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Friday, April 28, 2006
*sigh*...well, that was frustrating! So, I wake up, nice Friday morning...do my usual morning wake-up routine, have a cup of peach yogourt (yummy!!!), read a chapter of urbanization, then head out to my French teacher's office to pick up my test. Having said that his office hours were 1-2pm today, I left res at about 1:40pm-ish...and got there 5 minutes early. He got there 10 minutes late, so I waited...but I won't complain more than this, since I got an 86.5%, which is one of my higher marks in this course=S
So, nice walk back to res, it's sunny out with a light breeze - just how I like it=) Come back, warm up a bit of soup from last nite with a slice of bread, and I'm good to go, until the fire alarm comes on...
DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING...well, you get the point...and unfortunately, this alarm not only sounds in the hallways and the main suite, it also sounds in each individual bedroom!
Thank goodness, the designers of the building were smart enough to put in li'l metallic touch sensors in the suite that mute the fire alarms in the suites...but the hallway alarms can still be heard: ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding...
The whole thing must've lasted at least 5 minutes of precious lunch break and study time...but then, the "ding" changes to a longer sound...then a voice comes over the PA, "There appears to be a problem with the fire alarm testing on the ground floor. May all residents in the building please make there way out to the nearest emergency exit..." You have got to be kidding!!!
So, after having heated up a nice bowl of soup, my suitemates and I slowly make our way out to the courtyard, as firemen walk in and out the building, and university patrol bikes ride around the perimeter. We are then told by a woman, "You're technically not allowed in the courtyard. You'll have to go to the side streets or to the back parking lot." And so, we are herded like brainless sheep to the perimeters of the site. 5 minutes later, they let us back in.
People on the upper levels waited for the escalators in the crowded foyer, while my suitemates and I took the stairs. My suitemate accidentally locked herself out of her room, while I got back into my room to find a cold bowl of soup in need of reheating=(
Of all the monthly fire alarm tests we've had, it's the one during the end of April, while students are stressed out enough over passing their exams, that we are actually evacuated out of the building! *sigh*...but I guess it could have been worse...it could have been raining out, or the building could have actually been on fire...then we'd really be stressed!!!
Anyhooey, after such wasted time, and my procrastination last nite with trying to design a background for my Xanga site on Paint (yes, that's right, Paint...cuz I'm not good enough to use Photoshop=P...and yes, I know, bad Angela...), I should really get back to that reading now=(
Hope you guys are having a stress-free Friday (or as stress-free as it can be)! *sigh*...so not in a study mode...
Distracted with distractions galore!!!
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Thursday, April 27, 2006
So...it's almost the end of the end of the week (in terms of a regular "school" week, anyways)...and yet, with the reading I've done so far, something keeps telling me that all this reading will most likely not benefit me when it comes around to actually writing my exams. And seeing that I've nearly dozed off while reading once yesterday and once today, I've decided to make myself a cup of instant coffee (of which I've only used the few times Cecilia came by to visit and to work). Hopefully, it'll keep me up long enough to finish another good two chapters worth of urbanization.
On top of my dozing dilemma, I've been distracted by my internet=P Unfortunately, at res, I have my computer and my bed in close proximity to my workspace...but then again, I'd be dealing with an even bigger distraction - TV=P
So...since I started a Xanga account last nite just to post a comment on my sister's page, I had played around with my Xanga page this morning...I know, bad Angela, bad! Don't worry though, I haven't actually gone so far as to start blogging on Xanga yet (like I said earlier, maybe in the summer)...but I have come down with a colour scheme of sorts...hehe=D
So, if you're done exams, or in the mood of procrastinating, feel free to take a look and tell me what you think=P And perhaps, when I have time to improve my html skills in the summer, I'll fix it up and start using Xanga...since GeoCities can be cumbersome at times.
Other than that, I've been daydreaming about summer road trips (though I don't think any are gonna come true, since my family's already planning a trip to Vancouver in late May). Just li'l ones...you know, to Montreal & Quebec (though I've gone there quite a few times now), to Ottawa, to Niagara Falls (haven't been there in ages...but then again, I don't think there's much there other than the casino and expensive tourist shops).
I actually wouldn't mind just going on a one-day trip to Centre Island=P I know, kind of an odd location, but my sister, my cousins, and I used to go there as kids...and the only clear memory I have is Cecilia nearly choking Leslie and I while we were on the indoor "octopus" ride...perhaps it's time to make a few newer and better memories, eh? hehe...
Non-Canadian road-trip destinations would include New York (only been there a couple times, both of which weren't long enough to see all the sites), Chicago (everyone says that I have to go there for the architecture!!!), and Pennsylvania (as Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater is there).
