Hollywood Recycles

When I'm stressed or tired, I find comfort in watching an easy movie, as I just did with Mean Girls 2. As expected, they recycled the plot--and, seemingly, the actresses too, but maybe that's just me. Once I have seen an actor/actress, I tend to compare all the (vaguely) similar looking actors/actresses that I see later on to my original model of that "type". Such was the case for this movie.

Meaghan Martin (left) as the main character: tomboy Jo. Loved her character! Throughout the movie, I thought she looked and talked like Natalie Portman (right) but teenager version. Unfortunately, when I looked her up on IMDB, she was all made up and looked nothing like Natalie Portman, but to get what I'm talking about you'd have to see the movie yourself. Yes, that means sitting through ~106 mins of high school girl drama.
Note: the resemblance is a little clearer in this photo from the actual movie.

Jennifer Stone (left) as the protagonist's side-kick (i.e. bestie) kinda looks like Emma Stone (right). Mostly because of the red hair and freckles I guess. And when I saw that they shared the same last name, I had to double-check they weren't related. What a coincidence!

Anyway, although neither pair is truly THAT similar, I just thought this was a recent, and thus, relevant example of my "recognition bias" (if you will) that I have while watching movies.

A Double Standard of Morals

I am a Justin Bieber hater hater. Yes, two hates. First of all, why do we have to hate him? Has he done anything evil? Certainly, criticism and subconscious jealousy always cause us to judge celebrities on the harsher side. But the Justin Bieber hate seems to be particularly strong even before he hit puberty (i.e. he was still young enough to be considered a "kid"). If people only stopped to view him objectively, they would realize he actually has some talent. He may not be the best singer in the world, but are ANY of the other celebrities really ALL that they're worked up to be?

Another thing, people make fun of his adherence to cheesiness and "trying too hard". I don't understand why we point and laugh at this because the things that celebrities resort to are a direct result of what we, as an audience, support. Those stupid, trendy things he does are simply a show of him catering to what WE have made popular. And yes, most of our "trends" ARE completely stupid; is it fair to blame all of it on this one kid? He's not only the scapegoat. He's a blatant sign of what ridiculous fads we endorse today and we refuse to acknowledge it.

And all those quips about his "girly", pre-pubertal voice are hateful and rude. In case we've forgotten, decades ago, young boys used to undergo the horrible castration process to preserve such a pure, clear vocal range. Similarly, those individuals were often mocked and seen as unmanly. Clearly our race hasn't evolved or matured very much at all.

What also bothers me is how strongly people are advocating LGBT rights (hopefully that's the right order...)--and some of these very same people are also hating on Justin Bieber. I'm all for equality and eliminating the hate, but clearly we're not sincerely into our own messages if we're hating on a kid who happened to get a lucky break into the celeb world. Like charity, eliminating the hate starts at home (i.e. from our basic, underlying principles). In fact, the underlying causes of hate come from not being able to understand or appreciate another individual's position, which is exactly what is going on here. From what I see on Youtube, on Facebook, the general Internet, there is so much hate and judgement on Justin Bieber (but not just limited to him, of course)...I doubt openness and equality will be achieved anytime soon. Of course, it's not a perfect analogy because he hasn't faced nearly the same level and duration of persecution as members of the LGBT community, but do we really need to let something get that far before we finally realize we've done something wrong?

We're a pathetic species with a superficial double standard of morals. I am disgusted and ashamed.

Old at Heart

There are many reasons why I feel extremely old at heart.

1. I lack a sense of humour. Maybe I was born in the wrong time period or I'm just a cranky old woman. Either way I don't find most of today's catchy lines, popular movies, or TV shows all that entertaining. Honestly, I've given it a try--several actually. I have sat through many episodes of Wong Fu, Ray William Johnson, Jenna Marbles, [insert chinese name of loser who thinks (s)he's funny but makes me resent my Asian roots every time I see him/her trying too hard with his/her stupid video edits], How I Met Your Mother, Arrested Development, The Office, etc. without cracking even the slightest of smiles.

To add onto this, I actually hate sarcasm. It's just a way to say something horrible to someone else but get away with it by calling it a joke. You know the male strategy about asking girls out on April Fool's so they can call it a joke if they get utterly rejected? I liken sarcasm to that. Hypocritical of me, you say? Why yes, that's my favoured humour of choice. Why do I hate? Simple, I'm not really capable of any other kind of humour, since I don't really understand it. Also, I'll be honest with you. It hides the resentment and hurt I am feeling. Most of the time, I employ sarcasm in response to quips by others that offend me. I'm actually pretty sensitive inside, but I've become used to people being pretty harsh and evil that I guess I've evolved indifference and sarcasm as some sort of defense mechanism.

2. I don't understand why most trends today are trends. I have also endured all 8 Harry Potter movies and all of the most recent "UNRATED" comedy movies that have been deemed worthy of a good laugh by the general public and to no avail. I came out strongly resenting the opportunity cost of my $11 movie ticket. I refuse to purchase Uggs, Coach, DG, and other brand name products. I don't even know the names of half of the latest "hot" brands. JAYESSLEE...what to say what to say...It's like we've never seen a pretty girl. Or a singer. Or someone with a foreign accent. Going to pitch the triple threat thing? Go see real talent. Go see a musical.

