- Getting started with wedding planning. No date has been set and we haven’t finalized a budget, but within days of the announcement I was bombarded with information and requests and calls for compromise. For a woman who never really thought much about weddings, it’s all a bit overwhelming.
- Related: saving up for the wedding. I already have a ton of money saved up and I don’t want to spend a ton on it either. But it would be nice to not have to dip into my savings and just use some money gathered in the upcoming year instead. Just call me the Budget-Conscious Indian Bride!
- Unfortunate side effect of wedding planning: worrying about your appearance. I’d like to shrink my gut down a couple inches if possible, but more than anything just get back in shape and be more physically active for my own health’s sake. Also, thanks to coffee and tea every day for the past 3 years I think I need to get those teeth whitening strips. :P
- Before fiancé popped the question, my big plan for 2014 was to get my professional certification, which involves a lengthy application process, in-person interview, and a difficult examination. Not sure how I’m going to fit this into my plans now, but it needs to be done! My manager and the company CEO are eager for me to have that certification under my belt. Maybe I can actually use it as an excuse to put off wedding planning? ;)
Jan 2, 2014
Ring It In
I like taking stock of the year as it comes to a close and I have to say that I’m in a much better place now than I was a year ago. At the end of 2012, things were just plain old good. On the other hand I’ve been dealt a very fine hand for the end of 2013. First off I negotiated myself a bigger raise for 2014, secondly I got news that my condo’s maintenance fees are not going up for the next year, and finally my partner surprised me with an engagement ring just before Christmas! Needless to say 2014 is looking up, but no doubt it will have its own set of challenges like:
Dec 27, 2013
Ring In The New Year With A Little Recap
It’s the most wonderful time of the year: mashup release time! There are three artists who do year-end mashups that I look forward to, and now that they’ve all released their goods and I've had time to let the songs and videos sink in, it's time to rank them!
3. DJ Earworm United State of Pop
• Without a doubt the most well-known of the year-end mashup DJs, and I enjoy that Earworm attempts to rework the lyrics into a completely new song, and the video into something brand new. Since he’s from the UK, sometimes I don’t know all of the songs he uses, but nonetheless his skill in changing tempos at the drop of a hat is always impressive. Unfortunately I found this year's creation a little boring.
2. Mashup Germany Top of the Pops 2013
• Despite the random German songs that inevitably get thrown into these mashups, I still really enjoy how they are crafted year after year, well meshed and without excessive complication. Honestly, the random German songs are refreshing! This is a very nice mix, very nice video, my only complaint is that I haaaaate "Hey Brother" by Avicii and it's the main track in this mashup.
3. Pop Danthology 2013
• Daniel Kim is Canadian so he usually picks songs that are specifically popular in my part of the world, which I deeply appreciate. He’s dropped some killer combos in this mix, I particularly like the music for Gaga’s “Applause” mixed with the vocals for Zedd’s “Clarity”. Also, he mashed the vocals for Selena Gomez’s “Come And Get It” with the Harlem Shake, amazing. My favourite this year, the video just blows me away with its accuracy and effectiveness. However, I'm sad to say that this is actually the worst of his mashups, but that's no fault of Daniel's, it's just that music this year sucked. :P
3. DJ Earworm United State of Pop
• Without a doubt the most well-known of the year-end mashup DJs, and I enjoy that Earworm attempts to rework the lyrics into a completely new song, and the video into something brand new. Since he’s from the UK, sometimes I don’t know all of the songs he uses, but nonetheless his skill in changing tempos at the drop of a hat is always impressive. Unfortunately I found this year's creation a little boring.
2. Mashup Germany Top of the Pops 2013
• Despite the random German songs that inevitably get thrown into these mashups, I still really enjoy how they are crafted year after year, well meshed and without excessive complication. Honestly, the random German songs are refreshing! This is a very nice mix, very nice video, my only complaint is that I haaaaate "Hey Brother" by Avicii and it's the main track in this mashup.
3. Pop Danthology 2013
• Daniel Kim is Canadian so he usually picks songs that are specifically popular in my part of the world, which I deeply appreciate. He’s dropped some killer combos in this mix, I particularly like the music for Gaga’s “Applause” mixed with the vocals for Zedd’s “Clarity”. Also, he mashed the vocals for Selena Gomez’s “Come And Get It” with the Harlem Shake, amazing. My favourite this year, the video just blows me away with its accuracy and effectiveness. However, I'm sad to say that this is actually the worst of his mashups, but that's no fault of Daniel's, it's just that music this year sucked. :P
Dec 10, 2013
Review – Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Full disclosure: I only read the first Hunger games book and the first third of Catching Fire (it was a pdf copy and I just couldn’t continue). But I’ve read the synopsis on Wikipedia so I know the major deaths/outcomes and conclusion. I am NOT ready for that terrible terrible death that happens in Mockingjay. D:
Katniss was always cool, we all know that, but this was the movie that made me really adore her. Katniss is everything teenaged me would have wanted to be, and everything that adult me realizes I could never be. She is a rule breaker, the girl who doesn’t smile when you ask her to unless it serves her purpose, confused and bold, impassioned behind a mask of ice. But beyond all that, she is powerful and competent and a threat. Her actions, no matter how insignificant, can topple an empire. She is the unwilling metaphor who did not wish for the future she was given, but love and family thrust her down a path she could have never predicted.
