Is this it?

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

2007-09-03T20:53:00.000-06:00

Ah, Labour Day! The unofficial end of summer.

I used to approach the end of the summer/the beginning of the school year with such an optimistic attitude. This, unlike January 1, was my New Year's. I could make my new academic goals, get settled into a new schedule, make other, various resolutions (which, like most, usually went unfulfilled). But things are different this year. Uncomfortably different. Yes, I am returning to school, but I'm not exactly working towards anything. My first sixteen academic years had a natural following act. My last one did not. Now everything seems forced, wrong, unnatural. Again, part of this "growing up" thing.

I suppose this uneasy feeling I have about this autumn is really exacerbated by the fact that my summer hasn't got much to show for itself. Yes, I wrote the MCAT, but studying for it occupied more than half of my summer. Yes, I vacationed for about a week and a half, but it wasn't like I was vacationing from anything. I didn't get a job as soon as I got back, and frankly, I didn't really try that hard. I slept a lot. Tutored a little. That's about it.

[By the by, I got my MCAT score back. Not bad, not great. I smoked the written section, though... surprisingly.]

I didn't even complete half of my summer reading list! My over-ambition is to blame on that one, though. I did finish the books I really wanted to, those of course comprising the Harry Potter series. I re-read it annually, and I intend to continue the tradition even now that the series is complete. I ended the summer by reading The Passions of the Mind by Irving Stone. I'm about 75% into it, now, and its completion is my first task in the Fall Reading Challenge.

The last few lazy days of my summer have been spent watching a lot of sports. FUN FUN!!! Of course, the EPL started up a few weeks ago, which means that I can, once again, cheer for my Spurs!!! They have got off to a disappointing start, and just this past Saturday they settled for a disappointing draw against Fulham. Liverpool, who has squeaked into my Numer Two Favourite spot, has been on a bit of a roll, and that's without my dearest Gerrard. Torres is looking good-ish for them. Chelsea, whom I enjoy watching but don't exactly like, have been unstoppable for a while, thereby making their loss to Aston Villa on Sunday quite unreal. The CFL is also getting to the meaty portion of its season. Of course, all the Labour Day Classics were played this weekend. My hometown Esks got off to a good start today, but lost to the hated Stamps. The main focus of my sports-watching has been the US Open. My love for tennis is rather inexplicable. I don't every really remember getting into it. I just know that I used to hate watching it when I was younger because I had no idea how the scoring worked, or even how the lines on the court worked. Right now the men are into the fourth round, and I am currently watching my Dearest Roger Federer battle Feliciano Lopez. Federer.... drool..... what a man....

I suppose I have a full autumn schedule to look forward to, though. On top of my three classes (and one lab), I'll be working at one of the University's libraries five days a week. I also plan to take on as many tutoring jobs as possible. I am also volunteering with a course, setting up microscope slides for its lab each week, and there is the possibility that I might be able to help out with another course, too. I will be playing indoor soccer (finally! I love it more than outdoor), and I have signed up for an indoor cycling class to take place every Saturday until December. I plan on playing some soccer intramurals for the month of September as well.

Plus, MORE SPORTS ON TV!!! The NFL regular season starts next Sunday... the NHL season kicks off in about a month's time.... more EPL... more CFL... it's going to be grand.

I don't really know how to end this post with some clever or sage thought. So I won't.

Growing Pains

2007-08-08T23:11:00.000-06:00

Ever since I wrote the MCAT my life has been tragically devoid of purpose. Yes, my vacation time in Ottawa was fun. Yes, I'm glad that I don't have to solitarily spend silent hours in the library. However, I feel unnecessarily and guiltily lazy. I feel I am at one of those metaphorical crossroads. I have to sort out my life, make a plan, and follow through with it. I think about it all a lot, I just don't do anything about it.

For example, I have yet to decide if I will apply to med schools this year for entrance in September 2008. That was the initial plan. Then, I thought about it some more, and doubted whether my current applicant profile would offer me a standing chance. I have a fairly amateur resumé. I have no research experience. I have very little formidable volunteer experience. I've got a good GPA, and what I think might be a strong MCAT score, but they clearly won't suffice. I don't think I'd even be able to wrangle up two appropriate references. This led me to the conclusion that I should wait until next year to apply and in the meantime accumulate some work experience, volunteer experience, and hopefully attain some good references along the way. However, I then talked to a fellow med school aspirant who advised me to apply anyway, just to experience it, and who knows, maybe I'll get an interview somewhere.

I am also on the hunt for a job. Living in Alberta, you'd think that would be like shooting fish in a barrel, pardon the cliché. But I don't want just any ol' job. I want a job that'll count. Something relevant to the medical field, something that will call upon the knowledge gained from my degree. A tougher find, she be! Ideally this job would be part time as I will be in classes come September. It would also pay moderately well as my funds are currently performing a disappearing act. I do not want to have to resort to the food service industry or retail.

I have been formulating in my mind what would ideally happen in the next year or so. Say I apply for med school this year. I am in classes until January. During these classes, I would work part time, start saving up, get some volunteering in. Come January, I can continue working, most likely full time as I currently do not foresee myself being enrolled in classes. Best case scenario, I get an interview at a med school, possibly more. That will occur some time in February, March, or early April. Say that by May I have accumulated enough funds to go on some valuable, overseas volunteer mission (I've been looking at this two-month hospital stint in Ghana). I return with the awesome news that I have miraculously been accepted to a med school!!! September will roll around and I will have a fresh, self-planned, (4 + x) amount of academic years ahead of me.

It seems possible.... maybe. I can just sense it won't happen. There is currently some debate within my household whether, or more appropriately, when Ma and Pa are packing up and moving to the BC interior, of course taking with them my twelve year old sister. I am thoroughly opposed to moving away from Edmonton. I know it's not the greatest city, but I like it. It's the city in which I was born, the city in which I have lived the longest without a move. My life is here. My future is here, I know it. What would happen if they decided to move? Would I stay? How? Where? Would my nineteen year old sister stay as well?

That just opens up a whole lot of terrible, TERRIBLE questions and fears and problems and whatnot. I am as dependent as they come; I doubt that I would be able to support myself. I don't drive. I currently don't have an income. I still need my mom to kill spiders for me (though I assure you I have a genuine phobia). On the other hand, is that what I need? A swift and drastic rearrangement of my life? I don't know.

What I do know is that I need to grow up.

Pack A Lunch

2007-07-29T23:07:00.001-06:00

That's some new slang that I picked up in Ottawa, and have decided to spread westward. You can use it in place of such expressions as "F**k off," "Get off it," and the like. For example:

Enemy: Krista, you're a dummie.
Krista: Pack a lunch, lunch packer.

I sometimes forget that I have this ol' blog.

Nevertheless, here is a little update. The MCAT was okay... we'll see when I get my marks delivered in a couple weeks time. Ottawa was fun. Lots of family fun time and general merry-making. Harry Potter has changed my life, once again, that sly dog. Aaaaaand, I pretty much have my whole life to set in order now that the MCAT ordeal is over. YAY DECISIONS!!!

The Hour Approaches

2007-07-05T08:40:00.000-06:00

In a mere eight days I will write the MCAT.
I'm not quite ready yet.

A Lesson in Self-Loathing

2007-06-17T22:50:00.000-06:00

I don't like my life right now. My reasons are these:

I can't make myself study as hard as necessary, which is hard.
Hormones. Ugh. Hormones.
I have not yet come to the realization that I am young and have time to figure out my life. In fact, recently having turned twenty-one, I feel old and unaccomplished.
I've resigned myself to the fact that there is nothing in this world that I love enough to fashion into a career. Yet.
The weather is ugly.
My ankle has suffered a phantom injury.
I've officially received my science degree, but I have not experienced the elation and excitement and pride and joy and opportunity to the extent I thought I would.
I am extremely jealous of all those travelling this summer.
I will likely end up a spinster.

A Lesson in Self-Sabotage

2007-05-27T22:19:00.000-06:00

Having set out to study for the MCAT, I have come to realize how truly remarkable it is that I have made it this far in my academic career, especially with such success. Seriously, I am the most lazy person I know.

The MCAT is a pretty important exam, apparently. It'll hopefully be my ticket to medical school, ideally any one of my choosing. You'd think that this FACT would be all the motivation I'd need to study. As it turns out, it's not. Not yet, at least. I am finding it impossible to get in more than six hours a day of hardcore studying. I am more easily distracted than I can remember, and I am failing to retain any substantial amount of information. It has been too long since school ended for me to try to convince myself that I'm still coming down from a high-stress semester. And yet... and yet...

I even have these huge fears that my inadequate preparation for the MCAT will have its repercussions resonate throughout the remainder of my life. Say I score embarassingly low on the MCAT. It's so low that I can't even apply to med schools with the faintest glimmer of hope. Sure, I could fork over more money and write it again, hopefully as soon as possible, but let's say my shattered confidence sends me into some downward spiral. That'll leave me with a summer spent studying for nothing, unemployed, money-less. I'll go back to school in September, not working towards another degree, hopefully employed. I can't even apply to med schools for another year. I wouldn't even get in for at least another two years. I might as well have gone for my Masters. Or PhD, even. Or found a permanent job. But no, now I'll just be hopeless, likely accruing debt, not knowing where my life is headed.

Sure, I'm young. I've got time, so "they" say. But really, do I? Shouldn't I use my youth to my advantage? Get a leg up? Stay ahead of the curve? I think I should. Or do I? I don't even know anymore. And that scares me.

Best case scenario: I get my act together, study amazingly hard for the next seven weeks, score ridiculously well on the MCAT, apply to med schools come the fall, and get accepted (somewhere) for entrance in the fall of 2008. It seems too good to be possible, at the moment.

I fear my chances of acceptance are also hindered by the fact that I have little to no volunteer experience to speak of. I hadn't decided on trying for med until about three months ago. Up until that point, I thought I was going to stay in school forever, get a Masters and PhD. So, unlike other med school applicants, I haven't been volunteering at hospitals and other various establishments to pad my application with "good-heartedness." Thus, I'm banking on my high marks both in school and on the MCAT to get me in. This is probably too wishful.

Again, you'd think all this would be motivation enough. But it's not. So what am I to do? I have seven weeks left, seven weeks that are likely more busy life-wise than the past three. Wedding, my birthday, convocation, concerts, soccer, frisbee, preparations for my trip to Ottawa.... it's daunting, to say the least. I need a kick in the pants, probably literally.

And all this hardcoreness that needs to occur will seriously hurt, possibly obliterate, my chances of finishing my summer reading list. I've completed ten percent of my list in approximately twenty-five percent of my summer. Pathetic.

Books Completed:
On Natural Selection - Charles Darwin
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J.K. Rowling (re-read, probably for the twelfth time)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling (re-read, also probably for the twelfth time)

Books to be Completed:
the remainder of the Harry Potter books (5) (all re-reads ranging from three to ten times, except the seventh, of course)
a famous "trilogy in five parts" - Douglas Adams (5) (all re-reads, for the second time)
A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket (13, but probably equates the two and a half, three books tops) *Don't judge me. I just want to see what it's all about.
Passions of the Mind - Irving Stone
The Alchemist - Paulo Coehlo
Life of Pi - Yann Martel (a re-read, for the fourth time)
1984 - George Orwell (a re-read, for the fourth time)
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Beatles Anthology (a partial re-read)

I like fiction. I can't seem to find a non-fiction subject that has really captured my interest to any great extent. I also like re-reading, apparently.

Anyway, I hardly need to point out that I shouldn't be blogging. It's only adding to my self-destructive plan, which is wholly unintentional yet highly inevitable.

2007-05-06T13:23:00.001-06:00

Oh boy! The last time I blogged was two and a half months ago! That was about the time I had to get really serious about school because it was on its way to kicking my ass big time. Accordingly, blogging slumped to the bottom of my list of priorities.

So, dear reader, I shall tell you a tale in the ancient and revered story-telling style of..... BULLETS!

Once I realized that school and I were going to have to confront our differences and just get on with it, I committed myself to spending seemingly endless hours in the library. Let me tell you, J.W. Scott and I were very close to announcing our engagement come semester's end. Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I spent close to twelve solid hours in the library, most of which were researching for and writing lab reports.
Lab reports are pretty much the worst thing ever. I would wish them upon only my sworn mortal enemies. You'd think that having to write at least one per week would make the task easier as the semester wore on, but it really didn't. In fact, it probably got harder because, while the research and writing skills improved, the expectations were higher. Plus, I am a slow writer. I like to write things out by hand, type it up once, let it sit for a day, print it off and edit, and revise, revise, revise. Over the course of the semester, I wrote seventeen lab reports for two lab courses - ten for one, and seven for the other. Ideally, each was supposed to be five pages at most, which would bring my page total for the semester to eighty-five. However, I will, with confidence, purport that my reports averaged seven pages in length each, bringing my page total to just under one hundred and twenty pages. This does not include procedural flow charts, appendices, and any raw data sheets. So, I'd say that my page total was nearing 130-140 pages. Ew.
My final exam schedule was weird this semester. I had two finals in the last week of classes in addition to having two lab reports due in the last week and a bit of classes. On the one hand, that really sucked because of the inherent stress of having to write finals, let alone two in three days, and having to bump the numerically less important lab reports to the proverbial back seat. On the other hand, having written two finals in the last week of classes, I only had three to write during the designated finals period, each nicely spaced out thus providing me with ample time to prepare for all of them. Or so I thought. One of them was probably one of the toughest finals I have ever written, for one of the toughest courses I have ever taken - IMIN 452: Advanced Immunology. This course totally rearranged the way I approached academics, really... the way I processed information, the way I wrote tests and answered questions, the value I put into the information presented in a text book, and the way in which I perceived experimental research. I guess it showed me that what I have learned and done in my undergrad career is really (truly) just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what a life in academia is about.
IMIN 452 also made me realize, or really confirmed, that immunology is likely not exactly for me, even though I thought it was for a couple of years. That is why I am, henceforth, going to pursue medicine!! And it all starts RIGHT NOW. I went through a lot of crap-ola to get a seat to write the MCAT, and it ended up that I am not even writing it in Edmonton - I'm writing it in an old city of residence, Ottawa! While it's unfortunate that I can't simply write in here, it's fortunate that I am writing it in Ottawa where I have family and all the sweet hookups that I need. I'm writing the test on July 13, and I plan to stay in Ottawa for about a week after to visit the fam. I think it's going to be fun. What's not going to be fun is the studying I will have to do, which is (I hope) starting tomorrow.
And speaking of the 13th of July.... HARRYPOTTEROMG!!!! I am so pumped... for both the movie and the book. Oh my. OH MY!!!!
And speaking of literature, I have an excessively ambitious summer reading list. It's close to thirty books, I think. Granted, some are very short, two or three of which could possibly be ticked off the list in one solid day of reading. The excess ambition stems from the fact that I will have to dedicate more than half of my summer to studying for the MCAT. But we'll see. I have already read one book and have started another since exams ended, but that's not really saying much considering how short the book was (On Natural Selection by Charles Darwin). It's not really a book actually, more of an extended essay.
Unrelatedly, being able to watch the NHL playoffs has made me a happy happy HAPPY person. Seriously. Last year it was incredibly torturous because the Oilers were doing so well in the playoffs whilst I was dealing with final exams, but since I essentially stopped caring about them after The Big Trade, and since they licked arse and didn't make the playoffs, I was less distracted during this year's finals period. But now that I have had the time to actually sit and watch some games, I can't believe what I was missing. It's beautiful, albeit unfortunate for the likes of the Canucks, but beautiful. Plus, all these overtime games - how exciting!
Back to school - I have graduated! With a Science degree! Which is essentially useless! That's why I'll be back in classes come September, I think... I hope.... I have to accrue some more physics credits, but that might not even happen until January....
Come to think of it, my life is pretty much in shambles at the moment. I have a few ideas of what I want to do with it, but I might be lacking on the resources end. I hate growing up.

Okay, I think that's enough of a story for now.... my train of thought is taking a few detours on account of me watching the Rangers-Sabres game as I write this.

If I were a hockey player.....

2007-02-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

In response to a tag from Mr. Bergman...

Team: Edmonton Oilers (DUH!!!)

Uniform Number: 38. I used to be quite attached to this number. I don't know why. It's not even my current soccer number, nor has it been in years. But I like it.

Position: Left Wing

Nickname: Among teammates, Banjo. Why? Uhhh. Beats me, but it has a ring to it, a certain je ne sais quoi. No wait, what would a better, monosyllabic nickname be?

Dream Linemates: the Sedin twins. Not that they are favourites of mine or anything, but look what they did for Anson Carter! Plus, who could not want to play with the coolest Swedish twins ever. If not the Sedins, maybe Ales Hemsky. Possibly Joe Thornton. Pretty much anyone who will make my goal stats soar.

Rounding out the PP: Yeah... I don't even know if I'd be on the PP. I'd be more apt to appear on the PK.

Job: Defensive forward, probably on the third line. I'd like to think I'd be something like Toby Peterson. Not too flashy, but reliable. And short.

Signature Move: offensively, a killer one-time shot from close range, just like Petr Sykora; defensively, an outta nowhere stick check.

Strengths: reliable, good skater, fast hands (wink wink)

Weakness: chocolate

Injury Problems? Nope. Well, I heard females are more likely to get knee injuries than are males, but knee injuries suck, so I'd rather not have one of those. I saw this segment on CBC about Jed Ortmeyer (Buffalo Sabres) and how he had a pulmonary embolism. It made me so paranoid such that any time I have even the faintest of pains in my chest, say, after soccer, I think I am having a pulmonary embolism. So maybe that's my "injury" problem.

Equipment: skates, stick, jersey, etc. What kind of question is this? Or does it mean brand? If so... I don't know. Nike Bauer? CCM? How about every piece of equipment I wear will come from a different brand?

Nemesis: Drew Remenda. Or Peter Loubardias. Actually, either may well be my current nemesis.

Scandal Involvement: If being awesome is scandalous, I'll have scadal written all over me.