But yeah...I think these trips will have to stay in my dreams for a few more years before they can become reality...
BUT, more realistic, or probable at the very least, is a trip to Wonderland in the summer, as I am in dire need of having an excuse to scream my li'l heart out! Yes, I know...it's not a very "Angela" thing to do, but everyone needs to let out the stress every now and then, and for me, "every now and then" comes about once a year.
So, maybe, if I'm lucky, I can manage to get a summer job soon (none of the places I've applied to have contacted me yet...), save most of it for school, and put some of it towards splurging to go to Wonderland=P If not, I guess "every now and then" will have to be postponed until next year=S
Well, would you look at that!?! I'm done my cup of instant coffee=( Guess it's back to work for me...Hope you (who are lucky enough to be done exams already) are enjoying your summer=P As for the rest of you who (like me) are still drudging along, add oil, and know that you're not alone!!!
Daydreaming...
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Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Talking to my sister last nite (or early this morning, depending on how you view it), I found out that she had "stolen" (as she put it) a section of my blog entry from April 23 and put it on her own blog. And seeing that it's on Xanga, and my sister's more popular than I am=P, a few people actually left comments regarding that entry. hehe...maybe I'll switch over to Xanga in the summer...
Anyhooey, it was nice to know that other people were still struggling with this issue...even though none of us really had a clear-cut solution to it. So, thank you to everyone who read that blog entry on either Cecilia's blog or mine, and who took the opportunity and the courage to express their views (whether it was amongst themselves and a few friends or with me).
I know it may seem like a small thing to post a short comment (or a long one, in Joeie's case=P), or to MSN me, or to talk to me, but it means a lot. Even just seeing the number of hits I got recently was an indication that people cared enough to read and know what I had to say...even if they didn't necessarily speak up about it. So, if you're reading this right now, thank you for taking the time to do so.
Sometimes I wish I was able to be more vocal about my thoughts...or at least the ones that matter most to me. Not to make people agree with what I say, but just to make them think about it, and engage with the issue, you know? Think they'd let me publish my blog entry in the Lighthouse? hehe...most likely not=P
But I wanted to post this entry to let you know that you have encouraged me, and given me reason to believe that with God's grace, love, and mercy, we can pull through this together...that we can forgive, and perhaps not forget our past, but remember it in order to learn from it...and, one day, to trust and love again.
Holding on to His love...
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Monday, April 24, 2006
It's finally dinner time...and I'm taking a break from my "studying". I've been so unproductive today. My brain is struggling to concentrate on anything for more than 5 minutes today. Seeing that I went to bed at 2am last nite...maybe that's why...or the fact that most people I know are already done exams or only have a couple left, while I, on the other hand, still have all 5 exams left to write=S
Hopefully, I'll be able to finish my dinner and get some good chapters of urbanization stuff read. If not, I may just retire to bed early tonite and hopefully get a few more hours of decent sleep to make up for the lack of it last nite.
*sigh*...I wish this school year was over. It passed sooo quickly, but now that exams are here, time is dragging on to make it all up. Just need some "down time" to relax...The good thing, I guess, is that shortly after my exams are done, I get to go to British Columbia with my family for two weeks or so.
And hopefully, I'll have found a summer job, too...I've already put in applications, résumés, and even a digital portfolio (that I had put together last week), but no one's gotten back to me yet...worse comes to worse, if I'm not "employable" to those employers, hopefully Timmie's down the street or some other coffee or fast-food ventures won't mind giving me a job=S
Well, I'm almost done my dinner, so I'm gonna go wash my dishes and get working...
Distracted...
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Sunday, April 23, 2006
haha...freaky...look at the time for today's entry and compare it with that of the previous one! I swear that I didn't rig it=P Weird how some thing's work out so coincidentally.
Anyhooey, first things first: happy belated b-day to my li'l bro, Dayfut, who turned 18 yesterday!!! Also, a happy early b-day to my cousin, Becca, who will be turning 26 next Sunday!!! Crazy to think that that means my b-day will be coming along soon afterwards=S
Time does pass quickly, doesn't it? My original quote of the blog was gonna be from 20 Something (also by Dala), but I realized that since I'm not 20 yet, I would leave it for a later date...however, I must say that I'm pretty sure 20 will come quicker than I know.
I've been hooked on various music this past week or two. Since I don't usually indulge in buying CDs, I usually get my "fix" from the CDs that either my sister or I invested in, or while I'm at home, on the radio or on TV, or well, on the internet (from official artists' sites and on Yahoo! music, etc., of course).