3. I feel alone. Sometimes it makes me sad, but every time I reconvene with other homo sapiens, I re-appreciate how good it feels to be alone. No one can make you feel anything other than what you want to feel. That's why I don't need anyone else. The only one I've always been able to rely on has always been right here.

4. Other than the bare societal necessities (i.e. bank card, SIN card, passport, etc.), I don't care too much about my possessions. They're not going to last forever, nor are they responsible for my happiness; no need to pamper them with needless attention. Instead, I place value in the small things that have sentimental value. This often makes me careless; I guess it's something I should work on until I do reach my spinster years.

5. I feel like the best days of my life have already passed. This causes me to reminisce and regret the way I acted and the things I did.

Out of Perspective

At every level of school--elementary, high school, and university--I thought I was in the worst years of my life at the time. Mostly because I felt pretty crappy about myself and the people around me everywhere I went...and it still holds true today. Never once did I acknowledge my current situation as a "good" time, but given the perspective I have today, I think my favourite years were during elementary school. I suppose my friends of that part of my life were the "truest" and really appreciated/knew me for who I really was; those relationships were also the most meaningful (aside from the romantic relationships of course). The kids around me surprisingly dealt with a lot of tough things at such a young age. I think I can also remember being truly happy then.

Today? I was wrong about my peers. They don't make me feel good; my early feelings were masked by the adrenaline-fed anticipation of a new term. This is just another stop I have to get through on the long journey of life. Hopefully I have the good sense to make the best of it while I'm here. I'm trying to care, but it's tough. What's in a name? That which we call a friend would by any other name be as meaningless.

Then again, considering the whole idea of perspective addressed in this post, maybe I'll look back to these years (i.e. undergrad) and think they were the best years of my life--but most likely not.

Gossip Boy

Contrary to what seems to be popular opinion, I don't think girls are more prone to gossiping than boys. Girls are simply more open and less stealthy about discussing their beef with other people. Perhaps it has something to do with the stereotypical female conversation topics.

Where men fill their conversations with sports/gaming talk (and we all know how long this can go on...), women would otherwise discuss "girly" things like fashion and their own lives--what better way to get over the issues of your own life or salvage your self-esteem than to gossip about other people's lives? This is my hypothesis for why gossip appears to be more common for women than men.

A lot of men are generally less likely to discuss their personal life or, more specifically, emotions in conversation particularly in a public area. Does this necessarily mean they don't gossip as much? I don't think so...for a few reasons:

1. I think it's part of human nature to be curious about other people and how their lives have turned out. Male or female, we need and often seek out similar standards to our own lives; isn't that part of the reason the concept of a "celebrity" even exists? And lets face it, there are plenty of female celebrities that most girls don't care about in the slightest (*cough Megan Fox). Yet they're still making headlines and selling movies; clearly, they must be receiving support from our male counterparts in the audience. Point being, there is equal motivation for males to gossip. Sometimes the motivation for seeking out gossip may be different for males and females. For example, males might entertain gossip just for entertainment, to be in the know, etc.

2. As I alluded to before, men are more stealthy. Generally, not over-brimming with emotion, they have the patience to save gossip for a private place, and when they know something, they are more experienced with keeping emotions in, regardless of how exciting it is. Take a royal flush for instance; the top 10 poker players in the world, rated by ESPN in 2010 are all men (http://www.onlinepokernews.org/poker-news/top-10-poker-players-according-to-espn/1791). This also speaks to their bluffing skills. Furthermore, men have an additional reason not to openly gossip: it's become known as a "girl" thing to do. What's that saying for a loop--something about a self-fulfilling prophecy?

3. Yes guys tend to be more upfront about things, but they also avoid creating drama or heated arguments, especially ones they know they can't win no matter what they say (i.e. husband-wife). Not being addressed directly, some of this emotional burden might come out through other means such as gossip.

4. Gay guys excluded, what do guys love ALMOST as much as their games/sports? Girls. And lets face it, we're complicated--or at least we try to be. That only adds to our allure and intrigue, but it doesn't make snagging one of us any easier for the guys. Unlike most sports/games, there isn't really a GENERAL strategy that works on all of us. I believe that has created the need for guys to discretely share intel on the different girls they are close to and have unlocked the secret levels for.

Gossip is an unfortunate but necessary thing for us as humans. Men and women do it just as frequently. However, the motivations, subjects, and ways they go about gossiping differ.

Stuffing and Stuff

So, this week wasn't good from a practical standpoint (I've been told it's practical to worry about your GPA and career development). I had two midterms, and I'm pretty sure neither of them went too well. Unfortunately, all I can honestly say about it is, "Oh well." I don't know where this indifference is coming from, but my apathy for school is creeping up on me again, and I don't know whether to feel scared or relieved--I am even apathetic about my apathy.

Up an octave, physically, I feel better about everything...and I guess, myself. :) Last night, I went to sleep at a reasonable time: 1am. Baby steps right? Oh! A major reason why I haven't been sleeping lately is because I've been studying so hard. OH GOD, I hope you didn't believe me; I'm not nearly as dedicated as my ethnicity makes me out to be. -_-" The REAL reason why I've been staying up late is that I recently received Fire Emblem: Sealed Sword for GBA emulator, and it's been distracting me from schoolwork all term. I guess in a way I am a dedicated Asian because I just couldn't put the game down without beating it to completion. AND LAST NIGHT I FINALLY BEAT IT--well sort of, but lets not get into that. :(

This weekend, I went home and ate turkey with my family! It was less dry than turkey usually is, and the stuffing was amazing. THE END. Good stuffing means an amazing meal. Period. Well, I guess I should mention the other stuff anyway...so I had dinner with my family on the Saturday, and my mom made TOO much food. Hah, at least I'm not at home, so I don't have to help with all the leftovers. Sunday, I went to my Aunt's and we had Hakka takeout. It was interesting: a bit saucy and we could have chosen spicier dishes, but it was something new. It was also a celebration of my little cousin's birthday! She is turning 2 this year, and she seems to be developing faster than other kids her age. I'm rather interested to see how she turns out. I hate how my aunts, uncles, and parents keep comparing her to the development of me and my cousins. It pokes me right in my competitive spot; I feel like I want to go back to that age and show them that I can be advanced too...