Who I'd face in the Stanley Cup Finals: I dunno.... What Eastern Conference team would I like to CRRRRUSH? Toronto, maybe? Although, it'd be a shame if they even made it that far.

What I'd do with the Stanley Cup after our victory: Recite every name engraved on the Cup, possibly in an opera voice. Why? Because I'm cool like that.

Would the media love me or hate me? I'd say they'd be pretty indifferent. I mean, I wouldn't be a league heel, that's for sure. But I probably wouldn't be a star, and thus wouldn't warrant too much mention. I might, one night, have a multiple point game and my name will flash across the highlight reels, and people will be all, "Dang, who is this girl?" But that will only last a night or two and I will return to being a virtual nobody. Once I get some tenure in the league, my name might pop up here and there, but it will probably be because of my off-ice contributions to the community, or something equally cheesy like "celebrity" poker tournaments. (Not that charity, in principle, is cheesy).

Oivay!

2007-02-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

You will have likely noticed that I have not blogged in nearly a month. This is because school has taken over my life, namely the lab reports. If I am not writing a lab report, I am cramming for an exam or reading a multitude of research papers. My Reading Week (February 19-23) will be spent READING!!! I have five midterms and six lab reports in the five weeks following Reading Week. They are, of course, not evenly spaced throughout those five weeks; rather, they are lumped, clumped, grouped, what have you. But it's not like I am really entitled to complain. I knew this was coming, and I have time. I just don't WANT to prepare. I don't WANT to hole up in the library for the entirety of my "freedom." I want to sleep and watch movies and DVDs and sports and plain ol' do NOTHING!!!

Since ALL of my time has been devoted to school, there is little else to report. Lost started up again after its extended hiatus. What's the deal with that anyway? Primetime TV shows have gathered such massive followings that they can afford not making new episodes for months without risking the loss of their viewers. And with the advent on TV on DVD, all that additional revenue means they can afford it even more. It makes sense, but it's dumb. Just show your show.

I got my first mobile phone. Well, it's actually not my first. I had one in the tenth grade for a few months, but no one else had one soI basically never used it. It's pretty useful, I suppose. I have only had it for a week, and a lot of my friends don't have my number yet, so I suppose I haven't exactly hit peak usage. But I pretty much love text messaging.

I have been thinking about extending my degree by at least another semester, taking a few courses that I wanted to take, but didn't get the chance to since I switched programs mid-degree and have been bogged down with requirements. This extension would also serve to help me prepare for.... applying to med school. Eeep. When I was young, I wanted to be a doctor. Then I wanted to be a lawyer. Then I wanted to be a researcher. And now I have come full circle and kind of want to be a doctor again. I think I could do it. And I know it would interest me beyond imagination. But.... I still don't know. Is it truly what I really want? It is my goal to figure that out over Reading Week, which also means I will have to work out my degree.... and scrap my application for graduation.... and register for some summer classes..... and somehow find some money to faciliate this extension. So much to think about. It's making me emo.

And speaking of emo... I know I generally wouldn't talk about this on a blog, but it's really bugging me. What the heck is up with males? Why are boys dumb? Do they know they are emitting mixed signals? Do they know that such mixed signals are ripping my figurative heart in two, nay, millions??? GAH! So, I am pretty much feeling foolish and heartbroken at the moment. Stupid boys.

Movies I've seen recently: Children of Men and Notes on a Scandal - see them both!
Movies I want to see: Apocalypto, The Departed, Babel, Flushed Away, Smokin' Aces, Stranger than Fiction
Music I've recently aquired - Children of Men Soundtrack (very eclectic; everyone's bound to like something on it; includes a beautiful rendition of "Ruby Tuesday"), MSTRKRFT, Hot Chip, Emily Loizeau, Snow Patrol, Justin Timberlake.
Music that I want to acquire: Thirteen Senses, Bloc Party

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - JULY 21, 2007!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's it, essentially. I will blog one more time in the near future to explain what I would be like were I a hockey player, but thereafter, I should be expected to be MIA.

Break It

2007-01-21T23:04:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was my academic "make it-or-break it" weekend. School has been a lot more demanding than I had anticipated, and I have been a lot more lazy than I had anticipated, so I have already become grossly behind in all of my courses. I was supposed to spend my weekend at school, writing lab reports, reading primary research papers, reading chapters and chapters from texts. That did not happen. Not only did I sleep in on both Saturday and Sunday, I did not once change out of my jimjams, nor did I make it to school. What's more, I failed to crack open my backpack until Saturday night, by which time I quickly stowed all my books away to watch My Beloved Oilers lose again. Thus, I broke it. Is this a sign of what's to come during the remainder of the semester? Will I be perpetually behind? Will I fail all my courses?

Currently, I am working on a calculation-heavy lab report for an experiment where we isolated lymphocytes from rabbit blood. Not only did it take me a needlessly large amount of time to actually figure out how to calculate the values required of me, but in order to calculate such values I had to use values from my previous experiment in which I determined the concentration of lymphocytes in rabbit blood. This meant that I had to go over my last lab report, and to my horror, I discovered numerous MAJOR errors. Not only did I screw up some calculations (very dumb mistakes, such as not converting a number to its correct scientific notation), I completely forgot to include a whole table, copying and pasting another, unrelated table in its stead. Since this report was handed in nigh a week ago, there is basically nothing I can do, and I will thus suffer a low mark that need not be low had I spent two extra minutes to properly proofread. I hate when I make this kind of mistake. It makes me feel completely inept, and I get all worried that whoever is grading my paper will think I am just dumb. The first paper of the year is the opportunity to make a good first impression, and I have made one that depicts me as a dummy that can't use a calculator nor copy and paste correctly.

So yeah. Woe is me. School is dominating my life, whether I am actually tackling everything it throws at me, or avoiding it at all costs.

New Camera Test Photos

2007-01-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

Stitch feature photo of my living room, including my sisters feet and our godawful furniture (temporary only).

A dime, using the digital macro feature. I have a certain affinity for macro photography, and I am delighted that this camera takes such nice macro photos.

My extraordinarily messy desk, featuring my laptop, hairdryer, and an empty mug; taken with the colour accent feature. The camera also has a colour swapping feature with which I have yet to take a good photo.Another digital macro example of my poor glasses. This was the second time they were repaired with Krazy Glue and flames. This was taken on Thursday night and they broke yet again on Friday morning. Boo.

I know they are not the best photos, and I know that I have yet to explore all of the features, but I was very excited to share my new camera excitement.

Bullet'd (Ow! My skin!)

2007-01-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

This is my new blogging style. It saves me from forming proper paragraphs and, occasionally, proper sentences.

School started up again on Monday. It is my goal to repeat the 4.0, though I think it will be considerably harder to do so this semester. While my courses are all thoroughly interesting and I am sure I am going to enjoy them, I know there is going to be a lot more work involved. I am already behind, and while you may not believe it (and I certainly can't believe it), it's true. I have chapters to read, papers to read, lab reports to write, calculations to finish, etc.. I don't think I have ever had a faster start to a semester. I might get around to reviewing each of my classes as my blogging tradition dictates, but we'll see.
I saw Children of Men on Monday. It's excellent. Great. Interesting. Sobering. Disgusting. Heartbreaking. Frightening. It's just wonderful. I plan to see it again before it enters theatre-to-DVD limbo. I highly recommend seeing it.
My new camera was delivered yesterday!!!!! It's beautiful. I didn't get around to naming my old camera, but I am certain that this new camera is more worthy of a name anyway. A good name. Any suggestions? I'll take and post some test pictures soon-ish.
My glasses, which snapped in two right between the eyes about two months ago after I was struck in the face with a soccer ball, broke in two again. After the first incident, I krazy-glued them back together, and they were practically as good as new. I tried to do the same after the second incident, but quickly learned that my efforts were fruitless. So, I had to buy new glasses. It took me a while to decide on a pair (I didn't know that many frames existed), but I settled on a pair of Pumas (I didn't know Puma made optical frames). I shall have them some time next week.
My Beloved Oilers are on a bit of an upswing [knock on wood]. Huzzah!
This Saturday is the ultimate sports Saturday. Three EPL games in the morning followed by three hockey games on Hockey Day in Canada.
I started my resolutions post, and then deleted it as I had already failed to comply with more than one of my resolutions. So I've basically settled for one easy, simple, no-hassle resolution: be better.

I will now return to a forgotten blogging sign-off.
Music: "Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows" - The Beatles (from the newest release Love)

Potpourri

2007-01-06T01:28:00.003-07:00

Like the category on Jeopardy!, this post is a collection of odds and ends, a medley, if you will.

I am working on my resolutions post. I resolve to finish it by year's end.
Neil is re-blogging. That is, he once blogged, and then didn't, and now he's blogging once more. He has a way with words that is clever and funny and very enjoyable. Read it.
The Oilers LOST AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!! And again. And again. BAH! I want to cry. I am at a loss for words. It's ridiculous, almost. I have a feeling that a trade is going to happen soon-ish, one or more of our forwards (+draft picks,+prospects) for a defenseman. And HOW ABOUT THAT MISPLAY on Thursday night???? Dang. That eased the frustration, momentarily. Even if you don't follow hockey, watch that clip. You'll appreciate its hilarity. Patrik Stefan - remember that name.
My new camera is on its way. Hip hip!
My soccer game on Thursday night (at 10:15 - ludicrous) was a total bust. I am so out of shape. It's beyond laughable; it's just sad.
The new and theoretically FINAL semester begins on Monday. According to my calculations, that is soon. I really really REALLY do not want to go back.

End transmission.

Bah. Humbug!

2006-12-29T02:47:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't been blogging with the expected, increased frequency, but it's not like it matters because no one really reads it anyway. Nevertheless, some updates:

I baked my cake and ate it, too! Last Friday morning I received my last final grade, delighted that it was an A+. I baked my cake that night. It turned out quite horrendously, ironically - if graded, it would have undoubtedly received an F. The cut was bad, the icing was worse. But in the end, it tasted delicious and served its purpose, and that's what really matters.
Christmas came and went. I was pretty much none the wiser. I was neither excited nor festively primed for Christmas. My family abandoned our traditional large family dinner, thereby substantially reducing my yuletide potential to pretty much nothing. I have also been generally grumpy/not happy for reasons unknown (hormones, I suppose), and rather childish, in fact. I won't go into too many details to save me from looking like a totally juvenile prat that cares not for the so-called true meaning of the holidays and Christmas, but let's just say that I didn't get what I wanted while my spoiled (and I mean spoiled) youngest sister got EVERYTHING she wanted (including an iPod and a digital camera), and then some. I know, I'm a horrible person.
My Beloved Oilers are frustrating me beyond belief, especially with the situation in the Northwest Division. They're 2-3-0 in their last five, which sucks. Their defense (both defensemen and defensive strategy) is crumbling, which sucks. Roloson has lost his mojo, yet again (and being hung out to dry by his defense itsn't helping, either), which sucks. I've actually watched more Calgary Lames' hockey than Oilers' hockey in the past while. It was nice to see them lose to San Jose and then Vancouver two nights in a row, though the Vancouver wins certainly convoluted the Northwest standings a little more. I'll stop here, because I really could go on forever.
As always, I am worrying about my academic future. Not only am I not excited about the coming semester (though it will theoretically be my last for the time being), I have ZERO idea of what I will do afterwards. Sometime before I return to classes I will spend an entire day researching my options, which number many. I won't even go into it now to save me from the pain of indecision.
I have been thinking about 2007 and some resolutions.... MANY resolutions. More on them later.

When Exam Hellfire Freezes Over

2006-12-20T23:32:00.000-07:00

As I write this I am in my comfy jimjams and wrapped in a sleeping bag having just finished watching Little Miss Sunshine with my family (who loved it, as everyone should). I am content. Tired, but content.

Exams are finally over. OVER!!!!!! And while it feels nice (really nice), there is also this sense that it's not over. It was odd, the way I felt during this exam period. I put in a lot of hours of studying (i.e., on average, I'd say ten hours a day, though fourteen hours at school per day, at least), but I never felt especially ready for any exam. I never ever really felt that huge sense of relief upon completion of an exam, either. It's sort of like they just happened. And that was that.

My real objective for this whole semester was to be able to bake myself a cake shaped as a 4.0. This, of course, has that one stipulation stating that in order to bake the cake, I must obtain a 4.0 GPA (i.e., straight As, A+s, or a combination of the two). So far, so good. I have an inkling it's going to happen, and this pleases me immensely.

In celebration of the end of exams, I first purchased and watched Little Miss Sunshine, had an afternoon nap, and went to the Oilers game. Although they lost for the second time in a row to the Avalanche (grr), it was still a VERY exciting game. 7-6???? That's crazy. I probably wouldn't have felt as bad about the loss if some of those Avalanche goals were nicer. What was with Roli and that wrap-around thing? I think the best part, or parts, about the whole game were Hemsky's two SWEEEEEET assists on Sykora's goals. DANG! I was so utterly excited when Hemsky was back in the line-up last game because it meant that I was going to be able to see him play in real-time. And while his game started of poorly (down to the fourth line??), it finished brilliantly. He dangled it!!!! DANGLED IT!!!! It almost makes me want to cry with joy. Almost. I also got to hear, in real life, the song that's always played right before the Oilers first power play of the game. Whenever we're watching the game on TV, my sisters and I get all excited about it and dance to it. However, since I was by myself at the game last night without any alcohol to release my from my inhibitions, I sadly did not dance to it there.

Christmas is just in a few short days. I did not have many shopping obligations this year, so I pretty much finished it all in one day, with enough time to spare to see The Holiday. Don't see it if you're male. I'm not really feeling the yuletidiness at the moment... my family has yet to erect the tree and I don't even know if I have a huge turkey feast to look forward to. Plus I'm still recuperating from lame exams, so I feel mostly like sleeping all the time, not being festive and whatnot. Maybe I just have to put on the Christmas CDs, and watch Home Alone, The Santa Clause, and The Grinch to set things in the right direction.

I suspect that since I have all this free time on my hands that I will be blogging with increased frequency, but if, for some reason, I forget about it for a while, I wish everyone who reads this Happy Holidays!

Ugh

2006-12-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

There remain just three days of classes before The Final Exam Hellfire breaks loose. This makes me nervous and grumpy, among other things. The next seventeen days are probably going to be the longest of the year. I will go to school and study for up to twelve (and maybe more) hours per day. I will consume inordinate amounts of caffeinated beverages. I will sleep as little as my body permits. I will write exams. Life will suck.

To add to this general misfortune, my Beloved Oilers probably won't bounce back from three straight losses. I'm sensing an extended slump. No Hemsky. No Smyth. And apparently no Roloson - mojo's MIA, again. I can only hope that by the time I'm done exams they will be back on form (I'm going to the game on the 19th...by myself).

Alas, this post is pretty pointless. Blogging for the sake of blogging.

Tschüss.

What a Dreamboat

2006-11-22T22:17:00.000-07:00

He's an Edmonton Oiler.
He scores goals.
He has a sweet Eastern European accent.
He's ridiculously good-looking.

He's Petr Sykora.
And I love him.

My Beloved Edmonton Oilers engaged in the always-exciting Battle of Alberta against the enemies, the Calgary Lames, and despite being clearly outplayed, we squeaked by with a win. Deservingly, Sykora was the first star, having scored both Oiler goals, including the gee-dub-gee. And while I am obviously thrilled with this Czech, I am unfortunately disappointed with his fellow countryman and linemate, Ales Hemsky. Sure, he also got two points against the Flames, but he's really been, in my opinion, subpar. SUBPAR. His neutral zone play has been abysmal. He's finally starting to shoot a little more, but that isn't saying much since he loses the puck more often than not. I just want him to dangle it. Dangle it and score. SCORE!!!

And what's with Stoll? It seems that he's been kicked out of the faceoff circle about a zillion times in the past few games, and he's been relegated to the fourth line. Tsk tsk. A few games ago, centering the fourth line wouldn't have been so bad, but that little spark they had sort of fizzled. Ah! And when the fourth line was out there with Bergie and Greene???? Eeek!

But yes, I should actually stop complaining, because there's nothing to complain about when the Oilers are winning.... except for when every other team in the Northwest is winning. Okay, now I can stop.

Creepin'

2006-11-20T19:31:00.001-07:00

I was looking through my tracking information today and it dawned on me the number of regular readers that have never made a comment here. I can say with certainty that I have commented at least once on every blog that I read with any regularity. Thus, it creeped me out a little that people are reading my blog and I have no idea who they are. Or, I know who they are, but don't know it's them. For example, there is someone who reads my blog from Calgary quite often. I don't think I know anyone in Calgary except my aunt, who definitely doesn't read this. There is someone in Edmonton who I'm assuming is not someone I know from school since they can read my blog in the middle of the day from the same location they read it from on weekends, which I am assuming is home. In the end, it's difficult to resolve what's more creepy: knowing I have regular lurkers, or the fact that I'm keeping tabs on these lurkers.

Maybe I'll try my hand at a little magic here....
Lurkers....REVEAL YOURSELVES!

A Most Prestigious Cinematic Production

2006-11-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

As part of my long weekend recuperative activities, I went to see The Prestige this afternoon. I was impressed, though initially hesitant about its subject matter considering The Illusionist was recently released. I was assured, however, that they are not similar apart from the fact that they both feature magicians.

The story is probably the most interesting. It starts off believably, focusing on the illusory aspect of turn of the [nineteenth] century magicians Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) and Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), who under the guidance of Cutter (Michael Caine) create more and more illusions to wow the masses. The "accidental" death of Angier's wife, Julia (Piper Perabo), however, turns Borden and Angier against each other, and a very extensive rivalry ensues, each man attempting to discover and better the other's secrets to their illusions. It gets especially interesting with the involvement of early studies in electricity as conducted by Nikola Tesla (David Bowie, who looks old and not very Bowiesque). I cannot say much more without ruining the creepy, twisted ending, but just know that it's pretty clever and justifiable.