The only times I ever teared up in the movie were the parts with Cinna and Effie. Oh my gosh Cinna, Kravitz is like a beacon of pure sanity in these movies, there is nothing I do not like about him. I love that he used fashion to stick it to the empire, even though it cost him in the end. But I get the feeling he knew what he was doing when he took that chance with Katniss’ dress. And Effie, oh my gosh Effie, I totally bawled every time she was like “we’re a TEAM and I will bedeck the TEAM so help me god”, like, bless your heart my dear, you love your bb victors so damn much and she was SO NOT COOL with the Quarterquell.
When I first started getting into the Hunger Games series, I was massively on Team Gale because I wanted Katniss to be with someone she had already felt longterm friendship/affection for, not someone the system had coerced her into pretending to love. But then I read what happened in Mockingjay and, well, as my Chinese coworker said, “he went all communist by the end, ugh.” But Peeta definitely is growing on me, especially once I read all the articles about how the Peeta/Katniss relationship is basically gender-flipped tropes. Peeta is compassionate and emotional and bakes bread and Katniss has to save his ass all the time? Beautiful. I am NOT ready to watch what happens to him in Mockingjay.
But I found it interesting that compared to the books, they definitely tweaked how Katniss felt about both Peeta and Gale. In the books she’s very “how the hell should I know what love is?” but in the movies she’s more like “you’re both lovely but now is not the time dammit!”
I do wonder though, what the heck the rest of the world is thinking while shit goes down in Panem. Like, I guess Panem gave the United Nations the middle finger or something? And, like, China and Indian are just watching from afar and shaking their heads while curing cancer and sending space missions to Mars? And do Canadians download illegal bootlegs of the Hunger Games and watch it going “wtf eh?” NEW HEADCANNON.
But seriously though am I the only one weirded out by the lack of Asian people in the Hunger Games movies? It’s not the best series diversity-wise. Hell, they even upped the ante with a “token black district”. :P
Katniss was always cool, we all know that, but this was the movie that made me really adore her. Katniss is everything teenaged me would have wanted to be, and everything that adult me realizes I could never be. She is a rule breaker, the girl who doesn’t smile when you ask her to unless it serves her purpose, confused and bold, impassioned behind a mask of ice. But beyond all that, she is powerful and competent and a threat. Her actions, no matter how insignificant, can topple an empire. She is the unwilling metaphor who did not wish for the future she was given, but love and family thrust her down a path she could have never predicted.
The only times I ever teared up in the movie were the parts with Cinna and Effie. Oh my gosh Cinna, Kravitz is like a beacon of pure sanity in these movies, there is nothing I do not like about him. I love that he used fashion to stick it to the empire, even though it cost him in the end. But I get the feeling he knew what he was doing when he took that chance with Katniss’ dress. And Effie, oh my gosh Effie, I totally bawled every time she was like “we’re a TEAM and I will bedeck the TEAM so help me god”, like, bless your heart my dear, you love your bb victors so damn much and she was SO NOT COOL with the Quarterquell.
When I first started getting into the Hunger Games series, I was massively on Team Gale because I wanted Katniss to be with someone she had already felt longterm friendship/affection for, not someone the system had coerced her into pretending to love. But then I read what happened in Mockingjay and, well, as my Chinese coworker said, “he went all communist by the end, ugh.” But Peeta definitely is growing on me, especially once I read all the articles about how the Peeta/Katniss relationship is basically gender-flipped tropes. Peeta is compassionate and emotional and bakes bread and Katniss has to save his ass all the time? Beautiful. I am NOT ready to watch what happens to him in Mockingjay.
But I found it interesting that compared to the books, they definitely tweaked how Katniss felt about both Peeta and Gale. In the books she’s very “how the hell should I know what love is?” but in the movies she’s more like “you’re both lovely but now is not the time dammit!”
I do wonder though, what the heck the rest of the world is thinking while shit goes down in Panem. Like, I guess Panem gave the United Nations the middle finger or something? And, like, China and Indian are just watching from afar and shaking their heads while curing cancer and sending space missions to Mars? And do Canadians download illegal bootlegs of the Hunger Games and watch it going “wtf eh?” NEW HEADCANNON.
But seriously though am I the only one weirded out by the lack of Asian people in the Hunger Games movies? It’s not the best series diversity-wise. Hell, they even upped the ante with a “token black district”. :P
Dec 6, 2013
Nestlé: Crappy Chocolate, Even Crappier Globalized Marketing
Source:
WHAT THE HELL. I knew Nestlé was full of shenanigans when I heard they aggressively market baby formula to poor women in lesser developed countries when it’s not really effective nutrition(here’s a good article that gets into that particular issue), but this is just ridic. People can survive 1-3 weeks on starvation but only ~3 days with dehydration! People have a RIGHT to water.
At the World Water Forum in 2000, Nestlé led the way in fighting against defining access to water a universal right. Nestlé and other big corporations won out, and government officials around the globe officially downgraded water’s classification to a "need" instead.
WHAT THE HELL. I knew Nestlé was full of shenanigans when I heard they aggressively market baby formula to poor women in lesser developed countries when it’s not really effective nutrition(here’s a good article that gets into that particular issue), but this is just ridic. People can survive 1-3 weeks on starvation but only ~3 days with dehydration! People have a RIGHT to water.
Dec 2, 2013
Pre-Hogwarts Premonition!
When I was a teenager, I somehow acquired a CD with a Tchaikovsky compilation on it: Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty. Let me tell you, if that CD had been a record I would have wore the grooves out, haha. I liked listening to music for an hour or so before bed and that CD was one of my favourites, especially the Nutcracker songs, I basically memorized every song. One night, I listened to the full Nutcracker Suite and drifted off to sleep right after, and had a dream that my high school decided to organize a ball during Christmas, and all the girls dressed up in huge Victorian hoop dresses with lots of ribbons and tulle and satin. Mine was a pale blue, like Cinderella’s gown in the Disney movie. I remember in the dream we had to dance to Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers” and I was freaked because I didn’t actually know how to waltz but managed to get through it anyway.
