Here are some exciting opportunities for you to get involved this Christmas season:

December 30, 2005
HAPPY EARLY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!

Took off the Christmas countdown, since it was reading "359 days until Christmas." It was a good Christmas. I don't have the patience to write about it all, but you can read about what I did on my xanga. :oP

Winterlicious is soon upon us. Check out the menus... some yummy things going on! Summerlicious was gooooooooood... I'm sure the winter edition will be just as sweet! Ahh... food... Food Network, Bob Blumer, JOY Winter Retreat food! Yay!

I can't believe I'm starting work in less than a week. :o| I hope it will be a good term. I pray that God will affirm my vision in working with immigrants, or point me in a beautiful new direction. :o) On that note, I should really do some devos, because I've been horrendously slacking off. Although I really want to go down to the piano and practice my own rendition of Mae's "Giving It Away." Hmm... priorities, Vic?

December 20, 2005
I have the sinking suspicion that God is trying to teach me a lesson with the Alpha video return debacle. I just can't seem to get any of the tapes returned with the speed and efficiency that I would have liked to see. If things went my way, they would've been returned since last week. Except I had 2 exams and 1 research proposal to juggle, so that wasn't possible.

It provides a great distraction, having to co-ordinate the return of tapes to 2 locations. Thank goodness for all the people helping me out! However, the tapes still haven't been returned, and it's a little irksome, especially when you're trying to study for one final exam. Concentration can't be focused all on the exam, since it's still the thought of "man, how the heck am I gonna return the tapes before exams are done?" hang in the air. Thus are the strange struggles that Victoria go through.

Man, I can't believe Christmas is in 5 or so days. I just don't feel it. Not even when I'm rushing around trying to buy presents (commercialism *sigh*), hear crappy Christmas tunes on the radio (sorry to the kids who like Christmas songs... I can only stand a few songs ), and slap a festive background on this site. But feelings are overrated anyway. Why do I need to "feel" Christmas in order to celebrate it? It's the media, I tell you. And post-modernism, telling us that feelings are vital. I think Jesus coming to earth as a human baby, then dying for us some 30 years later is reason enough to celebrate Christmas, without all the festive trimmings.

Anyway, enough rant. Hopefully this will make me be about to absorb information about "ethnic nationalisms: civic vs. ethnic" a little more.

December 17, 2005
Go on ahead and let it fade away
No looking back - you know the past will stay
-Mae, "Summertime"

Ahh... it's the time of year to blast songs like "Goodbye" from Plankeye, "Summertime" and "Goodbye, Goodnight" from Mae, and "Closing Time" from Semisonic. I guess it has a double meaning, since the school year and the real year are both drawing to a close.

Well, okay, I'm not quite done school, but exam hell week is sure over. Handed in the proposal. Even got it done by 4:30am, which is an early night when you look at all the other nights I've spent writing papers this term. This term's been hell in terms of writing papers and staying up late. I shall blame all those night classes which take up half the week. Anyway, classes have been long over, and I'm just waiting to write the final exam for ethnic and racial relations. I should start reading sometime.

In other news, I watched The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe yesterday with Becca and Marianne there. There was a small CCF contingent there, and Josh and his housemate too. It was a really good movie. I think I will buy it when it comes out on DVD. I was very impressed by the performance of the kids, especially Georgie Henley in the role of Lucy. Actually, Skandar Keynes' Edmund was really good as well - he sulked and brooded really well. Apparently, during the filming, he grew 6 1/2 inches! Me and Becca are gonna rewatch it just to see him grow! I would watch it again in the theatres, except that takes money, and money I have not to spend on movies. Especially ones that I've seen already.

My parents came up this afternoon to move my stuff home for the term. There was less than usual, mostly because all the kitchen stuff is staying with Becca, and other stuff too. It's just the computer and a few more things to take home with me on Wednesday.

I can't wait to leave this term. Not sure how the next one will be, but as they say, take a day at a time.

SONG OF THE MOMENT

What a year for a new year
We needed light
We needed life, I guess
Last one left us lying in a mess
What a year for a new year

What a night for a sunrise
And we thought that dark would never end
Reaching out to try to find a friend
What a night for a sunrise
Sunrise

What a day for a new day
And our star shines like a miracle
And our world is almost beautiful again
What a day for a new day
New day

What a year for a new year
What a year for a new year
What a year for a new year
What a year for a new year

Soon we'll be lying in our beds
And new dreams will fill our heads
And the old ones will be ending
Hope we'll forget about this place
Let it go without a trace
Wipe the teardrops from our faces

"What a Year for a New Year," Dan Wilson (from Maybe This Christmas)
Gorgeous track that I fell in love with the first time I heard it. A good ode to the new year. Oh! And you can download the song from his website for free. Sweet. I love free tracks!

