music – Imaginary Sunshine

And hey look, I’m still alive!

Michelle — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:08:59 +0000

What have I been up to since my last final (Monday night)?

Clearly not blogging….

I’ve done some baking (but, unfortunately, the proof of that has mysteriously disappeared…), some thrift store shopping (yesterday, with J), some reflection (on life – wow, I make myself sound old…), some playing of the Nintendo DS (Pokemon Platinum…) and some cleaning (although, as luck would have it, there’s very little proof of that as well!). I’ve also caught up on television that has been recorded on the DVR: General Hospital (which took up a nice chunk of the hard drive), Glee(!), some CSI-franchise episodes, Private Practice, Castle… I also need to fit in some crafting (for swaps) and crafting (for pattern writing). Whoot…

Oh, and I’m currently on pins and needles regarding finding out my grades for the term (but they won’t start coming out until Monday, May 3rd – fudge).

But here are some photos to share (mostly from thrifting):

Fugitive from the Cubicle Police and Seven Years of Highly Defective People by Scott Adams. ($4.99/each)

It’s Obvious You Won’t Survive By Your Wits Alone by Scott Adams ($4.99)

Original Soundtrack Recording of My Fair Lady – $1.99 (for my mom)

Romeo & Juliet – $1.99

The Sound of Music – $1.99 (because I really need another copy of the soundtrack, hah)

Dress shirt, for work – $4.99 (still had original tags on, and the extra button was still attached to one of the inside tags!)

Close-up of pattern (yay, sparkly metallic threads).

And last, but certainly not least, Mantracker’s autograph (courtesy of my sister, who lined up to get it!) – still need to get caught up on episodes on the DVR for this show as well…

How has everyone been the last few days? Hope you’ve all been well!

And from the men’s department…

Michelle — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 02:42:56 +0000

Lah de dah… Today’s been kind of a wash. I spent today: eating (…), studying (biology), listening to people sing (a.k.a. the choir) and more studying (biology).

My sister (J) is in a choir and they had a performance today at a local mall, so my other sister and I went and took loads of photos and videos of her and her choir for my mom. Which was fun, D ran through an entire formerly fully charged battery for her camera (she has a Nikon Coolpix) and I went through about a quarter of my battery (Sony Cybershot). Suddenly, she’s not so impressed with her camera and its battery life. We went out for lunch and ended up eating at the food court in the mall because the IHOP was full of people (granted, we got there at around 11:30am – hello, lunchtime!) and we all got different things – J got 5 pieces of chicken nuggets from KFC ($4.19), I got a Torpedo from Quizno’s ($4.20) and D got a burrito from Taco Time ($4.29). We all agreed that J’s meal was a rip off (she wasn’t feeling that hungry and just ordered any old thing) and that D’s burrito was definitely a little lackluster as it was incredibly flat and lacking in the cheese department. Me, I had no complaints about mine (mmm, beef, bacon and cheddar? Don’t mind if I do!).

After the performance, we went shopping and I got this hoodie which ended up being the subject to a funny conversation. See, because I’m (relatively…) short, I tend to buy clothes in the youth section rather than the adult section. Which is fine by me, as clothes for kids tend to be less expensive than an equivalent in the women’s department. So this is the hoodie that I got (ignore the clutter that you see, and the fact that my sheets are wrinkled beyond belief – no one, besides the internets, sees them, so I have no need to make them all nice and neat to impress anyone, hah)…

Original tag price: $32
Sale price: $18.88 + additional 40% off ($11.33)

It’s also from the men’s department, adult size small and it’s super comfy. It’s also a bit long in the torso and in the sleeves, but since it’s a hoodie, I figured it didn’t really matter too much. Did I mention that it’s super comfy? My sister brought up the fact that I normally buy clothes in the youth/kids section, and hardly ever the women’s section unless I find something that I really like that is also on sale, and now I’m getting hoodies from the men’s section of the store. I replied with “Well maybe if they had some decent hoodies in the women’s section that I could actually see myself wearing…”.