I just remembered this dream today and thought: “Wait... isn’t that basically the Yule Ball from the Harry Potter books?!” I DREAMED IT FIRST! :P
I just remembered this dream today and thought: “Wait... isn’t that basically the Yule Ball from the Harry Potter books?!” I DREAMED IT FIRST! :P
Nov 27, 2013
Nov 21, 2013
BBM for iPhone Is Terrible: Reasons Why
- When someone sends a message, I get duplicate notifications in the lock screen.
- Every time I enter a chat, the screen automatically defaults to show the keyboard, leaving me barely any room to actually read the conversation above.
- You can’t add photos within the flow of conversation in a group chat, it has to go in a separate area.
I know it’s only 3 reasons, but that’s 3 reasons more than WhatsApp. Screw this inferior product! The iOS version needs some serious work to win my love.
Nov 13, 2013
Review – Thor 2: The Dark World (Spoilers!)
When I came in to work this morning, I announced that I had seen Thor 2 the day before. Immediately, the coworkers around me mentioned that they loved the Thor series because LOKI and omg isn’t Loki awesome? I, on the other hand, have never much fallen into the fangirl/fanboy spell Loki seems to cast upon its watchers. I watch Thor for THOR and his bulging biceps and chistled jaw.
But Thor 2? Well, okay, I see it now. Loki is kind of amazing in this movie.
I truly enjoyed this movie, it was the perfect blend of action, mythology, comedy, and tragedy all rolled into one. Some random thoughts I’d like to share:
But Thor 2? Well, okay, I see it now. Loki is kind of amazing in this movie.
I truly enjoyed this movie, it was the perfect blend of action, mythology, comedy, and tragedy all rolled into one. Some random thoughts I’d like to share:
- I’ve often said that I’m sick of movies with massive casual first world genocide while the hero and villain battle it out (see: Star Trek, Superman, etc.) and thankfully Thor didn’t fall into this trap with destroying thousands of innocent Londoners. The trade-off, I suppose, is that a shitload of Asgardians died, bringing me to point two...
- OMFG killing Frigga, I... ugh. She was so badass fighting Malekith and then they fridged her to increase Loki’s manpain? Wah. Also, I know too much of actual Norse mythology not to be irritated by it, she’s one of the most important Norse gods! That being said, the funeral scene was one of the prettiest scenes ever (and gave me mad Game of Thrones feels, haha). Speaking of manpain...
- Yeah, I totally fell for Loki’s manpain. I know, I know, it was all a massive gambit in the end. But dude, he really did love Frigga. When Thor made him drop his illusion in the dungeon and he was all broken and in despair... so woobie omg. And when he tells Thor he didn’t sacrifice his life for him, you know every step he has taken was not all for his long con, he wanted vengeance for his mother as well.
- Can we talk about Jane for a bit? Actually, can we talk about Aether Jane for a bit? I honestly thought that they were foreshadowing that she was going to go evil, with the black eyeballs and the electric blue irises and visions of destruction she was having. Now THAT would have rocked my world a little bit. It’s the only real disappointment I have, but nothing a little fanfic won’t fix. ;)
- It was nice to see Selvig and Darcy again. Selvig was especially hilarious with his aversion to pants. BRO, I know that feel. Also kinda hilarious-awesome was Loki pretending to be Captain America. “Let’s have a discussion about truth and justice!” LOL.
- Since I am a massive appreciator of Thor, I would like to squee about him a bit. OMG SQUEE! Hooray for his shirtless scene! And he’s just so straight-forward and earnest and adorable. I laughed so hard when he had to take the Tube back to Greenwich and the woman was all “oops the subway shifted and I had to fall against your rugged manly chest, sorry!” I’d do the same thing haha.
- I loved that most of the movie took place in Asgard, and I was quite impressed how they managed to make Asgard both timelessly ancient but technologically powerful as well. It’s like... by virtue of being part of the Marvel universe, they need to tread that science fiction line despite the fact that we’re dealing with ancient gods here.
- I just KNEW this whole mythology is building up to the Infinity Gauntlet. All this talk about stones and we’ve already seen Thanos, eeeee can’t wait! On the other hand, all this Guardians of the Galaxy business looks terrible. As the guy sitting next to me in the theatre said, “I don’t want to watch a movie with a talking raccoon in it.” FOR REAL BRO.
- I dunno guys, for some reason I got major OT3 feels when it was just Thor and Loki taking Jane to Malekith. Like, I would be completely satisfied with a movie just was just the three of them slogging through some godforsaken land while Loki snarks and Thor beats things up and Jane figures shit out. LOL sounds like one of those last Harry Potter movies.
- Overall impression: solid movie with action, humour, and just enough complexity to make you salivate for a sequel!
Nov 11, 2013
Six Reasons Why Living On Your Own Sucks
1. You can only ever carry two arms worth of groceries at a time.
2. No one to help zip you up in the back.
3. It's just you versus the spiders/wasps/centipedes/etc.
4. Can't get a second opinion on whether your outfit clashes or not.
5. "God I'm so sick I can barely move. Too bad that chicken soup won't make itself."
