There goes my last couple hundred bucks."

"Is anyone hiring..."

"I should be finished with school any year now... Maybe."

"Five years at Starbucks and I'm starting to like coffee."

"Maybe being a writer isn't for me..."

"My funny. I think I lost it."

"Guys! I got my N!"

"Just got my first cat for my collection. I shall name him Sir Hairball the Fifth of Meowington."

"Holy shit, someone just asked me out. What do I do?"

"Well, time to get writing. I feel all inspired and motivated and- Oh! A notification"

"I sold a book! I think I'll spend my royalty cheque on a chocolate bar."

Since Grade Nine Part 3

Onto the last part of the list! Once again, the * means I would read it again or read any sequels. I should also mention that several books on this list are from school, and a few have been left off because they were so bad I just couldn't finish reading them. *coughOnTheRoadcough*

101) Heather O'Neil- Lullabies for Little Criminals
102) David Farland- The Runelords
103) Robert Jordan/ Brandon Sanderson- Towers of Midnight *
104) Brandon Sanderson- The Alloy of Law *
105) C. S. Lewis- The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
106) J. K. Rowling- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
107) J. R. R. Tolkien- The Hobbit *
108) Ursula Le Guin- A Wizard of Earthsea
109) Brent Weeks- The Black Prism *
110) Agatha Christie- Evil Under the Sun
111) George R. R. Martin- Game of Thrones *
112) George R. R. Martin- Clash of Kings *
113) George R. R. Martin- Storm of Swords *
114) George R. R. Martin- A Feast For Crows *
115) Ralph Ellison- Invisible Man
116) Robert Jordan/ Brandon Sanderson- A Memory of Light *
117) Joan Didion- Play It As It Lays
118) Thomas Pynchon- The Crying of Lot 49
119) Tony Kushner- Angels in America
120) Don DeLillo- Falling Man
121) Brandon Sanderson- Elantris *
122) Brandon Sanderson- The Emperor's Soul *
123) David Farland- Brotherhood of the Wolf
124) Brandon Sanderson- The Way of Kings *
125) Brandon Sanderson- The Rithmatist *
126) Kristen Britain- Blackveil *
127) David Duncan- The Gilded Chain
128) Lynn Flewelling- Luck in the Shadows
129) Brent Weeks- The Blinding Knife *

Since Grade Nine: Part 2

Onto the next fifty! Once again, the * means it's something I would either suggest and liked enough that I would read it again.

51) John Flanagan- The Battle For Skandia
52) Colleen Gleeson- The Rest Falls Away
53) Ariana Franklin- City of Shadows *
54) A. A. Attanasio- The Wolf and the Crown
55) Paul Doherty- Queen of the Night
56) Ellen Kushner- Privilege of the Sword
57) Multiple Authors- Year's Best Fantasy
58) Robert Jordan- The Shadow Rising *
59) Cornelia Funke- Inkdeath *
60) Robert Jordan- The Fires of Heaven *
61) Brent Weeks- The Way of Shadows *
62) Kristen Britain- Green Rider *
63) Kristen Britain- First Rider's Call *
64) Ned Resikoff- Fool's Tavern
65) Robert Jordan- Lord of Chaos *
66) Mercedes Lackey- Exile's Honour
67) Gregory Maguire- Wicked *
68) Kristen Britain- The High King's Tomb *
69) Robert Jordan- A Crown of Swords *
70) Kazou (I can't remember the last name)- Never Let Me Go
71) Robert Jordan- A Path of Daggers *
72) Robert Jordan- Winter's Heart *
73) Joseph Conrad- Heart of Darkness
74) Ariana Franklin- Grave Goods *
75) Mary Shelly- Frankenstein
76) Paul Creswick- Robin Hood
77) Donna Gillespie- The Light Bearer *
78) Robert Jordan- Crossroads of Twilight *
79) Robert Jordan- Knife of Dreams *
80) Brent Weeks- Shadow's Edge *
81) Brent Weeks- Beyond the Shadows *
82) Margaret Atwood- The Handmaid's Tale
83) John Gardner- Grendel
84) Anne Rice- Interview With the Vampire
85) Sherrilyn Kenyon- Devil May Cry
86) Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson- The Gathering Storm *
87) Brian Cullen- Seekers of the Chalice
88) Donna Gillespie- Lady of the Light *
89) Jonathan Stroud- Amulet of Samarkand
90) Sarah Micklem- Firethorn
91) Brandon Sanderson- Mistborn *
92) F. Scott Fitzgerald- The Great Gatsby
93) Edith Wharton- Ethan Frome
94) Robin Hobb- Assassin's Apprentice *
95) Robin Hobb- Royal Assassin *
96) Robin Hobb- Assassin's Quest *
97) Brandon Sanderson- Well of Ascension *
98) Brandon Sanderson- Hero of Ages *
99) Jane Austen- Pride and Prejudice
100) Maggie Shane- Angel's Pain

Since Grade Nine

List time! I thought there might be a few book worms out there that might be interesting in see what exactly I've been reading. And yes, I mean exactly, because I've written down every single book I've read since grade nine. Not including books that I haven't finished... In fact, I'm probably missing several books that I forgot to write down. Since it's about 130 books long, I'm just going to do the first 50. It'll also give you in insight to how my taste in books have changed over the years. And in case anyone is interested in any of the books, I'm going to * the ones that I would re-read, and therefore suggest you read.