Needless to say, my sisters were impressed that I didn’t go for a hoodie with My Little Pony (first of all, I don’t even like the new MLP, vintage illustrations and toys were so much better, and secondly, the hoodie went up to the largest toddler size – I’m not that disillusioned about what size I wear, thanks). Which reminds me, I still haven’t taken photos of the clothes I got in November. But I’m done buying clothes for now, as after I finish cleaning out old clothes from my wardrobe, I’m pretty sure I’m good until summer rolls around.

Also, I took this photo today of one of my dolls in a knitted coat that I made last week (the pattern is a vintage Barbie coat that someone posted on the internet). Just wanted to share, because I adore her so much (she was my first Blythe and definitely one of the reasons why I got two more!):

Five little words

Michelle — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:59:26 +0000

Caity was given 5 words as topics to blog about and issued the challenge to her readers. I asked for some words and these are the words that I received: music, Blythe, education, relationships and nursing. Thanks Caity!

Music
I used to be heavily involved in music, I was in choir and band for school for several years. Some of the only best memories I have from middle school (and there are not a lot of those) came from the music program that my school had. Nowadays, I don’t play the clarinet very often, and I don’t sing very often anymore, unless it’s along to the radio, but music is still something that makes up a large part of my day. It’s what I listen to on my commute to and from work or school, it’s what I escape into when I don’t want to have to handle what ‘real life’ has to offer.

Blythe
You mean you’re not all tired of hearing me go on about my dolls yet?! Awesome! Anyways, I was never big into dolls. Toys, yes, but not dolls. I have a lot of stuffed animals, small vinyl figurines, a Lego dog that I will never, ever take apart, but I was never really into dolls. I had, at the most, 3 Barbies and 1 Skipper growing up. So I’m not quite sure why I was so drawn to Blythe. I think it’s because the doll was such an underdog, given that she was produced for a year and then disappeared because kids thought that she was scary. I never saw that. It could be my exposure to anime, but I just found her so charming… I absolutely fell in love with Blythe the first time that I saw them in person. Just those big eyes and diminutive body and their childlike charm. I think in a way, Blythe is another form of escape. Things just seem a lot better when you’re holding onto this doll that stares up at you with the biggest eyes in the world. Plus they’re just so damn adorable and it’s fun making things for them to wear. My dad worries that Blythe is going to be a phase for me, since they’re so expensive, but I don’t think that they will be. I’m just so attached to them right now, I don’t think I’d give them up.

Education
There will be days when I wonder out loud to myself, or to others, about why I’m even going to school. Usually after a midterm or a final or after getting a paper back. But what I’ve learned since starting university, not including the actual academic portion of it, is what I put in is what I get back. I learned a lot about myself and about school in a way that I never did in high school. I will honestly admit that I coasted through high school. I only studied for tests, I only did homework when I had to. I only read ahead if it was for English class and that was about it. I learned a lot since going to university. Studying even without the pressure of an upcoming test, moderating myself in terms of time spent doing “other crap” and “school crap”. Learning the value of education and being about to talk about things in terms of cost to my education. Like my laptop? It cost the same as half a term! My human anatomy and physiology textbook (that will go with me to my grave?)? That is one whole Blythe doll. That being said, I can also convert things to ‘Blythe currency’ as well.

Relationships
I’m sure you’ve all read about my friends mentioned only by first initials (i.e. K, K, C, J, J, S, R … etc). Most of my friends that I keep in regular contact with are from high school. I have made some friends in university, but those are my ‘course’ friends. You know, the ones you keep for the duration of the term, you add them onto Facebook and occasionally stop in on their profile to see how so-and-so is doing? But my high school friends (Kelsey, Katie, Charlene, Josephina, Jenna, Serena, Ryan… among others!) are wonderful people. I love them all dearly. Granted, some of them drive me insane (and you all know who you are…) but I’m sure you mean well, and not to drive me to an early asylum cell.

And you’ve all read about Clay… Mostly because he’s the only person (besides myself) that I refer to on a regular basis, without the use of an initial. Essentially, my relationship with Clay is basically my first ‘serious’ relationship in all ways possible. It bothers me whenever we have a fight and I have this warm fuzzy feeling inside whenever we’re happy together. He listens to me when I talk about my dolls (and calls me doll crazy, but affectionately) and always makes an effort to find video games that he thinks I will like when I’m over at his house and I find myself with a controller in my hand. I’m rather crazy about him and I love him a lot. Good thing too, considering I’m dating him and all. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone in my life that’s quite affected me as much as he has.

