Teenage Angst

Maybe you've heard this story in the news and maybe you haven't. Some girl in Alaska has apparently hinted in her blog about murdering her mother although I can tell you that I didn't find anything more disturbing than the usual teenage depression rant. It's all very bizarre. However, more than 5000 people have felt the need to post respones to her last entry which is fucked up in and of itself. Enough of this...
Went downtown with Jen today to do some jeans shopping... unsuccessful venture. I think I will just wait until I get home at Christmas because at least in Ontario I can find stores like Jean Machine that have a vast selection of jeans that don't start at a minimum price of $150. Anyways the progress on my essay is NIL and I am pretty much fucked since I still have a full week of classes to attend and write this bloody essay for Friday. URGH. I have been trying to make myself sit still and work but I just cannot do it, yet. I have been reading though and making some notes so I know what has to be done. It's just a matter of how last minute it will be put together. This is not turning out the way I want it too either since I should be editing it well before handing it in. Man oh man, why do I always get myself into these situations.

On Friday I found out that there is a turn of events that I might be able to use to my advantage. As some of you know I was not assigned a TA ship by the head of our department. Why, I cannot tell you since my grades are better than most people who were assigned one. Anyhow ... I got over it. Now, the English Department apparently has vacancies in their TA-ships and they have advertised for students to fill them in our department. I may not be qualified but Christie said that she has taken some university level English so she might be able to qualify and then she could give her TA post over to me. In an ideal world this would work out but will the acting Department Head really pass her TA-ship over to me if she gives it up? I am not so sure. It seems that at every turn, I get screwed by this institution. I just have to hope that they at least give me references for the PhD application when I want it. Time will tell how fucked up the situation truly is.

Caffeine is borrowed energy that you have to pay back

Yes ladies & gents, my witty boyfriend stated the above (see post title), which I guess is somewhat true but just sounded utterly ridiculous at the time. Anyhow, this weekend is a big weekend. I have to write my first essay of the semester. It is not going very well at the moment since I only have 213 words and they were written over 9 hours ago.
Not much has happened lately except for Mel's birthday yesterday. We went to Koerner's for a bit and then out to the Eatery which is a funky Japanese restaurant that also serves other foods (like curry). I ordered the curry since I am not ready to delve into the world of sushi again for a while (still recovering from a very salty experience in Whistler). I thought it was safe to order mild, but even that had my lips tingling in a painful kind of way. On the bright side of things, they had the best caesars I have had in a while.
On another note, a film crew was using our hallway in the Buchanan building at school to film the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose... some movie starring Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson and Campbell Scott. Sounds kind of creepy but hey... what do I know. I wonder if I ever see it if I will recognize our classroom. Probably not.
Anyhow I suppose I should stop procrastinating and get back to essay writing. Check ya later.
~D.~

Happy Birthday Michaela

Hey Mic,

I hope you are having a good birthday even though you have to go to class. Welcome to the world of the 20's... it is the beginning of the end of your life. Just kidding... I hope you have a great day and enjoy your present.
Love,

Denise

Happy Birthday Dad!

Yikes... I forgot to call you Dad... I hope you have had a happy birthday. At least my card and present arrived on time. I am a bad daughter.

Sweetness Follows

Sigh... R.E.M.... what is there to say? Michael Stipe was my first rock star crush. Last night was awesome. I was especially touched by Sweetness Follows.. a song from an album I always listen to when I feel down.
The opening band, Charlie Mars, was really cool. In fact Jen and I went to check them out tonight at the Media Club. They were stellar again! I am slightly tipsy here, having had a few tequila shots. Photos of Sunday Night posted below...

Death

I went with Mel to the movies tonight. She is having a family crisis and I just needed to step away from my computer. We saw 'Finding Neverland' which is quite a touching movie in a very understated way. It has started for me, the private mourning process I go through every year at this time. Every day I step farther away from a day that changed my life completely almost 8 years ago. Anniversaries like this one are just hard to deal with. Why do people get taken away from you just when you start to need them most?
I'll always miss my mom very much but this year I just have a desire to head out to the cemetery and visit. I don't do that very much anymore. I probably haven't been in two years even though I have thought about it. I used to go a lot more often when I was younger and had a car to roam the city freely in. Usually I would end up at Holy Cross but never really stayed for very long. I would get there and just feel totally disconnected from the place and not really know what to say since I feel I can talk with mom anywhere I am. Sometimes it just feels better to have a destination to head for even though it's not particularly what I hope for when I arrive. God, it's ironic that when I was medicated I felt more connected to her in a spiritual kind of way and now that I am not depressed to the point of not functioning, I can barely remember her. What a cruel joke. I need to sleep... sleep is happiness.