December 15, 2005
Blogging is a procrastinator's best friend. :oP

Anyway, it seems that I am going from one disaster to another. The stats exam was a total bomb (funny, Switchfoot's "Bomb" is playing in the background... followed by "Chem 6a"), and the whole class pretty much agrees. He made us do some stuff that we didn't really practice on. I say, leave on the omnibus F-calculations, since it's what we practiced on in labs! But it's too late now. Seriously though, oh well. Can't care less.

The next disaster-waiting-to-happen is the research proposal. I did exactly what they told me not to do: do it the night before it's due. Well, okay, I have the methods section written, but that's about it. Too bad yesterday's motivation and energy didn't extend to today. I suppose that stats exam put a damper on things. Oh, and I was supposed to read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe today so I can be prepped for the movie tomorrow. Not happening. I guess I'll read it after. Hopefully in one day, so I can also read for my SOC exam, which is the last exam of the term.

Well, okay, now that I've wasted time, I shall now go back to research proposalling. Or try, anyway.

December 14, 2005
Sweetness. Got some free The Postal Service tracks on music.download.com. I think "Such Great Heights" is a great song - the lyrics are just genius in the way that they can be sung, but if read out loud, reads like a sappy love letter. The Iron and Wine cover on the Garden State soundtrack makes it into a really good sappy love letter. I like! :oD Of course, the original has a great bouncy beat to it, maybe emphasizing the jittery delight that love brings. Take a read of the lyrics... I tried to contain the sentences together rather than chop them up the way they are enunciated in the song.

SONG OF THE MOMENT

I am thinking it's a sign that the freckles in our eyes are mirror images
And when we kiss they're perfectly aligned
And I have to speculate that God himself did make us into corresponding shapes like puzzle pieces from the clay
And true, it may seem like a stretch
But it's thoughts like this that catch my troubled head when you're away
And I am missing you to death
When you are out there on the road for several weeks of shows
And when you scan the radio
I hope this song will guide you home

They will see us waving from such great heights
'Come down now,' they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
'Come down now,' but we'll stay

I tried my best to leave this all on your machine
But the persistent beat
It sounded thin upon listening
And that frankly will not fly
You will hear the shrillest highs and lowest lows with the windows down
When this is guiding you home

"Such Great Heights," The Postal Service (from Give Up)
I love the line "and I have to speculate that God himself did make us into corresponding shapes like puzzle pieces from the clay." So sappy and sweet. :o) Ahh... The Postal Service reminds me of Lucie because she lent me her CD to listen to back in the summer.

December 13, 2005
Thank you for a fun Christmas dinner last night, housemates! :oD It was interesting trying to bake that ham, eating microwaved stuffing, having instant mashed potatoes, sorta mush broccoli. A student Christmas dinner for you!

We also watched I Heart Huckabees. My favourite chracter was Mark Wahlberg's Tommy. I love how they slapped each other with that big red rubber ball (!). Otherwise, it was a very strange movie. Very post-modern in its message, with the message concealed and obscured so that people thing they are watching an intelligent movie or something. Wasn't exactly the "upper" that Becca was looking for, mostly because it left us confused and wondering how such a movie could end.

Then I watched my latest old-but-new-again obsession - Smallville. The writing is so-so, but of course, the actors do try. But really, in every episode, someone is in some sort of peril (Lana getting trapped in a burning house, Chloe being chased with an axe by Lana, Pete getting roughed up by a bunch of car racing losers, Clark getting exposed to kryptonite... all the crazy time). And Clark is *such* a goody-two-shoes (which I think Tom Welling complained about too), at least in the 3rd season. I suppose it's a good thing that Superman has such strong morals, though. Last night, he was such a dad figure to Pete, and then Pete *acknoweledges* that he "should've listened to" Clark at the end. What kind of teenagers interact that way? Oh well. I'm more in it for the eye candy. And, well, yes, I'm a sucker for perilous situations. :oP OH! And they played TFK's Rawkfist during one of Pete's racing scenes. Go Canadian Christian bands! Infiltrate that WB!