Nursing
I’ve wanted to have a career in health for years. Before nursing it was mostly to be a pediatric oncologist, but after realizing how many years and years and years of schooling it took to specialize like that, I decided on nursing. I’ve learned to appreciate support staff, like nurses and resident care aids a lot more after I started volunteering last September. Just the amount of things that they needed to do, the patience that they needed to have, the knowledge that they had… I knew after I started volunteering that nursing was definitely something that I want to do with my life. I think the ability to be able to care for people and care about them and have patience with them is something that I am more than capable of doing. Plus, some of the staff and residents that work/live where I volunteer, who know that I want to be a nurse, think that I would be a good one. Because I’m patient with the residents and I pay attention to details, I know when to be firm and when I can let the residents do whatever they’d like.

Whoa, that’s a lot of writing. Anyways, thanks so much to Caity for her choice of my 5 words. If you’d like 5 words to blog about, please let me know in your comment and I’ll give you 5 words to blog about!

Grump-be-gone?

Michelle — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:53:39 +0000

I’ve been given a new nickname at work. It goes with a whole looooooong list of random nicknames that I’ve “earned” since working there. Such nicknames do include: T-bird, Phoenix, Cheer Bear (from Care Bears), Grumpy Bear (from Care Bears), Blue, “That Girl” (which I’ve never answered to), Bumblebee/Bee (which is frequently followed by “buzz!”) and my newest “addition” is… Grumpy Pants. Seriously. I liked Grumpy Bear a whole lot more. At least then it’d be a nickname after a cute little animated bear. Why “Grumpy Pants”?

So what’s up, Grumpy Pants? You look bitchy again today. You’re not going to hit me again, are you?

I heart work people. Most days.

I got oodles of work done today, I was so pleased with myself, haha. I wrote so many damn emails to coworkers and people at the other building. I also made a series of phone calls to people as they were not understanding my questions via email (the phone didn’t help too much either). My computer crashed seven times today while I was trying to either load one program (4 of the 7 times), when I was trying to send text-only emails (2 of the 7 times) and when I tried to open the database (1 out of the 7 times). It’s an old computer. It also hates me. What can I say… I make an impression on technology and it just bites back.

Besides that, nothing much has been new lately. I’ve been working on my game, watching tv (General Hospital, The Bachelorette – my not-so guilty pleasure!), working on the dolly blog (name’s a secret, just for now!) and working away at my writing/craft blog revamp! Plus loads of crafting lately (crochet, jewellery) but I haven’t gotten around to photographing anything yet… I’m a lazy girl sometimes.

Oh, and I’m not-so silently upset over the idea of taking a math course that’s four hours after the rest of everything else in my schedule.

I’m not going to have a life next year.

Cheers?

I’m not a sponge!

Michelle — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 05:02:22 +0000

Today was my last biology lab class. I was placed into a group where I drank 800ml of water (800ml = 0.8L = 1.057 quarts). It could have been worse. I could have drank 800ml of electrolyte and sugar filled water (neon orange Gatorade ftl). It wasn’t a bad lab though, it was actually kind of fun (well, besides the whole ‘Hey, 3 more minutes!’ from J all the time). No latex gloves, but we were all very good and no one spilled or anything. And… I found out that I don’t have diabetes, I don’t have bleeding from my kidneys, I don’t have any major easy-to-diagnose-with-Labstix-strips diseases! Yeah! But the hardest part was drinking 800ml. Because we had to drink it at exactly 9:30am. Have you ever tried drinking nearly a litre of water in a short period of time? I downed the entire first cup (400ml) but I had issues with the second one. We weren’t allowed to drink any form of liquids this morning, so I was thirsty, but really, 800ml and my TA was telling us that we should drink it within 5 minutes. Really? 800ml in 5 minutes? I’m not a sponge!

It was really sad though, since it was the last biology lab. I mean, yes, I still have the paper to write (7 pages with a title page, abstract, graphs and tables and on and on and on), but that’s due after my English paper (erm… the day after) so I’ll work on it after my paper’s done (35% > 4%, correct? I thought so too!).

