I hope you all have a wonderful celebration tonight, no matter what you're doing. But more importantly, I wish everyone health and happiness in 2014, and the best of luck with your goals and dreams.
Goodnight, bloglings
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
The 8th Day of Blogmas
This post comes to you from the couch at a New Years Eve party, where I'm sitting underneath 150 lbs of snuggly Great Dane. I've gotta make this quick, but I had to make my 52nd post before midnight, right?
Monday, 30 December 2013
The 7th Day of Blogmas
This post is coming to you from my phone, sitting at the top of the staircase, listening to a dinner party of adults discussing how horrible the internet is. I've heard the phrase "changing our brains" about six times already. Happy Holidays!
So it's almost that time again - New Years resolutions just waiting to be made, and broken. The last two years, instead of an abstract idea, I've set myself very specific goals on January 1st. To take a picture a day, write a blog post a week. While I have yet to be perfectly successful at any of these, I'm always glad to have attempted them.
The last few weeks I've been agonizing over what to do for 2014. Although it's clearly not the point, I really would like to complete one of these things. Essentially, I don't want to set myself up for failure. This past year I definitely struggled a lot with writing a post every week. If I tried to do the same thing this year, I'm afraid it wouldn't go any better.
So then, what to do? I guess in asking myself this, I have to consider what I am really looking for. I like the satisfaction of setting and reaching a goal, and I like having something to show for it, even if it's only to the few friends who follow me around the internet. As paradoxical as it sounds, I like having a structure to encourage my creativity. Truthfully, I kinda like pretending that this is my job - blogging, social networking, or even just writing. The thought of something, or someone, depending on me putting words and thoughts together, is really kinda awesome.
So I guess I'm still undecided. Do I blog? Do I take pictures? What else is there?I've got about 24 hours in which to set my new goal. That's plenty of time, right?
Goodnight, bloglings
P.S. if anyone has ideas for me, feel free to shoot!
Sunday, 29 December 2013
The 6th Day of Blogmas
So there was a post going around tumblr today (the post actually originates on this site) which suggested that before making resolutions for 2014, we should all take a second to reflect on how much we accomplished in 2013. 25 things might be kinda hard to do, but let's go for it.
1. Found and moved into my first house, along with some wonderful roommates, and I still manage to pay rent and generally not fuck things up.
2. Finished the first year of my degree, with an average that I'm pretty darn proud of.
3. Ran my first 5K at LeakyCon Portland! On a sprained ankle! And just generally started exercising more seriously.
4. Got my first credit card, and basically kept up with it.
5. Got my G2 licence! (AKA, I can drive without an adult now) (finally)
6. Worked another summer at the same old summer job, but got my first raise and promotion.
7. Did a whole season of CT (combined test, AKA dressage + show jumping) competitions with the mare I've been training for five years. We had an amazing season and finished Reserve Champion in our division.
8. Helped coach a (very) young rider and her pony to compete in their first CT series. Even after a pretty shaky start, they went on to finish the year third in their division.
9. Learned how to drive a pony and cart, and got to compete in a driving show at a summer fair. I did pretty well too!
10. September 2013 marked my first full year as a vegetarian.
11. Picked out the colour and painted a wall in my new room all by myself.
12. Played a bunch of quidditch. Travelled to NY for our first-ever international games, and played a bunch more tournaments in Ontario - two of which we WON!
13. Helped recruit a ton of rad new players to the team in September, who have made this our best year ever.
14. Did a ton of travelling (buses & planes) on my own, which is sometimes scary but mostly pretty fun.
15. Sang karaoke for the first time ever.
16. Decided to try and move towards using only cruelty-free beauty products.
17. I've already gotten two job offers for next summer.
18. I contributed a monthly article to Let's Talk Nerd Culture magazine.
19. Tried to restart a chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance at my school. It's turned into quite a lengthy and frustrating process, but hey, I'm committed to it now. I also supported and donated to the HPA during their Equality For the Win campaign.