1) J.K Rowling- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2) Erin Hunter- The Sight
3) John Flanagan- The Burning Bridge
4) John Flanagan- The Icebound Land
5) Erik L'Homme- Face of the Shadow
6) Mickey Zucker Reichert- Beast of Barakai *
7) Mickey Zucker Reichert- Dragons of Barakai *
8) Jane Yolen/Robert Harris- Odysseus in the Serpent Maze
9) Tamora Pierce- Wild Magic
10) Jo Walton- The King's Name *
11) Jo Walton- The King's Name *
12) Sherrilyn Kenyon- The Dream Hunter
13) Erin Hunter- Firestar's Quest
14) Edith Pattou- Fire Arrow
15) Tamora Pierce- Wolf Speaker
16) Donita K. Paul- Dragonspell
17) Robert Jordan- New Spring *
18) Tamora Pierce- Emperor Mage
19) Tamora Pierce- Realm of the Gods
20) Erin Hunter- Dark River
21) Philip Pullman- The Golden Compass
22) Amelia Atwater Rhodes- Wyvernhail
23) Tamora Pierce- First Test
24) Robert Jordan- From the Two Rivers *
25) Tamora Pierce- Page
26) Tamora Pierce- Squire
27) Stepheni Meyer- Twilight
28) Tamora Pierce- Lady Knight
29) George Orwell- Animal Farm
30) Tamora Pierce- The First Adventure
31) Tamora Pierce- In the hands of the Goddess
32) Tamora Pierce- The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
33) Tamora Pierce- Lioness Rampant
34) Robert Jordan- The Eye of the World *
35) Stepheni Meyer- New Moon
36) Mickey Zucker Reichert- Flightless Falcon *
37) Sherwood Smith- Crown Duel *
38) Robert Jordan- The Great Hunt *
39) Mickey Zucker Reichert- Legend of Nightfall
40) Stephani Meyer- Eclipse
41) Greg Keyes- The Briar King *
42) Alex Archer- The Spider Stone
43) Greg Keyes- The Charnel Prince *
44) Robert Jordan- The Dragon Reborn *
45) Greg Keyes- The Blood Knight *
46) Ariana Franklin- Mistress of the Art of Death *
47) Ariana franklin- The Serpent's Tail *
48) Stepheni Meyer- Breaking Dawn
49) Gael Baudino- Dragonsword
50) Greg Keyes- The Born Queen *

By this point I think I was just starting grade ten, so it's been about a years worth of books there. Not bad, I think that's nearly a book a week. Then again, most of those books only ranged between 300 and 400 words... Anyway, the next parts of the list will come later.

I Told You So

I told you my Thursday post might be delayed, though to be honest it wasn't really from doing homework. I did work on my essay, but mostly I just played Zelda, watched Netflix and ate food. It was actually my sister's last day at home before she went back to school, and the day my parents came home from vacation, so later in the day I didn't get much done. I do have the whole weekend off though, so I'll get my butt in gear and actually finish this essay. I'm not even completely sure that it's due this Monday.

Anyway, I'm going to go continue to watch Doctor Who and procrastinate some more.

Couch Potato

Sorry for the late post. I honestly have no excuse, just for the fact that I've been either watching Netflix or playing Zelda all day... Since 8am... I made the mistake of bringing the Wii U downstairs to the main TV, so even if I leave the TV to do something productive, my sister gets a hold of it and draws me back by putting a good show on. I'm a terrible person. But don't worry, I work tomorrow until Friday, so I'll get off my but those days. Until Thursday, I really have nothing to post. I also have an essay that I have to finish, so my Thursday post might be a little delayed too.

You Heartless Bastard

Sorry for missing yesterday's post; I didn't have much time between getting home from work and going to bed so that I had enough sleep to wake up at five this morning. Since I'm tired and getting sick, I'm going to use another Writing prompt.