I was talking with M outside of the biology lecture hall today, he’s wanting to go into nursing as well and he’s applied at one school (we laughed a little at his use of of the ‘all eggs into one basket’ saying). And then we were talking about the school and the program and whatnot. He’s concerned that there won’t be enough experience gained from the practicum and that he won’t get in and to that I just went “…. You’re a guy. You’re practically guaranteed a golden ticket in, M. Don’t worry so much.” Sadly, it’s true. What with them wanting to show that the program’s equal towards both genders to make it seem more diverse (they get more funding that way – everything’s politics in one way or another), he’s more likely to get into the program than I am. Which is sadly accurate. But then again, I won’t be applying to only one school. Sure, I have my dream schools (Dalhousie University being basically my ‘ultimate dream school’), but I’m going to be realistic about it as well and apply to more than one school. But it would be nice to go there… After all, if you’re going to go to school to go for a specific program, why not attempt to shoot for the stars? … Besides the fact that I wouldn’t be a local student and it’d be really expensive and they reserve very little seats for people outside of the Maritimes and, right, it’s in Nova Scotia. They get a lot of snow other there. I complain enough about the snow here as it is – imagine how my blog would be come autumn/winter/spring. It’d be like “… It’s May and it’s still snowing!” (that was a hyperbole, I don’t know if they get snow in May or not).

So now I’m going to go over my notes for my English paper again (I’m doing a very rough outline so I can get my prof to look it over for me – I’m not about to do a paper that’s worth 35% without having his input, I’m not that suicidal… I think.). Maybe reread the poems for tomorrow’s class, maybe even look over my psychology notes (wow, that’s a novel concept!).

If anyone wants to talk about Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus with me, feel free to send me a message via Twitter and I’ll totally welcome any ideas that you have about Marlowe’s use of borrowing from any scripture, mythology or his contemporaries (Shakespeare in particular). Cheers!

Questions:

What’s the earliest that you have to get up during the week?
Do you have a dream school that you’d want to attend if you could (and if money wasn’t an issue)?
What’s your dream career (realistic and unrealistic)?
If you’ve had the flu recently, how long did it take you to get over the damn cough?

My answers:

6am on Tuesdays, but now that I no longer have my morning lab, the earliest will be 8am.
Dalhousie University, for their nursing program.
Realistic (I hope!): to be a RN, specializing in pediatrics or geriatrics. Unrealistic would be a novelist, or making a living off selling jewelry.
I haven’t a clue because I’m still coughing (but I’m drinking tea again! I was off caffeine when I was really not feeling well, now I’m drinking tea again, so I’m getting there.).

“He who is not flogged is not educated”

Michelle — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:54:59 +0000

That great quote (look up…) comes from 4th century BCE Greece from a charming person named Menander. And that’s my opening line for my term paper.

Oh, I wish I could take the day off as a breather, but my English paper will not (unfortunately…) write itself. So, therefore, the show must go on. Or my keyboard must further endure my abuse of it. My English paper has one of the best topics that I’ve ever come up with (on my own…) and it’s going to be linked to Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations and be a paper on the benefits of child abuse in the 19th century. I don’t condone abuse, but I will still be writing a satirical paper (8-10 pages) on why it was beneficial to abuse children back then. For an example? The Book of Proverbs said that “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him early”. And given that many people were religious at the time, it’s what they all believed. Abuse your kid, make sure they get sent to Heaven. See, it’s was a fair trade in many people’s eyes.

That being said, I’m so glad I don’t live in 19th century Britain.

I went to bed at like… 3:30am. Ugh, never again. I know I say that every single time, but at least it won’t be happening tonight since tomorrow’s Monday (yay… school…). I stayed up to finish notes on an article I found online for my paper and talking to Clay. I know, he pisses me off but I still talk to him. Then again, he reads my other blog and was really worried and wanted to know what was going on. Ugh. Men. But… I don’t know. The conversation went okay, I guess.

But to end off on a good note, click here and listen to this song that I’ve been listening to lately (Taylor Swift’s Fearless).