Well, this week I've been reflecting on how I interact with my peers and "friends", and I think either I'm getting better at it or they are. Not exactly sure which, but somehow they've become more tolerable, and I'm starting to enjoy their company more (as I imagine I should be). I don't know what else to think or write, so I shall end that thought there.

Something random that occurred to me today:
Not that I'm emo or seeking attention, but I was thinking about people who have attempted or succeeded at suicide. Somehow it occurred to me that if I attempted suicide and backed out at the last minute or was completely unsuccessful, not only would I have to continue living, but I would also have to deal with the repercussions of my perceived emotional instability and failed attempt. Aside from all the friend/family shock, I again looked at this from a "practical" standpoint: If I ever wanted to apply for professional schools or "higher-end" jobs, my attempted suicide probably screwed whatever slim chances I ever had. Moral being, if you're going to do something, go for it all the way, I guess? I'm not sure there's really a moral in that, but it's what was going through my convoluted brain on the long walk to orchestra rehearsal.

Anyway, I'm going to try to squeeze in some forced productivity and attempt a self-imposed curfew. Good morning, good afternoon, and good night!

Summer Updates

THE INTRO PART
I can honestly conclude that this summer has been a relatively good one--and I feel like it's been long overdue. What made it good? Well, after a long dry spell of pretentiously reassuring ourselves that "Our house is pretty much like a cottage. It's nice to just relax here, and we don't have to spend any money either!", my family went on an ACTUAL vacation this summer. It's been...what, 10 years?

THE PART ABOUT THE NOT-AS-LAME-AS-EXPECTED VACATION
It was about an 8-day vacation in the Canadian Rockies. It was an active, somewhat relaxing trip. Most days were spent hiking. I'm not a big fan of it, and I wasn't actually looking forward to the trip beforehand, but it turned out to be okay. Plus, the outdoor activity helps to justify my excessive eating habits at home. The highlight of my trip was probably going whitewater rafting for the first time with my dad, brother, and cousin. For those of you familiar with the grading system of rapids, we went on a level 2/3. It was fun, but we all conceded that next time we'd have to go with a higher grading to up the excitement. As for the rest of the trip, we spent most days hiking mountains and exploring lake areas. It's amazing how the highway is just filled with trees and mountains--not a building in sight, so it was quite a shock when we got back to the GTA. Still, I've never been much of a landscape person, so after a few drives and hikes everything really starts to look the same.

THE PART ABOUT DRIVING
Also, I've finally gotten around to booking my G test. I planned to do it the weekend of the first week back to school, but I stupidly booked it for the Monday thinking Sept 19 was a Sunday. No idea what calendar I was looking at... Ugh, and missing an entire day in the second week of classes--GREAT start to the term. It's a real pain, and I'm not sure I even know anyone in those classes to get notes off of, but I really just want to get my stupid G out of the way before it expires. -_-" Live and learn--for me, both have been quite painful.

THE PART ABOUT THE MINI NIAGARA TRIP
In the past few days, I've also been in the Niagara-on-the-Lake area on a mini-trip with some of my family. It was another active/semi-relaxing trip with biking and hiking all over again. My aunt made some nice pasta. My favourite part of the dish was the arugula and basil that she topped it with. It tastes amazingggg to have the fresh ingredients on an otherwise slightly-above-average pasta. I highly recommend it!

THE PART ABOUT SCHOOL STUFF
As for school, I'm dreading it. If you didn't know, I just switched out of the Science and Business program into Biomedical Sciences this past winter, so I'm scrambling to obtain all the graduation requirements. Plus, it would be nice to finish school when I'm supposed to (vs. 1 year later because of the co-op program I was previously in). Unfortunately, all this amounts to me taking 4 consecutive school terms with only a few weeks of break between each--and I'm only halfway there.

THE PART DEMONSTRATING MY TYPE A PERSONALITY
I don't really want to rant about my usual life worries because I feel like I've already over-publicized that subject. Just know they're still alive and more than well.

THE OVER-ANALYTICAL, SELF-SYMPATHIZING PART
For some reason, I feel really down these days. Not even angry or irritable anymore, but just apathetic and lethargic. I'm certain it's not depression or anything seriously medical, but I feel stuck between needing major change in my life and being too afraid to leave my comfort zone. I've thought about it, and a lot of it seems to do with the friends I have and the things I'm doing. I feel like I need to meet new people and make friends that are more compatible with me. A change of scenery. I'm not even sure whether it's me or my surroundings that are the problem, and I don't think it will be easy to change either. I don't really know what the next steps in my life are, and when my options are presented to me, it just feels so overwhelming and intimidating. I wish I had more courage, more independence. Can anyone just develop those traits if they work hard enough at it, or are some of us just stuck with what we are? What if what I am is not enough? Nobody wants to consider that alternative, so we optimistically settle with the motto that anyone can do anything if you just put your heart into it. I wonder if that's really the case.

