In my head I keep thinking that I'm "moving out on my own" this year even though I pretty much have been living "on my own" for the past four years. I guess I mean that I'm going to be fully independent, cutting the last apron string that ties me to my parents.
The one thing I'm looking forward to most is getting my own place. Setting up house. Just thinking about me gets me excited. I can't wait to go to Ikea or Wal-Mart and get dishes and plates that match! Woo-hoo! Or buying a full set of quality pots and pans that won't burn...easily. Or getting a wok and steamers, and really cool spatulas. There's also blenders, bread-makers, and etc...Ok, now I just sound...nerdy and materialistic.
I've been planning out an imaginary apartment in my head. Today I designed an arts studio in my head also known as the other half of the living room or maybe even the full thing assuming I get a one BR apartment. I'd like a really modern one with a really wide table with a glass top with my laptop and Wacom tablet (I pronounce it "Whack 'em"). One that gives lots of elbow room for large sprawling sketches.
That said I probably wouldn't invest in all that much with the potential of a STINT still looming in the future or be able to buy all that stuff at once, but man is it ever fun to dream.
But burn proof pots and pans....those are a must.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Reversal
May 2006:
I had just finished my third year of university, and was still a student. It was my first time out in the wild wild west of Canada in the beautiful city of Calgary. The second week of national project was almost done. I had just been hired by Home Depot to be a paint mixer for $10 an hour.
Beth had just graduated from the University of Guelph with a BA Honours. She was no longer a student, but a newly commissioned staff member with Campus Crusade for Christ. MET had just finished, and she was just stopping over in Calgary for a few short hours with other fellow new staffers from Guelph and other places.
We met up at Calgary's airport while they were on their layover and caught up on who was placed where.
May 2007:
This time Beth is in Calgary, also as a Rocky Mountain project participant, but with the slight difference that she is staff. She'll be the one driving in to the airport and the one with the nice bed to sleep in for the night.
I'll be the one flying into Calgary for a layover. Freshly done my fourth and last year I'll no longer be a student either. Coming from MET, I'll be a newly commissioned staff member with Campus Crusade for Christ.
But again God-willing we'll meet up at Calgary's airport to pass the time during our layover to catch up on who's placed where.
It's so weird how things change and don't change in a year. It's really cool actually. It just blows my mind the stuff that God can orchestrate, and the sense of humour that He has.
I had just finished my third year of university, and was still a student. It was my first time out in the wild wild west of Canada in the beautiful city of Calgary. The second week of national project was almost done. I had just been hired by Home Depot to be a paint mixer for $10 an hour.
Beth had just graduated from the University of Guelph with a BA Honours. She was no longer a student, but a newly commissioned staff member with Campus Crusade for Christ. MET had just finished, and she was just stopping over in Calgary for a few short hours with other fellow new staffers from Guelph and other places.
We met up at Calgary's airport while they were on their layover and caught up on who was placed where.
May 2007:
This time Beth is in Calgary, also as a Rocky Mountain project participant, but with the slight difference that she is staff. She'll be the one driving in to the airport and the one with the nice bed to sleep in for the night.
I'll be the one flying into Calgary for a layover. Freshly done my fourth and last year I'll no longer be a student either. Coming from MET, I'll be a newly commissioned staff member with Campus Crusade for Christ.
But again God-willing we'll meet up at Calgary's airport to pass the time during our layover to catch up on who's placed where.
It's so weird how things change and don't change in a year. It's really cool actually. It just blows my mind the stuff that God can orchestrate, and the sense of humour that He has.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Deals
I love bargains. It must be the chinese in me. Why pay full price for something when you can get it for a lower price?
Some of my favourite deals:
1) Getting an authentic $90 (excluding tax) Paul Frank watch for $15 BRAND NEW
2) Campus Crew pants for $10 for two years now, but not consecutively
3) Paying $7 for a brand new skirt that was about $30-40
Then today I paid ONE loonie for an orchid. They usually go for about $40+ per plant. There was a clincher on the this one though. The bloom broke off, but it's still alive. The trick now is to make it bloom again.
Some of my favourite deals:
1) Getting an authentic $90 (excluding tax) Paul Frank watch for $15 BRAND NEW
2) Campus Crew pants for $10 for two years now, but not consecutively
3) Paying $7 for a brand new skirt that was about $30-40
Then today I paid ONE loonie for an orchid. They usually go for about $40+ per plant. There was a clincher on the this one though. The bloom broke off, but it's still alive. The trick now is to make it bloom again.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
MPD Resolutions
Resolved to be always joyous throughout this process, maintaining a cheerful, a grateful, and a faithful attitude.
Resolved to always persevere, praying harder, and working harder especially when the going gets tough.
Resolved to live free of the fear of men.
Resolved to live and work diligently.
Resolved to love everyone that I meet.
Resolved to keep my eyes on Jesus.
Resolved to enjoy this season of life...
through God's grace.
I am excited to begin this journey and discover what God has in store. It's such an exciting time of life. W0000000000~
Resolved to always persevere, praying harder, and working harder especially when the going gets tough.