Grey’s and Twilight Fusion

Michelle — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:39:20 +0000

I just about cried today while watching Grey’s Anatomy. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (yes, Denny) was guest-starring and it was just such a heartfelt moment where Izzie’s trying to help a patient and she just keeps seeing him everywhere. I loved JDM when he was first on the show and then each time he comes back (for small guest-starring roles, of course), it’s just so great to see him interacting with the characters again (usually with Izzie, but dead-Denny has interacted with Meredith as well). So right after I finished watching the episode (hello watching Grey’s three hours before everyone else living in the Pacific time zone, courtesy of the Michigan time zone) I watched the last few episodes of season 2. Just the last two episodes with Denny. And watching it all happen again. Just never get tired of it.

And for those who have not yet heard the Twilight OST. Get it. Somehow. Right now. Go, go, go. The track with Robert Pattinson? Disappointment. Huge disappointment. The exclusive Paramore tracks were decent (I Caught Myself is better than Decode) and Bella’s Lullaby has percussion instruments? However, favourite tracks include Linkin Park’s Leave Out All The Rest and Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Iron & Wine – track numbers 4 and 11, respectively.

Podcast love and NaNo

Michelle — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:33:41 +0000

Not sure how much you care – but there’s a new Snow Patrol album coming soon. And I’m sure if you all search hard enough, you can find a leaked copy somewhere. A review will follow once I get my grubby little paws on a copy – it’s due to come out on October 28th, if memory serves correctly. It’s called A Hundred Million Suns and has 11 tracks in total. Oh, also in the world of audio love, I’ve been using (and abusing) iTunes to get the podcasts that I want lately. I don’t want to know how many hours of podcasts I now have on my mp3 player.

Oh, and there is exactly eight more full days until November 1st. That means eight more full days until the commencement of National Novel Writing Month! Go sign up! Right now! Go, go, go! My username (should you choose to add me as a writing buddy) is littlevampiregirl. I was trying to convince Clay to go join in the noveling goodness last night, but he politely declined.

Questions:
1. Are you going to participate in NaNoWriMo this year?
2. If one of your loved ones was silly insane enough to do NaNo, how would you support them?

Mixed cds – recommended some songs

Michelle — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:54:54 +0000

I’ve been putting together a playlist/mixed cd/whatever to make my friends dance to at my birthday party coming up in early November (and hey, if you’re invited and reading this – guess what, you’re all dancing). And I really don’t have very much for it since I don’t have very many songs that are easy to dance to. The first song is Metro Station’s Shake It. Go figure.

Give me music suggestions! Please and thank you.

If all is lost…

Michelle — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 02:44:33 +0000

I’ve been listening to this excellent song on repeat today. It’s called “Fall Apart” by Deepfield and the best part (which happens to be repeated like a million times throughout the song – or it may just seem like that because I’ve been listening to it on repeat) is:

And we could go back to the way it was and sacrifice the way it could be;
We could fall apart or we could fall in love again.

Anyways… I handed in my paper today (yay). We started the next unit in my Literature class. We’re now in the 19th century (the course is split into three units: 18th, 19th and 20th century – how original, right?). So the “Victorian” era and we learned a lot about society and how people lived in that time period. It was also the period when England first had a police force of any kind, when postage stamps were invented (I was the only one that could name the first postage stamp ever: The Black Penny), and when they passed laws or whatnot about working conditions and child labour. So that’s pretty good. We’re going to be reading Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, which I love, as well as poetry by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Very exciting.

First round of midterms is done! My psych midterm was fairly straightforward. 45 multiple choice problems (1 mark each), 15 short-written problems (1 mark each). There was a series of weird questions relating to Japanese university students. And while I know I don’t pay as much attention in the lectures as I should, I do know that the professor never went on some random tangent about Japanese university students, it wasn’t mentioned in the textbook and nor was it mentioned in a video that we watched in class. So… I don’t know. My bio midterm was also fairly straightforward. It wasn’t super easy, but it wasn’t super difficult either. I think it would have been better if there had been more time, but I did get it done before the 50 minutes was up and I didn’t leave early (gasp).

So don’t turn your back on this.
If all is lost, then how did we find love?
And we could go back to the way it was and sacrifice the way it could be
We could fall apart

Question: Have you been listening to a song on repeat lately? What song is it? What’s your favourite part of it?