20. Applied to go on exchange in 2015, including securing some kick-ass profs to write references for me.
21. I managed to sit through season seven of Doctor Who without breaking my computer. Seriously, it took some effort.
22. I stopped being a pretentious asshole and finally got instagram. Because it's fun.
23. I started eating healthier this year, or at least started thinking more seriously about what I put in my body.
24. This is kinda an abstract one, but I think this year I got better at standing up and speaking out about things. Whether that was confronting casual sexism among my friends or making angry ranty facebook posts about mental health resources. It's still tough, but getting easier every time.
25. I set a goal to write a blog post every week for a year. Although this didn't go as planned, I found a way to finish the year with 52 blog posts behind me. And regardless of how well I did or didn't meet this challenge, I learned a lot about myself and writing and I'm definitely glad I did it.
Well, it's been a pretty awesome year, hasn't it?
Goodnight, bloglings
1. Found and moved into my first house, along with some wonderful roommates, and I still manage to pay rent and generally not fuck things up.
2. Finished the first year of my degree, with an average that I'm pretty darn proud of.
3. Ran my first 5K at LeakyCon Portland! On a sprained ankle! And just generally started exercising more seriously.
4. Got my first credit card, and basically kept up with it.
5. Got my G2 licence! (AKA, I can drive without an adult now) (finally)
6. Worked another summer at the same old summer job, but got my first raise and promotion.
7. Did a whole season of CT (combined test, AKA dressage + show jumping) competitions with the mare I've been training for five years. We had an amazing season and finished Reserve Champion in our division.
8. Helped coach a (very) young rider and her pony to compete in their first CT series. Even after a pretty shaky start, they went on to finish the year third in their division.
9. Learned how to drive a pony and cart, and got to compete in a driving show at a summer fair. I did pretty well too!
10. September 2013 marked my first full year as a vegetarian.
11. Picked out the colour and painted a wall in my new room all by myself.
12. Played a bunch of quidditch. Travelled to NY for our first-ever international games, and played a bunch more tournaments in Ontario - two of which we WON!
13. Helped recruit a ton of rad new players to the team in September, who have made this our best year ever.
14. Did a ton of travelling (buses & planes) on my own, which is sometimes scary but mostly pretty fun.
15. Sang karaoke for the first time ever.
16. Decided to try and move towards using only cruelty-free beauty products.
17. I've already gotten two job offers for next summer.
18. I contributed a monthly article to Let's Talk Nerd Culture magazine.
19. Tried to restart a chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance at my school. It's turned into quite a lengthy and frustrating process, but hey, I'm committed to it now. I also supported and donated to the HPA during their Equality For the Win campaign.
20. Applied to go on exchange in 2015, including securing some kick-ass profs to write references for me.
21. I managed to sit through season seven of Doctor Who without breaking my computer. Seriously, it took some effort.
22. I stopped being a pretentious asshole and finally got instagram. Because it's fun.
23. I started eating healthier this year, or at least started thinking more seriously about what I put in my body.
24. This is kinda an abstract one, but I think this year I got better at standing up and speaking out about things. Whether that was confronting casual sexism among my friends or making angry ranty facebook posts about mental health resources. It's still tough, but getting easier every time.
25. I set a goal to write a blog post every week for a year. Although this didn't go as planned, I found a way to finish the year with 52 blog posts behind me. And regardless of how well I did or didn't meet this challenge, I learned a lot about myself and writing and I'm definitely glad I did it.
Well, it's been a pretty awesome year, hasn't it?
Goodnight, bloglings
Saturday, 28 December 2013
The 5th Day of Blogmas
So, you know what's cool? Making connections. Not like, connections with people. I mean, I guess those are kinda cool too. Well, they're ok.
Sometimes.