A House plant is dying. Tell it why it needs to live

I know I've only had you for a week, and that I may not have given you as much attention as you deserve, but that is no reason to start dying on me. It's not my fault I have to work. All you do is sit at home staring out the window. No wonder you're withering away. Get off your lazy ass and do the dishes or something. Okay, okay, I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I just don't want to lose you. You're all I have. You don't even seem to notice when I'm gone. Do you even care about my feelings, you heartless bastard? How can you let yourself die? What would I do without you? Please, just think about me, because I think I might really like you.


I think that was the most dramatic thing I've ever written...

Doctor Who review *SPOILERS*

I finally succumbed to this show. I remember seeing an ad for it a long time ago on TV, and thinking that it looked interesting. Even back then, however, I was never able to start watching a series halfway through, and there was no Netflix. Now that I have Netflix, I gave it a shot.

Now I should warn all major Doctor Who fans out there that I'm still trying to piece things together. I didn't start with the very beginning, as I hate old TV shows, and I suspect that it would take me forever. I started with what I believe is the revival of the show after a long break, and I have only finish the first season. Netflix says it's the ninth doctor. So don't start mentioning any earlier doctors and getting angry at me for not having a clue who they are. As it is, I'll probably just call each doctor by some significant feature. Such as the ninth one I am deeming the bald one.

But onto the actual review. Like I said earlier, I hate old shows, especially sci-fi. This is because the special effects are terrible and often comical. Doctor Who is no exception, though it was better than expected. Then again, the one I've watched so far was made in 2005. It's hard to believe that was eight years ago now. I expect the graphics to get better over the years, so I'll stick it out.

As for the acting, I loved the Doctor. I love partly insane characters, they're always more fun. Some actors I think overacted sometimes, especially the temporary ones that only appeared in one or two shows. And I know it's stupid, but Rose wears too much make up. Honestly, in the last episode, you could see a line on her face where her tears wiped the make up off (at least that's what it looks like). She was cool, but I wouldn't mind someone new.

What I'm drawn to most is always the plot though. If you've read any of my other reviews, you know that I can totally bash the writing or acting of anything, and still love the book or show simply because of the plot. And Doctor Who certainly has a good plot. Every show is interesting, with just enough comic relief to keep it from being too serious. And my god, the one with the gas masks I swore must have been a Halloween special. That was the creepiest thing ever. I hate all horror movies, and the fact that I was able to (mostly) watch that episode says a lot. I used to not be able to watch even a Simpsons Treehouse of Horror.

All in all, I'll definitely keep watching. I feel like I was missing a spot on my Nerd Card without having any knowledge of Doctor Who, and I plan on filling that spot.

Kwantlen Questions

I know it's Saturday and I said  was only going to post on Tuesday and Thursdays, but I've been looking at the courses I can take at Kwantlen, and I was hoping I might be able to lure in some students from there to answer a few questions. (I know you're out there, you've answered my questions before!)

First off, how is the commute from, say, Braid Station to the Surrey campus? Or even better, from the Douglas New West campus to the Surrey campus. (No matter the commute, it looks like I'm going to be taking courses in Surrey, as those are the only ones appearing on the list of classes. I might be doing the class search wrong though...)

I'm thinking of taking an online course. Any opinions or suggestions? Easier or harder? What about when we actually need to meet up, or if we need to meet up?

How are the professors? I've noticed there's only a small handful for all the classes, so I'm likely to have the same professor more than once.

I'm planning on taking fiction, poetry and creative non fiction, but how is screen writing? Easier or harder than fiction? Also, my real passion is speculative fiction, but I know that many programs shy away from it because it's not considered a serious genre. Is there anything like it that's taught, or even accepted, at Kwantlen?

Any other things to mention that I should know about? Hints or tricks for surviving?

Happy Halloween (a day late)

Okay, okay, I know it's not Halloween anymore. If anything, it's barely a memory now that the next big day (for corporations) is Christmas. But I had to wake up at 5:15 to get to work by 6:30, and as soon as I got home around 3:30 my dad and I were doing last minute decorating. You see? I wasn't on the Sims all day...

Anyway, it was a fairy uneventful Halloween. I was planning on standing outside to scare little kids, but it was cold and my costume wasn't really all that scary... Besides, I would rather leave it to inanimate objects to scare people. So I sat inside and either played the sims or played on my ipad. I did dress up though! No one recognized who I was, and at one point a little girl asked is I was a pirate... I have no idea why, I thought an elf would be closer. But then as the girl was walking away I heard her say to her friend "it smells gross in there", probably in response to the fact that we were burning pumpkin seeds (quick an impressive feat, I might add, considering how long they take to cook).