Peer pressure: Stop, Go, or Slow?

So it's been a while since I've vented anything onto here, but I'm sorry to say that I'm back. It's not even a fresh thought, but I just wanted to do anything else but study for exams (even my games are getting boring).

Something I've noticed is that movies and social media in general over-emphasize the impact of peer pressure in high school--at least, where it is present, it's very subtle and not nearly as dramatic as Mean Girls makes it out to be. One particularly odd place I've noticed the effect of peer pressure is at traffic lights, especially when there are lots of people there (e.g. crossings near a university).

Scenario: A large group of students who just got off the bus want to cross North/South.
-The red-orange hand is up, but there are no cars traveling West/East.

From my personal interpretation of my observations in these situations, I have identified 3 main groups:
1. A few individuals boldly cross after seeing the path is clear: I think of them as the rebels or bolder trendsetters.
2. Others stubbornly stand their ground. After all, the red hand = stop. No but's about the rules.
3. The final group of individuals are those who stood there all that time watching Group 1 cross, unsure of whether they should do the same or not. To "break the traffic rules" or not? Finally, after a brief inner struggle with the pressure enforced upon them by their Group 1 peers, they decide to cross.

Ironically, most of the time, the West/East traffic lights would have turned yellow by then (i.e. the white man will appear soon, and those patient and strong-willed enough to stand their ground will be able to cross shortly as well).
NOTE: In the absence of Group 1 individuals, Group 2 and 3 members are indifferentiable.

I enjoy watching Group 3 struggle with this minor barrage of peer pressure. Gives me something to do during those long, uncooperative lights.

P.S. The results of this study may not apply to those ridiculously long lights in residential areas because sometimes those are just ridiculous. In those cases, late crossers may be a result of impatience. After all, none of us are getting any younger.

My Herbaceous Sprouts

Not sure if I mentioned it in my past food flings post, but I love herbs. In pasta, in salads, or simply by themselves--they're yummy. :)

Let me back up for a second...

Last Friday, I went to see X-men: First Class--if you've seen it and you have EYES (at the least), you probably already know that it's an awesome movie. For those who haven't WISELY taken the time to see the movie yet, there's a scene in it where the young X-men recruits are discussing their code names. This is when I realized their names are unique and pretty cool. Anyway, seeing the new movie inspired me to rewatch all the movies in chronological order, so I started with the first X-men movie on Saturday night--and I realized that Rogue and Storm are pretty cool names too (Jean not so much--does she even have a code name...?).

And we're back where we started...

One day when I was bored (sitting on the toilet, if you're one for details), a strange thought came to me: herbs have elegant, unique names. I think I'd seriously consider naming my child an herb. Probably one of my favourites: Oregano or Basil (if it's a guy) and Parsley or Mint (if it's a girl). Although it's my nemesis in the world of herbs, I have to admit that Coriander is a pretty sexy name for a girl too. Anyway, I think you get the point: my child will have a crazy superhero name or that of a herb. I understand if you feel sorry for my offspring--stuck between a superhero complex and a leafy green place.

But seriously, people have named their children worse things, right?

Blue in More than my Face

Lately, I've been feeling super angry/frustrated/annoyed/disappointed at/in everyone--even more than usual. I've tried to be objective and carefully considered the possibility that it's PMS, but I don't think it's (near) my time of the month for a little while more. Other than that, I can't really think of any reason for why I see everyone as one shade darker than the usual black these days. It's not because of overstudying or anything like that...I haven't been studying that hard for the past couple weeks. I've actually managed to include exercise into my university routine :) Since, in my blackened state, I have a lot of things to complain about, I've divided this post into a few major sections for convenient, selective navigation.

EXERCISE

I bought a shoetag membership that lets me get into any of many fitness classes--all for $50! Last week I went to the one called "Boot Camp". It was pretty good, and I like how the intimidating name keeps away most non-serious exercisers. It's not as intense as it sounds (definitely not like those weight loss programs where the instructor yells at you demeaningly/motivatingly), but it's good enough to give me a great workout in my flabby, unfit state. There were only 6 people in that class, and I really liked how the instructor pushed us. She covered suicides (to Kesha, oh joy), core workouts on bushi (?) balls, some exercises with weights, step exercises on the bushi balls, and other core stuff without the ball. Major downside was that my arms were seriously messed up for a couple days after. Whenever I forgot about my temporary disability, I would fling open a door as I usually do and immediately feel as if my arm was about to dislocate itself.

On Monday, I tried the "Kickboxing" class. Too many people went, and there were actually two guys in this class. I almost got kicked in the face by some noob who wasn't even kicking properly. Anyway, I'm not sure if it was the class itself or because the standard had been set so high by "Boot Camp", but this one was a breeze. She basically led us through some aerobic exercises with the different punches incorporated into the routine, as well as some kicking. I didn't really feel anything during the class, but just to punch the air made me feel good; I think I have an addiction to punching. Apparently, it also affected my muscles a bit because I felt some stiffness in my arms and legs the next day. Not only was the content and class size inferior to the first class, but so was the instructor. She was some Asian woman who didn't push us that hard. She couldn't even handle the exercises she was supposed to lead, she had difficulty counting sometimes, and she didn't do a lot of the exercises. Instead she would walk around "making sure" that people were doing things correctly, but she was flaming red in the face. I wanted to laugh at her but didn't. My advice: stick to badminton.