But I mean drawing connections between two things you would never have expected to be related. Like when you find out a classmate went to high school with your cousin. Or you run into your neighbour on vacation thousands of miles away.
This year I think a lot of my friends really got into the show Orphan Black. I kept hearing the name, but strangely, never much about the plot. Nothing that piqued my interest enough to get me to check it out. All I knew was that the lead actress played like a bunch of different characters, and she was apparently super talented.
Fast forward to today when I (s)tumbled upon a gifset from the show, and was struck by how familiar the actress looked. Something had piqued my curiosity. I turned to google and my first discovery was that the show was created by Canadians, filmed and set in Toronto, and starred a Canadian! Honestly, I'm uber-bummed that it hasn't been marketed (like, at all) to Canadian audiences. You can bet your bottom dollar that I would have been way more likely to check it out way earlier if I had known that. It also sucks that it only airs on Space here, cause if we're being honest, only us nerds watch Space. But it was also very very cool to know that this acclaimed show, which so many of my friends love, is technically Canadian. Really, the only thing Canadians get patriotic about is our hockey teams and our shows/movies/actors.
So yeah, that was a pretty neat connection. BUT WAIT. There's more. So I said that the star, Tatiana Maslany, looked sorta familiar to me, right? Well I clicked on her Wiki page and the first fact that jumped out at me was that she had been on the CBC show Heartland a few years ago. And then all the pieces fell into place. I've loved Heartland since it premiered when I was like thirteen. It's about horses and Alberta and spunky cowgirls and cute cowboys. What's not to like? I've mostly kept up with it over the years, because although it may be the cheesiest thing to ever grace a screen, it has a piece of my heart. Tatiana wasn't a lead on the show, but her character was great, and definitely memorable. So THAT'S where I knew her from. Case closed, right?
NOPE. Or should I say, Knope? It turns out she also guest-starred on two episodes of Parks and Recreation - episodes I watched just yesterday, as a matter of fact. I remember that character sticking out for some reason, and now I know why. I'm not sure if she'll be back - her character just left to vaccinate people in Rwanda - but I would love it if she was.
I'm not sure what the point of all this is - actors play all sorts of varied roles, especially early in their careers. But I guess making these sorts of connections will never stop being cool to me. It may be the "it's a small world" feeling, or just the Sherlock-esque satisfaction of piecing together a puzzle - although I'm sure Sherlock never had to use Wikipedia. But these little coincidences make me irrationally happy,
Goodnight, bloglings
Sometimes.
But I mean drawing connections between two things you would never have expected to be related. Like when you find out a classmate went to high school with your cousin. Or you run into your neighbour on vacation thousands of miles away.
This year I think a lot of my friends really got into the show Orphan Black. I kept hearing the name, but strangely, never much about the plot. Nothing that piqued my interest enough to get me to check it out. All I knew was that the lead actress played like a bunch of different characters, and she was apparently super talented.
Fast forward to today when I (s)tumbled upon a gifset from the show, and was struck by how familiar the actress looked. Something had piqued my curiosity. I turned to google and my first discovery was that the show was created by Canadians, filmed and set in Toronto, and starred a Canadian! Honestly, I'm uber-bummed that it hasn't been marketed (like, at all) to Canadian audiences. You can bet your bottom dollar that I would have been way more likely to check it out way earlier if I had known that. It also sucks that it only airs on Space here, cause if we're being honest, only us nerds watch Space. But it was also very very cool to know that this acclaimed show, which so many of my friends love, is technically Canadian. Really, the only thing Canadians get patriotic about is our hockey teams and our shows/movies/actors.
So yeah, that was a pretty neat connection. BUT WAIT. There's more. So I said that the star, Tatiana Maslany, looked sorta familiar to me, right? Well I clicked on her Wiki page and the first fact that jumped out at me was that she had been on the CBC show Heartland a few years ago. And then all the pieces fell into place. I've loved Heartland since it premiered when I was like thirteen. It's about horses and Alberta and spunky cowgirls and cute cowboys. What's not to like? I've mostly kept up with it over the years, because although it may be the cheesiest thing to ever grace a screen, it has a piece of my heart. Tatiana wasn't a lead on the show, but her character was great, and definitely memorable. So THAT'S where I knew her from. Case closed, right?