So that was my Halloween! I wish I had a picture of my pumpkin too, but I got lazy, and I'm still lazy, so I'll describe it rather than getting up to take a picture. It's a kind of light blue colour, but washed out to look kind of grey. We didn't think it would have any seeds inside, or at least not many (it's more like a squash or a gourd that a traditional pumpkin), so we didn't bother carving it. Not to mention I've been working or going to school nearly every day, so I haven't had time to help. A few hours before kids started to arrive, I just went into my dad's work shop, grabbed a hammer and some nails, and pounded them into the pumpkin. I must say, it looked pretty cool. I'm sad to say it was probably the scariest thing about our house. I mean, we have a blow up ghost in out front yard...

"The Worst Thanksgiving Dish You've Ever Had"

Onto the next thing to write about!

To be honest, I've never really had anything bad for Thanksgiving. I mean, I know I don't like stuffing, and I'm pretty picky when it comes to vegetables, but I know what I like and what I don't like, so I chose my dinner that way. As far as I can remember, I've never actually eaten anything terrible. Of course, it helps that quite often my birthday weekend lands on the same weekend as Thanksgiving, so I pretty much get to pick what we eat, or where we eat.

Well that wasn't very interesting, was it? How about a life update? We got a new desktop computer because our old one finally crashed permanently, or at least to the point that it was too much effort to fix it. Our new one has windows 8.1, and I've actually learned to use it fairly quickly. My mom still seems to hate it, and I'm pretty sure my dad is avoiding it. More time for me to play the Sims though. Which is running so fast that I forget that I don't need to give it ten minutes for my sim to sleep. I normally have to bring a book or my ipad down while playing because there will be long stretched of time where nothing happens because the game keeps pausing. Now I keep forgetting that my sim needs attention, and I've nearly killed her a few times because I haven't let her eat...

Let's Get This Started

I'm going to start working my way through the book that my friend gave me, titled "642 Things to Write About", starting from the very beginning. (If I don't keep an order, I'll never remember what ones I've done) Some will be poems, some will be prose. Don't expect a whole story, unless it's very short.

What Can Happen In A Second

An idea.

The blink of an eye or two

A frown turned into a smile,

or vice versa.

The flash of a lens

and the snap of a photo.

The choice between yes or no.

The inhaled breath after a long wait.

The thump of a heart,

an electrical shock.

A scream.

But it’s not the second that counts

but the before and the after.

An idea to take life or create it.

When the eyes open again,

or remain shut forever.

When the tear-stained face of a child lights up,

or the hopefully look of a parent is crushed.

When the photo is placed in an album

or in a record.

When the yes is a yes

and the no doesn’t matter.

When the wait is for a loved one

or simply one of desperation.

When the heart beats for the first time

or for the last.

When the shock saves a life

or takes it.

When the scream is of joy

Or cut off after a second.

Six Weeks Later...

So it's already been six weeks since I got back from Disneyland, and yesterday something really exciting came in the mail:

Yes, that is a fancy-shmancy dagger. I bought it in this small shop in Disneyland that sold these really elaborate replicas of famous swords,a nd even a few shields or other weapons. This one was only $20, plus another $13 or so for shipping, since I couldn't exactly bring it on the plain in my luggage. Don't worry though, it's so dull that it won't even cut paper. Believe me, I tried. It's just for decoration, and yet another thing to add my my collection of nerd stuff. It's also my third 'weapon'. I have a wooden dagger, a wooden sword, and plastic bow and arrow, and now a metal dagger.

Nerd Level +1

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I bought a ticket to see Symphony of the Goddess, which is a Legend of Zelda symphony. It was last night, and I'll say now, it was amazing. I've had Zelda songs stuck in my head all day. I even thought I heard the Song of Storms at one point during work.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos. My phone was dying and I didn't want to risk the power running out. Especially since we ended up getting out of there half an hour later than expected, making me miss the last bus that would go past my house, therefore making me call my mom to ask her to pick me up. I owe her big time. She even picked me up from work tonight too, and I would have completely understood if she made me bus.

But back to the symphony. Almost instantly after entering the building, we got a picture with a girl dressed up in an amazing Link costume, complete with a shield (if she has a sword, she didn't bring it. I don't think that's considered safe...) Then during intermission there were a group of three girls dressed up. It took us a while to figure out what they were. At first we thought Poes, but Poes are purple, and they were either red, green or blue. Vanessa finally figured out that they are Poes, but from the Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time. I with we had gotten a photo, but again, my phone was dying. (I'm currently searching Reddit for any photos...)

And that was pretty much it! It has really made me realize that I need more friends that are fans of Zelda... I'll just start forcing it onto my current friends.

Out of the Teens

So Sunday was my birthday, and as you might have figured our from the title, I have left my teenage years. That's right, I'm not twenty years old. I think I can see my first grey hair already. And since today was my friend's birthday, we combined our party on Saturday. 