6. Minimum motivation to unf**k your habitat. Why clean when no one’s there to see it but you?
2. No one to help zip you up in the back.
3. It's just you versus the spiders/wasps/centipedes/etc.
4. Can't get a second opinion on whether your outfit clashes or not.
5. "God I'm so sick I can barely move. Too bad that chicken soup won't make itself."
6. Minimum motivation to unf**k your habitat. Why clean when no one’s there to see it but you?
Nov 6, 2013
Sci-Fi Movie Plot, Patent Pending
I do all of my best thinking right before I fall asleep. Last night, my train of thought was this:
One day, instead of smartphones we will all have chips embedded in the base of our necks that will connect us to the internet and allow us to control our homes and computers with our brains. But we’ll still be subject to privacy issues, but instead of Google using your words and image to sell products, they will use your thoughts and dreams to fund new movies and books, and you won’t be able to do a thing when they profit from your creativity because you waived all rights away when you agreed to their cumbersome Terms and Conditions.
One day, instead of smartphones we will all have chips embedded in the base of our necks that will connect us to the internet and allow us to control our homes and computers with our brains. But we’ll still be subject to privacy issues, but instead of Google using your words and image to sell products, they will use your thoughts and dreams to fund new movies and books, and you won’t be able to do a thing when they profit from your creativity because you waived all rights away when you agreed to their cumbersome Terms and Conditions.
Oct 30, 2013
Email Blunders
I see it time and time again; someone says something offensive, insulting, racist, sexist, etc. in an email that somehow gets sent beyond its intended recipient. And inevitably, the author of this terrible email admits they goofed... by being careless with email.
NOPE YOU GOOFED WHEN YOU BECAME A DOUCHE.
Seriously, I hate hate haaaaaate it when bad behaviour is exposed through email and the message is basically “your mistake was exposing your true colours”. Not that the fact of the matter is YOUR TRUE COLOURS ARE THE COLOURS OF CAT PUKE AND BABY POO.
Make people accountable not only for their actions, but for their beliefs as well.
NOPE YOU GOOFED WHEN YOU BECAME A DOUCHE.
Seriously, I hate hate haaaaaate it when bad behaviour is exposed through email and the message is basically “your mistake was exposing your true colours”. Not that the fact of the matter is YOUR TRUE COLOURS ARE THE COLOURS OF CAT PUKE AND BABY POO.
Make people accountable not only for their actions, but for their beliefs as well.
Oct 24, 2013
Treat Yo’self
This Friday I have a vacation day and I decided that since my budget isn’t looking too bad, I’d treat myself to a trip to... the 2013 Fall Creativ festival!
I just know I’m going to end up running around like a kid in a candy store. There’s gonna be yarn, sewing machines, rubber stamps, cardstock, buttons and doodads and notions, even Wow Wow Nails, the exclusive Toronto dealer for Konad nail art stamping plates, is going to be there!
My poor wallet, LOL. But it’s okay, my budget is rock solid for this month. Hell, I’ll probably still have enough money at the end of October to buy the paperback version of A Dance With Dragons. Winter is COMING y’all. ;D
I just know I’m going to end up running around like a kid in a candy store. There’s gonna be yarn, sewing machines, rubber stamps, cardstock, buttons and doodads and notions, even Wow Wow Nails, the exclusive Toronto dealer for Konad nail art stamping plates, is going to be there!
My poor wallet, LOL. But it’s okay, my budget is rock solid for this month. Hell, I’ll probably still have enough money at the end of October to buy the paperback version of A Dance With Dragons. Winter is COMING y’all. ;D
Oct 22, 2013
A Funny Thing Happened On The Twitters
I really liked Jamie Oliver back before he decided to get on his soapbox, now I find him just meh. His heart is in the right place but (to get all Tumblr up in here) he needs to check his privilege.
Oct 16, 2013
C.S. Lewis Is A Life Ruiner
So I’ve finished all of the Narnia books and I have to say... that last one left a really bad taste in my mouth. The basic summary goes thusly: everything is weird and goes to shit, plus Susan is barred from heaven for no real reason. Seriously, I feel like Lewis crapped all over what could have been a joyous and happy moment by excluding her from the final novel, for... what, really? Punished her for liking girly things? Seriously?? Maybe it’s because I’m the oldest sister in my family, but it felt a bit like a slap in the face.
Also, the last novel had a lot more Calormene evilness in it, and that shit was just way too racist for me to handle. It was bad enough to deal with in The Horse and His Boy but, like, really? The entire series we only ever meet TWO Calmormenes who are not terrible people: Aravis and Emeth. And yes, I get it, they’re the Bad Guys, but to make them so heavy-handedly “eastern” and I DON’T CARE, “DARKIE” IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE NICKNAME EVER.
Sigh.
It’s just too bad, really. I enjoyed the first two books and adored Voyage. Silver Chair and Magician’s Nephew are kind of boring but had interesting parts. Then everything fell apart after that and I’m left with a bitter taste in my mouth at the end.
In related news, apparently they’re going to make a movie for The Silver Chair? I still haven’t seen any of the movies yet, so that’s going to be my new Netflix challenge. :)
Also, the last novel had a lot more Calormene evilness in it, and that shit was just way too racist for me to handle. It was bad enough to deal with in The Horse and His Boy but, like, really? The entire series we only ever meet TWO Calmormenes who are not terrible people: Aravis and Emeth. And yes, I get it, they’re the Bad Guys, but to make them so heavy-handedly “eastern” and I DON’T CARE, “DARKIE” IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE NICKNAME EVER.
Sigh.