MICROBIOLOGY LAB

So I got the first quiz back for the 241 lab, and I didn't do so well even though it tested us on things like how to write a lab report. Like seriously?! I knew all my stuff, but they were looking for extremely specific things for each question. I knew that stupid Appendix on how to write a lab report by heart, but no. The stupid laws of acadaemia screwed me over. Man, I was so mad that I immediately blamed the TA who marked it, but maybe I should just blame myself for being a retard. Of course I didn't voice any of my feelings to the TA herself. Seems it was sufficient to just witch about it to my lab group. I'm such a nice person :)

EMBRYOLOGY PROF

I had a question about whether the material she covered in class about twins was testable or not. It seemed like one of those interesting topics she just threw in there for fun, and I wanted to confirm that it would be on the exams so I can prioritize my studying, since that course is extremely content-heavy...so I emailed her, and she gives me this snarky response asking if it was so terrible to learn about twins in an embryo course, and that I would have to know it depending on my future plans and what mark I wanted to get in the course. Sure, you're a foreign Russian lady very knowledgeable in the natural sciences but you have a serious language barrier to overcome. She didn't understand that I was asking with the intent of prioritizing and focusing my study efforts. Surprise surprise, I'm taking more than just embryo this term, and I DON'T live and breathe schoolwork.

FOOD BANK CLUB

Not sure if I've mentioned this already or not, but I've joined the food bank club this term. It's a confidential service catering to students who are in financial need. You just have to stop by with your student ID and take whatever cans of food you want, within the set limits. It seems like a good cause but as my friendly verily pointed out to me from the start, they need to improve their marketing.

Well, from the very moment I attended the general meeting, I discovered marketing wasn't the only area they had to improve--and far from it! The execs were a joke. They were like 12 year olds standing in front of us, barely able to talk because they were giggling. Furthermore, when they did get into talking, they didn't explain anything about the food limits or how to man the office during our shifts. Luckily, my friend Daniel has been in the club (when it saw the days of half-competent management) and he told me what to do. They also announced they were taking exec applications, and I decided to apply for Attendance Exec just for fun and because I didn't want too much time commitment.

I figured, well, at least they'll just pick execs, and if I happen to get chosen, I will do my best to help the club out. Turns out they can't even pick execs properly. 5 people applied for the Attendance Exec position, 5 Attendance Execs were chosen. When I saw this, I couldn't believe my eyes. How can these two incompetent girls have ever become the execs? This club has a great cause and seems to have some great connections, but sadly its ruin is imminent with these two fools in lead. ALL the responsibilities of the Attendance Exec would have been a minor task even for a single individual. But NO, they want to spread it between FIVE people, creating more work by dispersing database responsibilities between multiple individuals. I was even willing to give the "Attendance team" a try, but when we couldn't even coordinate a mutually open time to meet, I gave up the facade. I sent an email resigning from the position even before the ridiculousness of it started. I know I saved myself and the club a lot of trouble.

"FRIENDS"

It seems almost redundant and unnecessary but I will state it again. Friends are a matter of convenience. We hang out with those who are available at the right place at the right time. Don't expect others to go out of the way for you; you can really only ever fully trust yourself. DESPERATE and YEARNING for friends? --settle for family. Even if they get tired of you or WANT to ditch you, they're forced to spend time with/tolerate you.

EUCHRE CLUB

I'm pretty much sick of euchre and the people in it. Someone made a demeaning comment of how Biomed students get to take so many electives (as opposed to Chem). First, understand that I still feel like I'm in Scibus even though I recently made the switch to Biomed, so that has nothing to do with my opinion on this matter. Second, you really have no right to be talking crap about another program that could ultimately pursue the same end as you. In fact, you're the idiot for not choosing the most strategic route. You could have enrolled in Biomed and taken the SMARTER route with the Chemistry you love and the electives to boost your grade or manage your workload from term-to-term. Then again, if you were in Biomed, you wouldn't be able to convince yourself how special you were to focus on "pure" Chemistry. My bad.

It also makes me laugh in incredulity at how haughty and self-absorbed the execs are. Seriously, you're the exec of a CARD club. Also, I hate losing. I hate losing even more when it feels unjustified. Lady Luck obviously hates my guts...hmm, maybe I should learn to rig decks? After all, I seem to have the dexterity of shuffling down pat. :)

DISLIKE OF GAY GUYS--NOT HOMOPHOBIA

Something random: I don't like gay guys. Why am I being so discriminatory and close-minded, you may ask. Actually, the thing is, I don't mind homosexuality at all. Although I am both conservative and Christian, I don't have a problem with same-sex relationships (my unconventional Christian beliefs are a story for another time).

Not sure if I've said it before, but if I was a guy, I would probably like guys too. So what's my beef with gay guys? Simple, they're just like girly girls, and I hate (girly) girls. Self-absorbed, superficial, and full of whatever other derogatory s-words you can think of. Yes, you know the one I'm talking about. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with ALL girls or even girls showing their estrogenal roots from time to time, but there's only so much GIRL I can tolerate. My only favourite female heroines on TV are Piper Halliwell and Lois Lane for good reason. They are smart, level-headed, and sexy all at once. Girly girls and gays? Not so much. Like, 10 thumbs down and, like, a spit on their, like, skanky skirts and, like, uggs.