Resolved to live free of the fear of men.
Resolved to live and work diligently.
Resolved to love everyone that I meet.
Resolved to keep my eyes on Jesus.
Resolved to enjoy this season of life...
through God's grace.
I am excited to begin this journey and discover what God has in store. It's such an exciting time of life. W0000000000~
Warning: Failure is Imminent
Last night when I returned home, the title of this blog was a part of a message that alerted me to the fact that my hard drive was about to sputter and die. No kidding! The guy was taking 45 minutes to boot every day in the past week. The humor of it just hit me this morning; the message aptly described my dread as I was desperately cramming for two "quizzes".
Sunday, March 11, 2007
New Addiction: Photo-Imaging
My newest addiction of choice: Picasa 2. It offers a user-friendly photo-imaging system for free. It's nowhere as extensive as Adobe Photoshop, but for something that costs $0 you're definitely getting a lot of BANG for your buck.
Today I spent a few hours "doctoring" the 100 or so pictures that I took at College Royal last night. Pictures that once would have been designated for the recycling bin were salvaged. The lighting was horrible as can be expected from a formal. Framing was really hard since people were dancing, and my little Nikon had only so much power, BUT with Picasa, quite a few of the rejects were turned into my favourites.
For example this picture of Rachel D. and Silas walking down Old Quebec Mall. The lighting was so poor that in the original, which I don't have anymore, you could barely see the outline of Rachel and Silas. I added some light, turned it into a black and white with a bit of focal colour and voila, one of my favourite shots. I really like the contrast between the colours themselves as well. That definitely wasn't planned on my part.
The Black and White focal colour feature is definitely my favourite feature from Picasa. I love the splash of colour amidst a black and white photo. The contrast is gorgeous. You get the best of both worlds. Lydia posted a picture like this on her website, but it was a feature on her camera. I really loved that picture of the green standing out amidst the graytone. I thought I had to save up for a Canon to get it. It is a bit different than Picasa's feature because I think Canon just filters out certain colours; in this case it seems to be the green in Lydia's room. I could be wrong. But Picasa is just as good, and it's free!
I used the B&W with focal colour again in this shot of Tom. For this picture I cropped it a bit so that the eye would move from Tom to the light in the upper left hand corner and back. It also gives an impression that the light is shining on Tom, basking him in living colour. Since it was a really classy yet modern pose, I again did the whole B&W with the focal colour. The pastel blue, pink, and green really made the picture stand out. This was a mediocre picture in the beginning in terms of framing and lighting, but now in terms of composition this has got to be one of my favourites.
Another pauper turned prince picture was this self-shot picture of Sarah, Katie, and me. Again the lighting was horrible, well actually cruel. It had no mercy on our skin. The glare was really bad. The framing was typical of a self-shot; boring, because my arm movements were limited, but hey, I had to capture memories some how... Katie had a killer outfit on. One of my favourites of the entire night. I wanted to focus on that, so with the handy dandy B&W focal color tool I was able to bring out the red accent of Katie's outfit.
Of the 100-ish pictures there was only one photo that I didn't "doctor". It was a winner the first time around. A rarity at College Royal. Presenting Alex Wong.
For one thing, Alex was willing to hold that pose while my camera was charging so there was no blurr. I used flash, which usually kills a picture, but it was surprisingly nice to Alex. I think the boy just has good skin.
Of course after all that shameless promotion for photo re-imaging, there needs to be a little caveat. I don't think photo-imaging is a replacement for good photography skills. I blame it all on the lighting of course. ;)
And if you were wondering if I doctored my profile picture. The answer is a resounding yes! My skin is not naturally that nice.
Today I spent a few hours "doctoring" the 100 or so pictures that I took at College Royal last night. Pictures that once would have been designated for the recycling bin were salvaged. The lighting was horrible as can be expected from a formal. Framing was really hard since people were dancing, and my little Nikon had only so much power, BUT with Picasa, quite a few of the rejects were turned into my favourites.
For example this picture of Rachel D. and Silas walking down Old Quebec Mall. The lighting was so poor that in the original, which I don't have anymore, you could barely see the outline of Rachel and Silas. I added some light, turned it into a black and white with a bit of focal colour and voila, one of my favourite shots. I really like the contrast between the colours themselves as well. That definitely wasn't planned on my part.The Black and White focal colour feature is definitely my favourite feature from Picasa. I love the splash of colour amidst a black and white photo. The contrast is gorgeous. You get the best of both worlds. Lydia posted a picture like this on her website, but it was a feature on her camera. I really loved that picture of the green standing out amidst the graytone. I thought I had to save up for a Canon to get it. It is a bit different than Picasa's feature because I think Canon just filters out certain colours; in this case it seems to be the green in Lydia's room. I could be wrong. But Picasa is just as good, and it's free!
I used the B&W with focal colour again in this shot of Tom. For this picture I cropped it a bit so that the eye would move from Tom to the light in the upper left hand corner and back. It also gives an impression that the light is shining on Tom, basking him in living colour. Since it was a really classy yet modern pose, I again did the whole B&W with the focal colour. The pastel blue, pink, and green really made the picture stand out. This was a mediocre picture in the beginning in terms of framing and lighting, but now in terms of composition this has got to be one of my favourites.
