Beaches. *sigh*

Sam and I had a long conversation about beaches today, and since most of you, like me, are in the middle of winter, here are some pictures of beaches I've collected through the last few years:

Iles-de-Madeline, Summer 2008

Iles-de-Madeline, 2008

Peggy's Cove, Spring 2009

Lake near my house, Spring 2009

Grand Manan, Summer 2009

Grand Manan, 2009

Grand Manan, 2009

Florida, Winter 2009

Florida, 2009

Saint Martins, Summer 2010

Lamu Island, Summer 2010

Lamu, 2010

Lamu, 2010  

Oh, and another note:

Thanks to my new followers. I appreciate you guys. I started this blog basically to practice writing and let some of my friends overseas know what I was up to. It's weird actually knowing that people read my ramblings, in all honestly, something that I never originally intended. But I think it's pretty cool.

<3

And I don't write 'less than three' to just anyone.

The best cake I've ever made.

 The end is near... one exam left. I'm going slightly crazy with the possibilities of what I can do with my homework free time.

This afternoon included walking around uptown with Katie squared (the two Katies) and James. There's very little to do uptown in the winter, other than sit in the various food courts. We even got kicked out of one because we sat there so long. I felt badass.

Since my awkward moments seem to be amusing, I'll share one that happened today. James attempted to hold my hand, thinking I was Katie. I wouldn't even have noticed (I was eating) if he hadn't said,"Oh, you aren't Katie." It isn't awkward until it happens to you.

I get to go to a restaurant with youth group tonight and apparently it's 'semi-formal.' So I'm suppose to kind of dress up. Dressing up has never been my forte, mostly because of my bad experiences with the Sunday dress code at my Christian boarding school. From about 7th grade to this year, I've lived in jeans. Through various thrift shops, lately, I've gotten a few skirts. Maybe tonight is the night to wear one, but the temperature of -10 degrees is pretty discouraging.

Well, I'd better go work on that outfit.

Song of the day: Family Force 5- Never Let Me Go
City buses taken: 11
Love,
-J-

I've decided that I'm a very inspirational person. I mean, sitting here, procrastinating from studying while drinking coffee out of a "Failure is not an option" mug? I may as well listen to "I believe I can fly" and it would complete this picture of my incredible inspirationalness. On a side note, in all honesty, I hope that someday I say something so wonderful that people print it on coffee mugs.

I was playing with my camera yesterday, and after two years, I finally figured out how to change the color setting. I experimented with sepia:

 

I like how sepia accents the shadows. For the second picture, I plugged in a desk lamp, turned off all the lights in the hallway, and held the lamp so that I could get a nice shadow. I'm so glad my family is used to my slightly eccentric ways.

In awesome news, I convinced my parents to half give me a new camera for my birthday. I'll pay for the other half, but I'm perfectly fine with that. Right now mine is an extremely basic point and shoot, and I want something more versatile. I decided on a Cannon Rebel, which is fairly pricey, but I've been saving my money for a while. 

Video of the day: Are You Popular? and Communism
I came across this series of instructional films from the 40's and 50's. I find it funny that these were legitimately meant to teach people things.

The Are You Popular? one is just extremely corny, the Communism one is pretty biased and includes lots of slightly comical speed up footage of Russia, or, as said in the film, "the threat to life as we know it today."
Love,
-J-

My toes testify how cruel you are, winter.

Today, the temperature outside was a nice, crisp -20 degrees C, -36 if you count windchill. Getting out of bed was difficult. Getting to the bus stop was difficult. So difficult that I didn't make it. Mom had to drive me, but it wasn't a big deal because (a) she hadn't worked a night shift, (b) she was already up and (c) the car didn't need cleared off. Days like this make me wish for the tropics. Hence the palm tree.

My social studies exam was in the morning, and it consisted of a few short answer questions on Rome, 104 multiple choice questions, and a reading with four questions to answer. Not hardcore stuff. I managed to get a lot of studying done for my math exam, and more at lunch when Katie had to do redo a Chemistry test and everybody else was missing.