But yeah, long story short: now is not a good time to poke me with your joking jibes or teasing insults...I just might end up killing you.

P.S. I know my writing is usually sarcastic and ridiculously exaggerated but I'm not so sure this one is...

I'm...unenchanted

So I (finally) just watched the movie Enchanted with my friend John before he left for a lovely two-week vacation in Korea (JEALOUS, btw!). It was okay for a time killer/break from schoolwork/summary of Disney movies. Basically, yeah, it wasn't original at all...combined all the traditional fairytale movies that Disney (?) has already covered.

Upsides:
-The original concept of juxtaposing reality with fantasy was sort of a new idea (if there was any originality at all)
-Patrick Dempsey has a cute face
-There was a bit of magic
-Some of the songs were cute :)

Downsides:
-It just doesn't seem fair to take the credit away from Classic Disney moves and mush it into one big copycat later on
i.e. Enchanted = Snow White + Sleeping Beauty +...more?
-Amy Adams and that guy who plays Cyclops (always forget his name!!) were annoying at times
-The whole moral that the movie was trying to convey was shot down almost immediately after it was established.

--In case you're not sure what I'm talking about, here's what I mean. The main point of the movie was to provide a realistic outlook on life in an optimistic way. A naive, fantasy-crazy damsel in distress, Giselle, awaits her prince's rescue, but eventually learns the importance of being realistic about love and finding it through dating and getting to know someone that you can love "forever". Bad stepmom shows up, kills her, kiss of TRUE love revives her, she awakens, defeats the dragon with her chipmunk friend's help, and lives happily ever after with the REALISTIC love of her life. MEANWHILE, her "true love's" former supposed fiancee who he had been dating for 5 years was dropped just like that and she ran off to lalaland to marry the fairytale prince, who had hardly spoken 3 sentences to her. I really hope children don't watch this. Describing the moral value of this movie in the words of love, I would say Disney is sending "mixed signals".

Since I haven't seen a Disney movie in a LOOOONNNNNG time, I was enjoying the silly humour, funky (though archetypal) characters, and remembering a precious part of my childhood throughout the movie--UNTIL it got to this horrible ending. I'm sorry, but the title of this blog post (spin-off from the popular teen saying, "I'm unimpressed", in case you didn't get it...) summarizes my feelings towards this movie.

P.S. If this movie isn't Disney, I apologize. Just swap all the times I used Disney with words like fairytales, or childhood stories.

Funfunfun Partying Partying

So, I'm back at school this summer doing my 3B term. I'm still in the process of switching out of the Science and Business program and hopefully into Biomedical Sciences or Honours Science. Well here's the program for the next four months:

BIOL 140L Intro Microbio Lab - Haven't had it yet, but heard the instructor can give tricky quizzes.

BIOL 241 Applied Microbiology - I LOVE how this is a survey course. Me being me, I'm not one for details but I like big picture stuff. Plus, my prof is awesome. She's extremely knowledgeable and makes a (potentially) boring subject interesting. Hope the lab isn't too much work...

BIOL 303 Intro Developmental Biology and Embryology - study of embryonic development, basically. My prof is the (in)famous Dragana Miskovic--heard she's scary and whatnot, but I actually like her. She's no nonsense and she throws in dry humour jokes. Love those (no sarcasm).

BIOL 308 Molecular Biology - Don't know if it's the nature of the course or if it's the prof, but I feel like we haven't done anything for two classes now. Bruce Wolff is also infamous for his boundless stores of knowledge to go with his brawn (sarcasm). Perhaps shrugging, going off topic, and ignoring bolded/capitalized terms in HIS OWN NOTES are the new signs of genius...? This is the only class I have trouble staying awake in.

CLAS 104 Classical Mythology - Learning about the Greek/Roman gods. Awesomeee! My only regret is that Persephone doesn't have her own Chapter in the textbook or is an area of emphasis in the course. Psh, their loss, Persephone. ;) The prof is nice though, and he makes it very interesting--then again, I can't decide whether credit is due to him or the actual course content. Only downside is that there is a lot of reading (i.e. 140 pages for the first week!!).

HRM 200 Basic Human Resources Management - Like the prof. She has a strong voice and seems like another no-nonsense prof. Don't like the fact that we have to do ASSIGNED team projects...always a risk in university because at least in high school, you know who you're dealing with right off the bat. Course seems straightforward, and to be honest, I chose it because it is a well known birdie at UW. :)

So I'm finished my Day 4 of school, and I've already been trying so hard to study and stay on top of healthy eating/living habits. Surprisingly, it's going well! Although, the last thing I've been doing is having fun. While going through the countless pages of reading assigned for all my courses, that's one of the many thoughts that I "iron-willedly" had to suppress from my mind in order to stay focused on the task at hand. I eventually unsuppressed it so I could write this little complaint.

I find it annoying and pointless if people describe themselves as "fun-loving" or "knows how to have fun". Makes me see them as pretentious and egocentric. After all, the descriptor "fun" is rather subjective in nature. Who isn't fun-loving? It just depends on what people find fun. Not to endorse it or anything (because I find it super lame and one of those comedies where I feel forced to laugh after not laughing for a looong time), but Dwight Schrute is a prime example of this phenomena. Normal things that his coworkers find "fun", he doesn't, and at first glance he seems like a grumpy "un-fun-loving" guy, but you start talking about potential customers, and he's all smiles and fuzzy peaches.