So...it was Sheryl Crow's Always On Your Side featuring Sting for a week or so, to the point where I had memorized the majority of the song, and even found, played, and practiced the first page of the piano music sheets that I had found on musicnotes.com until my family (and well, I) eventually got sick of it (especially since I couldn't figure out the rest of the song's chord progressions)=P
Then, it recently turned to Dala. I had first heard the group's first single, 20 Something, when the music video was shown on CMT. I remember liking their song, but didn't think too much of it then. The second time was while I was at Eaton's Centre this past Wednesday with my sister. We both mistook it for a possible song from the most recent album by The Corrs (which we didn't have). The third time, I saw the video on CMT yet again, got the name of the group and googled it=) And since yesterday, I've been listening to their album, Angels & Thieves, ever since! It's that good!
The cool thing is that the duo (Aman-da & Shie-la -> Dala) is CANADIAN! And they're from Scarborough! They create the most amazing harmonies in all their songs. And even though 4 of the 10 songs on Angels & Thieves are covers, their original tunes have great lyrics and melodies. The bonus about this pair is that (according to a friend who heard them live recently) they sound good live!!! Unfortunately, singers who sound good live and recorded are hard to find nowadays=S It's too bad that their lyrics and guitar tabs aren't online...but then again, they've been around for a li'l less than 4 years. So, if you haven't already heard their angelic voices, what are you waiting for!?! Check out their site and audio player! Man...I don't think I've rooted for a musical group like this before=P But they ARE quite talented!
Anyhooey...another group I've always liked is The Dixie Chicks. Their new single, Not Ready to Make Nice, is from their upcoming album, Taking the Long Way, which is coming out May 23. The song itself is musically soothing, but also quite meaningful in terms of lyrics. While Steve Chu was preaching in church service this morning, the song's opening stanza came to mind: "Forgive, sounds good. Forget, I’m not sure I could. They say, 'Time heals everything,' but I’m still waiting." It made me cry...really hard...almost as hard as I did in the old sanctuary on that Sunday afternoon a li'l over a year and a half ago.
Why?...I dunno. I had thought that after all the tears that I've cried, because of the disputes in the church that had escalated to the congregational meeting on September 26, 2004, I wouldn't have any more tears or energy to cry over it anymore...but I guess I was wrong.
"Forgive and forget." That's what they say, right? But really, can we? One can always forgive, and choose to not hold other people's wrongs against them...but can one actually forget that these wrongs ever happened?
If a child grows up, curious and mischievous like any other child, but one day, he plays with fire and burns himself...no matter how mild the burn, will he not always remember the pain of the experience? He can eventually learn that, if handled and used properly, fire can keep one warm on cold nites, cook food, and do various other beneficial things...but will he not always be cautious around it from then on?
The pain of it all is that it seems like I'm one of the very few who still feel any pain at all. Maybe there are others like me...smiling every Sunday on the outside, while inside, my heart breaks into smaller and smaller pieces...but today, I felt alone, because it seemed like there's this unspoken, but unanimous, agreement that we should just "get over it", but I don't seem to be capable of that. A year and a half later, I still can't "forget" it...as if it were only yesterday.
Is it wrong that I still feel the pain? Am I becoming the very things I've dreaded? Am I jaded? Am I bitter?
I remember when the church was smaller...when I knew the name of everyone I passed in the halls, when kids hung out in the warehouse, when everyone would be packed into the WAY room in between services and catch up with fellow brothers and sisters...when church was my second home.
I remember the MCBC of my childhood, and I wonder what happened to it...I remember the MCBC that seemed too small to house our growing congregation, and I wish that we didn't expand the building. But in the back of my mind...if we aren't as loving, caring, and united as I had thought we were as the body of Christ, then what has happened would have happened sooner or later.
Maybe these are what they call growing pains, but I can't help thinking that there is some way of soothing the pain, rather than just ignoring it.
It's 12:48am, April 24, -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Quote of the Blog:
Thursday, April 6, 2006
It's SUCH a beautiful day out today! Sunny, but there's a light breeze=) My 9am architecture class was cancelled this morning, but the TAs handed back our assignments. This is the assignment that some of you may have heard me complaining about in February...the one where I spent a total of approximately 16 hours at a building on campus, in order to draw its floor plan freehand, without measuring or the use of "straight-edged instruments" (i.e. rulers, T-squares, and the like). Along with the 11"x17" pencil drawing, we were also to hand in a 4-page write-up comparing the building to those of Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe (two well-known architects we had discussed in class).
But yes...I guess hard work and effort does pay off=) As I actually managed to get a 15/15...what I believe is my first perfect mark in university (excluding tutorial quizzes)!!! I didn't think a perfect on a university assignment was possible=P I figured all TAs and profs try to make their first-year students feel like crap before they manage to get into second year...Thank God that's not true!
