I did this editorial-style essay for an anthropology class a few weeks back and just got the mark (“A”! Woot woot). I would love to have published it in the school’s newspaper buuuut its a bit late to do so (maybe next year, it will still be somewhat relevant). I still want to share it though! So here it is, figured this is the best place to post it and then share it on FB too :P

Yes I’m still alive (barely).
Term paper and exam season has been slightly killer (I’ve honestly written about seven 7-10 page essays in the past month or so), so I DO hope you understand why the lack of posts has been the norm around here. Don’t worry though, the challenges have still been going on, I just haven’t written too much (a.k.a. ANYTHING) about them.

I’ll try to get back into the writing as soon as life stalls for a while :P

I promise I’ll be posting longer posts once this semester is over…

Beauty Day

Impermanence, impermanence, impermanence.
I’ve had to think a lot about summer, and I will most likely be staying in Fort Macmurray in Alberta for most of the 4-month break, aka, quite of of reach of most of my friends (it may seem trivial, but I’ll explain tomorrow in my huge rant post about how much this will affect me). I’ve been struggling with accepting that in less than a month almost everything will change. Following the Buddhist idea of accepting impermanence as a necessary aspect of life, I’ve gained some peace within my mind. I’ll explain more tomorrow….

Random Challenge

When I was downtown yesterday I challenged myself to just wander around and find out what I could discover. And it was pretty great! I found a sweet Gelato place that served espresso shots mixed with their gelato…. amazing

Give Thanks Day

I have yet to do this today….. maybe I should get on that

Instead of a random note-dropping scene today. I mentally (and will possibly physically do it at well) composed a note to myself regarding certain things at this moment in time. No, I’m not going to elaborate (hence personal), but its much needed; perhaps next honesty day I’ll talk…MAYBE.

Anyways, yeah. Its good to stop and just think to yourself and figure things out. Possibly my whole thing hasn’t been completely fleshed out, but its a start, yeah?

Music Time

Recently, one of my favorite artists, Passenger/Mike Rosenberg released a new album. And what better way to listen to it than to ONLY listen to it all day? And yes, that’s exactly what I did.

I could rant on for ages about this guy (have I posted about him before), so I’ll keep it short….

His music is thoughtful, unique, and ones that you can listen to for ages because for some reason the songs NEVER get old. They are almost always quite deep, and just sitting and listening to the music just gets to you in the best way possible. I honestly can’t say how much I want to thank this guy for writing the music he writes. It’s always the music to turn to in certain moods/situations, and I find I always take something new out of it at every listen.

Overall, this guy is one my forever favorites, hands down.

Featured Song - Things That Stop You Dreaming

So here’s the short version of some very long days.

Honesty

Same old use of the truth here. I’ll admit I did skirt around some conversation topics, and I really only realized I did that afterwards

Conversation

In Improv, I actually kept up a good dialogue for a few scenes there, which is a first for me, so I’m giving that the conversation of the day.

Try Something New

A notable newness is the fact I tried something new in the dining hall, white fish with Alfredo sauce, veggies, and rice. It wasn’t half bad.

So yeah, here’s the past few days’ events.

Random Challenge

To GET WORK DONE
Not my best one, I know, but I needed to focus.
Busy, busy, busy. Term papers due in two/three weeks, and I’m horrible at starting papers because I can’t organize my ideas well. But I focused hard, and got a decent start and as of now I have 3 out of 6-7 pages done for one paper! Not to shabby, no?

Send Thanks

This was a mental process of sending thanks yesterday, but it was needed. I sent it to my school, as cheesy as it sounds.
For those who don’t know, our school did a whole LipDub music video that involved almost 400-500 people. I actually got a lead part in it so I was there for 3 loooooong rehearsals. I got to meet a ton of people, and overall the whole process just bonded EVERYONE who took part. It was a great feeling.

And I realized that I really do love this school I picked. I’ve had quite a bit of anxiety over if I picked the right school, and anytime I heard news about how “great” another school was, I would get this huge knot in my stomach worrying that I made the wrong choice. But this past while I’ve not had any of that, because I’ve become so happy with where I am.

Its a smaller school, not a HUGE university where you feel like just a number. The residence is small, and because of that I know almost everyone. The school itself, I’ve found ways to really enjoy what it is, and I realize this is where I’m supposed to be.

Without this, I wouldn’t have met people who would become incredibly important to me. I wouldn’t have found out exactly who I am.

You may all be hating on me for these lack of posts. But I ASSURE YOU, I have good reasons. It’s been busy. And it will KEEP being busy for the next little while.