Anyway, all this reading has made me quite brain-tired, so I'm going to end my post here. The reading must go on.

P.S. Orange is my least favourite colour, and I'm not feeling too happy/great right now. Hence the font colour choice.

Amish-ed A Few Things

First, I'd like to apologize for the bad puns. I just thought I should be consistent with the lame title for my previous "Amish" post. Hopefully this is the last of my posts on this subject, so you will not have to endure further excruciation...
If you've been following along with my blog for a while, you might recall that I once posted a list of reasons that make me Amish. Basically, I'm not with the times and have odd similarities with the Amish stereotype. Even though I called them my "Top 10", they were really only the ten things that I could remember while writing that post, so I've decided to continue the list here...

1. Never traveled on a boat, plane, or train completely by myself.

2. Never seen the Grammy's or Academy Awards or Oscars.

3. Not sure what the distinctions are between the items mentioned in #2.

4. I have trouble talking to people older than me, regardless of how chill or cool they are...family members are no exception, sadly.

5. Have never ordered anything online, other than course registrations (even that was with the express permission/command of my parents).

6. I am STILL afraid of looking at, nearing, and (God forbid) entering lingerie stores.

7. Although the purpose of comedy shows is to relax and have a good laugh, I find them stressful because if the jokes aren't funny, watching becomes pointless, and thus I feel forced to laugh.

8. I feel nauseated just before I have to write a test or do something nervewracking (e.g. performing something for others).

9. Bought my first real posters a couple months ago at my school's poster fair.

10. I don't have a camera of my own, and thus I do not have any awesome pictures/polaroids of me and my friends plastered all over my wall. (Instead I have reflective stick-on butterflies from Dollarama :( )

Mastering the Craft of War

"SO IT'S (almost) FINALS WEEK"...

and I've been looking for a new fix. No, I haven't quite ventured into the ominous world of chemical fixes (yet), but rather have stumbled upon a psychological (?) fix. And considering my ethnicity, what an appropriate fix it is...

If you haven't guessed by now, I'm talking about Warcraft, or more specifically Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (or something along those lines). Not really being very skilled with typical gaming maneuvers and the pressure of real-time gaming, I've tended to shy away from these types of games, so how could I have possible gotten myself into WC3, you may ask?!

Well, it all began...

this term when my good buddy/roommate, Luke, would blast crazy music from his room next door. We call it his "one man rave" soundtrack. Anyway, when I commented on his crazy music one time, he mentioned that it got him pumped up for DOTA, and he offered to teach me how to play sometime. The opportunity to finally uncover the mysteries of defending the ancients was too tempting to resist. Only a couple weeks ago, I infected my computer with WC3, and have been playing it every so often when I feel like searching for my inner Korean. :)

I still suck...like a LOT. Even when half-decent players team with me against an easy computer, it usually ends up being a close win because the other hero tends to level up super fast from killing me--not to mention that I haven't even DARED to play online yet.
ME PLAYING ONLINE = INSTANT TROLL TARGET :(

Anyway, if we all started out perfect, there wouldn't be a need for the dreaded entity we know as "practice". Although, admittedly, I thought I'd have a steeper learning curve than most--what with my decent manual dexterity, perseverence/motivation to learn (games), and my genetics. Before I actually tried the game, I imagined myself reaching at least 100 APM (assuming that's fast...else, how am I supposed to know? I'm a n00b...cut me some slack) in a couple hours...pfft, guess I'm truly not as Asian as I thought. Gotta be careful what I wish for...

P.S. I realize the truly Korean game is SC2, but aren't they all basically the same? APM's and all...? -_-"

WHAT THE HEAVEN

Sooo, I decided to update my itunes with a few new songs that I've heard on the radio. In the process of searching them up on mediafire, I found a couple Avril songs that I HAVEN'T OBTAINED A COPY OF YET!!! WHATTT??? Obviously, I had to remedy this serious problem immediately, and I loved them as soon as I heard em. Brings so many memories about the music I used to listen to in my "rebellious" preteen days. -_-" Plus it makes me feel really old now! =S

Unlike most of the other artists I USED to listen to, I can still enjoy Avril--and regardless of what the trend-following masses say, Avril is "the original" that Taylor Swift bases her video and song ideas from, and originals tend to be 239487293847298347 times better than copycats. Avril is no exception. :)

Except from new song "What the Hell":
All my life I've been good but now, woah, I'm thinking what the hell
All I want is to mess around and I don't really care about
If you love me, if you hate me, you can't save me, baby, baby
All my life I've been good but now, whoa, what the hell

You never fail to un-complicate my life, Avril ;)

Don't Dump on my Dumplings!

Ever since I shared my dumpling lunch with the Korean international students in my elementary school, I've earned myself the nickname of "Mandu", meaning dumpling in Korean. I can't remember if I first tried Korean or Chinese dumplings, but I love dumplings of all varieties--including their distant Polish cousin, the perogy!

They have also taken good care of me throughout both secondary and post secondary school. Whenever I go out for dim sum or family new year gatherings, my darlings never fail to make an appearance. In university, whenever I can't think of a new way to food poison myself, I fry up a batch of my dearest babies! Luckily, I've been cooking them long enough that I'm an expert at frying dumplings, so I haven't managed to poison myself with them just yet.

