University

University is a term I came to be familiar with pretty much as soon as I started school at the age of 5. Education, to my parents, is everything. It's understandable, of course. If it weren't for their educations, they probably wouldn't be where they are today (which is a pretty good place).

All my life though, the pressure's always been on. Every year I would be yelled at because of my grades when we got report cards. They were just never good enough. I suppose since I'm sort of an emotionally weak person, my dad's always been able to pick on that. He always used to tell me things like:

"All I've wanted from you, as my daughter, is for you to be the best,"

"I never got the kind of opportunities you do here, and yet I was the best student in my province, so why aren't you?"

"Ever since the day you started school, I've waited for you to excel and you still haven't,"

"If someone else can get a perfect, why can't you?"

"You'll never be anything without education and when I die, you'll be my biggest regret."

As a result, I've always strived to do well at school. I'm in Grade 12 now and my dad still has never said he was proud of my marks. As much as I want to be a good daughter and please him, I guess it's just not going to happen. I'm sorry he wasted 18 years of his life hoping for something that would never happen.

On another note though, I've been accepted to university. We were hoping I would get in to OttawaU and I did, but not with as prestigious a scholarship as he hoped. Even though I've been accepted, I didn't get in with the grades I wanted either. The grades that allowed me entrance to university were mediocre, nothing to be proud of. Certainly nothing for my dad to be proud of either. I know he's always wanted to have conversations with his friends and be able to tell them good things about me. Unfortunately, there's nothing good about me to talk about. I just hope he doesn't waste another 18 years of his life waiting to find something good enough about me to be glad about.

Sorry, dad.

Christmas with the Kids

I've been taking piano lessons since I was about 6 years old and every Christmas I would bring my piano teacher a small Christmas present. Well, for once, the roles have been reversed in a way.

I recently started teaching piano this year and I received a couple gifts from two of my students. I was so surprised when they gave me the presents since I honestly wasn't expecting them. It was so nice! The gifts weren't anything spectacular, per say, but it's the thought that counts right?

Anyways, even though I'm teaching piano right now, I am still a student. This Wednesday I'll be seeing my teacher, Sandra, the last time before the break so I need to get her a little present. I'm not sure what I should get her though. I think last year I got her a bath set so I'll have to think of something new this year.

Well, that's pretty much it. Just wanted to share the small bit of joy in my life after teaching this past Saturday. :)

Christmas-related rants...

I love Christmas, really I do, I just don't like winter. Everyone seems to be complaining about how we don't have any snow but to be honest...that makes me really happy. Call me an immigrant (even though I was born in one of the colder provinces, Manitoba) but I just don't like snow.

Actually, that's not entirely true.

If there could be snow without it being cold, without it ruining my hair, without it making me slip, and without it requiring me to shovel it off of my driveway, I would be very okay with snow. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Therefore, I conclude that I hate winter. It can snow on Christmas...as long as it melts the next day.

Also, speaking of Christmas, I never really understood the deal with Christmas lists. I mean, personally, I find them sort of selfish. There are so many people in the world who don't even own pencils to begin with while others sit around trying to think up things they want because they already have everything they need. Christmas is about giving, isn't it? A Christmas list, to me, sounds like someone saying "this is what I want and now that I've told you, you better get it for me". It sounds selfish if you ask me.

On that note, one of my friends called me from the mall. She was doing her Christmas shopping and she asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told her I didn't want anything but she wouldn't accept that. So instead, I told her that if she wanted to give me a really good Christmas present, she could donate $100 to a charity of her choice.

 I didn't share that story to brag about what a great person I am (because I'm really not) but if there are so many other needy people in the world and Christmas is about giving...well then why aren't you giving to them?

Irena Sendler

Ignore the bottom picture...haha

But please, read the top about Irena. What an amazing woman!