Drop A Note

I wrote a nice note for the people where I work and posted it on the computer with a post-it. Simple and fun :)

Awesomeness

I realized I kind of DO have a ton of time to work on my final papers and such, which relieved some stress. It was a pretty great feeling, indeed. However, I’m still going to try to finish them as quick as possible now so that I can be less stressed later on.

Conversation day

I had a really cool conversation with a few people in my Anthropology class that I normally don’t talk to. A great little moment there for sure

Try Something New

Improv day! I really went outside the box this day during Improv club practice. Annnnd I kind of bombed but honestly, I didn’t mind it, surprisingly. So I guess not only did I try new things by putting myself out there, I also didn’t feel really embarrassed. Great stuff!

New Music

I have a good friend who’s really into the whole My Little Pony thing. Yes, he is a Brony, I don’t judge (that show’s not half bad). ANYWAYS. He showed me a ton of fan-made music that was actually really really good. Honestly, some really cool tunes that you might not even know their true source if you didn’t know. I was pleasantly surprised

Alright. Its been a busy time for me, and soon to be busier, so unfortunately posting has been on the back burner. The challenges themselves, however, are still going on! I’m still going to keep that up no matter what, but do bear with me if I can’t take the time some days to post a big long message. Here’s a quick recap of the past two days.

Send Thanks Day

I sent it to yet another new friend I’ve made in University. She loved it, and said she WILL be sending me something in reply, a long one at that, which I’m very much excited for. Its getting easier and easier to send these things to people physically close to me (you all remember the first one), which I’m very happy about.

Honesty Day

Considering yesterday was a peak time for the whole Kony2012 thing going on on Facebook and Tumblr, my honest opinion definitely got its chance to shine. I made my opinion clear (that I don’t really support that movement for various reasons), and surprisingly I got more positive feedback than negative feedback. I realized there were so many people who supported my view as well, and originally I thought I was one of the only ones.

That topic was what my confession was going to be about, but I didn’t have that much time to type it all in the amount of detail I wanted to do it, so I might post it later if I feel like it and have time

My random challenge today was was to go out and make my own dinner. And I did it!
I went to the grocery store, stocked up, and then went down to the place on campus that provides use of a kitchen and SHAZAM I made a great chicken parmigiana.

It was kind of scary to start. Like I was terrified that I was going to mess up somehow. But nope, I didn’t. I made it, it was a damn good juicy chicken, and I got a very nice sense of satisfaction that I made it all myself.

Though I realize….cooking takes time. Therefore I may only do it once in a while for now, and make things that take time to cook so I can study in between.

But there you go folks, I made my first real meal and I’m still alive (always a good sign).

Yesterday, me and four of my friends went out to have “Vancouver’s best cheesecake” and yes… it was.

But it wasn’t just the cheesecake that was great, so was the rest of it. Hanging out with those certain people just felt so…..chill. We ended up just walking around Vancouver for a while afterwards too and it was really fun. I would be lying if I said I didn’t get some warm and fuzzy feelings after all of that.

Twas a good day :)

A repeat idea, yeah, but still fun. More post-its being put in places. Still entertaining! I keep forgetting to take pictures of when I do this but… next time?

Two things happened. Yesterday (try something new day) I found out “Fun.” a favorite band of mine had a new-ish album out and so I listened to that all day, and TODAY I went to a meeting with my school’s Improv club. So I really just mixed them up… anyways, here’s a small breakdown of each (I’ve been busy lately, so typing two full posts is a BIT much)

Music.

Fun. New album. GREAT. Pretty much that’s all I want to say. I already knew it would be good and I would like it, but it was a “new” thing of music and so it fits with my system yes? They (he?) have really cool, unique music, and compose songs in a way that you don’t expect, totally throwing you off the first time you hear most of the songs. But once you listen more and enjoy more, it gets pretty great.

New Things!

I went to a meeting of the “Improv Club” today. It was actaully my second time, but this was the first time I actually took part in everything instead of being just part of the audience. And man…. it was so much fun. Normally I would say I’m pretty shy when it comes to Acting (crazy, considering I’ll improv a dance anyday), but I just thought “what the hell” and went for it, with great results!

Yesterday I was at the dining hall, and it was obvious that one of the workers there was not in a great mood (very obvious to tell). And so I decided that I would do my best to help possibly make her day better. When ordering my food I smiled lots, was genuinely thankful when I said “Thank you” and overall just trying to spread some cheerfulness to her.

And would you believe it, I think it worked.

Afterwards, she smiled and seemed happier, at least in my opinion. And I’m going to take the credit for that in saying that I helped, because I honestly think I did. And I’m very happy about that! :)