When Katie came back, I found a coloring book and crayons in my backpack and we colored a picture of a superhero. My backpack seems to collect things without me remembering about them. The funny thing is that everybody is so flustered by exams that nobody even did a double take at two girls sitting in a high school hallway, drawing in a coloring book with crayons.

Math exam was in the afternoon, and I hope that I did okay. That's pretty much all I can hope for at this point.
-J-

Video of the day: These four walls
City buses taken: still 9

I have discovered the single most annoying situation, I believe. Being sick while having to study for exams. Ick.

Exams. *headdesk*

I heard someone say a few days ago that exams "have turned their soul into a black pit of oblivion." I must say that I agree. My days have gone pretty much like: wake up, go to school, come home, eat supper, do homework. Everybody else is in this weird, stressed trance as well, making for some odd days. I've accidentally gone off into rants about sci-fi a few times, and James and I have started a sort of contest to out insult each other. There's hope of snow tomorrow, so there goes my review day for some of my classes. I'm completely lost in chemistry, but other than that, I think I'm good.

I can't wait for this to be over. Maybe I can have a life again...

There was the first musical practice yesterday, and I kind of enjoyed it.  Almost everybody else is in choir, so I was kind of awkward, as usual. I wish that being awkward was an achievement. Well, I guess it does hilarity into my life occasionally:
Earlier this year, I walked up to a group of people Katie was with, but that I didn't know very well. I looked out the window and stated,"Hey, look! It's foggy out." Katie then told me that I was looking at the white building across the street. I turned and walked away. Apparently, after I left, a girl in the group asked what I was on. Katie replied,"Nothing." I think that girl still doesn't believe her.
Love,
-J-
Video of the day: Community Channel- A hardcore cure

I am greatly amused by looking at the stats for my blog. For example, it's linked in a movie site, saying that I am an "avid movie enthusiast." What? Then of course, all the other blogs linked there were completely irrelevant, too. Also, the only things in "Search keywords" are "nakkumatt junction sunday hours", "dance at my school", and "venga bus".

My plans for tonight are watching Mamma Mia for the several dozenth time while going over my social studies notes. Plan big, right?
Love,
-J-

Song of the day: Relient K- Savannah
Number of city buses taken this year: 9

The terror of skating and cooking from boxes.

I haven't realized it until today, but I haven't gone out my way to get out the house for quite a while, now. It doesn't even occur to me most of the time.

Today, thankfully, I went skating. My parents go skating almost every weekend, but today, suddenly, I really felt like I needed to get out of the house and do something.

I haven't gone skating since 8th grade, and the first step on the ice was terrifying. After skating around a few times, I got the hang of it again. The only scary thing I encountered from that time on were the children about three and a half feet tall who either (a) are extremely advanced skaters or (b) fall over every time you get within five feet of them, but all are completely oblivious to everyone around them. I nearly got run over by a small kid in a jersey about three times, but he stopped about six inches from knocking me over each time.

Since I came home, I have successfully baked a carrot cake from a box. I feel like I've cheated every time that I cook something from a package. I seriously feel guilt. Also, I've began knitting a scarf, and I'm sucked into the addictive vortex that is knitting.

I should read more of the second "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" book. It's the ideal mixture of strange, sarcasm and sci-fi. Three of the things I value most.
Love,
-J-
PS- I've decided that I'll keep track of how many city buses I've taken this year, just out of curiosity, and a link to a song, one that's stuck in my head, or stands out that particular day. In an attempt to brighten your life. And mine.

Song of the day: Across the Universe Soundtrack- Hey Jude
Number of city buses taken this year: 9

Snow day. The snow gods got my request.

Snow day today... I don't think I've ever been so happy to have a snow day. Not only do I get to write the other half of my 1000 word essay due tomorrow (I'm aiming for 800 words... that's the absolute minimum), but I get to catch up on sleep. I think that somebody in the sky is taking pity on me for procrastinating and trying to write and research an entire essay in three days. Thank you, snow gods.