It started out with laser tag, which didn't produce a big crowd, because we kind of forgot that it was Thanksgiving weekend, and a lot of people had other plans... Or were afraid of laser tag. There were five of us, and I'm blaming my poor score on the gun I had. I literally had it pointed directly at my friend's chest for at least ten straight seconds. I could actually see the laser right in the middle of the target, and I apparently didn't hit her. Of course, the moment she realized I was shooting at her, she shot at me and instantly got the point. 

I'm not a poor sport at all.

Then after laser tag we all went to Red Robins, where we met up with several more people. It was a lot of fun. So much fun that I actually forgot to order myself an alcoholic drink. 

But now for the part I'm sure everyone is interesting in; Presents! (with pictures)

 A beautiful earring holder from Sianna, along with a pair of earrings that I forgot to get a picture of. (I'm sorry)

Earrings from Brittney

Candy from Brittney and Emma

An amazing book from Andria. I'll get to work on them as soon as possible. (If you can't read the title, it says 642 things to write about)

And adorable Link stuffy from Vanessa

A pair of super warm toe socks (almost too warm...)

A glass necklace from Vanessa. It goes very well with my glass snake necklace. (Not together, of course)

 

Some really nice duvet covers my parents got me, along with that black pillow and some place sheets that can't be seen in this photo.

Another book from Andria. I'm going to see if my parents want to try out some of these drinks the next time they have guests over.

A snack bracelet from my parents. And it actually fits my wrist! Mostly...

A really cute pig figurine from my parents. It's supposed to bring good luck.

A pair of peacock socks from my sister. Now I just need some slightly warmer weather so I can wear shorts and show them off.

I'm sure I'm forgotten something, so just mention it in the comments if you're one of my friends and I forgot to mention a present you got me. And thanks again to everyone! I love everything I got.

3000!

I meant to say something about this on Tuesday, but I forgot. So, happy 3,000 page views! I got a huge mass of them after Tuesday's post, so I guess my review on Once Upon a Time was more popular than I thought... despite my stats page saying there were only seven views. But on the eights, I managed to get a total of 129 page views, which is a new record. Yay!

Anyway, let's talk Halloween. I love to dress up, and I'm lucky enough every year that I get to work at the Museum on the Sunday before Halloween, in which case I get to dress up. I was thinking of just going as Link again, but I'm kind of bored of that. So now I'm thinking Waldo. Or, in my case as a girl, Walda. I would probably go back to using my old glasses, which are rounder. I just need to find a red and white striped sweater and a red and white striped toque... This might be a little more difficult than it sounds. Luckily a Halloween store just opened up near my house, and I'm hoping they'll have something.

So just a quick post today. Now I'm going to go watch Big Bang Theory.

Once Upon a Time Review

Over the past few days I've started watching Once Upon a Time. It's far past the time that I started watching it. In fact, the moment it came out, I wanted to start watching it, but I'm terrible at keeping up with TV shows on the actual TV. So I've been watching it on Netflix, where I can easily watch mass amounts in one sitting. (Yes, I am that lazy)

First off, I think I love this show. I now understand why so many people talk about it (especially girls). What I love most is the fairy tale element, obviously. It's the parts that go into the actual book though, in the fairy tale world that I love the most. Sure, I love seeing the modern representation of the characters, but I've always found reality and the modern world fairly boring. It's mostly why I don't watch much TV unless it's a comedy. Even dramas are boring, because they're all the same. This show may be a drama, but it's definitely unique.

It is a little slow, however. In the modern world, I just want to scream at the characters for not believing in the kid. It's so obvious to a watcher that it's almost painful. But of course, it is a TV show, and they have to stretch everything out as long as possible.

I'm very impressed with how well they can weave different fairy tales together though. How Snow White might appear in Cinderella's tale, and Belle appears with the dwarves, or Red Riding Hood appears with Snow White (Okay, Snow White is pretty much everywhere...) It's masterfully done, and gives much more depth to the old fairy tales. It really makes it seem like there is a world where all the fairy tales live, or at least a book that contains this world.

I'm still in the first season (Nearly done!) and I'm very excited to continue with this series.

New Posting Schedule.

I'm starting to feel like if I post an ipdate to my life every couple days, everyone's just going to get sick of me talking about Starbucks... So, I think for the mean time I'm going to start posting only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That way I don't have to squeeze as much creativity and new information out of myself as often.

And now onto the updates! I have an essay coming up in several weeks in my Canadian Native Cultures class (I finally memorized the name of the class... after four weeks). This means I might start talking a lot about First Nations, especially about the topic I've chosen; First Nations portrayed in the Media. I'm having trouble finding certain infomration on something called Relations, which was a kind of pamphlet sent back to England (Or maybe France) that summarized the progress made in converting the First Nations. I'm trying to get a hold of one of my old professors who had us read an essay that had quite a bit of useful information, but she's not getting back to me.

