Summer's Beginning

It's strange to be at home. At first it was rather easy to slip into my usual "vacation at home" mode, but by now, I'm really feeling how I'm not going back to school anytime soon. And not back to UBC at all. I miss everyone. I miss watching movies and TV shows together and reacting with everyone in the room. It's one thing to watch alone and discuss things online, and completely another to watch when you're all in the same room. I miss going down the hall to knock on someone's door when I feel lonely, or just bored. I miss eating dinner with everyone every night. Heck, I miss hearing noise down the hall. My house is so quiet.

I'm slowly starting to work on my novel again, after a week or so of losing myself in TV shows (Buffy the Vampire Slayer anyone?). I've decided I have to start making some kind of short-term writing goal for each day or at least each week. It's trickier and more difficult, now that I can't just write 500 words of whatever and be done for the day. I have to be careful now. And I can't let all my self-discipline from going to classes escape me, or I won't get anything done!

Still working on getting a job, too. Hopefully that will come soon. If not, maybe I'll go back to making websites for people...

Crazy. It's not even June yet, and it's summer for me.

Photo: Flowers by my house. Took it a few years ago. Still need to take more current pictures...

Changes

Today is my second full day back home, and it's still strange. I don't hear people down the hall except my mother and my cat and I can't just walk fifty feet to hang out with my friends. It's quiet. That's not a bad thing though, I just have to get used to it. My room is bigger, I can make whatever food I want, and I don't have schoolwork to do. But I miss my friends.

Lately what I've been doing to keep from being bored is watching TV shows online. After I was done catching up with Doctor Who and Torchwood, my friend recommended Life on Mars, and then Ashes to Ashes, which I'm currently watching. On the side, I'm watching The Big Bang Theory, which really helped me lose some stress through finals. Geek jokes are awesome. The series I have yet to watch are Bones, Buffy, and The Tudors. All in good time... though I hope it won't keep me too much from all that I want to do this summer.

Lastly, some news about Glasgow. My accommodation is going to be in a larger self-catered complex, in a flat with 10-12 people. I didn't expect to have such a large flat, since my first few choices were smaller complexes and smaller flats. But I'll have more people to meet and probably more friends, so that's a plus.

Anyway, gotta get back to unpacking. If you're in school, good luck with finals. Otherwise, I hope you have a great start of summer.

Photo: a picture of the whiteboard outside my dorm room during the last few days I was there. My friends are awesome. :)

Catching Up

I'm a week behind... but for a good reason! It's finals time for me. Today I finished my third one, and my next and last one isn't until next Thursday. So I have time to chill this weekend. And boy, do I need it.

A couple days ago, I officially accepted my offer at the University of Glasgow! I can start applying for accommodation soon, and then loans and my visa. Things are moving along nicely. Strangely, Glasgow was the only university (out of the five I applied to) that accepted me as a 3rd year in Computer Science. I guess they're more ahead of everyone else, or something? It's difficult for me to wait sometimes, so I've joined a few groups online for freshmen at the University of Glasgow, and it's so cool to find people from all over Europe are going there. The schools I've been to for college have been pretty international, but rarely do you see Europeans. Especially here in Vancouver, you see a lot of Asians. I'm excited to meet more Brits, and other Europeans!

That's all I have to say for now... my brain is pretty fried from all the tests and studying I did in the past week. Maybe I'll have more to say next weekend. I'll be HOME!

Photo: An awesome McMenamins coaster. Took the pictures on a road trip to San Francisco, a few years ago. There's a possibility I'll be going to SF again this summer, but by plane, for a new-student-and-alumni talk about the University of Glasgow! I really hope I do get to go!

Returning To My Roots

My applications and inquiries into transferring to a Scottish school are now all pointing to one place: Glasgow. It's the only school so far that's accepted me as a 3rd year student--I do not want more than two more years to complete my undergraduate degree (and can't really pay for more than that anyway). I've also heard good things about its Computer Science program, and that the city itself is considered the "Silicon Valley" of Scotland. It's also not the most expensive school I applied to. Everything's working out so amazingly well that it's almost hard to believe. I'm finding that random things remind me of what's to come in the fall, which leads to me having mini-freak-outs. Good ones, of course. I have to be careful where I show my freaking out though, or I'll get funny looks...

I can't say in particular what draws me to Scotland. Perhaps the music, the landscape, the different culture. When I hear bagpipes or fiddles I turn into a puddle, and I cannot help smiling when I hear a Scottish or other British accent. I am also an eighth Scottish, of the clan Muir. Perhaps I'm returning to my roots. I just hope I'll be able to understand Glaswegian well enough before my classes start!

There's so much to do. I hope that I won't get to say "I'm bored" this summer. It'll be hard enough waiting for September. Along with all the things that go with moving to a new school half the world away, I still want to write the second draft of my novel (or get a good start on it) and hopefully get an internship, plus read all these books on my shelf that I haven't finished. Right now, I have end-of-term projects to finish up, as my classes are over in 3 days. Then the dreaded finals. But in less than 3 weeks, I'll be home.

Photo: The main building of the University of Glasgow, courtesy of the university's website. Don't worry, I'll be taking plenty of photos myself when I get there.

A Few Short Movie Reviews

Attempting to continue my new year's resolution, it's time to write a blog again...

This past Easter weekend I've seen a number of movies, including new ones like Clash of the Titans and The Ghost Writer, but also some good ones that have been out for a while on DVD, Across the Universe and Moulin Rouge. They were all enjoyable for various reasons, some more than others.