NOPE. Or should I say, Knope? It turns out she also guest-starred on two episodes of Parks and Recreation - episodes I watched just yesterday, as a matter of fact. I remember that character sticking out for some reason, and now I know why. I'm not sure if she'll be back - her character just left to vaccinate people in Rwanda - but I would love it if she was.
I'm not sure what the point of all this is - actors play all sorts of varied roles, especially early in their careers. But I guess making these sorts of connections will never stop being cool to me. It may be the "it's a small world" feeling, or just the Sherlock-esque satisfaction of piecing together a puzzle - although I'm sure Sherlock never had to use Wikipedia. But these little coincidences make me irrationally happy,
Goodnight, bloglings
Friday, 27 December 2013
The 4th Day of Blogmas
A week from now I'll be back at school, which of course means I've stopped stressing about being bored at home, and started stressing about not getting the most out of my time at home. After the hell of exams, I really wanted to relax this break, and I did, but I also had a few important things to get done. Things that are nowhere near done yet. Namely, my application to study abroad next year.
I sometimes hesitate to talk about this, because although I want it more than anything, it also makes me feel like a walking talking cliche. I plan to study abroad in the U.K. for a semester - yes, me, the Doctor Who and Harry Potter loving anglophile, with a cartoon map of London and a poster from the Globe Theatre on her walls. I am literally the opening chapter of a YA boarding school novel.
I know that this is not actually going to be like a teen novel, and trust me, I definitely don't want it to be. To be honest, right now I'm just concerned with having a good application. I'm not exactly sure how competitive it is, but I'm sure I've picked the most popular destination, by far. Back in high school I applied to a ton of scholarships, and got almost none of them. I'm a decent writer, but I guess I don't do well on open-ended questions.
But for now, let's assume I get it. Obviously it's exciting, a brand new slate - I'll know nobody at the school when I arrive. I'm sure I'll make some great friends and a lot of memories, I think I can at least count on that. But what else? No matter how much I remind myself, it's really, really hard to shake the expectation that this is going to change my life. That I'm going to fall in love, discover my true calling, or something equally revolutionary. All the novels and movies are whispering it to me - this will be Something Big.
I know, my life is not a fairytale, right? But what if this is where the story starts? The moment when all the forces of fate, destiny, magic and the universe converge to change everything forever?
It's silly and naive, and definitely doesn't help me avoid that walking talking cliche problem. But I can dream, right?
(I guess in addition to dreaming, I've got to get started on that application, 'cause it won't write itself.)
Goodnight, bloglings
I sometimes hesitate to talk about this, because although I want it more than anything, it also makes me feel like a walking talking cliche. I plan to study abroad in the U.K. for a semester - yes, me, the Doctor Who and Harry Potter loving anglophile, with a cartoon map of London and a poster from the Globe Theatre on her walls. I am literally the opening chapter of a YA boarding school novel.
I know that this is not actually going to be like a teen novel, and trust me, I definitely don't want it to be. To be honest, right now I'm just concerned with having a good application. I'm not exactly sure how competitive it is, but I'm sure I've picked the most popular destination, by far. Back in high school I applied to a ton of scholarships, and got almost none of them. I'm a decent writer, but I guess I don't do well on open-ended questions.
But for now, let's assume I get it. Obviously it's exciting, a brand new slate - I'll know nobody at the school when I arrive. I'm sure I'll make some great friends and a lot of memories, I think I can at least count on that. But what else? No matter how much I remind myself, it's really, really hard to shake the expectation that this is going to change my life. That I'm going to fall in love, discover my true calling, or something equally revolutionary. All the novels and movies are whispering it to me - this will be Something Big.