Another pauper turned prince picture was this self-shot picture of Sarah, Katie, and me. Again the lighting was horrible, well actually cruel. It had no mercy on our skin. The glare was really bad. The framing was typical of a self-shot; boring, because my arm movements were limited, but hey, I had to capture memories some how... Katie had a killer outfit on. One of my favourites of the entire night. I wanted to focus on that, so with the handy dandy B&W focal color tool I was able to bring out the red accent of Katie's outfit.Of the 100-ish pictures there was only one photo that I didn't "doctor". It was a winner the first time around. A rarity at College Royal. Presenting Alex Wong.
For one thing, Alex was willing to hold that pose while my camera was charging so there was no blurr. I used flash, which usually kills a picture, but it was surprisingly nice to Alex. I think the boy just has good skin.Of course after all that shameless promotion for photo re-imaging, there needs to be a little caveat. I don't think photo-imaging is a replacement for good photography skills. I blame it all on the lighting of course. ;)
And if you were wondering if I doctored my profile picture. The answer is a resounding yes! My skin is not naturally that nice.
One of the Best Things in the World...
One of the best things in the world has got to be the relief felt upon finishing a paper. There's nothing like the joy in your heart as the last page eases out of the printer, the bounce in your step as you go to hand it in, the weight off of your shoulders. Definitely one of the best feelings in the world, but of course you have to go through at least a week of agonizing stress to reach that point.
Friday was the day that I finished my very last paper of my undergrad. Hip hip hurray, and an extra huzzah! The sun was streaming down on me, as I thoroughly savoured that moment. It seemed like everything in the world was ok.
Friday was the day that I finished my very last paper of my undergrad. Hip hip hurray, and an extra huzzah! The sun was streaming down on me, as I thoroughly savoured that moment. It seemed like everything in the world was ok.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Just When You Think You Know a Person...
...you find out that you don't.
Silas tagged me for "5 Things People Don't Know About Me" chain. the deal is that you list five things people don't usually know about you and tag 3 other people to continue the chain. Well hopefully my list of five things will boggle your mind. That's my underlying agenda.
1. Throughout all of high school, most of my preparation for post-secondary education was for art school. I was planning on going into animation or design. Business was my second choice, but I chickened out at the last minute because a college education was not as "prestigious" as a university education in my head. No pressure from mom. And I was scared of being a starving artist on the street because I had confidence issues. Sometimes I question this decision, but I have no doubt that God brought me to the University of Guelph for a reason. Now I don't think I would really care if I had a prestigious education or not--probably due to the fact that I'll get my pricey piece of paper in three months, so I think I would go to art school. Perhaps art still will be in my future someday.
2. In high school I tried out for the Miss Chinese Toronto beauty pageant, and when I was rejected, I was REALLY REALLY upset. In fact I threw a hissy fit. Literally. Sometimes it still hits a sore spot.
3. Sweet "girly" girls usually irritate me before I get to know them well because they remind me of what I am not, sweet and "girly". I know there are issues here. But who doesn't have them?
4. I have a barely visible, but still visible nonetheless scar on my right cheek [of the face not of the rear] from a dog bite that I got when I was in grade 3.
5. My worst fear is that someday I'll walk away from my faith not because I don't think it's true anymore but because of exogenous reasons such as temptation, hardship, torture, etc...
I tag Low on the Go, The Fish, and Kijirs
Silas tagged me for "5 Things People Don't Know About Me" chain. the deal is that you list five things people don't usually know about you and tag 3 other people to continue the chain. Well hopefully my list of five things will boggle your mind. That's my underlying agenda.
1. Throughout all of high school, most of my preparation for post-secondary education was for art school. I was planning on going into animation or design. Business was my second choice, but I chickened out at the last minute because a college education was not as "prestigious" as a university education in my head. No pressure from mom. And I was scared of being a starving artist on the street because I had confidence issues. Sometimes I question this decision, but I have no doubt that God brought me to the University of Guelph for a reason. Now I don't think I would really care if I had a prestigious education or not--probably due to the fact that I'll get my pricey piece of paper in three months, so I think I would go to art school. Perhaps art still will be in my future someday.
2. In high school I tried out for the Miss Chinese Toronto beauty pageant, and when I was rejected, I was REALLY REALLY upset. In fact I threw a hissy fit. Literally. Sometimes it still hits a sore spot.
3. Sweet "girly" girls usually irritate me before I get to know them well because they remind me of what I am not, sweet and "girly". I know there are issues here. But who doesn't have them?
4. I have a barely visible, but still visible nonetheless scar on my right cheek [of the face not of the rear] from a dog bite that I got when I was in grade 3.
5. My worst fear is that someday I'll walk away from my faith not because I don't think it's true anymore but because of exogenous reasons such as temptation, hardship, torture, etc...
I tag Low on the Go, The Fish, and Kijirs
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