It’s just too bad, really. I enjoyed the first two books and adored Voyage. Silver Chair and Magician’s Nephew are kind of boring but had interesting parts. Then everything fell apart after that and I’m left with a bitter taste in my mouth at the end.
In related news, apparently they’re going to make a movie for The Silver Chair? I still haven’t seen any of the movies yet, so that’s going to be my new Netflix challenge. :)
Oct 8, 2013
Current Best of Dance Videos
I haven’t done a “EDM videos that don’t suck” post in a while! There are a lot lately, mad props to the DJs.
1. Zedd ft. Foxes – Clarity
My first pick because I saw Zedd live a couple weeks ago and it was awesome. This was the big song everyone was awaiting of course. I’ve loved it since it first came out, not only is the video visually interesting, but the lyrics and tune are so fantastic to sing along to. But when I went to the concert, there was this interesting moment where all you could hear was the women singing the chorus at the tops of their lungs, and then every man there shouted out the “ayyyyy-ayyyyy ayyy-ayyy-ayyyyy” part right before the beat drops. It was perfect and magical. :D
2. Icona Pop – All Night
All musicians should watch the extended video for this song, it’s basically a lesson on how to highlight a subculture without being appropriative. This video is fun, fabulous, and makes me want to watch Paris Is Burning.
3. Jacques Lu Cont & Alex Metric – Safe With You
I was sold the moment this video began: EDM + figure skating = win. I don’t know, this video just gives me feels. Reminds me when I first fell in love with Virtue & Moir back in 2010.
1. Zedd ft. Foxes – Clarity
My first pick because I saw Zedd live a couple weeks ago and it was awesome. This was the big song everyone was awaiting of course. I’ve loved it since it first came out, not only is the video visually interesting, but the lyrics and tune are so fantastic to sing along to. But when I went to the concert, there was this interesting moment where all you could hear was the women singing the chorus at the tops of their lungs, and then every man there shouted out the “ayyyyy-ayyyyy ayyy-ayyy-ayyyyy” part right before the beat drops. It was perfect and magical. :D
2. Icona Pop – All Night
All musicians should watch the extended video for this song, it’s basically a lesson on how to highlight a subculture without being appropriative. This video is fun, fabulous, and makes me want to watch Paris Is Burning.
3. Jacques Lu Cont & Alex Metric – Safe With You
I was sold the moment this video began: EDM + figure skating = win. I don’t know, this video just gives me feels. Reminds me when I first fell in love with Virtue & Moir back in 2010.
Sep 30, 2013
Books Ahoy
I’ve been a bit of a reading machine lately. In the last month, I’ve finished off 5 books in total. On to the reviews! (As always, spoilers lie beyond here.)
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami: I mentioned this book before and how it was everything I ever dreamed of in a large, sprawling novel. In all honestly though the first half of the book is more interesting than the second half. There’s such a wide range of interesting characters like Ayumi, the Dowager, Fuka-Eri, Komatsu, and Professor Ebisuno. But they all sort of disappear as the novel moves into the second half, focusing on the epic fated love of Aomame and Tengo instead of conspiracies and the nature of writing. Would have preferred more of Ayumi and Aomame picking up guys in expensive bars and less of Tengo visiting his comatose father. And I wish they had explained more of what exactly the Little People were, whether Fuka-Eri was the maza or dohta, why there was a second moon in the sky, etc. But still, excellent read. I’d give it a score of 8/10.
A Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling: I started reading this book and feeling incredibly bored by this tale of small-town plebes and their trivial, insignificant small-town problems. In fact, that’s how I felt for the majority of the book. It just so happened that at some point, I desperately wanted to know what happened to these petty jerks. All the characters were so incredibly flawed that I had no sympathy for most of them. But after a certain point, I wanted everything to turn out alright for these petty jerks, but I knew that wouldn’t happen because it was an adult novel, not a Bollywood movie. So I went on Wikipedia and read the ending, which was probably a good thing because the ending was incredibly saddening and unfulfilling and I would have thrown the book out the window if I hadn’t known beforehand. Read the book if it somehow falls into your lap. Or not, whatever. One can live without it. I give it a score of 6.5/10.
Chronicles of Narnia – Yes, the whole series. I’m not done the whole thing yet (currently I’m in the middle of The Silver Chair) but I have thoughts for the moment. The books I’ve read so far in order are: The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and Voyage of the Dawntreader. Yup, going in published order. I actually read TLWW years ago (and The Magician’s Nephew too) but I think I wasn’t even in high school yet. Aaanyways, yes I’ve been making my way through the series. And obviously I knew going in that the whole series is a giant Bible parallel but man, non-Christian me gets the jibblies sometimes with the heavy-handedness of it all. Lewis is very clear about things he believe are Right and things that are Wrong, and sometimes I just throw my hands in the air at his beliefs. Anyway, the stories are still really engaging. My favourite so far is actually VDT, which I thought I would dislike because sailing = blah. But there was something magical about the journey to the east, the sunlight and the calm sweet waters. PC was most interesting at the beginning and the end, while the middle was a lump of boring. TLWW was interesting as well, but since I had read it once already I had a vague recollection of most of the details, which made it less engaging. Thus far SC has been rather annoying; Eustace and Jill are by far the most annoying and hasty children to grace the series thus far. I miss Lucy, LOL.