G'Raph

Ahaha.. I just came out of Advanced Functions class okay? -.-

Loving You Tonight

So I'm helping my friend, Nethmi, perform a song for our school's coffee house. It's a great song, here are the lyrics:

Lost,

In the day,

In a way

 Its the same as the one before this and I wish,

I could say that its all black and white

But its gray,

Its the same, its the same

 And I'm so tired but you are what I'm coming home to

Oh I'm thinkin' 'bout a red wine, buzz and takin' it easy

I got you in my arms,

Takin' a break from crazy

 

Chorus:
And I'll say hey,

You'll say baby,

How's your day I'll say crazy,

But its all gonna be alright,

You'll kiss my smile,

I'll pull you closer,

Spend awhile just gettin' to know ya,

But its all gonna be alright,

Loving you tonight,

 

And you are there

 In my heart,

At the start

Of my my every morning and I

Can't deny,

By the end of the day that I'm runnin' on empty

But you make me full,

Steal my breath

You're so unpredictable,

That's what I'm comin home to

Oh I'm dreamin' 'bout a romance , slow dancin' with you

When I got you in my arms, 

I don't care what we do

 

And I'll say hey,

You'll say baby,

How's your day I'll say crazy,

But its all gonna be alright,

You'll kiss my smile,

I'll pull you closer,

Spend awhile just gettin' to know ya,

But its all gonna be alright,

Loving you tonight

 

'Cause everyday is just the in between

The hours separating you from me 

I know you'll be waiting, I know you'll be waiting

And I'll say hey,

You'll say baby,

How's your day I'll say crazy,

But its all gonna be alright,

You'll kiss my smile,

I'll pull you closer,

Spend awhile just gettin' to know ya,

But its all gonna be alright,

Loving you tonight

Oompa Loompas

I owe the credit to this blog to Nethmi who gave me this great idea to write about oompa loompas. To be honest, I know they're from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but I really can't remember anything about them. Oompa Loompas are pretty cool though... I guess....

Although I have to say, it has been a very long time since I've seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I kind of want to watch it again now. That was a great movie. It's kind of making me crave chocolate just thinking about it. I think my favourite part of that movie was when that girl blew up, sort of like a balloon. I can't remember exactly what she ate before that happened but I remember thinking it would be fun to play with her like a ball. That's not funny at all, now that I'm reflecting on it...but you have to admit, she could've made a great dodgeball (meaning no one would be able to dodge her ;]). Of course, I didn't consider the fact that I probably wouldn't be able to pick her up. Well, I guess we can always use a catapult.

Okay, anyway, random blog that's really related to nothing for the day. :)

The Lion Whisperer

Watch this video of a man named Kevin Richardson. He's dubbed the "Lion Whisperer" and his work with these big cats (and other animals) is actually amazing!

World's Smallest Horse

Is that not precious?! I think it's a year old in this picture :)

Thoughts on The Virgin Diaries

So recently, TLC came out with a one hour special called the Virgin Diaries. The premise of the special was that some couples, even nowadays, have decided to wait until marriage before having sex.

My first thought, when hearing about the show, was "Oh, that's sweet I guess..." However, after watching a few clips from the special as well as hearing and reading about it, I honestly wonder what the point of the special was. Initially, I thought that the show was made to support staying "pure" until marriage. On the other hand, the couples they used on the show were so awkward that it was almost as if TLC was making fun of their choice to wait. Of course, TLC would never actually say that, but in a way that's sort of what it seems like.

Personally, I think that choosing to stay celibate until marriage is something each individual has to make on their own and there should be no judgement either way. Boys and girls seem to deal with similar pressures relating sex and are judged either way. If they choose not to have sex until marriage they're "nuns" while if they choose to go all out and enjoy sex now they're "whores". In other words, I think everyone should back off of the sex topic. It's really not anyone else's business.

At this point, The Virgin Diaries was supposed to be a one time thing. However, even though it's getting a lot of mixed reviews from various people, it's still getting a LOT of reviews. As a result, according to some rumors TLC might be coming back with it. Well, I guess we'll just have to see how it goes...

The Zooming Powerpoint

I'm not extremely technologically savvy...actually no, I'm just not technologically savvy at all, so when it comes to presentations I've always ran into a little bit of a problem. In the past, I've used powerpoint, which has been okay, but since I could never do anything special with powerpoints, it was hard to make my presentations visually special. And then, in my Grade 11 law class last year, I was introduced to this wonderful thing called Prezi. It's basically a zooming powerpoint that looks amazing and is made so easy to use that even idiots like me can figure it out. Now I feel like my presentations are pretty cool all thanks to this thing called Prezi so I thought I'd share it with you all:

http://www.prezi.com/

p.s. Besides I always get a little happy whenever I find out someone is using Prezi after I introduced them to it. It makes me proud ;)

Chicken Training

Now forgetful and retired

Is good, old Sergeant Tickin

Who lives on a farm

With nineteen of his chickens

One yawns and

One pecks

One squabbles

“What the heck?”