On a more interesting note (in my opinion), Girl Guide cookies are back! We had a little girl come by yesterday, and my whole family was scrambling to find enough money to buy two boxes. I remember when I used to sell them, and they were only three dollars. But I guess five dollars each is pretty good for the amazing minty taste. Now I'm drooling. Maybe I should go eat dinner...

I'm Saying it Again...

I'm sorry for missing the Monday update. I sat here for hours trying to think of something to write about, and came up with nothing interesting. As it is, I still haven't come up with much.

But I have the day off work, so that's exciting! There was a little complication with the schedule, and for a while this morning I wasn't sure if I was going to be called in. It appears my co-worker showed up to work after all, so I have a whole day to do chores and catch up on things I've left hanging.

I've said this before, but I'm saying it again. I'm going to start entering my work into literary magazines. I sent in a short story to a speculative fiction magazine, and I should be hearing back within a few weeks. The problem with literary magazines is that there are very few that have to do with speculative fiction, and that's where I'ms strongest. I write poetry, but from what I've seen, it's nothing compared to what gets into magazines and books. It seems you have to make absolutely no sense to the average person to be considered a good poet. Unfortunately, I either write cliché poems (about the female image, fear, writing, ect.) or I write comedy poems, neither of which appear to be popular in magazines.

But I'm going to join this writing group. It's only $20 a year, and I'm hoping it'll give me some help when it comes to publishing, or submitting stories. Maybe even with my procrastination. So hey! Look for my name in some magazines coming soon, maybe I'll get published.

I Feel Sophisticated

Last night I bought a ticket to go see a symphony. Not just any symphony, but the Symphony of the Goddess. It's Legend of Zelda themed, so I suppose it's really not that sophisticated. But hey, I'm going to go see a symphony, so I feel mature. So that's happening not long after my birthday. 

And luckily I'll be working a lot to cover the price of the ticket. Actually, I can work one shift and pay it off, but I also have the Wii U and my new glasses to pay off too... But everyone is getting a lot more hours at work because we're training three new people. Unfortunately, they're all high school students, so that means they're only available nights and weekends, making it very hard to find enough time for them to work when we have people available that can train them. In other words, there are three of us that are experienced enough to train people, so we'll be working out butts off in the next couple weeks. But hey, money!

Other than that, nothing much to report on today. Tomorrow is my last shift before I get a couple days off, so I'm excited. Maybe by Monday I'll have more energy to be creative.

Sexy Nerd Look?

Today I only worked a four hour shift, so I actually had time to go out and do things. And by that, I mean I went out with my parents, because my social life has been reduced to that...

On Monday my new pair of glasses arrived in the mail though. I ordered them through Clearly Contacts, so I was never able to try them on. They're a little bigger than  had originally thought, but I still like them. I look like a true nerd now. And I can see better, so that's always a plus. I guess the real test will be in class on Monday.

And something must be different, because I had two guys talking to me today... which really says something about my social skills if I get excited over that... Heck, I get excited when anyone strikes up a conversation with me... Unless it's some old man at a bus stop, which sadly is what happens more often than not.

Anyway, apparently this first guy is also a creative writing major at my school, but we have never had a single class together. I didn't even know my school, or even my major, was that large. He also works at Chapters, so I'm jealous. I've wanted a job there for ages.

Oh my, I sound like a stalker...

The second guy was probably trying to up-sell a game at EB Games, but hey! Social interaction! You guys should be proud of me. I think a round of applause is in order.

Oh, and completely off topic, but possibly a note of interesting, I'm going to be going back and adding pictures to all of my reviews. I kept meaning to add them when I wrote them, but I always forgot. Since I know some people still judge books by their covers (I do too, I admit...) then seeing the covers may interest people.

Luck in The Shadows Review

I finished this book on Saturday night, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. Luck in The Shadows is the first book in the Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling, and was written in 1996 (three years younger than I am!) I admit, with books written over fifteen years ago, I get a little tentative. You can see changes in writing styles sometimes, such as in the last book I read (The Gilded Chain). I believe books these days are less likely to sugar coat details such as sex, nor do they spare the reader the heart-rending deaths of characters *coughGeorgeMartincough*. Now this is just based on books I have read, comparing older to newer. But onto the review!

I think what I loved most were the characters. The main character, Alec, is an adorable young man that you can't help but think of as a twelve year old (probably not the aim of the author though...) He borders on being a perfect character because of his quick learning skills, but Flewelling made him perfectly flawed. You see, he's being trained to be a spy, but he's scared of heights, revolted by corpses, hesitant to kill anyone and not all that great with a sword.