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami: I mentioned this book before and how it was everything I ever dreamed of in a large, sprawling novel. In all honestly though the first half of the book is more interesting than the second half. There’s such a wide range of interesting characters like Ayumi, the Dowager, Fuka-Eri, Komatsu, and Professor Ebisuno. But they all sort of disappear as the novel moves into the second half, focusing on the epic fated love of Aomame and Tengo instead of conspiracies and the nature of writing. Would have preferred more of Ayumi and Aomame picking up guys in expensive bars and less of Tengo visiting his comatose father. And I wish they had explained more of what exactly the Little People were, whether Fuka-Eri was the maza or dohta, why there was a second moon in the sky, etc. But still, excellent read. I’d give it a score of 8/10.
A Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling: I started reading this book and feeling incredibly bored by this tale of small-town plebes and their trivial, insignificant small-town problems. In fact, that’s how I felt for the majority of the book. It just so happened that at some point, I desperately wanted to know what happened to these petty jerks. All the characters were so incredibly flawed that I had no sympathy for most of them. But after a certain point, I wanted everything to turn out alright for these petty jerks, but I knew that wouldn’t happen because it was an adult novel, not a Bollywood movie. So I went on Wikipedia and read the ending, which was probably a good thing because the ending was incredibly saddening and unfulfilling and I would have thrown the book out the window if I hadn’t known beforehand. Read the book if it somehow falls into your lap. Or not, whatever. One can live without it. I give it a score of 6.5/10.
Chronicles of Narnia – Yes, the whole series. I’m not done the whole thing yet (currently I’m in the middle of The Silver Chair) but I have thoughts for the moment. The books I’ve read so far in order are: The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and Voyage of the Dawntreader. Yup, going in published order. I actually read TLWW years ago (and The Magician’s Nephew too) but I think I wasn’t even in high school yet. Aaanyways, yes I’ve been making my way through the series. And obviously I knew going in that the whole series is a giant Bible parallel but man, non-Christian me gets the jibblies sometimes with the heavy-handedness of it all. Lewis is very clear about things he believe are Right and things that are Wrong, and sometimes I just throw my hands in the air at his beliefs. Anyway, the stories are still really engaging. My favourite so far is actually VDT, which I thought I would dislike because sailing = blah. But there was something magical about the journey to the east, the sunlight and the calm sweet waters. PC was most interesting at the beginning and the end, while the middle was a lump of boring. TLWW was interesting as well, but since I had read it once already I had a vague recollection of most of the details, which made it less engaging. Thus far SC has been rather annoying; Eustace and Jill are by far the most annoying and hasty children to grace the series thus far. I miss Lucy, LOL.
Sep 27, 2013
Praise Where Praise Is Due
I remember learning once in school that people are more likely to leave reviews for service or products when the review is a negative one. For that reason, I make an effort to inform people when something goes right or if I have a good experience. Here are two such recent examples.
1. Rogers
It’s actually no secret... I hate Rogers. But in a very specific way. I don’t like the prices they charge, I don’t like their packages, their offerings are so limited and inflexible, and I lord help you if you try to call them with an issue. There is an exception to their generally crappy customer service though, and that is the @RogersHelps twitter account. Bless those account users, they sure try their darndest to help.
It all started two Sundays ago, when my internet suddenly ground to a crawl. No matter what I did to the computer or router or modem, I just couldn’t get the connection to improve. I shouted my anger to the skies aka tweeted my agony to @RogersHelps and they did their best to help out, but in the end they set up a technician visit for me. And while Rogers has crap customer service, their technicians sure are pros. The guy came by a couple days later and found out my modem was broken, so he gave me a new one, as well as new ethernet cables, just in case. Well played, Rogers. But I’m still leaving you once my contract is up. :P
2. Groupon
I’ve been known to use Groupon every now and then, mostly for services. (e.g. haircuts, massages, pedicures, etc.) A couple weeks ago, I decided my shoulders had had enough and it was time for another massage. I checked out the best deals online, compared websites and resources between all the different companies, and finally decided on purchasing a groupon from my top pick. This week, I tried to make an appointment and found the phone number was firstly wrong on the Groupon page, then when I went to check the correct number on the website I discovered the website was gone. D: Good thing Google caches everything, so I found the right phone number on a cached version of the site... but the phone line was out of service. Double plus ungood! At this point, if everything had suddenly resolved itself (phone and website fixed) I still would have felt too sketched out by this company to use their services anymore, so I requested Groupon look into it. Less than 24 hours later, I find an email in my inbox confirming a full refund in Groupon bucks. Would have preferred a refund directly to my credit card, but this will do.
1. Rogers
It’s actually no secret... I hate Rogers. But in a very specific way. I don’t like the prices they charge, I don’t like their packages, their offerings are so limited and inflexible, and I lord help you if you try to call them with an issue. There is an exception to their generally crappy customer service though, and that is the @RogersHelps twitter account. Bless those account users, they sure try their darndest to help.
It all started two Sundays ago, when my internet suddenly ground to a crawl. No matter what I did to the computer or router or modem, I just couldn’t get the connection to improve. I shouted my anger to the skies aka tweeted my agony to @RogersHelps and they did their best to help out, but in the end they set up a technician visit for me. And while Rogers has crap customer service, their technicians sure are pros. The guy came by a couple days later and found out my modem was broken, so he gave me a new one, as well as new ethernet cables, just in case. Well played, Rogers. But I’m still leaving you once my contract is up. :P
2. Groupon
I’ve been known to use Groupon every now and then, mostly for services. (e.g. haircuts, massages, pedicures, etc.) A couple weeks ago, I decided my shoulders had had enough and it was time for another massage. I checked out the best deals online, compared websites and resources between all the different companies, and finally decided on purchasing a groupon from my top pick. This week, I tried to make an appointment and found the phone number was firstly wrong on the Groupon page, then when I went to check the correct number on the website I discovered the website was gone. D: Good thing Google caches everything, so I found the right phone number on a cached version of the site... but the phone line was out of service. Double plus ungood! At this point, if everything had suddenly resolved itself (phone and website fixed) I still would have felt too sketched out by this company to use their services anymore, so I requested Groupon look into it. Less than 24 hours later, I find an email in my inbox confirming a full refund in Groupon bucks. Would have preferred a refund directly to my credit card, but this will do.
