Background

1.24.2010

A Bit Of Studying... And Clubbing

This weekend I had a simple assignment for my mythology class at the library, basically an intro to the library system so that we know how to use it when we get research papers in future classes. Despite the tediousness of some of the questions (find the call numbers for Greek literature), I have to say I had a lot of fun browsing through old books. It was crazy, the number of old volumes that I could pick up and not know a word of because it was in Greek, or Latin, or French. And all the tattered, faded covers! It almost made me want to have a research paper to do, so that I could have an excuse to look through the books more often. Almost.

And, on the other end of the spectrum... I went clubbing for the first time last night. At first I wasn't even planning on going, but then my friends started running out of people to go with them, and I thought of something to wear, and soon I was getting ready to go. I mean, I'm legal in Canada, I might as well see what it's like, since I've heard good things!

On the way there I was nervous, naturally. It didn't help that the person with us that had gone clubbing the most had the most to drink beforehand. I'd chosen to not have any at all. Personal choice. She was quite tipsy, so she wasn't able to help quell my anxiety. But we got there and inside the club smoothly, no hitches beside my friend trying to remember which bus stop it was near. The minute the bouncers finished checking my ID, I started down the steep staircase, feeling the booming music, and forgot how loud it was going to be. When I realized this, much of my fear went away. Nothing like loud music to get rid of any awkward arriving-at-a-party feelings. And, nothing like feeling the bass vibrate through your body to get yourself moving to the music. The music was all techno that night, with some popular songs and a lot of bass. Which I was quite happy about.

There were a few creepy guys, lets face it, you have to deal with that at a club. But according to one of my friends, they weren't as persistent as they were last time. Course, there were some cute ones too. But most were taken. Hours of dancing and awesome music passed, with some sitting and some drinking (none by me).

We left when things started dying down. It took entirely too long get a cab afterward, since we were in the clubbing section of town and things were starting to wrap up everywhere. We were tired of waiting, so we wandered to where we thought there was a bus stop. The bus didn't come there that late, though. Lo and behold, we found a Blenz Coffee that was open at 3am. I didn't know any coffee shops stayed open that late! But we stopped and warmed up, and finally when we called this time, a cab showed up. We got in, had a fun conversation with the cab driver on the way back, and got back to our rooms, exhausted. Fun times.

And as for writing this weekend, I had to give myself a break. I've been feeling stressed and a bit homesick, and I had other work to do. Including watching the crazy awesome Saints vs. Vikings football game. ;)

Photo: A lunar new year display at the T&T, an Asian superstore in Vancouver. Sorry, this has nothing to do with either studying or clubbing. But it was such a cool display, I had to get a picture of it when I went shopping! That's a whole dragon, by the way, not just a head. So. Cool.

1.17.2010

My Methods Of De-Stressing


The workload at school is gradually increasing, and it's about the time I need to stop and convince myself to not worry. I feel guilty procrastinating and then find out later I hadn't needed to worry about it, since it took so little time. I thought I'd share a few ways I've been de-stressing, since everyone has to work on it these days.

As for ways to escape my current reality (aka TV and movies, I haven't had time for books), I've been watching Chuck and Heroes, and my friends are getting me hooked on Dr. Who and 24. I try not to miss a single episode of any of them! Another friend is into football, and I've been watching a few games with her, rooting for her teams. Also, I went to see Daybreakers yesterday. It was a bit too gory for me but the storyline was well done, how they created a world taken over by vampires.

I was also reminded of one of my favorite logic puzzles today, found at the Conceptis website. Doing a puzzle like Pic-a-Pix or playing tetris on Facebook with some good music (Metric, The Killers, etc. etc.) are great ways of de-stressing! Or procrastinating...

In other news, I managed to make my goal of 1000 words of my story this weekend! I think I'll do 1000 each weekend, plus another 500 during the week if I can. I didn't write much yesterday, and I was worried I'd run out of time to write it all today, but I finished. Plus a few extra words. I'm writing the climactic scene; my story is getting very close to being done. I'm excited.

Picture: A simple completed Pic-a-Pix puzzle. They're a bit time-consuming, but it's very satisfying to see the picture at the end.

1.10.2010

Getting Back To Writing

It all started with this amazing door-size dragon poster I found at the poster sale here on campus. My friends suggested I buy it, and I wasn't sure I wanted to, since it was a tad expensive and I had little room on my wall for it. But I decided to buy it anyway, and a friend helped me stick it to my ceiling, above my bed. Now, I wake up to an amazing picture of a burning castle at night, a dragon in the foreground with a moon behind it, and a man with a long overcoat and a sword overlooking it all. I got to talking with my friends about how inspired it made me feel to write, and I got one of my friends inspired to write in the process. That in turn made me want to pick up writing my story again, and... here I am, writing the ending to the first draft of my novel.

It will take a little while to write the ending, as so much has to happen. But at least I've started it. I'm sure I'll have to do many revisions of this after I finish, and I'm a little daunted by the work. However, I know that very few people who want to be writers manage to finish anything, let alone finish the first draft of a novel. I'll be celebrating in no time. Right now, I'm trying to do 500 words a day on the weekend, and as much as I can during the week. 500 words may be too much do to every single day. Yesterday I started writing and got 700 words done, and today I got 600 more done. I seem to get on a roll after the first 500. With my "writing music" playing in the background (Loreena McKennitt, David Arkenstone, Enya, Noirin ni Riain, the LotR soundtrack, and more), it feels so good to write. I feel at home.

Photo: A gorgeous view of the mountains from the ferry, from my recent trip back home over winter break.

Link: Small picture of my new poster.