Another happy note is that my drawing came back intact!!! I cannot stress how freaked out I was thinking about the possibility of getting a crinkled, creased, or folded drawing back after having put sooooo much work into it! For you non-artsy fartsy types who think I'm picky or a worry wart, I need this for future portfolios...and folded work is "compromised" work. Unfortunately, Julie wasn't so lucky...hers was folded in half, right down the middle=S She was quite upset, poor girl=(
AND after last months catastrophic hunt for UT library books, my view towards the UT library system has gone up ever so slightly this morning.
A book I needed for an assignment due next week was signed out from the downtown library, and I had to do an intercampus library loan from Scarborough. The catch - it typically takes at least a week for the hold request to be processed=S
However, last nite, I received an e-mail saying that since the downtown copy was returned, my hold was cancelled! Which meant, I had to get to the downtown copy ASAP (or at least before anyone else got to it)!!! So, after getting my assignment back this morning, I ran to the library, up to the 12th floor and TA DA!!! Mies in Berlin was waiting happily on the shelf for me=D Believe me when I tell you that I haven't stopped smiling ALL morning!!!
God IS good, no? And to think I nearly had a breakdown last nite with the e-mail about the cancelled hold=P Oh, silly me...
Anyhooey, as you can see from my quote of the blog, I've been stuck on The Cranberries' old song, Dreams. The first time I ever heard this was actually a Chinese cover of it done by Faye Wong when I was a kid. I actually didn't know it was a cover and the original was by The Cranberries until I heard it on the radio, and I was like, "Huh? This isn't in Chinese!" hehe...but either way, the Chinese one sounds exactly the same...especially since the singers slur their words, so you can't really decipher language unless you're purposely doing so=P
But yes, I've had it stuck in my head since I watched Wong Kar Wai's Chungking Express in film study class last nite. Faye Wong was actually in the film, and well, of course, her version of the song was part of the soundtrack=) hehe...give me 'til the end of today and I'll have the lyrics memorized=P hehe...like every other song I fall in love with=)
Oh my! It's already 11:30am! I've spent the morning looking through my marked assignment, checking my e-mails and stuff, and hunting down the music video (so I can listen to the full track)=S hehe...better get working on those 2 assignments due next week! Just one more week before classes are over!!!
Smiling from ear to ear,
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Tuesday, April 4, 2006
So...with my recent craze of wanting to adopt a dog, I've come to terms (yet again) that a dog in my care at present would probably not be a very happy dog. Just cuz with the crazy schedule of a university student, an EXTREMELY messy house, and not being home most of the day (I somehow doubt my mom would enjoy taking care of a dog "for me"), it just isn't practical or ideal for either the dog, me or my family, for that matter=P
BUT that doesn't mean that I've given up on having a pet completely. Recently, I came upon www.cuteoverload.com, and low and behold, I have regained my love for the li'l furry creatures, like the one on the right, known dwarf hamsters=D
As you can see, dwarf hamster pups (yes, they are referred to as pups, as well) are quite tiny, as these four on the left are sized up with an American quarter. Unlike their larger relative, the Syrian hamster (a.k.a. the Teddy Bear hamster), dwarf hamsters are, of course, smaller in size, and are more social, and thus, can be kept in pairs or small groups (if they are of the same breed & introduced at a young age).
You may recall a few hamsters from my past of whom I've posted pictures before. Cocoa was my very first, who was a tan-coloured male syrian hamster. Thumper was my second, a grey-back, white-belly, male Campbell's Russian dwarf hamster. Trinity was my first "adopted" hamster from the local Petsmart, as she was a three-legged (thus her name) brown and white female syrian hamster.
And last, but not least, was the one that was given to me as a gift, after I had given away most of my hamster supplies, thinking I would never again own a hamster, was Poopie=P Unfortunately, I was never sure of his actual age, and he was the most vicious and nippy of all my hamsters...but then again, the poor guy had to endure a day under the "care" and "supervision" of Enoch & Jeff, after which they gave him the name Poopie=S Go figure=P
But yes, I would love to have yet another one of these furry creatures to call my own=) Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I'll be able to get my parents' permission...as it has been a while since my last one, and our house has limited space with our ever-accumulating junk.
hehe...but if it passes their test, I'll probably try to push my luck to getting a pair of brothers who can keep each other company=P I know, I'm greedy...but why have one when you can have two!?!
Anyhooey, to end off, if you're procrastinating like me or just taking a "short break", click on the pic on the right to see what breed of hamster you are=P It's just a fun li'l online quiz I found last nite=)
I'm apparently a Siberian hamster (i.e. a Winter White Russian hamster) with a "graceful demeanor"=P
Back to work it is for me!
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Check out the blogs from...
2007,
December, November, October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January,
or 2005!
Return to the Dog House!