It's sort of weird in that it's hard to distinguish which of the two main characters are worthy of your support. Throughout the majority of the film, I thought I like Angier better, but then my affection for him waned a little as his obsession with revenge went from somewhat noble to downright creepy. Borden was hard to trust, though as the story unravelled, you couldn't help but feel for him... a little.

Just as a note, Scarlett Johansson's role as Olivia Wenscombe, the magician's assistant, is played up a little on the movie poster and in the trailer. Though her character's role in the story is kind of important (as a double agent at the height of the rivalry), it seemed like Johansson was there more to look pretty than to act. And she has a super-fake British accent.

Speaking of accents, it was weird to hear Christian Bale with his "native" accent. I think that in everything I have seen him to date he's had a North American accent. And I really didn't get why Hugh Jackman's character had a North American accent, when it seemed like he should have had an English one (as most of it was set in London and his travels to Colorado seemed foreign).

And speaking of Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, HELLO HOTTIES. Seriously. H-O-T.

One thing that viewers might find tedious would be the way in which the backstory was presented. It jumps around a lot, starting with the end and then filling in the blanks sort of deal. Sometimes hard to follow, yes, but ultimately it allows the ending to be presented to full effect.

So...... this was a pretty good movie. I would recommend that you see it, if not now, eventually. I would now like to see The Illusionist, just to see how it portrays the old-timey magician bit. I also want to read the book The Prestige, though I think the movie was based loosely on it.

Other Movies I'd Like To See:

The Departed
Apocalypto (with my Dad)
Stranger Than Fiction
Borat (just because......)
Night At The Museum
The Fountain
Flushed Away
Children of Men
Babel
Confetti
For Your Consideration (I watched Waiting for Guffman and Best In Show this weekend - too funny)

At Long Last

2006-11-11T18:37:00.000-07:00

The happy couple together for the first time in three weeks.

It is difficult to express just how content with life I am at the moment. I am done with midterms. I have a four-day weekend to recuperate. I have finally been reunited with Mr. Fahrenheit, my boyfr- erm, laptop of two years. My life could only be better if the Oilers were winning more.

That's pretty much all I had to say.

McGeough Must Die

2006-11-04T01:45:00.000-07:00

You know, I've never really like Mick McGeough. The way he refused to wear a helmet until recently. The way he always looks a little too tanned. The way he wears the collar of his uniform. The way he lives up to his visually impaired monicker.....

I was having a perfectly splendid Friday until the 19:56-ish mark of the third period in the Oilers-Stars game. I had remained awake through both of my classes. I got paid extra for tutoring. I learned I earned a perfect score on a recent midterm. I ate a fine steak for dinner and took Baileys in my coffee. I even enjoyed watching the Flames-Bluejackets shootout, and despite the lacklustre play of the Oilers, I almost enjoyed a hockey game.

Maybe it was the Baileys, but I was almost moved to tears when that goal was called off. Tears! Me! TEARS!

2006-10-31T19:59:00.000-07:00

Strong Sad and Frank (Donnie Darko)... and snow!!!

Even though they are teen and pre-teen, sassy and sassier, my little sisters are pretty cool. This year they carved their pumpkins with what I hope was inspiration from their wise, cool, and utterly awesome older sister.

Oilers and Other Disappointments

2006-10-28T00:45:00.000-06:00

I did not watch the last two games on account of having another engagement on Wednesday night, and not ordering the Pay Per View on Thursday. Accordingly, I have little more than the scorelines to tell me that something is wrong with my dearest Oilers, but I am going to just put some other speculations out on the table.

Our forward heirarchy, so to speak, is totally botched. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love that Hemsky, Sykora, and Thoresen are lighting it up. It just is slightly unsettling that our so-called top line is not really a top line when it boils down to it. It is almost equally unsettling that our third and fourth lines feature players that were once second-liners. I dunno, this may be slightly trivial, but it all just seems off-kilter to me.

What is also frustrating me is that once relied-upon mainstays are MIA. Granted, Stoll got two against the Ducks and Pisani finally cracked his goose egg Thursday, but these guys were featured prominently in that beautiful wonderful and glorious playoff run. What has taken them so long? Are they going to be patchy point-getters for the rest of the season? I think I am most disappointed with Torres. Not that I credit his "demotion" to bad play (Thoresen was looking pretty slick), but he should get his act together. From what I heard, he barely saw the ice by game's end on Thursday. I think he's just not playing his role as a grinder, a physical force. THAT is that the Oilers have been really missing - a true, physical presence. Winchester (or "Winchy" as I call him) kind of seems forced into that role due to his stature. He "fought" that Duck on Wednesday, but certainly looked green. I don't know, though, perhaps in due time he will fit into the role.

The polarized success of our special teams is a REALLY BIG PROBLEM. Our penalty kill is so good it's killing the opponents' penalties. That is to say that our power play licks ass. Needless to say that we are missing a Prongerian/Spacekian manning the point. Or maybe we shouldn't have FIVE FORWARDS ON THE ICE. What's the deal with that? Has it worked yet? Not that I've seen.

Remember that time in that Austin Powers movie where Austin lost his mojo? Maybe that's happened to Roloson. What was it on Wednesday - six goals on eighteen shots? Yipes. Markkanen wasn't much of a replacement, either. We'd better get that mojo back. I'll build a time machine and go to the past when Roloson was apparently cryogenically frozen, before his mojo was taken, and personally stand guard until I know the mojo is safe.

Maybe it was just that long homestand. Maybe it lulled the Oilers into a false sense of security - "We're unbeaten at home, we'll never see defeat!" Maybe we're actually the team that someone predicted to finished twelfth in the West. Maybe I'm just looking too far into things.

My other disappointments are these:

My midterm on Tuesday night. I really should have studied for it a lot more than I did. But I was just so spent already. Hopefully everyone did as poorly as I think I did. And now I have the opporunity to hike up my cell biology boots and kill the next exam. I guess. Maybe.
There is yet no news on my computer. The last I heard it was sent off to some centre and there is the possibility of motherboard problems......???? I really just wanted them to unmelt my power adaptor from inside it, give me a new one and send me on my merry way. When this whole melty thing happened, I really did not have the chance to back up any of my files. The power adaptor was obviously shot, and my battery ran out sooner than expected. This means my entire iTunes library, about a zillion pictures, and most importantly, the draft of my Lost post are all potentially gone forever.
My indoor soccer season is about to commence. Normally this would be a good thing. But I have a distinctly uneasy feeling about this year. My team does not yet have a coach, nor a manager, the managerial tasks have been divided up amongst the team members, thereby increasing the chances of something being forgotten and whatnot, and only eight of the fifteen registered players showed up for our first practice. On top of that, fifteen players is not especially ideal. Each game you want to dress sixteen players - three forward lines, three defensive pairs, and a keeper. What's going to happen when people can't make games? We also have not set a practice day or days, nor do I think that everyone actually knows that our game schedule is indeed posted. Plus, this is all happening in French, a language with which I am not entirely comfortable, and that I have not practiced in months.
I think I am getting sick. I suppose it's fortunate that it's happening after I have written the bulk of my midterms, but it's still rather unnecessary. I woke up barfy on Thursday morning, slept all Thursday afternoon, stayed up all Thursday night, and now I have a stuffed nose and sore throat.

I'm too young to be old.

2006-10-20T22:46:00.000-06:00

I'm pretty sure that when I was in first year I had the capacity to stay up into the wee hours of the morning studying and whatnot, somehow wake up early to get to all my labs, and still remain comprehensible. Now I find that I am just always tired. If I am not in bed by 11:00, I will definitely feel it the next day. I'll find it difficult to form proper sentences. I will require a nap and/or coffee by noon. My sluggishness, of course, plays at that vicious cycle of being too tired to work, which causes you to fall behind, which in turn causes you to have to work harder and sleep less and become more tired and BLAAAAAH.

The past three weeks have been pretty much the worst of my university career. Yes, I have learned a lot, but at a great price. I'm at school twelve hours a day, sometimes seven days a week. I barely see my family or friends anymore. I feel guilty for taking time out of studying to eat dinner. I have increased my caffeine intake probably tenfold. I get roughly five hours of sleep a night. It's making me feel old and worn out and not happy. And do you know what comes to mind? The Pope in that movie The Agony and the Ecstasy: "When will you make an end?"

Luckily, I don't get Michelangelo's wishy-washy answer, "When I am finished." I know that I will have a midterm-free week and a bit in just five days. I am planning to sleep a lot, to watch TV, and to perhaps heal my academic wounds with a little retail therapy. I could even finish that Lost post.

In other news:

Jasmine has updated her blog.
The Oilers are playing poorly and winning!
I'm trying out these new contact lenses. I haven't worn any in about three months, and I have become increasingly paranoid about contracting amoebic keratitis, which is associated with soft contact lens-wearers. I'm going the daily disposible route, considering I only wear them twice a week at most anyway.
My computer has nearly lost the ability to have its battery charged - its adaptor doesn't seem to be able to plug into it properly, or at all even. And it makes these weird noises when I touch certain areas of the touchpad. And it smells funny - like burning dirt and plastic. And okra.

Oilers.... WIN????

2006-10-13T00:49:00.000-06:00

My increased frequency of blogging is a clear indication that I have three midterms next week for which I have barely studied.
Okay. Oilers. Maaaaaaan. All day I rued the fact that this game was on PPV. I saw kids in their Oilers jerseys all over school, which got me all excited, and then all disappointed because I knew I was not going to see the game. So I turned on the radio at 8:00, listened to the first period. And then, for some reason or another, I stopped listening and tuned in later to find the Oilers down 1-4. Sadly, I figured they were bound to lose and stopped listening altogether, my regret for not ordering the PPV dwindling. And now I read that Oilers won. Smyth records a hat trick. In a record time. How delightful. How glorious. How, how, dang. I should have ordered it.

Anonymous Beratings

2006-10-12T20:02:00.000-06:00

Maybe it's because I am in a bit of a pissy mood due to midterms, but people (strangers) have really been bugging me lately. Unfortunately, I have the decency to keep my mouth shut. So, this post is a shoutout to all those people that have peeved me in the past while.

Girl on the Bus: Your hair is a mess. Seriously. Did you cut it yourself? So you brush it? Wash it even?
Man at the Bus Stop: It is quite tactless to tell me that I shouldn't have gone into Science and that it would have been smarter to be in Pharmacy, Business, or Engineering because a Science degree will never get me a job, and pharmacists, businesspeople, and engineers make more money.
Exchange Students in the Library: Just because I can't understand what you're saying doesn't mean I can't hear you.
Teens on the Bus: It is wholly unnecessary for you to talk as loudly as you do. So what if you are going to a Zombie Walk? So what if you think zombies are the coolest thing ever? So what if you would seriously wear a feather boa all the time if you had one? People could really care less.

I think I am forgetting a few, but I'm sure I'll come across some more as my mood worsens.

Sucktober and Hockey-ness

2006-10-08T23:05:00.000-06:00

October 2004 was a definite Sucktober; it takes the cake in terms of suckiness.
October 2005 started as Rocktober, but progressively became a moderate Sucktober.
October 2006 is shaping up to be a throwback to 2004.

I am quite certain that I have never had such a difficult course load. Additionally, I am quite certain that I have never had such a crappy midterm schedule. Granted, I never have more than three in one week; they are just perpetual, never-ending, seemingly infinite. Plus, I have one at 8:00 in the morning the day after Turkey Monday. How? HOW? That's not fair. It's turkey time, not study time. It's really all making me feel quite disenchanted about school and my future and life in general. I spend all my time studying, it seems, and no time actually having fun or thinking of serious issues (like next April). Bah. BAH.

In other news, the NHL has commenced its regular season. Finally. I am elated. Overjoyed. I watched the Oilers' first two stints against the Flames. Their season-opener was rather impressive, I thought. In the off-season there was a whole hazy cloud of speculation about the new Oilers' potential, ranging from finishing twelfth in the West to finishing first in the Northwest. Now their depth and offensive talent are being praised. I'm not a psychic nor a true hockey pundit, so I'm not even going to give my prognosis. It's too early to tell anyway. Last year they won their first three, took a nose dive, and look where they ended up. I'm just going to cheer. And hope that Hemsky shoots more often. Good gracious! I think I have a super fan-crush on Hemsky. I get all fluttery when he's on the ice. And I love his line.... him and Sykora have got some crazy Czech wizardry going on there. With some of that Raffi thug business. I wish the Lupul-Horcoff-Smyth line would gel a little better. I feel Horcoff has not really been in it yet. He showed a flash of his brilliant speed on Saturday night, but he also made more than a few stupid passes in the neutral zone. And what's with that five-forward powerplay? Yipes. It's too gutsy for me at this stage of the game. It might work well if the powerplay started with an offensive zone faceoff and they had Horcoff or Stoll out there to win it. But all the times I have seen them try it they spent half the powerplay retrieving the puck from their zone or making bad passes at the offensive blue line. All in all, I have been very pleased, though, happy that they are back on the ice.

Also, since my dad is a mondo Habs fan, we watch as many Habs games as possible. The one on Friday night... golly! Those Sabres really brought it to them. Watch out for those Sabres. I think they are going to do very well. I'm glad Montreal got redemption against the Leafs on Saturday, though. Granted, they probably should have done it in regulation, but still. Plus, I hate the Leafs. Always have. Always will.

That was a little babbly/scrambly. I just get so excited about hockey.

I'm still working on the Lost post, though I fear its completion will not come until mid-November. At least by then I will be able to talk about the WEIRD new season. This series gives you question after question left unanswered, which is oddly really good. There is lots of room for speculation, which just intrigues you further. It's the only show, apart from The Amazing Race, that I can foresee watching with any real fidelity. Unfortunately, I just don't have much time for the remainder of shows I planned on watching.

Okay. Enough. Happy Turkey Weekend, my fellow Canadians.

Blogging Under the Influenza

2006-10-08T21:00:00.000-06:00

This is the post I alluded to last week. It might be a little bit overdue, but it's still something important, or at least interesting, to me

If you are a student at the U of A, you're probably aware that our Public Health Response Committee has sent out a massive electronic survey regarding the possibility of an avian influenza in hopes of devising a plan of action should such a pandemic erupt. And, of course, the whole topic of the survey made the cover of our beloved campus paper last, last Thursday. If you are not a student at the U of A, or have not yet seen the survey, here is a link.

Considering my university career focuses on things such as this feared pandemic, this survey was of particular interest to me. It's epidemiology in action, not just figures and statistics I have been learning about. Naturally, I took the survey, and was initially quite perplexed with the nature of some of the questions. Why are they asking me if I think I'm going to get food poisoning? Or cancer? What does sauerkraut have to do with anything? Was this survey really trying to collect information for a pandemic plan, or was that an ulterior motive? Thursday's issue of The Gateway also featured an opinion article concerning this survey, and it was relieving to see my suspicious sentiments echoed.... at first.

After reading this article a few times over, its ignorance dawned on me. My ignorance dawned on me. It just so happens that a few months ago I chanced upon a blog whose author talked on avian influenza and it got me all riled up. I cared about the fear and ignorance surrounding avian flu, its portrayal in the media, the fact that this thing could potentially kill half the people it infects. And after taking that survey I had thrown all that out the window for what I thought was critical thinking. In fact, I was thinking cynically.

Cynical thinking is, after all, not critical thinking, but the opinion article's author, one Miss Robin Palmer, seems to have the two confused. Her article centres around the seeming uselessness of some questions; she implies a lack of intelligence put into the questionnaire reflected in these questions, and flaunts a wishy-washy "I'm-actually-all-for-a-plan-and-maybe-I'm-just-taking-it-too-personally-but...." to cover her behind. So, does the survey really lack intelligence, or was it a lack of simple logic and reasoning that led Palmer to conclude such?

Her first attack is on question 17. She writes:

The “General Information” section was fairly bland until question 17, which asked “How likely do you think you may be affected by the following disease or injuries in the next year?” The person being surveyed was then asked to rank several diseases or injuries based on their likelihood of occurring. These diseases or injuries span the distance of “cold” and “annual flu” right through to “heart attack” and “traffic injury.” Now, I don’t know about everyone else, but I can’t exactly predict when I’m going to be struck by a bus.

Firstly, this question does not appear under the "General Information" section, nor does a section entitled "General Information" exist. It appears under the "Risk Perception" section. Presumably, figures exist for the average citizen's risk of contracting a cold, flu, cancer, having a heart attack, etc., but no such figures exist for avian influenza. Obviously. There are lists of confirmed cases, but those tell us little about our chances of getting it, at least while the cases are few and isolated. Thus, this question is guaging the public's perception of the risk of the pandemic happening, as the section's title suggests, in relation to conditions of known risk. It is not, as Palmer purports, a demand of prophecy, a prediction of one's own demise. Results of this question will give planners an idea of how much people know about and/or fear this potential threat, and will elicit a response of appropriate education and information about the real (though approximated) threat. In her conclusion, Palmer expresses that she doesn't "generally plan ahead for heart attacks," likening the ludicrousness of such a notion with that of developing a vaccine for avian flu. While I will talk on the idea of a vaccine later, I claim that planning for heart attacks is not so ludicrous. After all, a prevention plan is still a plan. People do what they can to reduce their risk of having a heart attack by keeping fit, eating healthy, yadda yadda. You must know your risk before you can reduce it. So, is developing a plan for avian flu that may encompass means of prevention really that crazy?

I can't vouch for Palmer's credentials and how she knows what a vaccine is. She describes them as such: "Vaccinations work by injecting a person with weakened or dead pathogens so that their immune system can produce antibodies to fight off an actual invasion of those pathogens." I cannot disagree with that statement as that is exactly the mechanism by which some vaccines work. She continues, "The fun thing about pathogens is they’re unique to each strain of infectious agent. How exactly does the Public Health Response Committee plan on producing these pathogens without knowing the strain of influenza?" This is also true (though the semantics of her first statement are not cohesive), and especially pertinent to avain influenza since the major targets for attack my our immune system are the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins on the virus' envelope. It is these two molecules that determine the strain (i.e., H5N1 refers to a hemagglutinin of type 5 and a neuraminidase of type 1), though classifying something as a certain strain doesn't account for the entire molecular complexity seen by our immune systems.