A Change Would Do You Good

The change is done! As you can see I am having a few growing pains. I really don't want my side bar at the bottom of my page so I am trying to tweak that but it might take some time for me to figure it out. Please bear with me as I try and create a better looking blog.

Weekly Update:
This was the most tiring week I have had at UBC yet. I had two seminars this week to prepare for and I did an awful lot of procrastination to avoid writing them too. Sometimes I wonder if I spend more energy procrastinating than actually working. I am sure I do, but I just need that pressure of a deadline to keep me in check. Oh well... someday I will learn better.
With seminars for the semester over, I only have 3 essays to write. Gulp! Yikes... sometimes the easiest part of a course is prepping an hour long lecture. The essays... those are another story.
It hasn't helped that the department has kept the grad students on our toes with Guest Lecturers in the past two weeks. We have had 7 lectures to attend on top of class and other work. It's insanity! However, I have now seen some of the top experts speak on Linear B, Roman Concrete Construction and Sicilian coinage.
Ok enough chit chat. I am hungry and pissed off that I couldn't figure out this template transition all in one go. However, I am grateful that maneuvering the side bar is really the only obstacle I have had so far.
Until we meet again... I am going to have some lunch.

Turn Turn Turn

Ok... finally I am sick of this beginner template that I have used since starting my blog. I see that Blogger has had quite a few new designs available for some time so next weekend I am going to ambitiously switch templates. It's going to be some work because all the things I have added in will have to be re-added in, but I think I can do it.
Anyhow, if you care, perhaps you can help me choose a design. There are two that I like and they are available below for viewing. They are kind of crappy because they were just screen saves, but tell me what you like by what you can sort of see and I will take that into consideration for next weekend's big switch. Thanks a lot!
Design 1 is on the left and Design 2 is on the right.

Updates... what is there to update?
- Saw an awesome Death Cab for Cutie/Stars show at the Commodore Ballroom last night. It's pretty stunning inside that building. It looks like a swank supper club. Future goal: to attend more cheap concerts at the Commodore.
- Angie & Terry broke up! I was shocked! Hence, Ang and I are heading to see Bridget Jones 2 tonight for some comfort and in my case, procrastination.
- It's been a busy week... swamped with info for upcoming presentations this week but on the bright side, all seminars will be done for the semester after Thursday. Then I can sit back and write essays frantically.
- Contemplated going to NYC to see John Mayer. My hopes were dashed when I didn't manage to get a pair of tickets in the first 2 seconds they were available online. Oh well.. I saved $500.
- I bought a cool laser pointer for seminar presentations this week. It can be made to look like an arrow (that was the key selling point).
- Saw the abomination that is Metrotown Shopping Centre in Burnaby today. It's really very massive and under loads of construction to join it with the neighbouring Metropolis mall. It's also like... miles and probably hours on the bus away from here. Therefore, I will never go there again.
- Also saw Simon Fraser University located on Tell Burnaby today. It was cool -- very small school. It reminded me of Laurier which I really do miss.
- Speaking of Laurier, they won the Yates Cup over McMaster today! I am so proud... really wish I could have been there to cheer them on. I hope they make it to the Vanier Cup because than I will see them televised. They are the only national university football team that is undefeated so far this year.
Also... just did the Dante's Inferno test from Greg's blog. I scored 'Extreme' which led me to Level 3 of Hell aka Gluttonous! Yikes... it is the only category to receive the 'Extreme' rating. I must be really bad... in a greedy kind of way.
The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Third Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Very Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Extreme
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Moderate
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Very High
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	High
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Very High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Moderate

Take the Dante's Divine Comedy Inferno Test

Reality sets in. I realize I have too much work to do in the next two weeks and this dumb MF got re-elected.

Again... blogging confuddles me. I have no idea why yesterday's post has effected the format of the Halloween post making it all tightly wound into November 1st. I am annoyed, frustrated, and fucking tired. I hope by posting this random message that it will sort itself out, but... I somehow doubt it.

Today I am the big 2-4. Lots of things involve the number 24... bottles of beer in a case, hours in a day, that weird show with Keifer Sutherland, and ME!I think I've come a long way, baby! Check it out!