Oivay!

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.

Bullet'd (Ow! My skin!)

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)

When Exam Hellfire Freezes Over

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!