Let's start with the older movies, ones you've likely seen before. Across the Universe. Saw it once when it came out, then again earlier this year, and once more a few days ago. And again this weekend. Point is, I'm justified in buying it. Of course I'll watch it again! If you love the Beatles, you should see it. Their remakes of the songs, in my opinion, do the originals justice. I'm also intrigued by their interpretations of the songs, and many scenes have so much symbolism it makes your head spin. I personally love movies and books that make you think.

Moulin Rouge was recently introduced to me, and that led to me seeing it twice in the span of a few days, then again this weekend. I'll probably watch it again before too long, since a friend of mine wants to see it a second time, to really get the full effect (the first time she saw it, there was too much munching on chips and one too many interruptions by raccoons at the window... a story for another time). Another movie I was justified in buying. Starring Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman, I can't see how anyone wouldn't fall in love with either the actors, the music, or the movie's story itself. Magic and romance and the feel of the 1900's are so incredibly attractive... and yes, maybe I have a thing for British actors.

I think there's something about Ewan McGregor and playing writers. I saw The Ghost Writer tonight in a spur-of-the-moment decision. Mom and I were thinking about seeing Remember Me but it wasn't showing many places and we'd decided to just go home after dinner. But we passed a little theater saying they were showing The Ghost Writer, and I mentioned to my mom that it starred the same leading actor as in Moulin Rouge, and she turned right around and we went to see about getting tickets. By the way, those were the nicest theatre seats I've ever been in, and that's saying something for little hole-in-the-wall theatres. The movie, directed by Polanski (and I think he also wrote the screenplay), was also fabulous. His sense of suspense is amazing, keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Turns out Polanski also worked on The Pianist and the recent version of Oliver Twist. No wonder it was good. Ewan McGregor also did a brilliant job. Like I said, it's interesting he's playing a writer again--though now in the current century--but I think it suits him. Or I just love the idea of him as a writer. Either way, the movie's worth seeing. Great statment about how corrupt politics is.

Lastly, Clash of the Titans. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking through the whole movie how it didn't correctly follow Greek mythology. I'm in a mythology class right now anyway, and I should remember the story of Perseus, at least until my final. I also did not see the first version of the film, so I can't say anything about how the remake compares to it. Those thoughts aside, it had great visual effects (I did not see it in 3D, as I was advised against it--apparently they added it after the film was finished), and I think I've grown a liking for Sam Worthington, who plays Perseus. He did such a great job in Avatar. Guess I have a thing for Aussies, too. I don't know if it's quite worth seeing in theatres, but I suppose seeing the visual and audio effects on a big screen would be a bonus. Ticket prices are outrageous these days, though...

And a last passing comment. Before the Clash of the Titans movie started, they had an ad for the new Doctor Who season (yes, I'm sorry I'm mentioning it again, the series is just too awesome). I want to applaud American companies for finally showing support for the series. I don't care if the show's written for Brits! We Americans still want to watch it!! I'm disappointed, though, that BBC America isn't airing the first episode of the new season for two weeks. Someone better get it up on the web before then. I can't wait to watch it.

Happy movie viewing! Don't eat too much popcorn... but I suggest the cheesy kind.

Photo: I need to start taking more pictures again. But maybe you'd like a picture of the great Ewan himself. :)

Ada Lovelace Day

Today is Ada Lovelace Day, when we celebrate the first ever computer programmer, Ada Lovelace, and blog about our favorite woman in technology (Pledge to blog here! Even though it's a little late).

A few months ago, I read an article on Yoky Matsuoka, a professor at the University of Washington. She's working on creating prosthetic hands and other devices that take commands directly from the brain. But she's not only doing that. She started a nonprofit company, the "YokyWorks Foundation", wrote books--one that encourages girls to go into math and science--and is a mother of three. She has an amazing story, and it moved me greatly.

I also have to add my admiration for Felicia Day, who is in a hilarious webseries about a group of gamers called The Guild. Look it up on youtube! I love that she is a successful woman in a field previously dominated by men, and still finds time to love video games.

I would have written a more lengthy, well-written blog but time got away from me today...

Of Novels and Britain

Happy Pi Day! (3.14.10)

I'm overdue to write another blog. In the past week I finished reading the first draft of my novel, straight through, without writing any notes, just to get the feel of it. I tried my best to get out of "writer" mode and into "reader" mode, but it was a bit difficult because I knew what was going to happen. Occasionally I would cringe about wording, or forgetting to put something in, but I tried to forget about whatever bugged me and told myself to remember it later when I read it again. I actually enjoyed the ending, and wanted to share the draft with some friends--who read fantasy fiction and haven't been told anything about my novel yet--to get their opinions on it. I thank them wholeheartedly for offering to take on such a hefty amount of reading, especially since pieces are missing and parts are confusing because some things are inconsistent... anyway, I'm grateful. The first friend on my list is reading it right now. Hearing that she's really enjoying it makes me immensely happy, and gives me hope about being published someday.

I don't think I've mentioned it on my blog, but I'm applying for schools in the UK (specifically Scotland), to transfer to directly. It's been a lifelong dream of mine to travel there for a length of time, and if I go to school, I will get the opportunity to see if I want to live there after school, and if I do, I'll get more job prospects because I'll already be there. I'm so, so excited... anything UK-related is interesting to me these days. Right now it's mainly awesome TV shows and music. Or should I say, "brilliant"? :)

Photo: The picture I took of Big Ben from the Eye of London. Good times... can't wait to go back.