As many of you can probably guess, I'm pretty excited about the Chinese New Year Mandarin dumpling festival. I'm not sure if they have it every year, but I certainly have the time and means to go for it this year. When I googled: DUMPLING FESTIVAL MANDARIN, I got some guy's ranty post about how a dumpling buffet is a ripoff due to the filling carbs. As a self-proclaimed dumpling connoisseur, I don't see the logic in this argument at all.

First of all, I believe that eating is a highly psychological experience--the right/wrong mood, atmosphere, or presentation can alter one's perceived "appetite". This means that the theoretically "filling" composition of a dumpling will not apply to MY stomach. Secondly, there are WAY WORSE things that are standard to a buffet's menu. By WAY WORSE, I mean oily, and carb-filled. Dumplings can be relatively healthy and non-filling, if you know how to properly choose and enjoy them. Thirdly, I have a few comments about his comment on dumplings not being worth the money you pay for a buffet experience. Again, there are worse things that people can fill up on at a buffet--namely salad, soup, bread, rice, fries, deep fried items (e.g. onion rings), mashed potatoes, ice cream, etc.--and I see people eating these at buffets all the time. I'm sure that these foods are typically cheaper than dumplings when you're talking about grocery store prices ($/unit of food or $/calorie of energy or my favourite: $/units of utility).

Lastly, whenever you're eating at any buffet, I think it's still important to ENJOY what you're eating and avoid getting too hung up on "getting your money's worth". I don't typically see people going to buffets and filling their plates with all the expensive meats. Why? Well, obviously because that would just taste disgusting! Bear in mind, I'm obviously not suggesting you go the totally opposite extreme and eat only 10 bowls of ice cream or a salad. I believe that part of the walk around buffet experience is getting to put together plates of yummy goodness from a wide variety of choices. Just seeing the food, being around the food, and getting ideas from other people and your mealtime companions of what tastes good or not is a crucial part of the experience that you are paying for.

When eating at a normal dine-in restaurant, doesn't it suck when the dish you order doesn't turn out to be anything like the description (in a bad way), but your buddy beside you seems to have ordered the goddess of all foods? Well, too bad! You're stuck with that, and only THAT, disgusting pile of mush for the whole meal!! At best, if your buddy isn't too engrossed in his delectable heaven and is self-sacrificing enough, he'll share maybe a bite or two with you. Well... unlike typical restaurants, at buffets, if someone has something that looks/tastes good, you get multiple opportunities to try to create an enjoyable eating experience for yourself.

Sooooo...on top of all the goodness of buffets, Mandarin is going to have a dumpling buffet! Thank you, God, for the Chinese just this once.

Not-so-new Beginnings

Well, it's certainly been a while since I've posted anything substantial on my blog, so "now" just seemed appropriate. When exactly is now? Two weeks into my 3A undergraduate term, 6-course load, orchestra/euchre/intramural soccer, supportive and sensitive boyfriend, and a new house with 75% of my housemates being good university friends. So far so good.

Ew, that phrase is actually pretty annoying because it's the title of several of my biochem prof's unenlightening lecture slides. In reality, her unclear, disorganized teaching style does not make things good so far. I have to listen to additional online lectures to completely understand the course material. Resist as I might, it seems that the need to attend her lectures will soon obsolesce.

While I'm on the subject of courses, this is what I'm taking this term:
-AFM 231 Business Law
-CHEM 237 +L Intro Biochem
-CHEM 267 Organic Chem 2
-ECON 201 Microeconomic Theory
-ECON 371 Business Finance
-PSYCH 232 Psychology of Evil

I'm pretty interested in the content of most of my courses surprisingly! With the exception of biochem, my profs are pretty good too! =) I anticipate that, if I find the long-dormant inner discipline I once possessed, I can be successful this term. And what a welcome change that would be.

...Sooo here's the big news: Recently, I've been pushed into a certain direction of life, and I have no reason and/or desire to resist whatsoever. That direction being CAREER-RELATED! Finally, with a goal in mind, I have some concrete objectives and the opportunity to go for them, which I intend to do. I suppose much of this is rather vague and uninformative, but it's not the WHAT (i.e. objectives, direction) that is important, but rather the HOW (i.e. renewed outlook on life and school). So far, I've already tried to make it a habit of completing all readings prior to lecture, putting my cell phone away for the majority of lectures, and decreasing the game:study ratio. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) for you, I will be posting much less frequently as well, so get used to it early on.

For people who have come to know my blog posting style, probably one of my favourite parts of blogging is to think of a sarcastic, ironic, witty--whatever you want to call it--title for my posts and proceed to explain them in the post. Here is that explanation:

For my facebook friends, you may have seen this comment in my ABOUT ME, "I have recently taken quite a fall from grace, in many aspects."

One of these aspects is my schoolwork. Ever since grade 11, my work habits and actual concern for my academic well-being has dwindled at an exponential rate. Like most students, I go into the beginning of each term with high hopes for my work habits and dedication to my schooling. That never worked for me...until now.

Sometimes I wonder why I can't remember things I've learned only a term ago. Secretly, I hope it's just my poor memory, but sometimes this guilty feeling creeps up on me, telling me that my lack of knowledge is simply a result of not learning the material properly in the first place. This term, some of that is already coming back to bite me in the behind. Fortunately, my new purpose gives me something to work for. Something to hope for. Something I haven't had for a long time.

I just hope this newfound resolve isn't another cliche example of too little too late.