“I’ll not have that language!”

Sergeant Tickin suddenly shouts

But the chickens keep clucking

While Sergeant Tickin eyes his scouts

“Who knows what new mission

We could be assigned

So all of you darn chickens,

Better get back in line!”

"I Love You!"

And my obsession with huskies continues... Watch this, this husky can say "I love you!" <3

Pokemon Story

We got to pick an inanimate object for Writer's Craft and write a story on it. I got a stuffed Pikachu and since we never went over the stories, I figured I should post mine =] :

Team Rocket was up to no good again. More precisely, they had come up with a new way to steal Pikachu from that twerp, Ash.

“I got the greatest idea ever!” Meowth said to Jessie and James, as they floated through the air in their air balloon.

“Really? What is it?” James inquired.

“It better be good,” Jessie snapped.

“Wobbuffet!” a voice suddenly called from behind them. Jessie sighed.

“Wobbuffet, return!” she commanded, holding out her pokeball and recalling the blue, blob-like creature.

“I say, we make a fake pikachu. Then, in the middle of the night, we sneak away the real pikachu and replace it with our fake. The twerp will never know the difference!” Meowth pronounced. James gazed at the cat-like pokemon before proclaiming,

“I think it’s brilliant! The boss will definitely give us a big raise!”

Jessie’s eyes began to twinkle in excitement at the thought of a raise.

“Alright,” she decided. “We’ll do it tonight.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I guess we’ll have to camp out here for the night,” Brock said to his companions, Ash and Misty. Misty gazed around at the dark forest.

“I don’t know if I like that idea,” she said nervously, pulling at a pigtail of orange hair.

“Come on, Misty. Think of it like an adventure, right Pikachu?” Ash said, grinning at the yellow, mouse-like pokemon perched on his shoulder.

“Pikachu!” it chimed in.

“Alright, well, I’ll get a fire started,” Brock decided, placing down his heavy bags. As he got a fire started, Ash and Misty set out their sleeping bags.

“Thanks Brock, I don’t know what we’d do without you,” Ash said.

“Please, you’d never survive out here without me or Brock,” Misty told him.

“I could too!” Ash demanded. “Besides, I’d have Pikachu with me!”

Pikachu raised a small paw triumphantly. “Pika!”

“Okay, the fire’s all set. We should probably get some sleep, we’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow,” Brock said.

“Do you think any bug pokemon will come out and attack us?” Misty asked nervously.

“Nah, everything will be fine,” Brock replied. Pikachu yawned loudly.

“Guess you’re pretty tired, huh buddy?” Ash said, patting his Pikachu on the head. Ash pulled off his red and white cap, setting it beside him and snuggled into the sleeping bag. Pikachu curled up beside him.

“Sleep tight everyone,” Brock called.

“Hope the bed bugs don’t bite!” Ash added, chuckling to himself.

“Not funny!” Misty replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I think they’re asleep,” Meowth whispered.

“Well then? What are we waiting for, let’s do it!” Jessie urged.

“Shhh!” James peered through the bushes at the dimming fire and circle of campers.

“Don’t shush me!” Jessie exclaimed, turning her head quickly and whipping James with her long mane of hair.

“Okay, let’s do it!” Meowth said. Using a machine arm, Meowth navigated the limb to reach out and grab Pikachu. Before the pokemon could react, they had it sealed within an electric-proof case.

“We got it!” Jessie smiled.

“It ain’t over yet, we still gotta put in the fake Pikachu,” Meowth said. He beckoned his paws and a machine mimic of the real Pikachu came out from the shadows.

“Pika…” it said robotically. James looked over the machine critically.

“Are you sure this is going to work?” James asked.

“Of course!” Meowth proclaimed. “Now, go on!” He shooed the fake Pikachu towards the sleeping group.

“Pika! Pikachu!” Pikachu called desperately from within its seal.