In other news, I think I'm burning out. I think I have spells of ADHD everytime I finish an exam. I'm about ready to give up on exams (still got 2 exams and a research proposal to do). But I'm not even thinking about Christmas yet, because I can't possibly start thinking about now, or I'll just live there or something. Gotta take one day at a time. Life also ends on the 21st, as far as I can tell.

SONG OF THE MOMENT

Wait in line 'til your time
Ticking clock
Everyone stop

Everyone's saying different things to me
Different things to me
Everyone's saying different things to me
Different things to me

Do you believe in what you see?
There doesn't seem to be anybody else who agrees with me

Do you believe in what you see?
Motionless wheel
Nothing is real
Wasting my time in the waiting line
Do you believe in what you see?

Nine to five
Living lies
Everyday
Stealing time
Everyone's taking everything they can
Everything they can
Everyone's taking everything they can
Everything they can

Ah and I'll shout and I'll scream
But I'd rather not have seen
And i'll hide away for another day

"In The Waiting Line," Zero 7 (from Simple Things)
Mmmm... loungy song from the Garden State soundtrack which I finally own, courtesy of Marianne!

December 9, 2005
Unlikely that you would care (but now that I've blatantly primed you, you will... right, Marianne?), but I scrapped the bio on the bio page and left an giant empty void. There is a new banner for you to enjoy though.

Until then, I need to think of something witty to say about myself. Hmm...

Oh, a useless update about the APA manual. An EXTREMEMLY handy thing to have around, so that I can incorporate all the anal details that crazy psychologists demand of papers. I'm sure it'll be handy until the end of 4th year, and hopefully beyond. Now that I have both the APA and MLA manuals, I think I'll open a citation library. Or not.

Another "oh." It occurred to me that it is quite weird that I'm doing a B.A. in Psychology. Psychology? Why? But I can't imagine a better degree to come out with. Except maybe a B.A. in Procrastinatory Arts. Or for those who are convinced, a B.A.Sc. in Systems Design. Me, in Systems. Right. My dad would be extremely happy to have another engineer in the house. Except I think my sis and I inherited all the artsy fartsy genes instead. But I'm not complaining.

December 8, 2005
I finally cracked and...

  • Got an APA manual at the bookstore for $35.95 (as opposed to Amazon, which sold it for $10 cheaper)
  • Took the extension for the 395 proposal, namely because I don't wanna kill myself

A Mean Girls break, courtesy of me reading the quotes over and over and over...:

Janis: We gotta crack Gretchen Wieners. We crack Gretchen, and then we crack the lock on Regina's whole dirty history.
Damian: Say crack again.
Janis: Crack.

So that's the newest update on life. Oh, and I finished my take-home exam and dropped it off this afternoon. Picked up the APA, sold my adolescent text, and bought some "gone chau ngao hoh" today at Sunshine Express, as per Ray's recommendation. After eating sperogies (perogies in spring roll form, invented by Chung and I), fried tomatoes, fried olives, fried egg, and an English muffin, I figured I should eat something a little more substantial and normal. Made 3 meals out of that box of noodles. Sweetness.

To cap things off, my favourite The Breakfast Club quotes (just because I spent so much of my time last night pouring over the quotes for my exam... isn't that right, Benson?):

Allison Reynolds: When you grow up, your heart dies.

John Bender: What are we having?
Brian Johnson: Just your normal everyday lunch.
John Bender: Milk?
Brian Johnson: Soup.... Apple juice.
John Bender: I can read. PB & J with the crusts cut off. Well, Brian, this is a very nutritious lunch. All the food groups are represented. Did your mom marry Mr. Rogers?
Brian Johnson: Uh, no. Mr. Johnson.

Andrew Clarke: This is the worst fake ID I've ever seen... do you realize you made yourself sixty eight?
Brian Johnson: Oh, I know... I know, I goofed it...
Andrew Clarke: What do you need a fake I.D. for?
Brian Johnson: So I can vote.

December 6, 2005
Slaving away at the take-home exam right now. So many notes to go through! But it has to be done. Will I be able to actually start writing? We'll see. I think I'd rather write a fanfic right now. :oP I was reading some of fics I wrote (and the reviews accompanying it). I could be good if I get into the mode. :oP And reviews... what an esteem booster! Especially the valid sounding ones, not so much the "omg, i love youre story! your a gr8 writer!" I doubt I can actually produce a piece of fanfiction right now though, since I'm not really in the zone with shows. But you never know. I have so many WIPs on my computer right now...

Anyway, just wanted to procrastinate and post up a sweet song by Anberlin.