Anyway, I'm being a little longwinded here. My point is that, yes, it is nearly impossible to develop an effective vaccine without acutally knowing, in great molecular detail, the strain that will emerge in a pandemic. However, I doubt the Public Health Response Committee plans on trying to develop a vaccine itself, as Palmer suggests. In fact, development of a true vaccine would take at least six months after a pandemic erupted. The whole point of the questionnaire was, again, to guage the public's knowledge on avian influenza in general. I will hazard a guess and say that not all people know how a vaccine works. In fact, recent portrayals of vaccines in the media, such as in the most recent X-Men movie and the television show Lost, are a little skewed. In both cases, I will assume that the vaccines they feature are passive vaccines, which work by giving infected or potentially infect people antibodies from another source as a means of protection or combat. It's not as effective nor as permanent as the aforementioned attenuated, active vaccine. So the public might be getting the idea that a vaccine for avian flu is a cure, a treatment, which is really not what it is. Again, the point of this question is to give the planners an idea of what they have to tell people in order for a plan to work smoothly. People have to know that there is no vaccine, so reducing our risk will have to come by some other means.

Perhaps the most touchy section of the questionnaire is the one entitled "Willingness to Volunteer During a Pandemic." It brings up the issues of volunteerism in such a crisis, forced volunteerism, and the possibilty of penalties to those who refuse to help. Palmer doesn't exactly develop her stance on this section fully, but from what she has written, I will imply that she thinks it goes a little too far. Yes, conscription (in Canada) may seem like a relic of the past, a violation of personal freedom, yadda yadda. But that's in context of nations versus nations, ideas versus ideas. An avain flu pandemic, if it emerges as deadly as predicted and feared, is life versus death, man versus virus. Desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say. Did conscription sound like a good idea during the World Wars? Yep. Might it sound like a good idea if a pandemic hit? Why not? Plus, maybe this is just me, but I would rather answers these questions now and know that a plan might involve this so-called conscription than to have the whole idea forced upon me when this pandemic is in full flight.

I started writing this a week ago, so I have lost my train of thought. I don't know what I wanted to say from here, but perhaps this would be a good time to stop anyway. Like I said, I was unsure about this survey when I first read it, but time and thought, logic and reason have brought a bit of clarity. Being proactive for something as devastating as this pandemic might be is perhaps of utmost importance. Understanding that planning calls for unusual and touchy questions will only help the cause. So, I really would rather take a "cuckoo test" over one flu that will liquify lungs, leaving me to drown to death in my own blood.

Interlude

2006-10-01T12:29:00.000-06:00

I have another post coming. It's going to be long and potentially boring, so I thought I would get some unrelated bloggables out of the way beforehand:

The internet chez Krista is up and running once again. What joy! However, having dumped our defective Telus connection for one with Shaw, we have received one free month of movie channels as a perk . On the eve of midterm hell-fiery death, it is needless to say that I hardly require yet another reason to procrastinate.
I have discovered the glorious hilarity of Little Britain. I think I am going to either buy its three seasons on DVD or ask for them for Christmas or something. Too funny.
My Spurs won today. THEY WON!!! ... albeit by a controversial penalty that really wasn't a penalty. But they are in a position to take what they can get. The match was a home game and I couldn't help but finally feel a sense of fraternity with my fellow Spurs supporters. They were cheering and singing, having a general good time (though booing Sol Campbell of Portsmouth, a former Spur, which is quite tragic considering how excellent a player he is and his years and years in Tottenham). And Berbatov was back! He had a hand (or head?) in Murphy's goal, too.
I have made zero progress on my Lost post. I haven't lost hope for its completion, though. I will finish it... eventually.

Later. Or... L8Rzzz?

I'm so hungry, I could ride a horse.

2006-09-25T21:59:00.000-06:00

My internet at home has been especially fickle over the past week, so I haven't had the opportunity to blog. Yes, I could blog at school where there are many a'computer with unlimited internet access, but there is something about blogging at school that doesn't seem right to me. So, here are some mostly unrelated musings over the past week:

I have finally finished watching the second season of Lost. Not that anyone besides Mr. Bergman will care, but I am currently composing my praise piece. I suspect it will be a lengthy post, and considering all the school crap I have to do, I'm not sure it will be done in time for the Season Three premiere. But I will try.
Speaking of school, I still have not completely changed my attitude towards it all, but I think I am slowly getting into an academic groove. It helps that I have a weekly lab quiz for MMI. I have a particularly good feeling about this week, too. It's going to be productive. It has to be productive. I have my first midterm next week.
That last bullet had some very short sentences. I'm not sure I like it.
This whole boys-wearing-ultra-skinny-pants trend really isn't doing anything for me. It just makes their legs look too skinny, almost chicken-like. Most girls don't wear their pants that tightly.
I am progressively getting more and more angsty about next May and what I will be doing. I persistently try my method of just not thinking about it, but its effectiveness is waning. Last Friday night I had a breakdown of sorts... alone... in my room. I cried, and then I slept. What the heck am I doing with my life?
I have the feeling that there was something in particular that I wanted to say, but I've forgotten it.
Oh, never mind. I remember. OILERS!!!! OCTOBER 5!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!! Also, this is a most beautiful alliance of two of my most favourite things in the world: Oilers and male attractiveness. Too good.
My Spurs veritably SUCK this season. I watched them get waxed by Liverpool over the weekend. It especially sucked because I have somewhat of a soft spot for Liverpool (mainly Gerrard), and on some level it sort of felt nice to see them win. BLAH. I cannot wait until Berbatov and Lennon are back.
I wish I were a wizard. Hogwarts-trained. Graduate of the House of Ravenclaw. Maybe even Head Girl. I'd work at St. Mungo's. And have loyal and heroic friends like Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Not that my real friends aren't loyal and heroic. They're just not wizards.

Hollaback, yo.

Out of Tune[s]

2006-09-17T23:53:00.000-06:00

There once was a time when I was heavily interested in music. One summer I spent in excess of $350 towards building my collection. And while music remains very important to me, I have recently lost touch with it. I no longer scan band websites for gossip, upcoming releases. I no longer take suggestions for bands that I should check out. I just listen to what I have, and only some of it at that. The only time I listen to the radio is when my alarm goes off in the morning, but it's tuned to CJSR and the program at 6:00 am is the BBC World Service news. Off the top of my head, I cannot remember the last album I bought.

I miss music.

I was raised on rock and roll. The Good Stuff. Then, when I moved to B.C. at the tender age of 7, my teenage cousins introduced me to pop, dance, R&B, and the like. And yes, I went through the Boy Band Phase. Then I started to explore a little, and added some indie rock and electronica to my repertoire. Lately I have been getting into genre moods. I have passed through a rap mood - a little Kanye here, Hova there; a Mötley mood - trüe to the red, white, and Crüe; a Coldplay mood - one of my favourites. But none of these binges are satisfying my longing for music. I enjoy them, but listening to them is like being hungry and merely looking at a feast set before you.

I don't really know why I have grown away from music. Maybe I just stopped listening. Maybe I became slightly disgruntled by the fact that I was close to being one of those people that look for little-known and sometimes weird music for the sake of looking for little-known and sometimes weird music.... to be cool and, er, hip. You know the type of which I speak. Why not stick to what you like for at least a while? It seems almost traitorous just moving on for the sake of being hip. [Sarcastic interlude]I mean, heaven forbid I should like the music that millions of other people may like! How embarrassing! [/interlude]

I need to reconnect. I have been trying to think of some potential music purchases. Maybe....the new RHCP? The Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack (it stuck out in my mind as quite nice as I watched the movie, which is usually a sign that I should acquire it. There are many a'soundtracks to which I have become attached)? Gnarls Barkley? I'm a little torn on whether or not I should get the newest of Keane and Snow Patrol. I like their older stuff, but the new stuff sounds different. Basement Jaxx just released a new album - quite tantalizing. k-os is coming out with something new soon. I'm a little curious about this new Bob Dylan stuff, too.

I am also torn on the issue of purchasing. While I like buying CDs for the sake of having a tangible collection (to maybe even pass on to my descendants one day when the CD is completely obsolete), I am also quite drawn to the efficiency and reduced prices of buying albums on iTunes. Oh, what a pickle.

So, I don't really know what I wanted to accomplish with this post. Maybe you, my dearest readers, can provide some insight on how to go about getting back to music. Maybe you can suggest an artist for me to check out, an album for me to consider, a song that might change my life. Maybe you can help me sort through the pros and cons of iTunes purchases. Maybe you can read this post and not leave a comment, now knowing that blog comments are what make my world go round.

Update-O-Rama

2006-09-13T21:31:00.000-06:00

Aaaaah.

Hmmm.

Sigh.

Frankly, there just isn't anything I need to report. School is tiring me out, even though I am putting all my efforts towards not co-operating with it. That is to say, I have been watching Season Two of Lost instead. It is my favourite show, if I haven't said that enough times, despite the fact that I haven't even seen the second season yet.

Uh.... I got to make and stain some blood smears in my MMI lab today. That was pretty cool. It made me realize that I really want to own a nice light microscope. I have one, but it's pretty cheap, designed for kids. And it has mirrors instead of a lamp. It's highest magnification is, like, 50X maybe. Probably not even that high. I don't know what I would look at with a fancy schmancy microscope, but I am sure I could find something. Oh, and now I know how to make blood smears....

I think I'm going to try something new. I will call it... Blog On Demand... because that what our world is about these days, right? Demands, gimme-gimmes? How about YOU tell ME what to blog about. And then I'll do it, provided it's not dumb.

If Only I Could Think of a Title That Would Accurately Represent My Dismay...

2006-09-07T15:28:00.000-06:00

For all those unlucky readers that never saw my old blog, this post is part of a tradition of academic... academic... something academic. After attending each of my new classes once, I write my first impressions: what I think of the material, the lecturer(s), how hard I will have to work, if I like it or not, etc. It's really for my own good, and little good at that, considering I don't even provide a follow-up post halfway through the semester (maybe I should). But before I get to that, a few considerations.

Normally I would be excited about this post, excited in a good way. But I am not. I am excited in a bad way. I am excited in this bad way because I am not all that keen on returning to my studies. This is very unsettling. For the benefit of those that do not know me, I love school. Well, I used to, at least. School is what I would call "my element." I usually get excited about returning about the beginning of July, but this year I didn't, not one bit. I absolutely dreaded my return. I can't exactly pinpoint why I didn't want to come back, but I think it was a mixture of pressure (self-applied) and the feeling of impending doom. This is my last year of undergrad. It counts for a lot. It's full of my toughest courses to date. When I'm done, I will have to decide what to do all over again. It's "growing up," and, frankly, I am in no mood to do that.

So, hopefully, by the end of this academic year, I will have a Bachelor of Science with Specialization in Immunology and Infection. It is my goal to get a 4.0 GPA in at least one of the next two semesters, which all of my fellow mathemagicians know is mathemagically impossible unless I get an A in each of my classes (University of Alberta Grading System). So here are my jaded first impressions.

MMI 426: Medical Parasitology (follow link and scroll down for description)
I enrolled in this course because I took a rather surprising liking to my compulsory parasitism course (ZOOL 352). Plus, this one has a laboratory component where we get to isolate parasites from tissue (and excretory) samples, and look at live, cultured specimens. This was my first class of the year, and I was doubly nervous because it is my first 400-level course. It also has a small class-size, which means that (ugh) discussions are more likely to crop up. Although, due to the high information load, there may not be discussions.

The lecture turned out to be alright, however, it consisted mainly of a syllabus overview and my lecturer complaining about all the construction zones she had to drive through to get to the University. Perhaps the first little black mark on its record was the fact that, despite it being the first day of classes, I still had my lab that afternoon. So, feeling very unprepared, I scanned the lab manual (which is, in its entirety, over 200 pages long), and set off to the lab. It also didn't turn out as bad as it could have, but it still wasn't fun. We had mini-lecture on malaria (cool-ish), but were given about a zillion other handouts, and the remainder of the lab consisited of looking at twenty-odd malarial specimens under light microscopes and drawing scientific diagrams for each. We also had to calibrate our microscopes, which proved more difficult that it should have.

I don't mind the main lecturer. She's got a long, unpronounceable name and a cool hint of an eastern European accent. The lab supervisor is very soft-spoken, and she has a tendency to say "okay?" after any announcements she makes or instructions she gives. It's annoying. We have other lecturers and other lab supervisors, but we did not meet them today.

I worry that this course is going to be exceedingly time-consuming and difficult. There is a lot of memorization, and there is a lab quiz each week (and a presentation worth pretty much nothing at the end of the semester). The lab also has its own midterm and final, which is expected but not appreciated.

CELL 300: Advanced Cell Biology I
My degree is highly organized and designed to leave me specialized in immunology and infection. Go figure. As such, instead of being able to choose my options from the giant list of all the science courses, I get to pick from a pre-selected, limited list. This course was one of the few I would even consider taking. It has a counterpart in the next semester (CELL 301), and you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be taking it.

My last brush with eukaryotic cell biology was some time ago... the first semester of my second year. Since then I have been bombarded with larger-scale physiology and lots and lots of bacteriology. So, I can't say that I am in a cell biology groove that will make things easier. But, it doesn't seem TOO too bad. A lot of it looks like stuff I learned in my most recent biochemistry course (BIOCH 320) - protein synthesis, cell structure components, etc. And the first of two lecturers is very organized, and gives excellent sets of notes and supplementary materials. He's also set up a lot of review-type sessions, and there are only two, non-cumulative, equally-weighted exams. The class is rather large, too, so hopefully a good curve will result.

I fear that this course might take a back seat to the others, though. There are optional readings, and it's not something like IMIN 324 or IMIN 371 that are compulsory, and ultimately a little more important.

IMIN 324: Basic Virology
Mmmmm.... a whole course devoted to viruses. Tantalizing. Seriously. As much as I love bacteria (and I LOVE bacteria), I find viruses are pretty interesting, too. And despite having a mediocre lecturer for the virology section of my introductory immunology course (IMIN 200), I have an urge to learn more.

This class will have the most number of different lecturers out of all my classes. That's okay with me. I think. It'll be refreshing, at least. The course coordinator is named Dr. Smiley. Ironically, he's not that smiley. It's a situation akin to my first genetics professor, Dr. Good, who turned out to be among the worst teachers I've ever had.

I'm not exceedingly worried about the material. We had a bit of a preview lecture today and it seemed manageable. I think having an interest in the material will also help.

IMIN 371: Intermediate Immunology
I have a confession: I actually like immunology a lot less that I thought I would when I decided on this program. I still find it interesting, maybe just not that interesting. I'm moderately worried about this course, considering the tremendous effort it took to learn the basics of immunology in my introductory course. At least this time around I have a textbook to rely on, and more tutorial sessions. I can just imagine how convoluted things are going to get. See, our immune systems are VERY complex. I can just see myself two months from now getting all caught up in which cytokines do what, and which immunoglobulins are involved in different types of responses and stuff. Okay, maybe I am a little more than moderately worried.

MICRB 311: Microbial Physiology
Aha. Back to my beautiful and wonderful bacteria. I don't really know what to expect form this course. From what I have been told, it has recently been entirely reconstructed to include updated material and new topics, as well as a new system of evaluation. It also has two new professors. I took another microbiology course last semester, but it was basically a gene regulation course in the context of bacterial behaviour, so I don't know how much overlap I'm going to get. This new course likely also places a lot more emphasis on the biochemical aspects of bacterial functions, which means biochemical pathways are involved, which makes me want to die.

I really like the lecturers, though. One is my professor from my introductory microbiology course, and she reminds me of a really kind and cool aunt (not any of my aunts, just AN aunt). The other is new to the University, and he's from Argentina/Belgium/Switzerland. He's really funny.

This course has two equally weighted exams, just as in CELL 300, but, somehow, I don't think it's going to be to my advantage in this course. I think it's going to be tough, but highly interesting.

***

So, that's it. After only two days I am extremely tired, I have a lot of work to do, and I am accordingly very grumpy and frustrated, and I never really want to go back. Perhaps it would be difficult to get that impression from what I have just said about all these courses, but it's truly how I feel. Plus, I am not really all that excited about being around all those people again. There is some new breed of douchebag roaming campus now. Very off-putting. And my schedule kind of sucks (I have no breaks, but I am done by 12:30 on four of five days), and I fear that being done so early in the day will actually tempt me to waste more time than I should. When you're done early you think, "I have all the time in the world. I can afford to take just a little break..." But then that little break turns into a big break, and those big breaks add up. And then you're screwed.

But, it's all will power, I guess. I hope. Yeah, will power.....

Happy New Year!

2006-09-03T23:03:00.000-06:00

There are no real rules as to when resolutions should be made, but tradition dictates that it's usually at the beginning of the calendar year. I, however, make them at the beginning of the academic year, September here in Canada. Without further ado, here is this year's edition.

Get better marks
My resolutions usually involve some sort of academic improvement, something I have been successful at only once in the past few years (and only trivially at that - the improvement from Year 2 to Year 3 will never show up on a transcript; Year 2's GPA and Year 3's GPA round up and down, respectively, to the same value). And not to toot my own horn, but I have entered a bracket where improvement is no easy task as there is little room to improve. Nevertheless, I'm still going to give it all I've got to edge myself closer to a celebration that will involve a cake shaped as a 4.0.