I know, my life is not a fairytale, right? But what if this is where the story starts? The moment when all the forces of fate, destiny, magic and the universe converge to change everything forever?
It's silly and naive, and definitely doesn't help me avoid that walking talking cliche problem. But I can dream, right?
(I guess in addition to dreaming, I've got to get started on that application, 'cause it won't write itself.)
Goodnight, bloglings
Thursday, 26 December 2013
The 3rd Day of Blogmas
What's the perfect way to rest and relax after a gruelling semester and exam period? By developing an instant obsession with a new TV show and spending every waking hour glued to a screen, consuming season after season as fast as possible, of course. It's the millennial way.
My newest love is the show Parks and Recreation. In ten days I've watched all five and a half seasons - or just about. As soon as I hit publish on this post, I'll be once again consumed by the obsession. I've only got three episodes left!
But I have a problem. My utter adoration for this show has become a curse - I've have absolutely nobody to talk to about it. Any place on the internet (cough/tumblr/cough) is going to be full of spoilers. And so far, I haven't been able to convert any of my family members. (But boy, have I tried.)
I'm not sure where to begin with what I love about this show. I've never been really into comedies, and I especially can't stand shows that take place in an office. But this one has a ton of heart. A quirky, stifling, adorable, and frustrating small town. A fantastic, amazing female protagonist. And lovable, flawed, real friends who care about each other a rediculous amount. Also feminism. A lot of feminism.
This may be the coma-inducing boredom and loneliness of winter break talking, but this show makes me so, so proud of the wonderful friendships I'm privileged to have. It also kinda makes me want to run for public office with a cute, scrawny, nerdy boyfriend as my campaign manager.
If you haven't seen it, you should. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a victory speech to write.
I mean a show to watch.
Goodnight, bloglings
My newest love is the show Parks and Recreation. In ten days I've watched all five and a half seasons - or just about. As soon as I hit publish on this post, I'll be once again consumed by the obsession. I've only got three episodes left!
But I have a problem. My utter adoration for this show has become a curse - I've have absolutely nobody to talk to about it. Any place on the internet (cough/tumblr/cough) is going to be full of spoilers. And so far, I haven't been able to convert any of my family members. (But boy, have I tried.)
I'm not sure where to begin with what I love about this show. I've never been really into comedies, and I especially can't stand shows that take place in an office. But this one has a ton of heart. A quirky, stifling, adorable, and frustrating small town. A fantastic, amazing female protagonist. And lovable, flawed, real friends who care about each other a rediculous amount. Also feminism. A lot of feminism.
This may be the coma-inducing boredom and loneliness of winter break talking, but this show makes me so, so proud of the wonderful friendships I'm privileged to have. It also kinda makes me want to run for public office with a cute, scrawny, nerdy boyfriend as my campaign manager.
If you haven't seen it, you should. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a victory speech to write.
I mean a show to watch.
Goodnight, bloglings
Wednesday, 25 December 2013
The 2nd Day of Blogmas
Nope. Not even going to try and apologize for this. On the very second day of daily blogging, I completely forgot to post. Until almost 2am the next day.
Welp.
My holidays have been wonderful so far, filled with home and family and food. So much food. I wanted to share a little bit about my Christmas experience, but for some reason, I'm coming up short with words tonight. I guess all I can say is that I'm extremely grateful to have the life that I have.
So, in case you aren't following me on instagram, here is a short summary of my holidays, via iPhone photos.
Goodnight, bloglings
Welp.
My holidays have been wonderful so far, filled with home and family and food. So much food. I wanted to share a little bit about my Christmas experience, but for some reason, I'm coming up short with words tonight. I guess all I can say is that I'm extremely grateful to have the life that I have.
So, in case you aren't following me on instagram, here is a short summary of my holidays, via iPhone photos.
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