My predictions from two days ago were correct and things have indeed gotten better. It could just be that I've been incredibly emotionally unstable recently. I'm so used to being a stable person, and even when I wasn't, I could usually put up a front. This has really thrown me for a loop. Now I'm depressed, I'm happy, I'm mellow, I'm pissed off, I'm zoned out, I'm giddy, I'm alert, I'm distracted. I just never seem to be in any one state for too long.

I know it has something to do with Elissa. Christmas break was my first time I've had to stop and actually think about the accident. I felt the pain of it all over again. And I'm getting incredibly overworked for school (I will be so happy when exams are over).

Why does every post turn to me sounding depressed? I'm not, really. Well, as I said before, when I am, it's not for long.

Two hundred more words, and then I don't have to care about the importance of the acropolis to the ancient Athenians. I can do it! 
Love,
-J-

Song currently stuck in my head: Relient K- I Don't Need A Soul
Number of city buses taken this year: 7

*yawn* Night, world.

Today was quite the day.

It began with a bass solo, a very loud bass solo. The song that I set as my alarm definitely seemed like a better idea the night before. I hit the snooze button, and got to have the terrifying, low frequency experience ten minutes later. I got barely any sleep, due to stress from all of my ongoing projects. Even a large cup of coffee couldn't revive me very much. First period consisted of my usually pleasant teacher insisting that he told us not to use encyclopedias or wikipedia for our research essay... that's due on Friday. After an entire class (minus one smart ass) panicked, because most of our research was useless, the teacher said he'd make an exception.

The little effect the coffee had had worn off at that point. I was in a daze for the rest of the day. In third period, my teacher asked me a question when I was zoned out, began by saying my name wrong, and I must have made some strange expression because she talked her way through the rest of it without me even knowing which question it was.

When I got home, I immediately began working on my research essay. I didn't stop until I finished my research, several hours later. Then it was time to begin my chemistry design lab, which only took about half an hour. Two more days until my essay is due.

Well, today was so crappy, I'm kind of convinced that things can only get better from here.
Love,
-J-

Bored. Depressed. Life.

I'm currently stuck in a situation that I haven't been in for a while: I'm bored. Isn't that terrible?

Mostly, it's because I did homework all afternoon, and I'm burnt out. I didn't know half an afternoon of homework could do that. Also, I've been on the computer too much lately. All new blog posts have been read, all TV shows have been caught up on, all new videos have been watched.

Maybe I'm suffering from end-of-vacation depression. The transition from the absence of plans to the over abundance of them. The thought of going back to school would be welcoming, if I wasn't dreading the next two weeks up until exams. I know that the next semester will be really busy, with the musical and IB in general.

Maybe it's the idea that it's Friday night and I have no place to go. I could have gone to youth group, but I feel that lately the leaders aren't there because they want to be, but that they feel obligated to save our souls from the ways of the world. Nothing says "fun" like sitting around with a bunch of unenthusiastic people in their attempts to tell you not to be corrupted by the world. I liked it better when they, you know, befriended us and talked about stuff that was relevant to everyday life.

I should make cookies. Molasses cookies. To numb the stressed dullness that is my life. Damn, this bored depression seems to happen every vacation.
Love,
-J-

Friday, you cruel mistress.

I'm going to the library today to work on some projects. Yeah. My presentation on To Kill A Mockingbird, where I'm suppose to trace Jem's growth and lessons learned through the novel, isn't quite as hard as I originally though, after I got it sorted out. By "sorted out", I mean getting a piece of paper for each age, drawing different sized stickman with an age over it, and scribbling "Events:" on one side and "Lessons:" on the other. Katie and I then each started scanning half of the book to find these events and lessons.

Personally, that book sort of bothers me, because both of the plot lines have a dead end. The books whole purpose seems to be to be controversial. I think the problem is that I was expecting more of it. If I wasn't expecting much of it, I probably would have enjoyed it far more. Grrr. My mind does stupid things.