“Huh? Pikachu?” Ash muttered groggily. He glanced down towards where Pikachu had been sleeping only to find it gone. “Pikachu?” he called out a little louder.

‘Pika!” Pikachu called back, relieved to see its trainer awake.

“Uh oh, busted,” Meowth said. “Guess we’ve got no choice but to make an appearance,”

Team Rocket jumped out from behind their hideout of bushes.

“Prepare for trouble!” Jessie said.

“Make it double,” James added.

“To protect the world from devastation!”

“To unite all people within our nation,”

“To denounce the evils of truth and love,” Jessie continued with a twirl.

“To extend our reach to the stars above,” James said with a bow.

“Jessie!”

“James!”

“Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!” Jessie cried, striking a pose.

“Surrender now, or prepare to fight!” Meowth suddenly fell into the picture.

“Meowth, that’s right!” it said with a grin.

Ash yawned.

“Sorry guys, it is still the middle of the night,” he said. He grabbed his hat and twisted it back onto his head. “But enough, give me back Pikachu!”

“No way! Not after all the trouble we went through to get it,” Meowth replied.

“Pikachu, use Iron Tail to break out of that seal!” Ash called. Pikachu’s jagged tail suddenly began to glow in silver light. It spun and smashed its tail against the seal, breaking the case.

“Oh no…” James said. “I know what comes next,”

“Good job, Pikachu!” Ash yelled, running towards Team Rocket. “Now, thunderbolt ‘em!”

“Pika-pika-chu!” The red circles on Pikachu’s dress sparked and suddenly a huge electric bolt came rushing towards Team Rocket. Within a moment, the trio was flying through the sky.

“Looks like Team Rocket’s blasting off again!” they cried, their voices fading as they got further away.

“Pikachu…” a robotic voice followed. Ash blinked at the strange looking thing before returning his attention back to the ground.

“Pikachu!” Ash called with a grin holding his arms open.

“Pika!” the mouse pokemon replied happily, jumping into Ash’s arms.

“Ugh, hey, is something going on?” Misty asked, rubbing her eyes.

“No, it’s nothing. Go back to sleep,” Ash replied.

“Oh…okay,” Misty responded, dropping her head back down.

“I guess we should go back to sleep. You sure you okay, buddy?” Ash asked, holding up his Pikachu. Pikachu’s long ears twitched.

“Pikachu!”

J

Haha! I too often have the same experiences with technology. I can relate :( :P

Random Things I Love

I love it when..

• I have just enough change to buy what I want (even if I end up counting pennies)
• I come home and find a nest of baby bunnies in my backyard
• I can go home, take a nap and not have to set an alarm to wake myself up later
• I randomly find just enough money on the ground to buy something
• I can sit down and print out a colouring page and colour it just for fun
• I witness good deeds (they wouldn't be so astonishing if more people did them!)
• I feel good about a test I just finished writing
• I actually finish something I start (especially stories!)

6-Word Memoir

Lose Anything, Just Not This Ability

Look! Christmas is coming up! Somebody get me a husky!!!! :D :D :D

Peace

Only one step

To the end of the world

So obviously within view

Should you choose to look

Stretch down your hand

Though gravity will defy

And if you lose your grip

Fret not

For you can always fly

Flaming C!

I love Conan and I just found out that Warners made a little "superhero" of him. Watch this, it's too funny! :)

Faith

Faith is an interesting concept, especially for me right now because I’m taking philosophy class. Faith truly is taking a step without seeing the end of the staircase. Although now that I think about it, taking a first step without knowing the consequences could also be considered as confidence or sheer stupidity. I also think faith is knowing something is there even when you can’t see it. I suppose this relates to God and religion. A good example is when you go to somebody’s house. You know that they are inside the house and are expecting you, so when you’re ringing the doorbell you’re positive they will answer even though you can’t see that they are there. I guess believing in God is similar. Anyways, I think faith can be many different things in a multitude of degrees and layers, but at the very least, everyone should have a little of it.