Sep 17, 2013
Where Once Was Earth...
I had a strange dream a couple weeks ago that continues coming back to my memory for reasons unknown. Here’s the lowdown...
In my dream, my family and I are all together on a space shuttle/pod orbiting the earth. We monitor the controls periodically to make sure that everything’s on course, but otherwise we’re just living out in space for no presumable reason. The whole time we’re up there, I’m comforted by the fact that I can see Earth right out the viewing window, but being in space still makes me incredibly uneasy. (I’m a Capricorn; give me solid ground or give me death!)
Then one day my worst fear is imagined. I can’t remember if one of my siblings accidentally knocked the controls or if someone was manipulating everything from Earth, but suddenly the ship begins to accelerate and change course, and we are streaming through space as blue-green contrails of stars streak by. When we finally manage to get the space craft to stop moving, we’ve traveled light-years away from our holding orbit... and the goddamn ship doesn’t have an interstellar map to show us which way we went or how to get back. I can’t remember if we ended up traveling to another galaxy or just another star system, either way it was really damn far. I remember when the ship finally stopped and I looked out the window and all I could see was a giant grey nebula in the distance and a dark brown planet... the profound feeling of being lost, alone, displaced, adrift, etc. was terrible.
The rest of the dream turned out sort of oddly. Somehow me and my siblings beamed down to the brown planet and found it to be inhabited by a race of vicious aliens that sort of looked like a cross between Predators and Zerg. Yeah, big do not want, especially the giant razor-claws for hands thing. D: We were sneaking around one of their castles trying not to get caught, and we found this flight of stairs on the outside of a turret that would lead us to the ground, but as we started running down it, we realized that there were guards at the bottom and guards hot on our heels. We were trapped. Except I was like “no, we’re not trapped, we can jump off these stairs from 50 feet up and fly over to that bridge and get back to the ship”. And of course my siblings were like “um, what??” But there was no time to explain to them that we were in a dream, so I just linked my arms with theirs told them to jump... and we started to plummet to the ground. But I increased my willpower and soon our decent stopped, and linked together we floated upwards to the bridge that led us back to the ship.
I woke up soon after that. Anyways, it's the part where the ship starts to zoom away from Earth that freaked me out the most, and that's the part I keep remembering. Of course. :P
In my dream, my family and I are all together on a space shuttle/pod orbiting the earth. We monitor the controls periodically to make sure that everything’s on course, but otherwise we’re just living out in space for no presumable reason. The whole time we’re up there, I’m comforted by the fact that I can see Earth right out the viewing window, but being in space still makes me incredibly uneasy. (I’m a Capricorn; give me solid ground or give me death!)
Then one day my worst fear is imagined. I can’t remember if one of my siblings accidentally knocked the controls or if someone was manipulating everything from Earth, but suddenly the ship begins to accelerate and change course, and we are streaming through space as blue-green contrails of stars streak by. When we finally manage to get the space craft to stop moving, we’ve traveled light-years away from our holding orbit... and the goddamn ship doesn’t have an interstellar map to show us which way we went or how to get back. I can’t remember if we ended up traveling to another galaxy or just another star system, either way it was really damn far. I remember when the ship finally stopped and I looked out the window and all I could see was a giant grey nebula in the distance and a dark brown planet... the profound feeling of being lost, alone, displaced, adrift, etc. was terrible.
The rest of the dream turned out sort of oddly. Somehow me and my siblings beamed down to the brown planet and found it to be inhabited by a race of vicious aliens that sort of looked like a cross between Predators and Zerg. Yeah, big do not want, especially the giant razor-claws for hands thing. D: We were sneaking around one of their castles trying not to get caught, and we found this flight of stairs on the outside of a turret that would lead us to the ground, but as we started running down it, we realized that there were guards at the bottom and guards hot on our heels. We were trapped. Except I was like “no, we’re not trapped, we can jump off these stairs from 50 feet up and fly over to that bridge and get back to the ship”. And of course my siblings were like “um, what??” But there was no time to explain to them that we were in a dream, so I just linked my arms with theirs told them to jump... and we started to plummet to the ground. But I increased my willpower and soon our decent stopped, and linked together we floated upwards to the bridge that led us back to the ship.
I woke up soon after that. Anyways, it's the part where the ship starts to zoom away from Earth that freaked me out the most, and that's the part I keep remembering. Of course. :P
Aug 27, 2013
Cronut Be Damned! CNE Exploits 2013
For anyone living in Toronto, we all know that the CNE heralds the end of summer. I like to go every year to enjoy the sights and sounds and delicious foods of course. This year the big item was the vaunted cronut burger (for those not in the know, a cronut is the delicious conglomeration of a croissant and a donut) but alas, on the first weekend of the CNE opening 150 people got sick with Staph aureus from eating the cronut burger... eww.
But a little bacterial toxin never stopped me! So my friend and I braved the possibility to gastrointestinal distress and headed over after work last week.