Watch less TV
This resolution may be a little less ambitious than it ought to be and the details will tell you why. See, I love TV. LOVE. IT. And I plan on watching my fair share of it this year, too. I love "reality" TV (more aptly named surreality TV), and with new cycles of my favourites just around the corner, how could I not watch them? I have the likes of America's Next Top Model, The Amazing Race, Survivor, and The Bachelor to look forward to. I also like the regular syndicates: the CSI series and Lost (perhaps my absolute favourite). Plus, there is a pile of Oilers games I plan to watch. See, my problem is that I am easily susceptible to watching more TV than I had set out to watch. One hour of Lost could suddenly turn into three hours of who knows what. So, my resolution is to just stick to what I plan to watch, no snowballing, no time wasting. That's about 10-11 hours a week, which averages out to less than two hours a day, which is reasonable, right? ... right?

Have fun
I'm not saying that I don't have fun, but I think that I should have some more. The past three years have been wrought with sporadic episodes of fun between lengths of anti-social studying. This is the last year of my undergrad. The Last. I'll never have another year like it, so I suppose I've got to make the best of it. Of course, I am not thinking of "partying" nightly (because that's really not how I roll anyway), but I just think spending a little less time worrying about marks and a little more time laughing and enjoying life could do me some good.

It turns out that I am not very good with resolutions, but I argue that resolution-making is like daydreaming: you have this little window of time during which, theoretically, anything can happen, with no consequences close enough to threaten. So why not flash that ambition about, why not test your imagination? There is always the possibility that something - anything - can come true.

Aza aza! Fighting!

2006-08-31T16:52:00.000-06:00

I have returned from my mini-vacation in the amazing and beautiful British Columbia and I'm going to tell you all about it. [Note: Be prepared for a very long post.]

Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - Departure
Despite having our household in utter chaos, my family managed to finalize our ongoings, and hit the highway mid-afternoon. Not much was to be expected of the ride there; after all, it's twelve hours of sitting, watching the world whiz by at over one hundred kilometers per hour. Jasper National Park always presents some pretty scenes, though, and this time around we were lucky to catch the most intense rainbow I have ever witnessed in my life. This picture barely does it any justice.

Since we left so late, it would have been difficult and pointless to carry on driving through the night, so we stopped at a motel in Clearwater, ate burgers and fries, and watched How William Shatner Changed the World.

Thursday, August 24, 2006 - Arrival
We continued our journey west the following morning at a leisurely pace. We arrived at my aunt's house in Surrey (about thirty kilometers east of Vancouver) in the late afternoon, and tucked in for a good meal. Since our day was consumed mostly by travel, there was no point in going into Vancouver, so we elected to relax. My uncle suggested we watch Full House, which he had on DVD, and we were definitely tantalized by a trip down memory lane with the Tanners. However, this was not a San Fransiscan family and their hijinks; it was a Korean romantic comedy. Reluctantly we agreed to watch it and the sting of disappointment was soon dissolved. This is one of those so-bad-it's-good kind of shows, only it's not actually that bad. It just has an extremely far-fetched story, and unnecessarily long intervals without action.

Feel free to ignore the following ramble. It's a synopsis of the TV show, which is convuluted, but endearing.

It starts out with an orphaned, aspiring young writer, Han Ji-eun, who lives alone in the amazing house her father designed and built. Her two "best friends," Dong-wook and Jin-hee, get pregnant together, but are deeply in debt and desperate for cash. So, they buy Ji-eun a trip to Shanghai, and while she is away, they sell all of her belongings and her house. Meanwhile, on her trip to Shanghai, Ji-eun sits beside and greatly annoys one of Korea's biggest movie stars, Lee Young-jae. It turns out they are also staying in the same hotel. While at the hotel, Ji-eun also meets one of Young-jae's greatest friends, Yu Min-hyuk, who instantly takes a liking to her. After a couple of days in Shanghai, Ji-eun discovers her friends have also taken all of her savings, so she has no money to pay for her hotel nor for a ticket back to Korea. So, she creates this elaborate story to tell Young-jae in order to convince him to lend her some cash. Somehow, he agrees. Of course, Ji-eun returns home only to discover her life has been sold, and wouldn't you know it, the person that bought her house was none other than the movie star that hates her and to which she is indebted, Young-jae. He immediately throws her out, but she stands her ground, and they agree that she can stay the the house, but she is basically his slave, cooking and cleaning for him. Meanwhile, Young-jae is caught up in a love triangle, involving himself, Min-hyuk, and their childhood friend, Hye-won. Young-jae loves Hye-won, but Hye-won loves Min-hyuk; Min-hyuk thinks of Hye-won as a little sister. This love triangle soon becomes a love quadrilateral as Ji-eun enters the picture. Min-hyuk, of course, likes Ji-eun, while Young-jae hates her. Ji-eun is somewhat indifferent to both Min-hyuk and Young-jae, but that soon changes. So, Young-jae is about to propose to Hye-won, but she loves Min-hyuk so much that it breaks Young-jae's heart and he somehow marries Ji-eun out of spite. It's a botched marriage because Young-jae hates Ji-eun and she is his slave. They are constantly fighting. Hye-won still goes after Min-hyuk but he tells her that it would never work out and she goes crazy. Young-jae also continues to show great affection towards Hye-won, and (ooooooh) Ji-eun starts to get jealous. We skipped a few epsiodes to watch all of it in time, but in the end it turns out that Ji-eun and Young-jae get a divorce, no one ends up loving Hye-won, and Min-hyuk proposes to Ji-eun. BUT, Young-jae also falls in love with Ji-eun despite hating her before, and he proposes (again) to her, too. Who does she choose???

Like I said, it's convoluted and corny and not really that great, but I really like it.

Friday, August 25, 2006 - Science World
Fresh off a good-night's sleep, my sisters and I hopped on the Skytrain, and went to Science World. I, of course, love science, so it was difficult not to have fun. We started off with a look at their preview for the soon-opening Body Worlds 3 exhibit. It would have been nice to see this considering my love for anatomy and physiology, but it opens on September 15. We then looked at their Our World exhibit that explored about all the major elemental cycles, energy sources, and waste management. Then it was time for our show in the Omnimax Theatre, which is housed in the geodesic dome of Science World. It's hard to describe just how cool this theatre is, with it's dome-screen and everything. It's sorta like the one at Edmonton's Telus World of Science, but better. We saw "Greece: Secrets of the Past," which has prompted be to aspire to one day visit Greece, particularly the island of Santorini.

After the film, we continued to explore the remaining exhibits, including a look at ancient Egypt presented in LEGO. It was pretty neat and probably took hours and hours to make each of the pieces. Also, is it true that people make careers out of just making LEGO masterpieces? Because if it is, I don't know why I am going to freakin' university.

We also had some fun in the permanent exhibits (The Mitchell Odyssey Foundation: Eureka!and The Sara Stern Gallery: Search).

After Science World, we met up with my cousin and she took us to this super sweet Japanese/Korean restaurant, Shabusen Yakiniku House. After that we went to an even sweeter ice creamery. Well, it wasn't really ice cream, but gelato, and there were (get this) 218 flavours to choose from!!!! 218!!!! Although some of them I wouldn't even consider trying (Kimchi, pear gargonzola blue cheese, chocolate chili), others were quite tempting. I settled on a pomegranate sorbetto.

Saturday, August 26 , 2006 - Relax
Instead of rushing back into Vancouver, we decided to join my aunt at a reunion picnic at the Peace Arch Provincial Park. We didn't do much beyond enjoying the sun, eating lots of great food, and playing with the cutest children ever. We met up with my cousin in Vancouver and she took us to get delicious donairs. We then strolled around the Bayshore area, which is across the inlet from Stanley Park (we were going to rent bikes but we were too late). It's a pretty "hoity-toity" area with their yacht clubs and swank bars. We stopped at a Bojangles cafe for some chocolate cake and chai lattes and then visited the Inukshuk in English Bay. After that we went to the Richmond night market - this huge and predominantly oriental flea market selling pretty much anything. We were set on buying a copy of Full House on DVD to take home, but we were unlucky, seeing the last copy go from the lone vendor that had it. To console ourselves, we bought some bubble tea and then made the journey back to my aunt's house for a well-needed sleep.

Sunday, August 27, 2006 - The Aquarium
Our day got off to a very slow start, so we didn't make it to the aquarium until 4:00. Additionally, the aquarium had a power issue and was scheduled to close early that day, at 6:00 rather than 7:00. So we only had two hours to tour it, which turned out to be ample enough. We were looking most forward to this excursion, and, accordingly, I took A LOT of pictures, perhaps too many, and since the lighting was generally quite low, many of them turned out rather blurry. But I still got a few keepers.

Perhaps the most disappointing animals on display were the sharks. Maybe we didn't stay to look at them long enough, but they seemed small and basically uninteresting. The best were the belugas. They are simultaneously the cutest and most disgusting creatures. Their pure whiteness connotates purity and innocence, and their pudginess only adds to it. But when you learn just how much of them is fat, and take a closer look, you feel slightly sick. They have this oblong figures with pockets of fat sticking out in random places, and when they swim, you can see their fat ripple in the water. But then you look at those adorable little faces and you're back to loving them again. The sea otters were almost as cute, but they had this foul odor about them.

After the aquarium, we went to dinner at Fresgo's, this diner-type restaurant in Davie Village. I had perhaps one of my favourite sandwiches, a Reuben. After dinner, we couldn't help but make a return visit to my new favoutire ice creamery. This time I decided on mango colada, which was not as great as I hoped it would be.

Monday, August 28, 2006 - Bust
Originally we had planned on heading to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, but since our expenses were starting to run a little high and admission to the bridge was so steep, we decided we'd visit the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge, which we had visited at least once before in our childhoods. But even that plan fell through, and we ended up doing nothing. That night, though, my aunt hosted a dinner, which featured good food and karaoke. We reunited with my parents, and went to bed early in preparation for the long journey home.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - Mondo Bust
We slept in. We left late. The shocks on our truck went. We were stuck in Abbotsford for an extra four hours. The weather was less than optimal (foggy). The truck was cramped. We tried to stop for a few hours' rest, but that was a gong show. I didn't sleep a wink, and we didn't get home until 8:00 Wednesday morning, greeted by CRAPPY weather, of course.

As a consolation, though, I got to hang out with my best buds, and took in a most excellent movie - Little Miss Sunshine. I haven't laughed that hard at a movie in a long time. It was clever and rather tragic, actually, but still very, very funny. It also had a good soundtrack. Make sure you see it.

If you've made it this far, congratulations, and thank you for a dedicated spat of reading. I appreciate it. I think I'll be posting some more pictures on Flickr.

On the Road, Again... Finally

2006-08-22T21:12:00.000-06:00

Please forward you congratulations to my family for finally deciding what we want to do.

Although it would be nice to spend the dying days of summer as a family, we have opted to split up to do what we want to do. Mom and Dad are going fishing in Chilliwack, while my sisters and I are off to Vancouver for some touristy exploring. Even though we lived on the Lower Mainland for four years, I have never truly seen Vancouver. So, we hope to hit Science World, the Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver Aquarium, Stanley Park, Gastown, etc. We might even head out to Victoria for a day to see my uncle and his new house.

We're leaving tomorrow, and we should be back in a week. It's likely, but not guaranteed, that I will have computer access, although I might not want to recount my mini-holiday until I am home. Nonetheless, I promise more pictures this time.

Unrelatedly, my Spurs won today! Zing! And perhaps my weirdest atrribute dawned on my today: I sleep with my eyes open.

Operation: There Is No Operation

2006-08-20T13:10:00.000-06:00

BAH! I hate that my family never plans anything. Or, they never confide in me any plans that have been made. I thought we were supposed to be off to B.C. on Friday, but I somehow got that confused with the contractor coming over to dig up our backyard. Okay, maybe our departure got bumped to Saturday? Nope, I had a soccer game suddenly pop up in the evening. Now it seems that no one actually knows what is going on - where we're going, when we're going, for how long we're going, or if we are going at all. We try to discuss the issue and work out a plan, but it never gets resolved, a fact that is agitating me immensely.

I think that part of why it is bothering me so much is that I am getting anxious about school. Part of me is quite dreadful in regard to the possible, and more likely probable, difficulty of this "final leg" of my degree. The other part of me is excited about being back on campus, being around people, and immersing myself in things I love. And I suppose I am expecting this jaunt to B.C. to evaporate the last couple of weeks before classes start. I can go, have some fun in the sun, spend time with my family in a beautiful province (not that I have anything against Alberta), and then return with a mere couple of days before "hittin' the books." Waiting is terrible way to pass the time, and we all know what makes time fly.

But enough of my petty woes.

The EPL season kicked off yesterday. While part of me wanted to get up at 5:30 in the morning to take in the triple-header in its entirety, a greater part of me wanted to sleep. As such, I only saw the Bolton-Tottenham game, which was really to my liking as my favourite EPL team is Tottenham. However, they lost, almost embarassingly, by two goals that Bolton scored in the first fifteen minutes of the match. But it's only the first game, and I have full confidence that my Spurs will rise to the top of the table and earn a spot in the Champions League.

Also, who is regularly reading my blog from Italy?

Five "Weirder" Things

2006-08-15T22:33:00.000-06:00

Mostly because I have nothing else to blog about along with the desire to blog, I have decided to reveal five more weird, if not weirder, things about myself.

I have lived in eight different houses, nine if you include The Magic Bus I lived in for six months in Mexico. [The Magic Bus was an old RV that was painted white. It very much resembled an ice cream truck.]
My nose is very sensitive to changes in the atmosphere, and responds by bleeding. If it's too dry - it bleeds; too humid - it bleeds; if the pressure changes suddenly - it bleeds. In the sixth grade I had a nosebleed so severe I was excused from school and rushed to a medicentre (I bled for more than two hours). My nose is possibly most sensitive to atmospheric changes that involve hard objects striking my nasal region at high speeds. I have had too many nosebleeds to count.
I have three cowlicks. If you imagine my head as cuboidal as possible without actually being a cube, I have a cowlick on each of the superior, dorsal vertices. The other is smack in the middle of the hairline on my forehead. As a result, I cannot have bangs, and if my hair is too short, I get these pouffs at the back of my head. I know that cowlicks are not uncommon, and not "weird," but I thought that having three was a little out of the ordinary. And this lady once told me that cowlicks are signs of good fortune, rendering me very fortunate, I suppose.
I hate telephones. I hate making phone calls. I hate answering phone calls. I hate hearing phones ring. At home, I rarely answer the phone, and if I am home alone, I will sooner let the call go to the answering machine than answer it. I don't mind if someone calls for me, as long as I don't have to answer it. Talking on the phone is not a problem. I'm not sure if it is a fear or just a dislike; either way, I don't know from where it originates. Sometimes I think that getting a cell phone might help me get over it just from increased exposure, but I hardly get enough phone calls to necessitate my own cell phone anyway.
When I'm having a meal consisting of different dishes it is very important that the different dishes do not make contact with each other on my plate. For example, say I'm having a meal of rice, steak, and salad. The rice cannot be touching the salad nor the steak in anyway, and the steak and salad must be free of contact as well. If, by chance, two dishes happen to touch, I cringe a little, and then separate them. I will still eat them. However, just because they cannot touch on my plate does not mean that they cannot touch on my fork. For example, say I wanted to take a morsel of steak and a bit of rice in the same mouthful. I'll put the steak on my fork and then scoop up a bit of rice. This is the extent of my weird eating habits - it's not like I eat one dish at a time in a counter-clockwise fashion around my plate, and chew each mouthful exactly twenty-seven times before swallowing or anything.

There, I have fulfilled my urge to blog. And in other news, I peeled about seventy pounds of apples today. Consequently, I will be eating apples in their various cooked forms for the rest of eternity.

Bored Games

2006-08-12T00:51:00.000-06:00

I'm bored.

BORED

Bored beyond satiety.

I'm not tired. I'm not restless. I'm not fidgety. I am just bored. Nothing I do tides me over for very long and I've been doing stuff that normally keeps me happy.

I've been reading my beloved Harry Potter (and the Order of the Phoenix). I started it yesterday after finishing A Million Little Pieces, which I didn't really like, by the by - I had some style issues. Anyway, I am now a couple hundred pages in and I am fully reminded why this book is my least favourite of the series. Holy sugar and spice, Harry is angsty. He drives me NUTS, BERZERK, INSANO. Ugh.

I've been playing Sudoku. I only discovered it a few days ago and I'm currently just honing my skills on the easiest puzzles. Problem is... after about five or six puzzles my brain shuts off and I suddenly have no idea what I'm doing. And then I'm mentally exhausted and bored.

I've been playing Makeover with my little sisters - we round up all the makeup we can find, and we go CRAZY. Well, not really CRAZY, but maybe crazy. And then we take photos (see new profile picture).

I've been playing around with some photos, par example:

I've been scouring the Internet for some fun.

I've been e-mailing people.

I've been watching TV.

And I've been blogging, of course.

For someone as bored as me, I sure have been doing a lot. Just not enough.

Le Sigh. I really hoped that blogging would fill the void that is my boredom, but I was wrong. It provided only a temporary, fleeting sense of satisfaction. And now it's gone. Boy, have I wasted your time. I'm going to bed.

Five "Weird" Things

2006-08-08T17:28:00.000-06:00

Who is it that sings that song..... "Too much time on my hands..." Is it Styx? Some band like Styx? Whoever sings it doesn't really matter. What matters is that I obviously have too much time on my hands to be blogging twice in one day. I have been tagged to do this little survey thing by Monsieur Bergman, so here goes:

I haven't got a run-of-the-mill middle name. Mine is my mother's maiden name, whose middle name is her mother's maiden name, and so on and so forth. It's traditional in my mom's culture. This is partially and coincidentally unfortunate pour moi as I have ended up with the initials K.O.W..
My development from birth was rapid: I was on solid foods at six weeks, I cut my first teeth soon after, I was crawling at three months, walking and talking by seven months. I could read by the time I was three, and had my own signature by five. The first multiplication operation I taught myself was 11 x 20. I skipped the second grade and almost skipped the third. But, I have kind of plateaued since then.
I have very keen eyes, though only when I am wearing my glasses. Although I have poor vision that requires correction, I am very good at scanning scenes to find things.
Though I started reading at an early age, I was never a bookworm. I read so few books in my childhood that I cannot really remember any. The books that really got me interested in reading were the Harry Potter books, and I didn't start reading those until I was fourteen or so. To this day I don't read very much, mostly because during school I don't have the time. But I do make a conscious effort during the summer to read as much as I can. This summer I haven't lived up to expectations, and am just about to finish my eighth book since the beginning of May (five of which I have already read at some time in the past).
I have two birthmarks, one on my arm and one on my ankle. The one on my arm is dark and the one on my ankle is light. They are pretty much the same size and shape. So, it's my theory that the pigmentation that was once in my ankle somehow jumped to my arm prenatally, resulting in two birthmarks.