SONG OF THE MOMENT

Are there no shadows where you are?
I can see everything as day
Problems that you try to hide away
Pushing me aside (You're pushing me aside)

Could the winter calm come twice?
Because your heart seems so cold tonight
Thirst for substance somehow isn't right
It's killing me inside (It's killing you inside)
Killing me inside

I don't wanna be where you are
I don't wanna be here even now
I don't wanna be by your side
If something isn't right
If something isn't right

This is our last goodnight
Say what you will
Say all that you can
Words have no meaning
When I've seen where you've been

This is our last goodnight
Say what you will
Say all that you can
This is our last goodbye
This is where love ends

Are you so naive to right a wrong?
How could you watch innocence forgone?
Does what we've done ever really belong?
It wasted me away (I feel so wasted away)

God if you can hear me out alright
Please take these feelings for her inside
My chest hurts when I breathe tonight
It's wasting me away (You're wasting me away)
You're wasting me away

"(The Symphony of) Blas�," Anberlin (from Never Take Friendship Personal)
Telling of the current situation in my head? Hmm...
It's got a really nice arrangement to it. A good contrast to say "The Feel Good Drag" (which I like), or even "Paperthin Hymn" (which is just one sweeeeeeeeet track).

December 3, 2005
Mmm... very much smitten by Falling Up's Dawn Escapes tracks. :o) Will Elliot be able to secure me their CD at Christmas sales for under $15? Time will tell. In the mean time, marketplace sellers keep dropping their price at Amazon. Hopefully the trend will continue, in case no Christian bookstore offers it cheap!

Big thanks to Katie and Suzanne for showing The Breakfast Club and Mean Girls at their place today. It's good to be refreshed for the upcoming take home exam that needs to be written! Those are highly intriguing movies, and works quite well with the adolescent course. Definitely can glean a lot about the lore of adolescence that the media loves to gobble up and spit out. But the debate remains: is there storm and stress or not in the characters? Sure is causing lots of storm and stress for the class! :oP

Well, gotta keep truckin' on that stats lab. Which simple effects to perform? Hmmm...

SONG OF THE MOMENT

Runaway, runaway
Breathe this in
The water�s wait, water�s wait
Wide awake, wide awake
Breathe this in
The water�s wait, water�s wait
Asking if you are

Erased
Everything within you will feel erased now

Everyday, everyday
Houses full of no escape, no escape
Runaway, runaway
It starts to pull
He�s in this place, in this place
To question who you are

Who am I?
Who am I?
I will fade

"Contact," Falling Up (from Dawn Escapes)
By far the prettiest track from the available tracks on purevolume. The piano lines are just gorgeous. As I told Elliot once, I love the mellow songs of hard bands! Yes, the epitomy of an oxymoron, right here. :oP I *cannot* wait to get the album! Oh, and check out their song "Moonlit" too. Some goodness going on there! :oD

December 2, 2005
Let's see... December updates:

  • Alpha's over... thanks to everyone for coming out for the term! Hope everyone learned something new about God and the Christian faith...
  • It's DECEMBER??!?? What happened to November? October? September?
  • What's left of school: stats lab 3, adolescent psych take home exam, social psych research proposal, Christian hymnody exam, stats exam, ethnic and racial relations exam... in that order
  • Last night would've marked the first time I threw water on anyone (besides for water fights)... thanks and sorry to Marianne for being a unwitting target of my frustrations of life!
  • Still have yet to plan the Christmas/New year's season bash with Ceci
  • Still have yet to write a novel, write a screenplay, make a movie, put out a 12-track CD (okay kids, *this* one's being hanging around too long), knit *something*, re-read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe for obvious reasons, finish Jack Layton's Homelessness which I started at the beginning of the term...

And some wishes for Christmas
*warning: the following may be preposterous*

  • CDs, especially Falling Up's Dawn Escapes (price keeps going down on Amazon, but I shall hold out on the fact that I actually don't have any money - thanks dad for spotting me!)
  • Have a home recording studio where I can play around with my songs
  • For everyone to donate ONE MEAL to Yonge Street Mission (see above)
  • Learn how to knit - again
  • Not have to take that stupid monocycline I've been on for this whole term
  • See *something* at Stratford! To get off my lazy butt and actually go for real this time!
  • Find a place to pursue my passion of... I'm not sure what (too many, too undefined)
  • Work clothes for DBNC (I can't wrap my head around needing work clothes for a volunteer placement...)
  • To humble myself before God and REVERE Him...

All for now. Off to CCF's sharing night I go!

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