The other main character, Seregil, is much closer to being a perfect character. He is basically Alec, but fully trained and without the faults. The only thing that makes this acceptable is that he is thrust into situations that he cannot control, reminding the reader that although he may be damned near perfect, he is not a god. I should add that he's also some of the comic relief.

Now of course the story itself has faults. The biggest one that annoyed me was the beginning. It kind of reminded me of some spy movie, like James Bond (which I'e never seen, so I could be completely wrong). It was tacky, and used pretty much to set up the relationship between Alec and Seregil. *MINOR SPOILERS*The beginning starts out with Alec in a jail cell. This is actually the darkest part of the whole novel, and sets up a false tone for the rest of the book. It's clearly stated that Alec has been tortured many times, and that he is likely to be sold into slavery. Now I've never been imprisoned or tortured, but I'm fairly certain this would scar someone for life, both mentally and emotionally. However, the only time the prison is ever mentioned after the first couple chapters is when Alec is remembering how he escaped, not the experiences during his imprisonment.

Other than that, the plot is enthralling, the character are (mostly) believable, and I would definitely like to read the rest of the series if I can get my hands on it.

And here are some additional cover arts, which I just found to be beautiful.

Money Money Money

I have something to confess. Last night, after seeing the Wii U Legend of Zelda Deluxe Bundle, I couldn't help but spend $300 on it. It looks amazing, and there are so many more games I can play on the Wii U that I can't play on my Wii Mini. But I can play all old Wii games on the Wii U, making the Wii Mini kind of redundant. I'm not sure if I want to sell it or not. I bought it for about $150 (If I remember correctly), so I could probably sell it for about $75, if not more.

In addition, I bought myself a new pair of glasses. They came to about $130, so about half the price that I would normally pay. They're from Clearly Contacts, so I used the First Pair Free coupon, and got a pair of $70 frames for free. They're similar to my current ones, but a little bigger, and of course the prescription will be newer.

All in all, I set my school fund back about $430. At least the shipping was free for both my purchases! I'm also waiting for something I bought in Disneyland, but I'm going to keep that as a surprise. I expect it to arrive in a week or two, so I'll post a picture of it when it arrives.

25 More Days!

I'm still really tired from work. No matter how many times I do it, and no matter what time I got to bed, I'll never get used to waking up at five in the morning for an opening shift. But hey, money! I also think I might have gotten a pay raise for some reason. My last pay cheque I was paid fifty cents more per hour.

On another note, my birthday is coming up in just under a month! I'll be turning twenty, and now that it's coming closer, it kind of feels surreal. All my friends were talking about how they didn't feel like they should be turning twenty, and I'm only just beginning to get that feeling too. I know it's still fairly young, but it still makes me feel old. But to counteract that old feeling, my friend and I are combining our birthdays (I'm on the 13th, she's on the 15th) and going out to laser tag, then dinner. It'll be a lot of fun, maybe I'll even take some pictures (because you know how good I am at that.)

And I think I'll need to put some money into getting my laptop cleaned soon. The down button has been broken for months now, and the backspace button is getting sticky, making it a little hard to type, as my sentences may now be full of spelling errors (thank god for Chome's spell check) It'll also be nice to get the internal computer cleaned and hopefully make it run faster.

Anyway, just a quick update. By Friday I might be more awake and willing to come up with something fun.

Fall 2013

As most people know, school started a couple weeks ago. I'm only taking one class so I can get my associates, and that class happens to fall on a Monday. That means that my first class was cancelled because of Labour Day, and I didn't have my next one until the next week. I'm loving it so far. The one class a week part, that is.

The actually class is a little slow. I'm taking a class on the First Nations of Canada. I took a first nations class in high school, so I figured it would be fairly easy. Then again, the class in high school required a lot of drawing, diagram making and other creative aspects. So far it looks like this class will be a lot of note taking, movie watching and essay writing. So a typical college class... I miss high school.

But on another note, I'm really tired. I have to open at work tomorrow and Wednesday, so I woke up early today (okay, I woke up at 8 and hit the snooze button...) Either way, I'm really tired and my brain probably won't be functioning for the next few days. Maybe I'll come up with something interesting to write by Wednesday.

Happy List Part 2

I did one of these lists a while ago as part of a small writing exercise, and I'm going to make another one. Because if you think about what makes you happy, then you will be happy, right?