I'm not sure that these facts are particularly "weird" because they are about me and I don't think that I am "weird." Maybe they're a bit trivial, but they're true. This has reminded me of all the personal tidbits I revealed on my old blog and the very few that I have revealed here (as in favourites, dislikes, pet peeves, etc.). Maybe I'll rectify that. . .

Oh, and I hereby tag:
Nicole, if she has the time
Karen
Future MD
...and anyone else that reads my blog, has their own blog, hasn't done it, and wants to do it.

Obligatory Homecoming Post

2006-08-08T01:29:00.000-06:00

Oh, Saskatchewan, the land where the dominant lifeform is the hay-bail; also the land where I spent the last few days, lappin', lovin', and livin' it up. My family, along with another full family and part of yet another family spent the long weekend at Greig Lake, SK, one of the many lakes in Meadow Lake Provincial Park.

My account in categorized, unordered lists. . .

Things that I did not like about our excursion:

The roads. Good gracious, I am glad Alberta has money to put into our roads. Though perhaps trivial in the grand scheme of things, it's somewhat unnerving driving on a unevenly paved stretch of highway that has no discernable centre line or shoulders for a couple of hours. Not only is it an unpredictable and uncomfortable ride, you start to feel plain ol' embarassed for Saskatchewan.

The arthropod community. Maybe it's because I live in the city and in a different province, for that matter, but Saskatchewan has got some pretty weird bugs, weird and unusually large. Perhaps we were situated by some hotbed of radiation, which has genetically mutated the insects to grow to extraordinary sizes. Or maybe some vacationing witches and wizards are demonstrating to their children the proper use of the Engorgement charm (because the children could not be practicing it themselves - that would be in violation of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery).

The rain. It rained on Friday afternoon, all through the night, and into Saturday afternoon. Not extreme rain accompanied by high winds or anything, just rain. Unstoppable, unignorable rain.

The inexplicably cold nights. I don't know if it was because were right on the lake or because we were so far north, but DANG did it ever get cold at night, cold to the point where I was driven to wear short and pants, two sweaters with hoods, and socks to bed. Mind you, we were sleeping in a tent with only a wafery piece of synthetic fabric between us and the elements. But still - a day that reached a very summery thirty-odd degrees should not be followed by a night where I could see my breath and was awaken simply by how freakin' cold my face felt.

The facilities. I have done a fair bit of camping in my day, and have accordingly encountered a wide range of camping-washrooms. On the whole, these facilities were actually quite good. There were "flush" outhouses, and free and clean showers. I think it was their proximity (or lack thereof) to our site that bummed me out. The closest outhouse was a good three hundred metres from our site. Normally not too bad, but in the middle of the night when The Urge is calling and it's pouring rain outside, three hundred metres might as well be three hundred kilometres.

Things that I did like about our excursion:

The night sky. Being out of the city affords me the chance to stargaze, albeit with the naked eye. It's still fun though, and one of my most favourite things to do ever is to watch the sky for satellites. Over the weekend I not only found countless satellites, but saw a handful of shooting stars, and on Sunday night was privy to a wonderful display of the Northern Lights. Oddly, though, I never saw the moon. I'm pretty sure we're not close to a new moon, so I really don't know why I didn't see it.

The lake. I was a little skeptical about going to a prairie lake. In my experience, they've got nothing on the mountain lakes of British Columbia. But this one was alright. It was sizeable, not too busy considering it was the long weekend, and had good spots for the various watersports in which we partook. The watersports in themselves were another little bundle of fun. Between the fourteen of us that were camping we had two boats, two wakeboards, three sets of waterskis, two kneeboards, two slalom skis, and two towable innertubes. Perhaps the most fun was the tubing. If you have never been tubing, it'd be hard to explain the sort of exhilaration it gives you. I can liken it to that of a roller coaster, but it's not exactly the same. With tubing you're holding on for dear life, being dragged and bounced around at the mercy of the boat's driver. You're horrified of what might happen, but laugh when it's over; you're anticipating your puppet-master's next move, but still anxious in the unpredictability. You're flying and sinking and travelling at what feels like a million miles per hour. You're laughing and breathing heavy, knocking into others and hurting from holding on so tightly. Sometimes you're bitin' it, hitting a huge wave and flipping over, face-planting onto the hard, watery surface.

The food. When you're preparing to go camping, you generally stock up on unperishables. Among unperishables are some delicious bits of junk. Crackers and chips and granola bars and marshmallows and sugary cereals and pop and juice. Then there's the roastable foods, stuff you can cook over open flame: hot dogs, hamburgers, canned beans, etc. Then there is just plain old good camping food. Each meal we ate was prepared for fourteen people - that's a lot of food. Each meal we ate was absolutely delicious. I couldn't help but indulge a little.

The company. I'll admit that I felt a little out of place at the beginning, and still did at the end but to a lesser extent. I felt like an outsider. Among the nine children were a pair of hockey teammates, a pair of basketball teammates, and a triplet of soccer teammates, none of which included myself (nor one of my sisters). I am twenty years old, my sister is eighteen years old, and the next oldest were the hockey teammates at sixteen years. It wasn't impossible for us to relate to them, but it certainly wasn't easy. All the young 'uns would go off into their groups or would mingle without my sister and I. That left us with the parents, to whom it was just as difficult to relate. They just talked and shared stories and recipes and whatnot. So, my sister and I would sit and listen. Sometimes we went off to read. But in the end, I was still there with my family, another great family, and another great part of a family. We shared many a'laugh, either out on the lake, at dinner, or around the fire (there was an ongoing joke about the two hockey players sharing a tent with Brokeback Mountain references and whatnot. It was only furthered by the boys themselves: one night around the fire one asks the other, "So, do you wanna go have a shower?" without any intention of it sounding the way it did. The other replied with a disgusted "No," and everyone busted a gut).

I'm sorry that I don't have more pictures. Honestly and regrettably, I didn't take that many, and those that I did take include people, and I don't think I should be posting picture of people without their permission. But I can give you an idea of what it looked like. The lake - big, watery, greenish. Around the lake - lots of trees. On the highway - lots of flat land, cows, and bails of hay. It was wet and dark when it rained, and dry, hot, and bright when it didn't. But, I suspect that The Fam may be taking off to British Columbia in the coming days, and I promise to take more photos then.

Thank you Nicole, Karen, Future MD, and Erin for your sweet comments.

Un P'tit Hiatus

2006-08-02T16:58:00.000-06:00

I am off to the glorious and wonderful Saskatchewan until Monday-ish, presumably without any Internet access. So, uh... like, leave me a sweet comment to read when I return.

Losing Touch

2006-07-30T21:54:00.000-06:00

If you read this blog with any regularity, you will notice I haven't mentioned sports in a while (at least not in their most pure, athletic nature). When I returned to the world of blogging it wasn't my intention to ever really blog about sports... but then it was inevitable that I did - the Oilers went on their glorious playoff run and the World Cup basically took over my life. Lately, though, sports have been omitted from my life, even my participation in them. So, this post will redemptive in a way.

Hockey

After the Hurricanes won The Cup, I tried to put as much distance between myself and the aftermath as I could, partially to let time heal my wounded spirit, paritally because the off-season just isn't my thing. I mentioned it a loooong time ago: I only really like hockey on the ice. I'm not particularly interested in the business aspect of it (or of any sport, really), and with the new CBA and whatnot, there seems to be a lot more business. While I don't care for numbers and other details, the player transactions still interest me - I like to know where players are staying or headed, how teams are going to shape up for the upcoming season. Of course, I am particularly interested in how the Oilers are going to shape up, how they are going to follow last season's unexpectedly awesome performance. This is where the wheelin' and dealin' upsets me slightly. Currently it's harder for me to tell whether this new CBA is making it easier to build a franchise, or easier to deconstruct one. Opporunities easily gained are accordingly easily lost. It just seems to me that the NHL is now rental hockey with all these one- and two-year deals being signed... I don't like it. Conversely, I am ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED that Ales Hemsky was inked for six years with the Oilers. It's an excited type of relief knowing that that sort of talent is going to mature with this club.

Eh.... I was going to write more on hockey, but I lost my train of thought. On a tangentially related note, here I am linked as a general hockey blog, and this is the first mention of hockey I have made in over a month. How embarrassing!

Football (Soccer)

I got caught up in the painful aftermath of the World Cup, but it obviously wasn't over the actual sport. I have been trying to keep myself informed on the Serie A match-fixing scandal fallout, but since I hardly get a decent chance at watching any league games during the regular season anyway, I really am not that interested.

Circumstances both within and beyond my control have resulted in me playing soccer only once in the last month. That once was less than fun as well: I had to mind the net against one of the better teams in the league when my team was short players on a hot and windy day. And with the current weather, it doesn't look like I will be playing tomorrow night.

Football (Football)

After cheering the Esks onto victory last season, I had every intention of doing the same this season. I had it all planned out: I'd watch all their games, go to a few if I could, maybe even log onto FSN for some fantasy sports fun. But that totally fell through. I bet you I don't even know their record right now. 2-3? Have they even played that many games? The only part of their season I saw was last week against the Bombers, LOSING in the most ridiculous fashion. Painful, it was.

Okay, so maybe this post was more about resignation that redemption. But I assure you I will be back on sporty form come October. The Oilers will be on the ice, European leagues will be well into their seasons, the Grey Cup will be approaching, I will be playing my beloved indoor soccer.

"Dreamer, you stupid little dreamer." - Supertramp

2006-07-23T01:16:00.000-06:00

I'm running a little low on blogging material, so I'll return to wallow in my own abyss for the time being. Well, it's now less of an abyss and more like a really deep lake.

I've decided that this self-analysis needs some rules, some restrictions, some simplification.

Rule #1: No daydreaming.

It have made it a habit to daydream, to think up different ways I could live or change my life to be happier, more satisfied. Well, I have decided this is too dangerous. It imprisons me in a false reality. I've realized that just because I can think something up doesn't make it possible, and I can't want something badly enough to make it happen. Although this rule is going to be nearly impossible to implement, the least I can do is to put less effort and less belief into daydreaming.

Rule #2: Think ahead, but not too far.

As an example, I've been thinking that maybe this whole grad school dilemma is a little premature. Now, that might be a little counter-intuitive considering I am on the verge of completing a bachelor's degree - wouldn't it be the best time to think about grad school? In a mini-epiphany I've figured that schools will always be there and I will always have (by this time next summer) a bachelor's degree. So why waste my time forcing life into happening when I could be letting it happen, living it? Maybe by this time next year I'll be preparing for grad school, maybe I won't. I'm just going to wait it out. Things change. People change. I might not even want to go to grad school after all. So, I have resolved to think of the immediate future, only a couple months in advance. After all, if I think too far ahead, I'm apt to daydream.

Rule #3: Eyes on the prize.

Now, this whole "go with the flow" philosophy might be a danger in itself - I don't want to become ambitionless, meandering, an aimless twit threatening to go nowhere. Eventually I would love to put "PhD" at the end of my name, I'd love to have money, to travel, to start a family.... I just have to keep those goals in the back of my mind. Ultimately, I want to be happy, and in order to be happy now, I should be living in The Now.

It actually took me a long time to write this. Off and on I have added and modified little bits. It's still just a bit of self-indulgent bosh, though.

La Fin de l'Affaire Zizou

2006-07-20T12:53:00.000-06:00

According to the BBC:

Zinedine Zidane has been banned for three games and fined £3,260 for head-butting Italy's Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final.
Following an investigation by world governing body Fifa, Materazzi was suspended for two games and fined £2,170 for provoking Zidane.
A Fifa statement said: "Both players stressed Materazzi's comments had been defamatory but not of a racist nature."
Zidane's ban is academic as he retired from football after the finals.
However the 34-year-old will instead work with football's world governing body Fifa for three days.
Fifa added: "Zinedine Zidane has agreed to do community service work with children and youngsters.
"During the course of their hearings both players also apologised to Fifa for their inappropriate behaviour and expressed their regret at the incident."
Zidane spent 90 minutes at a private hearing on Thursday, while Materazzi appeared before the Fifa panel on 14 July.
Playing in the last game of his career, Zidane snapped during extra time of the World Cup final.
The Frenchman later claimed Materazzi had insulted his mother and his sister.
However, Materazzi maintained his comments were not "racist, religious, or political" and he added: "I also said nothing about his mother."
Despite the incident, Zidane went on to win the Golden Ball for the tournament's best player and despite suggestions to the contrary, Fifa has confirmed the Frenchman will be allowed to keep the award.
"It wasn't even discussed at the meeting," said Fifa spokesman Andreas Herren.
Materazzi's suspension will keep him out of Italy's opening two Euro 2008 qualifiers against Lithuania on 2 September and France on 6 September.

Will we ever know exactly what Materazzi had said? Probably not, but at least we know it wasn't racist. While it's "nice" to see justice being served to both parties, I'm still having qualms with Materazzi's fine and suspension, referring back to the Totti-Poulsen spitting incident. Then again, maybe this will act as a deterrent, warning players that provocation is now a punishable offense. Ultimately, I'm still diappointed with Zizou.

L'Affaire Zizou

2006-07-15T01:25:00.000-06:00

Sorry. Back to the World Cup, again.

It's not going to be easy to remember World Cup 2006 as the great tournament it was with L'Affair Zizou hanging over its finale. My initial reactions were of disbelief, disgust, and disappointment (in that particular order). Now that the details are beginning to emerge, I'm having trouble reconciling just how I feel.

Ultimately and obviously, it was a display of poor sportsmanship by Zidane, provoked or not. Accordingly, it was a terrible way to end a beautiful career. But now that Materazzi admits that he insulted Zidane, are we supposed to sympathize with the football hero? I guess that depends on the nature of the insult, a veritable hotbed of speculation without confirmation. While Zidane claims it concerned his mother and sister, Materazzi denies this, claiming that, to him, the mother is sacred (having lost his own at a young age). Materazzi also denies calling Zidane a terrorist, apparently not knowing what a terrorist is. Will we ever know the truth? Maybe. There is a hearing scheduled for July 20. Will it all unfold then?

There has been an investigation opened against Materazzi. This is where I start to have mixed feelings. My reasons are these:

I am fundamentally opposed to the investigation being opened. Materazzi's agent hit the nail on the head when he referred to the Totti spitting incident of Euro 2004. Long story short, Totti spits at Poulsen, Totti gets suspended for three games. Totti didn't spit at Poulsen for no reason, so why wasn't an investigation opened against him? Is FIFA setting a double standard?
If, hypothetically, Materazzi did not mention Zidane's mother and/or sister, nor called Zidane a terrorist, and simply used a standard, run-of-the-mill insult, has he not acted like 99% (a hypothetical figure) of all the other players, only to be unexpectedly given a head-butt in return? Yes, methinks.
If, hypothetically, Materazzi mentioned the word "terrorist" and any other racially- or religiously-related insults, is he more than a victim? Yes, methinks. FIFA thinks so, too. Sepp Blatter, FIFA president, is attempting to extinguish the rampant racism in soccer. As reported by the BBC, "If the verdict is that the Italian is found to have been racist he could be fined £4,400 and suspended for five matches." That's fair, within the regulations and whatnot. However, Zizou, although a victim of Materazzi's crime, is still not innocent of his own.

It's difficult to separate a reaction to a hypothesis and a reaction to a fact. If I subscribe to the hypothesis that Materazzi committed an act of racism, then yes, I feel for Zidane and Materazzi then looks like less of a victim and more of a villain. But, if I simply accept the fact that the actual dialogue that led to the head-butt has not yet been confirmed, then all I can say is that Zidane was unsportsmanlike in his reaction to whatever Materazzi had said according to the rules set-out by FIFA and enforced by the referees.

Sorting out a stance on this is really a philosophical battle. First, I have to free myself from the shackles of the omnipotent dichotomy of good and evil. I want to think "he's guilty and he's innocent," but maybe they are each a bit of both. Additionally, it's hard to put shade on the golden light that Zizou has forever been emitting in my mind; he couldn't possibly be capable of such filth, could he? On the same token, it's hard to accept that this Materazzi character I have known of since the middle of June, as really only highly instrumental in My Dearest Zizou's undignified exit, can have any of the same glorious virtues as him; he must be evil, yes?

Secondly, I have to ask myself, "when is The Game no longer The Game?" When is it the real world, and not a match of soccer? Is it always straddling the line between the two? What rules apply when and where? When did their exchange become between two men rather than between two footballers? Why isn't the red card enough resolution?

So, I suppose my conclusion is inconclusive. (<--I think that's a double entendre)

Snowballin' in July

2006-07-11T22:03:00.000-06:00

Now that the World Cup is over, I can return to the real purpose of blogging: soul-searching. So consider yourself warned - this post is going to be long and cerebral, probably boring and mostly for my own good.

Lately I have been a bit angsty. Not quite emo (I haven't yet written bad poetry or cut myself). I think the root of this angst is academic in nature: grad school. First off, am I going to go? I think I want to and my gut says yes. So where am I going to go? The UofA seems a logical choice, considering I know the school and live here and all. But I've been thinking that I might want a bit of change, and have thus been looking at schools in the UK and Australia. A select few of them offer a taught Masters degree that lasts one year and is quite thorough, walking one through scientific writing and medical statistics among other things, and research project at the end. See, although I've worked very hard on my undergrad, I somehow think I might not be ready to plunge into research by the end of it. This degree seems like a nice preparation and transition. And it's only a year! I could have a Masters by the time I'm freshly 22 (should I plunge right into my Masters).