Hello

Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello

Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello

Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello

Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello

Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello

Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello

Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello

Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello

Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello

Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Kitty

Change

So, the writing prompt today is on change. In terms of change in my life, there hasn’t been much recently. I’ve gone from Grade 11 to Grade 12, I’ve changed from South Fallingbrook to Rayfriel, I’ve gone from a counselor to a teacher (although I’m technically still a counselor) and that’s about it. I think change can be good but most of the time I’m happy in my comfort zone. Of course, there is one particular change that I’m not happy about. That would be my change in size, I used to be a 5 and now I’m a certain 7. It’s very depressing, I really would like to be thinner but I guess I just like to eat too much. Speaking of eating, I’m really sorting of craving sushi lately. Apparently a sushi place is supposed to open right by the school in the Metro area; I’ll be excited about that. There’s also a small sushi place right by my house but unfortunately it’s a little expensive. Anyways, now to get back on topic, Jenna showed me her change collection today. They’re basically elongated pennies and she has a few that are elongated quarters and nickels. They’re actually pretty cool and according to Jenna they sell for quite a bit on E-Bay. The one I gave her earned me $4 even though I got it for 25 cents. If I had known they’d sell so well I would’ve bought a lot more while I was in Vancouver. Oh well. So I think this is the second time I’ve actually written about the prompt, good for me!

A Story About a Found Banana

Billy’s POV

I woke up this morning and thought about what a horrible day today was. Today was Tuesday. Tuesday’s are horrible, horrible days. Why, you ask? It’s very simple; my mom packs me oranges on Tuesday. I realize I’m in high school and it seems kind of silly to have your mom pack your lunch for school, but hey, it’s less work for me right? That’s how I see it anyways. Back to the point, I hate oranges. I tell my mom this every Tuesday but she calmly smiles and tells me I’ll “grow to like them some day”. And to top it all off she even peels the orange for me just so when I take it out at lunch I’m a little more encouraged to eat it. Usually, that’s as far as she’ll go to try and make me eat the orange but today she went overboard. In my paper bag she packed me nothing but the stupid orange with a little note from mom telling me she loved me. Yeah, right. So, at lunch, I opened my lunch bag and was highly depressed to find only a disgusting, pre-peeled orange for me in it. Now I’m sure my mom knows that in the past I’ve always given away her orange or thrown it out but I guess she figured with nothing else to eat, I’d eventually have to eat the orange. Of course, on this particular day I had to forget my wallet at home so that meant no buying a substitute lunch either. So, I resolved my problem by taking a secret form of revenge on my mom. I left the paper bag in the hall for it to be trampled and on and where the orange would surely be squished beyond recognition. That would be my revenge. However, as luck would have it, when I walked into my Writer’s Craft class after lunch, Mr. Rama, my teacher was holding the bag up along with the orange and joking about it. I was so embarrassed; luckily, no one knew it was mine because he didn’t read the note inside. I’m going to steal the bag back at the end of period and trample on it myself since no one else would do it for me. People around this place are so unreliable these days.

Happy

Splash of a mirror

Reflects a smile

Echoes through a tunnel

Joy.

Banana Fairies

Today, when I walked into class I was given a banana, which I’m eating right now. No, there was no deeper meaning to the banana other than the fact they were on sale and so Mr. Rama bought thirty pounds of bananas. Apparently they’re supposed to be very relaxing, who would’ve guessed? Mr. Rama has decided that he should start a banana company where his logo will be: “Banana-rama.” Pretty original, I guess. I have to say though; if this happens on a regular basis I can already tell I’m going to thoroughly enjoy this class. I suggest that next time Mr. Rama buys us food he buys chocolate. He says it’ll all depend on Sobeys. Sarah and I told Mr. Rama that we should be banana fairies and yet despite it being such an amazing idea, he didn’t recognize our dreams at all. We’ve decided that Mr. Rama is a dream killer to some extent. How could he ignore our desperation in wanting to become banana fairies and do a little more good for the world? I mean, think of all the wonderful things that would occur with banana fairies in the world?

• People who like bananas would be given bananas
• People without food would get bananas
• Bananas could be used to relax people
• People who need to gift something to somebody could gift bananas
• People who don’t like bananas could grow to like bananas
• Bananas could be used to slip people
• Bananas could be sold to make money
• Bananas could be used to make cake and muffins and other such foods
• Bananas could be used as microphones for aspiring singers
• Bananas could just be used a symbol of awesomeness

All these wonderful things listed above could all come true with banana fairies.