First stop, the Food Building for dinner. Even though we had pre-decided that we would avoid any potential stomach issues by only eating vegetarian food, we quickly fell under the thrall of a restaurant called Bison that featured (you guessed it) bison meat. I bought the bison sausage while my friend bought the bison burger, then we split each in half and shared. I liked the burger better and she liked the sausage better.
After the main course it was time for desert! My friend got a dozen Tiny Tom cinnamon donuts and I got... a deep fried Mars bar! Let me tell you people, it was freaking delicious. Full of melty chocolate, warm caramel, sugar saturated goodness.
After that we walked around the International Exhibition (where my friend got distracted by really cheap Mavi jeans) and enjoyed the midway with all its lights and sounds and teenagers way too intent on winning giant stuffed Minions. ;)
And so we bid farewell to another all-to-brief Canadian summer. Until next year!
But a little bacterial toxin never stopped me! So my friend and I braved the possibility to gastrointestinal distress and headed over after work last week.
First stop, the Food Building for dinner. Even though we had pre-decided that we would avoid any potential stomach issues by only eating vegetarian food, we quickly fell under the thrall of a restaurant called Bison that featured (you guessed it) bison meat. I bought the bison sausage while my friend bought the bison burger, then we split each in half and shared. I liked the burger better and she liked the sausage better.
After the main course it was time for desert! My friend got a dozen Tiny Tom cinnamon donuts and I got... a deep fried Mars bar! Let me tell you people, it was freaking delicious. Full of melty chocolate, warm caramel, sugar saturated goodness.
After that we walked around the International Exhibition (where my friend got distracted by really cheap Mavi jeans) and enjoyed the midway with all its lights and sounds and teenagers way too intent on winning giant stuffed Minions. ;)
And so we bid farewell to another all-to-brief Canadian summer. Until next year!
Aug 20, 2013
Nightvaleian Non-Nightmares
I think Welcome to Night Vale is finally getting to me!
Last night I had a dream that I was vacationing at a beach and some kids were jumping around on these giant rocks that were half-submerged in the lake. I was apparently kind of lucid dreaming because I knew that the two rocks furthest out in the water weren’t rocks, but were actually giant zombie water creatures. They looked like Lovecraftian whale-kodama if that makes any sense. Anyway the moment the kids jumped on the last rock, three or four of these creatures woke up and stood fully upright in the waters and started speaking in very cheerful English. They said they wanted everyone in the city to gather on the beach in the evening and they would set off fireworks and sing us the glorious ancient songs of their kind. Since it was a bit of a tourist city, lots of people were excited about this and started camping out on the beach. However, I was rooming with a couple of friends who had moved to the city two years ago and they knew that where they were from weird = bad. The beach house that we were staying in had a special room that I had never gone into, but I always noticed it because it had weird patterns and textured stuff on its door and the outer walls. So my friends were like “yeah no, when those things start singing, get in this room and don’t leave until the sun rises the next day.” And because I was kind of lucid dreaming, I knew that was because when the whale-kodama started singing, anyone who could hear it would go insane and their brain would dissolve and their skin would fall off. Swell.
So as the evening approached the creatures’ booming voices appeared again and they presented the fireworks without a hitch. At this point all the tourists were having fun outside and the locals had disappeared. Me and my friends were already holed up in the secret room, but it had a sliding glass door that opened up right to the boardwalk, so when we saw some frantic homeless locals freaking out we let them into our room of safety at the last minute. Then the whale-kodama’s started this weird humming/chanting type thing and all you could hear was terrible, terrible screams outside. However, in my dream this was not as nightmarish at it sounded; in true pseudo Night Vale-esque fashion, we spent some time getting to know the thankful hobos we rescued, and one of them even baked us a delicious hobo pie while we waited for the terror outside to end. Mmm... pie.
Last night I had a dream that I was vacationing at a beach and some kids were jumping around on these giant rocks that were half-submerged in the lake. I was apparently kind of lucid dreaming because I knew that the two rocks furthest out in the water weren’t rocks, but were actually giant zombie water creatures. They looked like Lovecraftian whale-kodama if that makes any sense. Anyway the moment the kids jumped on the last rock, three or four of these creatures woke up and stood fully upright in the waters and started speaking in very cheerful English. They said they wanted everyone in the city to gather on the beach in the evening and they would set off fireworks and sing us the glorious ancient songs of their kind. Since it was a bit of a tourist city, lots of people were excited about this and started camping out on the beach. However, I was rooming with a couple of friends who had moved to the city two years ago and they knew that where they were from weird = bad. The beach house that we were staying in had a special room that I had never gone into, but I always noticed it because it had weird patterns and textured stuff on its door and the outer walls. So my friends were like “yeah no, when those things start singing, get in this room and don’t leave until the sun rises the next day.” And because I was kind of lucid dreaming, I knew that was because when the whale-kodama started singing, anyone who could hear it would go insane and their brain would dissolve and their skin would fall off. Swell.
So as the evening approached the creatures’ booming voices appeared again and they presented the fireworks without a hitch. At this point all the tourists were having fun outside and the locals had disappeared. Me and my friends were already holed up in the secret room, but it had a sliding glass door that opened up right to the boardwalk, so when we saw some frantic homeless locals freaking out we let them into our room of safety at the last minute. Then the whale-kodama’s started this weird humming/chanting type thing and all you could hear was terrible, terrible screams outside. However, in my dream this was not as nightmarish at it sounded; in true pseudo Night Vale-esque fashion, we spent some time getting to know the thankful hobos we rescued, and one of them even baked us a delicious hobo pie while we waited for the terror outside to end. Mmm... pie.
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