My walls are now a nice, even shade of green. I figured out that my room isn't a puzzle that only fits together one way, but one of the puzzles that you slide the pieces so there's a gap.

Believe it or not, Christmas break has seemed an eternity long. New Years eve was a week ago. Christmas Eve was two weeks ago. I still have four days, and by the looks of people's facebook statuses, I will be spending it like most other IB kids: doing last minute projects.

Tomorrow I'm going to Fredericton for the day, then hanging out Sam and Katie, and then having some sort of social gathering in Colin's basement with a bunch of people. I'm hesitant to call it a party, because who knows what we could end up doing. Last time it ended up being a dance party, where Sam sat in the fridge for half the time.

I should probably get my stuff ready to go the the library. I should take my camera. Uptown is pretty (but icy) in the winter. I can fit it in with markers, paper, pencil crayons, etc that I find necessary to work on my projects. 
Love,
-J-

Tuesday, right? Keep losing track.

Christmas break is shaping up to be a time where I have a great deal of things to do, but I'm procrastinating as much as usual. Today started with eating leftover Chinese food for breakfast (complete with chop sticks), and I'm thinking of going for a photo walk soon, despite that it's -6 degrees out. It snowed yesterday, so hopefully the snow is still nice and white. It doesn't stay that way for long due to the large amount of pollution floating around my city. Maybe I'll see if some of my friends up for a Star Wars marathon later. It seems like when my friends watch movies, it's either sci-fi or musicals.

I began painting my room yesterday, but the first thing I had to do was move about two thirds of my possessions into a corner of the basement. My room is now very bare, except for my bed, dresser, desk, and bookshelf, but I have a nice corner in the basement filled with everything that makes my room homey. Painting my room is a pain, mostly because of the furniture. It's like one of those puzzles that the pieces only fit together one way, and I'm yet to find that way. I had to put the primer on my walls with my back jammed against a piece of furniture for three and a half of the walls. Hopefully today, when I put the actual paint on the walls, I'll have mastered the awkwardness of painting around the furniture. 

I saw The Voyage of the Dawn Treader yesterday afternoon. It was pretty good, but I haven't read the book so I have no idea how it compares. It was good because neither Disney nor Hollywood got a hold of it. I would definitely recommend it.

I should probably get out of the house today, because other than new years, I haven't seen any friends since last Wednesday, and before then I hadn't seen any friends since the previous Thursday.
Love,
-J-

1/1/11. That's fun to type.

Last night, I welcomed the new year in a seniors hall in Maces Bay (aka the sticks) with cups of sparkling apple cider and my youth group peeps. We then proceeded to welcome the new year further with frozen chinese food and nachos (weird mixture, when you think about).

The New Year's all nighter was probably the most fun I've ever had on New Year's Eve. Sure, I was tired, grumpy, and refused to go sledding in the dark immediately after being told a story about the sliding hill (a) being by what used to be a dump, (b) the bears that used to hang out there, (c) the coyotes and (d) a black panther being spotted there. But overall, it was a fun time. I'm pretty happy that I get to sleep in a bed tonight, as opposed to last night where I slept on the floor. I somehow managed to sleep solid from 3am to 8am, despite the hard floor, the lights on, and Rock Band turned up about ten feet away. I guess a summer in Kenya did me good, as far as being able to sleep in any situation goes.

I have a few New Years resolutions to share:
1) The most boring first: get rid of the holiday weight I've gained. I swear I started stuffing my face on the 25th and haven't stopped yet.
2) Get a better camera and take more pictures.
3) Practice guitar enough that I feel comfortable playing in front of (small groups of) people.
4) Write in my journal every day this year. Ambitious, am I not?
5) Read the Bible, cover to cover, through the year. I think I might be overestimating how much motivation I have.

I have a new writing project underway, but I'm not going to tell you guys about it yet.
Love,
-J-