Okay, so say that I am all gung ho about going to the UK for a year. How the heck am I going to finance that? My parents have always said that they will pay for my first degree (with the exception of my first year, which was covered by scholarships), but that I would be on my own for subsequent degrees. I'd obviously have to work, but it would take at least a year to accumulate the estimated $50,000+. Would I want to take on the burden of a loan? Could I get more scholarships? Should I start playing the lottery? (I realize that I am being a bit of a nitwit here, considering I am currently unemployed).

Then there's the whole application process. This doesn't seem like something to be taken lightly. I'm pretty sure my grades will be okay, but what about the other things they might be looking for, things that other applicants might have that'll give them The Edge - research experience, published research, good academic connections and references. I think I have a year of schmoozin' and hob-knobbin' ahead of me.

This angst is potentiated by the fact that I have a beast of a year to get through before the possibility of graduate studies. I'm usually itching to get back to school about this time of year, wanting to learn and immerse myself in purpose. But not this year. Oh no. While it will be nice to get back into a routine, I am not excited about all the learning - or attempts at learning - to come. Because I was a bit of a doddler in my first two years, I have the core of my program crammed into my final year. It's going to be tough.

Alas, this angst starts to permeate beyond the topic at hand, hence the title of this post. It makes you start to question your life and where it's headed. You start asking yourself, over and over again, a string of hardcore questions, and you can never seem to give yourself a straight answer. Am I ready for this? Is this really what I want to do? What else could I be doing? Is it too late to make a change? If I were to change, to what might it be? Oooh, that one's the killer. It really gets you thinking.... So, here are five other paths (in no particular order) I could be pursuing as fervently as my current :

Multimedia artist: I'm not a bad drawer/painter/what have you. I'd be better if I had more training and practiced more. I have always loved painting (oil and acryllic, water colour not so much), and I am currently starting to fall in love with photography. Would I love being an artist? Yes. Is it as lucrative as I would like it to be? Potentially not.
Writer: I used to love to write when I was in elementary school. In the sixth grade I wrote a 32-page, hand-written, single-spaced, dragon slayer story. It had allusions and played with archetypes and everything. In junior high school I picked up a knack for writing poems. It's not until about high school that my brain made a switch into science-mode and my writing skills went on the decline. I went through a rebuilding stage during English 101, and now I think that, with a bit more practice, I could be a decent writer (probably of non-fiction).
Chef: I was making scrambled eggs at the age of three, Kraft Dinner and hot dogs at the age of four, pot roast dinners at the age of nine. I like to cook. I like to watch others cook. I like to eat! My paternal grandparents were restaurant-owners once upon a time. My dad is a pretty good cook. It might just be in my blood.
Chemical engineer: I once had what I thought was an undying love for chemistry. I slaughtered high school chemistry, and I was going to become an engineer because of it. But then I didn't. This love started to taper off after CHEM 101/102 and was virtually gone by the time I took CHEM 261/263. If I had pursued it earlier I think I would've loved it, though.
Medical Doctor: Until about the time I was eight and decided that I wanted to be a lawyer, I wanted to be a doctor. It's not entirely out of the question at this stage of the game, either. I just don't know if I could handle the pressure.

And then sets in the depression as I start to like these other prospects more than my current choice. This depression, of course, creeps about and makes me start to like the ways I want to be more than the ways I currently am. I won't go into the horrifying details, but suffice to say that I feel worse and the end of it all because I don't do anything about it. What's more, I start to feel selfish because here I am, my biggest worries in life concerning an education that most of the world will never see; I'm not ill, not starving, not war-ravaged. Then I wonder if I am just a horrible person.

There is hope for an angst-free existence, though. I am currently building up some inspiration for change, sparked by a few words from Australian musician Ben Lee: "Awake is the new sleep, so wake up and do it - whatever it is."

(I'll soon return to something a little less self-indulgent like the whole Zizou thing, or my quest for a new camera.)

The Day Zizou Broke My Heart

2006-07-09T17:39:00.000-06:00

Why? WHY?!?!?! The French shootout loss was more tolerable after the knife was unnecessarily twisted by Zizou and his uncharacteristic classlessness. I just can't believe it. What a disgrace, a smudge on a wonderful career.

Kudos to Italy, though. It just wasn't in the stars for Les Bleus.

The End

2006-07-07T19:18:00.000-06:00

ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!

Hmmmm...

2006-07-01T16:15:00.000-06:00

Did I mention that I was predicting the losers of each quarterfinal? Ha ha...hmmm...oh.

Okay, so I went 0-4. But two of the four matches were extremely close. Interestingly, it turned out that I actually kind of like England after all (that is easier to say now that they are out, though). Kudos to them for staving off elimination with only ten men. Once the match edged nearer to the shoot-out I knew they were doomed, though. Ricardo is just too good under pressure.

And HOORAH FRANCE!! My doubt worked again. They won. They beat Brazil. Now I am superstitiously afraid to profess my support for them. They face Portugal, who I am no longer that fond of. I am back to pretty much hating Cristiano Ronaldo, and, for some reason, Figo just isn't doing it for me.

So, shall I put my prediction skills (or lack thereof) to the test yet again? I think so:
Germany - Italy
Portugal - France *

*Here's hoping this doesn't backfire.

On a completely unrelated note, here are some Italian footballers in designer undawears (click the frosty - or steamy - background images for a better look).

Also, today is Canada Day. I don't think I am unpatriotic, but Canada Day is meaningless to me - unless enjoying fireworks means something. Happy 139th nonetheless!

Predict-o-Matic WC06

2006-06-29T12:05:00.000-06:00

Okay, so my Quarterfinal predictions were pretty crappy - I went 4-4. But in my defense:

the Italy-Australia match was crazy - nearing the end, Australia was in the driver's seat. If it had gone to extra time I am sure Australia would have won. Nevertheless, the winning goal was correctly called, heartbreaking, but correct.
the Netherlands might have made a comeback had the two teams been playing an actual game of soccer.
the Switzerland-Ukraine game was the ultimate toss-up and I even called their parity.

I've got nothing on France. They surprised me. I made the wrong call. But being wrong has never felt so right, as they say. Allez Les Bleus!

So, let's put my predicting skills to the test yet again.... my Semifinal picks:
Germany - Argentina

This might be a toss-up.
Germany has been looking better than I had originally thought. Again, they've got home field advantage.
Argentina have been excellent. I hope they start Messi and/or Tevez.

Italy - Ukraine

Ukraine is, as the Beatles say, getting better all the time. They are the dark horse.
Italy are missing a key starting defender in Materazzi. All the pressure is on them as well - no one's really expecting Ukraine to win.
It might come down to the wire, but I think Ukraine has it in them

England - Portugal

England has shown that they are a fairly good team, although maybe not performing to their full potential.
Portugal is hurtin'. No Deco. No Costinha. Possibly no Ronaldo (although reports are saying he has an 80% chance of returning). Maybe they'll lose their heads again, too. Who knows?

Brazil - France

Again, a tough call. I want France to win, but the question is can they?
France have been looking better. They have finally found some offence, particularly in Ribery. All they need is for Henry to light it up (and stay onside, for that matter).
Brazil is just too good. THEY'RE TOO GOOD!!!
Everytime I doubt France, they storm back. I hope it works again this time.

A Good Ol' Game of Cards

2006-06-25T15:07:00.000-06:00

Portugal 1:0 Netherlands

OH BOY! I knew this game was going to be a close and interesting one, but I thought it was going to be because of smart and sharp play from both sides. Little did I expect the hackfest that it was. Sixteen bookings. Four sendings-off. Some missed calls and many missed opportunities.

In my opinion, the officiating was good. There were not any remarkably bad calls, but there was just so much off-the-ball happenings that it might have been impossible to keep a high level of control. It was ugly.

I predicted a Netherlands win, but that was only because I wanted them to win a little bit more. I thought they were technically and tactically matched coming in, and nothing on the pitch really proved otherwise. I was surprised that Ruud van Nistelrooij didn't make an appearance, and I was disappointed that the Netherlands couldn't capitalize on their man advantages. Kudos to the Portuguese defense, though. They held the Dutch off beautifully (when they weren't fouling them, that is).

Despite his pretty face and sweet soccer skillz, I have never really liked Cristiano Ronaldo. I find him showy and cocky and a bit of a drama queen. But after he had to leave today's game because of injury, my opinion of him swayed slightly. He cried and I found that somewhat endearing. I know what it's like to want to play for your team and I can only image the heightened passion of wanting to play for your country; not being able to do so because of something out of your hands is devastating. This guy loves the game and his country, and that I can respect.

To the Nitty Gritty

2006-06-23T16:36:00.000-06:00

Today marked the end of the group stage at the World Cup, so I am now able to see how my predictions compared to the results.

To see the actual results, go here.

Here are my predictions for the group rankings (those in yellow represent correct predictions):

Group A
Germany
Poland
Ecuador
Costa Rica

Group B
England
Sweden
Paraguay
Trinidad and Tobago

Group C
Netherlands
Argentina
Serbia and Montenegro
Ivory Coast

Group D
Portugal
Mexico
Iran
Angola

Group E
Czech Republic
Italy
Ghana
USA

Group F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan

Group G
France
Switzerland
Korea Republic
Togo

Group H
Spain
Ukraine
Saudi Arabia
Tunisia

Ranking Record: 15-17 = 0.469 - not so hot

As for my predictions for the Round of 16 (those team in pink represent incorrect predictions - actual advancing team in parentheses):
Argentina
Brazil
Croatia (Australia)
Czech Republic (Ghana)
England
France
Germany
Italy
Mexico
Netherlands
Poland (Ecuador)
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Ukraine

Round of 16 Record: 13-3 = 0.813 - better

My Quarterfinal predictions (predicted winner in green):
Germany - Sweden
England - Ecuador
Argentina - Mexico
Portugal - Netherlands
Italy - Australia
Brazil - Ghana
Spain - France
Switzerland - Ukraine

I'm not too sure about the Portugal-Netherlands game; it really could go either way. I'm giving Australia the "upset" over Italy because of their momentum. And sorry, France, but even though you did well in your last group match, I have not yet regained a whole lot of faith. I hope you can prove me wrong, though. Switzerland-Ukraine is also a little up in the air... Switzerland's defence might outshine Ukraine's offence.

Krista McBlogWriter

2006-06-22T15:25:00.000-06:00

To overcome the nuissance of having two games broadcast simultaneously, my father and I made arrangements so we could watch both at once (see left). We watch one of the games with sound, and glance back and forth during natural breaks in each game. I was surprised at how easy it was to follow both games.

I accidentally slept in this morning and missed the first halves of the Czech Republic-Italy and Ghana-USA games. No biggie, though; the more exciting matches were on this afternoon.

Japan 1:4 Brazil
Finally, Brazil, finally! And all it took was a hole out of which to dig yourselves. That was the Brazil everyone was expecting. And who better than Fatty McAnxietyAttack (aka Ronaldo) to step into the spotlight with two goals?

Australia 2:2 Croatia
I thought that I would be backing Les Bleus de la belle France with gusto and ferver, but after they put out two far-less-than-impressive performances I can now only hope that the gods of good fortune are shining down on them. What I didn't expect was to cheer for the Socceroos almost insanely. I was screaming at the televsion, clenching my jaw, covering my eyes, sitting on my hands. This match was pretty intense: the whole Australia-Croatia connection and referee Graham Poll (Cranky McCardFlasher). It started off okay... not too many cards, not quite the hackfest it was expected to be. Croatia scored quickly, after which Australia dominated possession. I wasn't impressed with Huddink's decision to replace number one keeper Schwarzer with Beanpole McBallFumbler (Kalac) - The Socceroos might have taken three points if it weren't for his blunder. The match ended well - Kewell's sweet sweet goal and lots of cards. And most importantly, Australia's berth into the Round of 16.

Speaking of which, my predictions, thus far, are proving to be okay, my rankings not so great. But more on that later.

2006-06-20T22:02:00.000-06:00

Yeah. Whatever. We have, like, FIVE, anyway.

Not Yet Sick of Sports

2006-06-18T23:00:00.000-06:00

France 1:1 Korea Republic
Zut alors! Mon dieu! Merde!
For the love of France, what happened? I'm not saying that France deserved to win nor do I want to discredit the Koreans, but, come on, WIN ALREADY! Somebody please perform the Heimlich: France has been choking for far too long. I honestly thought that Henry's early goal was going to open the floodgates. Yet, they just sat on it, hoped it would be enough, hoped they could keep the Koreans at bay for eight-one more minutes. And Zizou, ZIZOU!! What were you thinking? Were you even thinking? His yellow card-offense was senseless, completely and utterly senseless. It was an unnecessary foul - not even a tackle. And he knew he had another yellow on his record. It's like he wanted to get it, he wanted to miss the next match and ensure a French demise... he's sending a message to Domenech: do not resuscitate.

Brazil 2:0 Australia
I'll admit it: I bought into the Brazil hype. I thought they were going to be unstoppable, unbelievable, amazing, beautiful, etc. But, you know, I am not impressed. Are there too many big names? I don't know. Have they just not got their rhythm? I don't know. They have shown flashes of brilliance, but few and far between. Their defense looks pedestrian at times. Their biggest name, Ronaldinho, has yet to hit the mark or leave a mark. It's lucky that they have come out with two wins. Then again, it's winning that matters; effort stays unmentioned on the scoreboard. If anything, it's a meeting with Argentina that everyone should be avoiding.

Croatia 0:0 Japan
One of the more exciting matches I have seen so far. There's something about the tension in a scoreless game that is unlike the tension in a one-goal-game... It's not more intense, per se, but you know that breaking the tension is going to feel that much more sensational. Of course, there is the anticlimactic punch in the gut when the final whistle blows, the score unchanged: it's over, you're winded, and there's nothing you can do about it.

None of the groups have been truly decided yet, though some teams will be playing for jack in the third group round. Some groups are still completely wide open, which makes for more crazy go nuts fun.

Oh, Oilers, how you make me so happy. I don't know what to say. Sorry, I guess, for doubting you ever so slightly. Thank you for being so resilient and getting this far. Now it has all come down to one game. I won't make solid a prediction, but I will speculate a little. Carolina will not play as they did last night - no chance. They have the home crowd, they have the slump to get out of. Accordingly, Edmonton will not play as they did last night. They have some momentum and a glorious story to finish, but will it be enough? Who knows? I hope it's an even game. I hope it's physical and I hope the officiating is better. I hope it's exciting and nail-biting and cardiac arrest-inducing. I hope to be puking my guts out with anxiety. And I hope for a win.

New and Not-So-New

2006-06-16T14:27:00.000-06:00

If you read this blog with any regularity, you will have noticed that I changed my template. Not only was the other one a lot a bit boring, this one reminds me of a microarray, which in turn reminds me of my love for microbiology and science.

World Cup: More wrenches are being thrown! Even though I said that my predictions were virtually baseless, I thought that they were at least safe. Ecuador won again, advancing themselves; Poland lost, ensuring their demise. Trinidad and Tobago are still in it, too. Argentina is going crazy - their match versus the Netherlands is going to be very interesting. Angola is playing well, too. They held Portugal in their opener for most of the game, losing only by a goal in the end, and they are curretnly holding Mexico in the same fashion (although Mexico is arguably not quite in this game). I'm excited about this weekend's matches.

Hockey: Oilers are still "in it." Maybe it's better to say that they are not "out of it." Whichever; it's not over. They are still facing elimination, but they might have the edge in Game 6 - home ice, home crowd, momentum from a big Game 4 win. GO OILERS GO!!!

Other:
-While I am glad that Nicole is doing well in la belle France, I am excited for her return home. I miss her dearly.
-I have somehow become involved in Yahoo! Answers. It's kind of a dumb idea - I'm sure many of the questions people ask can be answered with a simple search engine search.... some people ask some lame questions..... some people give some lame answers. But it's also kind of fun reading what people have to ask, seeing if you know what others don't and vice versa.
-I have periodically been involved in some healthy and what I find interesting banter about avian flu with a fellow blogger. It started here and continues here.
-I am getting sick sick sick of this weather. Ugh.

The Best Tournament in the World

2006-06-12T16:39:00.000-06:00

And here I thought I was going to go blog crazy once this gem of a competition started. I contemplated doing game analyses, but since my readership is quite low it would ultimately be for my own reading. Stage 1, the group stage, is far from being complete, but already some teams are throwing a wrench in my predictions: Ecuador, Trinidad & Tobago, Australia. Everything else, though, has gone according to plan.

I have watched all the games thus far, and the best that I have seen were the T&T-Sweden match and the USA-Czech Republic match. T&T-Sweden ended in a nil-nil draw. T&T outwilled Sweden: not a favourite, number two keeper,down a man for almost an entire half, very little possession, but they still came out even. There were many, many Swedish chances, and fantastic goaltending from the T&T keeper, Hislop. The USA-Czech Republic game was a spectacle of fine team play from the Czechs. They beat the Americans 3-0. And not to discredit the American team (they did have some quality chances), but I think they lost on account of poor tactics and poor adaptation. Their set plays were never a threat. Almost every corner and every free kick in a potentially threatening area was a short pass that resulted in nothing. They also tried and continued to try to play the ground game while they were getting killed by the Czechs' aerial game.

Another game of note: Ghana 0-2 Italy. Ghana looked very strong. I was impressed. Good possession, good netminding, good passing. They just need a finisher. It couldn't have been a one-goal game if it weren't for that defensive blunder.

Tomorrow, Mes Bleus are finally taking the field against Switzerland. Brazil is also playing (against Croatia). There has been a lot of assumptions about Brazil: it's genereally accepted that they are going to take their group handily, which is spurring a lot of talk about who they will face in the next round and how teams in Group E are going to have to play in order to avoid meeting them. I would love nothing more for Brazil to lose a game, to finish second, or not even move on at all. But that might be just a crazy girl's fancy because they are that good.