-Being told you're doing a good job while by yourself during a busy time at work
-Any sort of cold beverage when you're really thirsty
-That moment when your nose unclogs during a bad cold (especially after a sneeze)
-Getting into a hot shower when you wake up sick
-Walking into an air conditioned building when it's hot outside
-That sudden drop on a roller coaster when you become air born and the only thing keeping you in the seat is a small seat belt
-Playing a new video game for the first time (and not being terrible at it)
-When you walk into a book store and just feel like you belong (or any store that strikes your fancy)
-When that book (or movie/CD) that you've been waiting ages for finally comes out
-Finding something that suits you perfectly and instantly falling in love with it
-Finding out that that thing you fell in love with is reasonably priced.
-Seeing your name published in a book
-That feeling of excitement before a big trip, when you can't sleep despite having to wake up early the next morning
-When you're left home by yourself for more than two days, and realizing you're more responsible than you originally thought.
-When your parents come home after a week of vacation and you don't have to be so responsible any more (and the dog stops howling and whining at two in the morning)
-When you get a day off work, and more than one friend also happens to have that same day off
-Finding someone who shares to same love of an author/book series/movie
-When you favourite author gets and award for a book, and for some reason you feel honoured just because you've read that same book

Vacation Part 3

After three days in Disneyland, we spent a day shopping, then a day at Knotts Berry Farm. Unfortunately, we didn't take many pictures, so you're going to have to read my rambling instead of looking at it.

I'm a pretty frugal person (except when I see I got a huge pay cheque and get a little too excited), so I really didn't spend much other than on food and drinks. For our shopping day, I bought a really nice red blazer that has a kind of ruffle at the bottom, five pairs of underwear, two of which didn't fit (can't try underwear on), a new Sims 3 game (It has dragons!), a loose red tube top (it actually fits without falling down!) an inexpensive plain black sweater, two pairs of shoes (black pair of sneakers for comfort and a light brown pair of slips ons), and a box of taffy. Note that pretty much everything I bought was under twenty dollars... So yeah, a lot of my money went toward food and drinks.

By the time we went to Knotts Berry farm, I was beginning to feel a little sick. My throat was sore and my head hurt, but I ignored it for the first few hours. The roller coasters there are amazing! Unfortunately, they're the roughest rides I've ever been on. The wooden roller coaster would have been a lot of fun, but I felt like I got whip lash. It was easily the bumpiest ride I've ever been on. There was one coaster that was closed down the majority of the time we were there. Vanessa and I managed to get on it right after it opened, and about five minutes after we got off, it closed down again. Close to the end of the day my knee pretty much gave out, and I was feeling grumpy. My toe on my left food really hurt and my knee on my right leg wasn't bending anymore, so I probably looked like a penguin waddling along to try and keep the pain to a minimum. At least I got a nice souvenir cup that I refilled for free about five times. The final time I just had ice cold water in it to keep on my knee...

When we got home, I took my shoes and socks off to find a massive blister on my big toe, right between it and the next toe. It made for some awkward walking when I tried not to pop it. And since I've barely had a day off of work or school since I got back, my knee is still sore. I really need to rest it up for a few days, but we're really short on staff at work. At school on Monday, it nearly gave out twice while walking.

And of course, my cold got worse. By the time we left California, I could barely talk, and my voice was even worse at work the next day. I still have an annoying cough, which is causing my throat to hurt again, and my nose is only just starting to clear up. Some morning I wake up with a head ache, but it normally goes away after breakfast or a shower.

So there we are, my vacation summer up pretty well. Maybe for Friday I'll try to post some pictures of what I got, I'm just too lazy right now.

Vacation Part 2

Before I forget, today is my first day back at school. I'm only taking one class, so I'm working most of the time. I'll post on Wednesday with a quick update on how my class is.

But back to my vacation! I rarely post pictures on my blog, so I think I'll overload this post with pictures. I'm also feeling a little lazy, and I'm still sick with a cold.

As we were leaving Disneyland to go home for lunch, we ran into Cinderella near the park entrance. The line was a little long, and we were pretty much the only people over five that wanted a picture with her. This was before we actually posed. I had said something funny, and the person taking the picture managed to capture this moment. I think it looks amazing.

Merida! She's my favourite Disney princess, so I was really happy that she was there.

Aladdin and Jasmine were the first characters that we got a picture with (sorry, these aren't in order...) When I was standing next to them, Aladdin made a comment about my Deku Tree shirt. Aladdin plays Zelda!

Unfortunately Sianna got cut off in this picture, but it made me laugh, so I had to include it. 

I was very tempted to buy this hat, but it was fifteen dollars, and I had no where to wear it other than Disneyland, so it would have been a waste of money.

Buying a plastic Merida bow and arrows wasn't a waste though! This thing kept me entertained for a long time. The window at the hotel looks like it was attacked by an octopus or something, because of all the suction cup marks. For the record, I know this is not how you're supposed to stand when shooting an arrow. My right arm is too high, my left arm needs to be fully extended and I'm not putting equal weight on each foot. but I'm standing straight!

There you are, a simple picture post for today. There was more, I might add in a few details later.