There is also an Oilers' game tonight. I, unfortunately, have a soccer game at 6:30, and will thus miss watching the game in its entirety. It seems sad that I watched the previous three series with such gusto, and this one, the BIG ONE, I am not able to watch at all. It's probably the most interesting one yet, too. But, I suppose there is little I can do about it.

I watched bits and pieces of the last game, and was pleased that the Oilers won. They looked like they were supposed to, and I hope they can continue that play tonight. And Jussi - good on ya, kiddo (maybe just try to look a bit better outside the blue). If he has a repeat performance I will awe him as I awed Roli when he stepped in up at the beginning of the playoffs. Matt Greene also started to show his worth. I was a little disappointed with Hemsky, though. Dangle it! Shoot it! Do anything except lose it! Show us how brilliant we know you are!

Vive la France!! Go Oilers!!

World Cup 2006

2006-06-08T19:49:00.000-06:00

The last time this wondrous tournament was upon us I was just finishing up the eleventh grade and had recently turned 16. Just a child. Since it was co-hosted by Japan and South Korea, I had to wake up hours before school to take in as much live action as possible, and even still, I didn't get to see as much of it as I would have liked. This time around, however, I am a much older child that has neither the host's time zone nor school to get in the way of watching this tournament in its entirety. I have made the TV schedule to hang on my fridge and I've set my alarm.

Soccer and hockey are sort in balance as my favourite sport duo. While I watch more hockey than I do soccer, I am probably more technically and tactically knowledgeable in soccer, having played it for many years. But as I do not watch soccer that often (occasional EPL, La Liga, and Serie A games and practically zero international games), I am entitled to make only virtually baseless predictions, but predictions nonetheless.

Henceforth I shall rank the teams in each group in the order I think the will finish Stage 1, thus indiciating who I see going on to the Round of 16, and I shall provide reasons, if any, for my choices. (For more entertaining predictions check out mon ami, Cyrille de Lasteyrie at Bonjour America.)

Group A
Germany
Poland
Ecuador
Costa Rica

I don't know very much about Ecuador or Costa Rica, but their warm up matches have not been particularly impressive.
I also know little about Poland except that they too have had less that impressive warm up matches, and that I cannot pronounce many of their names.
I will give Germany home field advantage, and the fact that they have weaker opponents, even though they will not have captain Ballack and their goalie has admitted having problems handling the newly designed World Cup ball.

Group B
England
Sweden
Paraguay
Trinidad and Tobago

Although England has not fared especially well in recent international competitions, I think they have a pretty tight squad this time around, even without Rooney. They have a very solid midfield with the likes of Gerrard (even if he's potentially out), Beckham, and Lampard, and some pretty good strikers too - Crouch and Owen. Not to mention Campbell on defense; he's a beast.
I know Sweden is good, but I don't know much about them. They've got Larsson and Ibrahimovic (remember that Euro 2004 goal???).
I know nothing about Paraguay and T&T.

Group C
Netherlands
Argentina
Serbia and Montenegro
Ivory Coast

Holland is a pretty good team: Van der Sar in net, van Nistelrooy, Robben, van Bronckhorst. Although, it's beyond me why Davids and Seedorf aren't there....
I don't think debutants S&M and Ivory Coast are going to fare that well, so Argentina gets second place by default (though they're not bad, either - Crespo and Cambiasso)

Group D
Portugal
Mexico
Iran
Angola

Portugal has Figo, FIGO!!!! And Ronaldo. And Valente. And Maniche. And Gomes. And Pauleta.
I don't know much about Mexico, but I'm not so certain that they'll hold that second place finish. I think Iran might surprise everybody.
As much as I would like Angola to do well, I somehow just don't see it.

Group E
Czech Republic
Italy
Ghana
USA

Sorry USA. It's not that I don't like Americans. I just don't think you're going to do well.
I think Ghana is the best African team in the tournament, but they won't advance on account of having the Czechs and Italians in their group. I think they will surprise many as well.
Italy always fairs quite well. Plus Totti seems hopeful to play (I watched the match where he busted up his leg/ankle. It was pretty brutal).
I just love the Czechs. Nedved. Cech. Baros. Koller.

Group F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan

As much as I would like to see Australia advance (I like Kewell and Viduka), I don't think they can take Croatia. Brazil is a bit of a no-brainer: defending champs, Ronaldhino - possibly the best player in the world right now, Adriano, Kaka, Gilberto, etc. They look good on paper and on the pitch. Too bad I don't like them.
I really think Japan will finish last not because they are not a strong squad, but just because the others are stronger.

Group G
France
Switzerland
Korea Republic
Togo

Vive la France!!! Allez les bleus! I will be behind France 100%. I love them. I love Zizou. I love Henry. I love Saha. I love Cisse even though he's out with a broken leg. I love them all.
I don't know much about the rest of the group. Korea and Switzerland might be interchangeable in their rankings, though.

Group H
Spain
Ukraine
Saudi Arabia
Tunisia

I like Spain. They've got Raul, who I'd marry if I could. And Casillas in net. And Alonso. And Puyol.
Ukraine gets second place because I don't think Saudi Arabia and Tunisia stand a chance, really. They do have Shevchenko, though.

So, to recap, my predictions for the Round of 16 are (in alphabetical order):
Argentina
Brazil
Croatia
Czech Republic
England
France
Germany
Italy
Mexico
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Ukraine

After Stage 1 I will compare my predictions to the results and then make some more predictions for Stage 2.

AH ZUT! - The Sequel

2006-06-07T23:40:00.000-06:00

I nearly cried. Seriously.

I was happy that Jussi started, and I don't think that blow-out was his fault whatsoever. It was the team's fault. They had no chance with undisciplined play like that. They didn't give Jussi a chance; they didn't give themselves a chance. I thought they were looking for the "perfect" play... too many passes, or ATTEMPTED passes that bounced off the Carolina defenders (but kudos to them for fixin' up, lookin' sharp). I mean, those weren't even the Oilers I know and love. They were the evil, android Oilers.

I don't know if I can still see that glimmer of hope. I mean, it is a similar situation to the San Jose series, but, I hate to say it, there is no Roloson. Regardless, if the Oilers want to win a game or the Cup they have to stick to what they know. Physical play, strong forechecking, capitalizing on those odd-man rushes, better penalty killing - or better yet, more disciplined play as to give up fewer penalties!

The Hurricanes might feel about fifty feet tall after that shut out win - we're just gonna have to bite them in the ankles.

AH ZUT!

2006-06-05T23:21:00.000-06:00

I only saw the first period and three quarters of the second, and I thought, "Wow. No rust. Good forecheck. Physical play from both sides. This is going to be a good series." While I still think it has the potential to be a good series, I can't say that I am as hopeful as I was. I didn't get the chance to see the Oilers crumble and I shed a little tear when I heard the Roloson news. I don't think Conklin can be a scapegoat here, either. It was 4-4 when Roli went down. The lead had been blown, the game was their's to lose. Of course, not all hope is lost. Oilers did outplay the Hurricans for a better portion of the game. They need to work on that powerplay, though. Roli is definitely a significant loss... a touted shoe-in for the Conn Smythe.... I don't think anyone even considered losing him to injury, and that's exactly why it happened. I can only hope that Markkanen starts the next game; I have never fully trusted Conklin. Too bad Morrison is gone; I think he would have made the best replacement. Plus, the Oilers know what it's like to come back from losing the series opener. In fact, I think they play better from behind, evidenced by their superb play against Detroit and San Jose. They weren't as good against Anaheim.

But, it just wasn't in the stars tonight, I guess. Plus, things were too out of whack, inside and outside of the game. Inside: Mick McGeough reffing for the first time in the Finals; Mick McGeough awarding a penalty shot in the Finals; Chris Pronger taking and scoring on said penalty shot. Outside: Edmonton's sudden weather change; my soccer team, who normally has 0-3 substitutes, arrived at a rainy, windy field with 6 subsitutes to play the worst team in the league, which fielded only 9 players. Although seemingly trivial, it's these types of things that upset the balance of the universe. It's true.

A Desperation Move

2006-06-04T00:42:00.000-06:00

My aforementioned eagerness to blog has not e-manifested itself over the past few days because I haven't thought of a single thing thing to blog about - I have thought of many. But they are undeveloped (note: not undevelopable) ideas; I couldn't stretch an individual idea out long enough to be worthy of a post. Hence my desperation move: I will discuss them all, disconnected as they may be.

Hockey: I am having some withdrawal issues, but there are a mere day away from being solved. I am having some scheduling issues, and there are likely to be left unsolved. My soccer schedule coincides almost uncannily with the Monday and Saturday instalments of the series. Which gets me to another tangentially related point: I hear a lot of commentary on the fact that should this series go to seven games, the Cup will be awarded on June 19, which is "late." Yes, it is late, considering the Oilers won their first cup before the end of May. But, if the league were to keep with the pattern of game-no game and the series were to go to seven games, the Cup will still be awarded on June 17. And if it had started on June 3 and it went to seven games, it would still end on the 13th. As for the series itself.... I don't really know what to expect. As I have mentioned, I think Carolina has three really good lines. But, I mean, look at Edmonton's own scoring depth. So, sort of nullified..... It should be pretty physical. I'm itching to see if Cam Ward can find his groove again... not that I want him to. I want to see Samsonov score more goals while continuing to set them up. And I want to see Hemsky dangle it. Goodness! I get this unbelievably excited feeling when he has the puck, but it usually ends abruptly with him passing it off, or failing to follow through. And hopefully some more people will "kick it up a notch"... like Torres and Dvorak. Uh...that's all I've got.

Reading: Each summer I make a list of books that I plan to read before school starts again because I find it impossible to include pleasure-reading in my academic routine (yet TV always seems to make its way in.... funny how that works). So far I have accomplished little. I have read The Da Vinci Code and 1984 (for the second time). I have started the annual re-read of the Harry Potter series, but that is taking a surprisingly long time. I think I am looking forward to the later books (GOF, OOTP, and HBP) more than I am willing to get through the first three. I think I may be most excited about reading The Passions of the Mind by Irving Stone (a Sigmund Freud bio), though. My dad is reading it right now and he gets really revved up about it. He always has something from it to share with me and he is completely amazed with the genius of Freud.

Music: I am craving some new music. Last year, around this time, Coldplay's new album came out and it kind of became the soundtrack to my summer. Not that the songs necessarily reflected my life, but I always seemed to be listening to it. There hasn't been a similar summer release in 2006. Yes, Sam Roberts' AWESOME new album came out in April, but I have grown out of my infatuation with it (his concert was AMAZING, by the by). So I have resorted to listening to Coldplay's year-old album over and over. Good, but it's been done. I need the soundtrack to Summer 2006.

L'avenir: As some of the very few readers of this blog might know, today is my birthday. I am finally not a teenager. While the advent of my twenties has not been as hard-hitting as I thought it might be, it has still given me something to feel somewhat guilty about. My academic life is a year older than my biological life, by virtue of me skipping a grade. I have never really felt any younger than my peers, though. Not until now. I don't feel I have accomplished what I should have by this age, I guess. I don't have my drivers' licence. I've never really had a long stretch of employment... I've really never showed any flashes of independence, and I think it might stem from my aversion to planning. I think the most I have ever planned for something was my eighteenth birthday celebration, and that was really just purchasing movie tickets and making restaurant reservations a month in advance. I probably didn't even put that much thought into what I was going to study at university, evidenced by my multiple program changes (official and not). This guilt is making me worry about grad school especially. Will I go? If I don't, what will I do? Another degree? Med school, despite the fact that I keep saying I don't want to be a doctor? If I do, what will it be in? Where will it be? How will I finance it? Loans? Scholarships? Working for a year? Ugh. Enough. I will likely blog about this a lot more later.

Odds and Ends

Last night my soccer team beat the unbeatable. We shut out the shut-out-ers. We were brilliant. I think it was l'esprit français that got us through it. I almost scored, too.
I just found out that the second season of Lost is not coming out on DVD until October. Aaaaah. How am I going to watch it all with a degree to finish? As for why I didn't just watch it as it aired, school got in the way.
World Cup 2006 is a mere 5 days away. Eep! I'll probably have a lot more to say about it once it starts (I went blog-crazy for Euro 2004).

If you have made it this far, congratualtions! You have won the chance to give me a birthday comment, sucka!

Dang.

2006-05-30T22:51:00.000-06:00

It seems that my sudden urge to blog has coincided with a particularly uneventful and uninteresting time in my life.
No school. No job. No travels. No plans.

I just read The Da Vinci Code, but no one wants to read about that.
I just saw "X3: The Last Stand," but I am hardly qualified to comment on it (well, maybe on their vaccine....).
I don't have any artsy photos or opinions to share.

All I've got is hockey. Maybe the World Cup. French Open? But I'm no sports pundit, so there's really no use.
And it's not like anyone really reads this anyway.

Why, oh why, can't I be cool?

Pipeline Dream? (My lame attempt at being clever... and it's probably been done)

2006-05-29T00:15:00.000-06:00

For the record, I do not claim to be a die-hard hockey fan. I have never played hockey - in fact, I doubt I can even skate, and I have not been an avid NHL-follower my whole life. I don't own any NHL jerseys, cards, or other memorabilia save for an Oilers' T-shirt. I also do not claim to be an expert hockey analyst, but I know how the game works. I simply claim to be an Oilers fan. So, please, correct my mistakes should I make any. Enlighten me.

Although Edmonton-born, I am not exactly Edmonton-raised. As such, my fondest hockey memories do not originate from the Oilers' famous dynasty. Besides, having been born in 1986, I did not witness the Stanley Cup wins of 1984 and 1985, and having lived in Ottawa from 1987-1993 I didn't have a hometown team to get behind (nor do I think I would have fully understood hockey at those ages).

Thus, when my family moved to the Lower Mainland of B.C. in 1993, I was inducted into Vancouver Canuck fandom. In the 1993-1994 season, the playoff format became what is now known as, and the seventh-seeded Canucks made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. I can recall one night against Calgary in the first round straining to stay awake to see the outcome of the double OT game. Then there were the Canuck Days at school when everyone would don Canuck colours, which were red, black and yellow at the time. I can remember the Cup Run -related graffiti on all the fences lining my walk to school. And the sleepovers where my fellow third-graders would drool over their Pavel Bure collector coins: "He's dreamy." Yeah, he was also super-fast and super-skilled. That's when I developed a soft spot for goaltenders, awed by Kirk McLean's performance, and when I forged my admiration for Trevor Linden.

By the time we moved back to Edmonton in 1997, the Canucks were still making the playoffs, but were failing to live up to their 1994 success, and the Oilers were settling into their routine: barely making the playoffs and ultimately losing to the Dallas Stars early on. So I went from a satisfied Canuck fan to a frustrated but loyal Oilers fan. (Note: I have a trend of supporting teams in my locale, but I don't stop supporting teams I formerly had. And were I to move to Calgary, there is no chance in hell I would cheer for the Flames.) As the TV coverage of Oilers' games increased with the likes of the newly established A-Channel and Sportsnet, my love for the Oilers grew, yet so did my frustration with their far from impressive seasons. By the time the lockout hit, I was addicted to hockey and thought I wouldn't be able to survive a whole season without my beloved Oilers (although the lack of hockey helped me focus on academics). So, when the lockout ended and the entirely new season started, I was elated. Not only was hockey back, it was better. The Oilers' season looked promising... three games in, that is. I found myself back to being frustrated, and I was unsure of their postseason chances. But look where they are now.

It would be pointless for me to recap the Oilers' first two series wins. Fresh off their Conference title victory against Anaheim, I have to say that I was not as impressed with their play as I was against San Jose. I think fatigue became a factor and I think changing their lineup (putting in Dvorak and Torres) in Game 4 was detrimental. I also think that we would have been in trouble had the Ducks looked like they did in Game 4 throughout the series. That kind of play allowed them to sweep Colorado. But, of course, I don't want to take anything away from their win. In the end, effort counts for nothing and winning means everything, right?

Like I said, I am no expert analyst. I am curious to see how this Final pans out. I know that Eastern Conference hockey is different from Western Conference hockey. In general, it seems to be more about speed,finesse, and transition in the East, relative to the more defensive, grinding, forechecking hockey I have become accustomed to in the West. I have been trying to watch the Carolina-Buffalo series as much as possible to get a feel for their style, shaping up the competition, as it were. While my Dad thinks the Western grit is going to bull-doze the Eastern grace, I don't know how feel. I think the Oilers are going to have to play as physically as they did against San Jose from Game 3 onwards to get their momentum going. If they meet Buffalo, I can foresee problems handling Afinogenov and Briere, but I see their crumbling defence corps as an advantage. If they meet Carolina, I think matchups will be key. I think Carolina has three lines that are equally threatening. But I do see their goaltending situation something to exploit; the Oilers saw something similar with Bryzgalov and Giguere against Anaheim.

I will make no predictions, but I do think I have a fairly reliable sense of how a game will end up about two hours before puck-drop. It hasn't failed me yet. I even predicted the narrow squeak past Anaheim in Game 3, not having felt a strong sense of victory earlier that day. So even when they were up 4-0, I knew it was far from over.

Likewise, this Oilers playoff run is far from over. Unimaginable and wondrous as it has been, losing doesn't seem like an option: a loss will be disappointing. Right now, I am feeling nostalgic regarding the Canucks' Cup run of '94: the warmer, almost-summer evenings, watching a hockey game as the sun sets, feeling the city buzz everytime we score, horns honking, crowds celebrating. I know there are fans out there feeling the same but in regards to the Oilers' dynasty. Victory in the Final will allow the Oilers to enshrine both of those feelings in a cup, the Cup, a relic we can hopefully continue worshipping into a new dynasty.

GO OILERS GO!!!

This post was inspired by this post from this blog, which is also a useful portal to other Oilers- and hockey-related blogs.

Blog Resurrected

2006-05-26T15:31:00.000-06:00

I have returned to the world of blogging!

...not that anyone will care or know for that matter.