...my nose feels like ass...

I think I'm sick but I don't FEEL sick, you know? My nose has been blown so many times - it's red and chapped. I have a tickle in my throat. But I still have the energy to do all that I need to do (it's just a matter of procrastination). I think that this sickness is really my body telling me that I am far too stressed to be entering only the fourth week of school.

Today's Agenda: Watch Psych lectures (DONE); Read Chapter 12 for Psych (half done); Finish The Italian (ugh... 1/4 finished... too long but very interesting); Brainstorm for Romanticism Essay due in 2 weeks (no hope of doing this until tomorrow)

Not bad.

I have registered on Hawksley's new website for his upcoming cd (Treeful of Starling - released on Feb 21). Very interesting layout. In registering, one is asked to create a "Mini-Hawk" which is a small cartoon person that we are encouraged to make look like ourselves and we can put them in a forum so they can "meet" (Hawksley, it is said, is a great matchmaker). Every time we log into the website, our little image appears. Cute concept. There is also a game called "The Search for Isadora" (which is in the works), where the member can help Hawksley turn himself into a rock to find his beloved. Needless to say, I'm excited.

Have a good week, everyone.

"What's Poppin'?" -a popular "hello" on the psychology message board

While I will refrain from political discussion, I found this comic hilarious.

I have been experimenting a lot with my new digital camera, so expect to be seeing something new and exciting on my cartoon website in the near future!

- Me

The Cartoon says it all



On an unrelated note, my engagement ring has finally been returned to me after being fixed for the second time. I'm so excited. Getting it back is the best birthday present!

I guess I'll fill out this "Year in Review" Survey as well, as I have some time to kill before work...

1 - What did you do in 2005 that you had never done before? I usually try to keep up in readings for class. And while I did fall behind in the ultra-boring Early American Literature in 2004 (only because I was not interested at ALL), I fell 2 books behind in my Dystopian literature course this past session. I simply had too much to read, and unfortunately the best class from the session had to be put aside. I'm not terribly impressed with myself, but I know that it happens, and I know now that I can bounce back.
2 - Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn't have any last year that I can remember, which is a bad sign if I did have one. This year my resolution is to work out. So far, I've kept the resolution, as I have used my stationary bike for at least 20 minutes a day for the last *mumble* 4 days.
3 - Did anyone close to you give birth? My aunt and uncle gave birth to a beautiful and blue-eyed daughter, Kayla. I have only seen her about three times, since they live in Ottawa, but I get monthly updated pictures from my proud grandmother.
4 - Did anyone close to you die? Chris' cat, Mittens, died, as well as a few of my grandmother's friends whom I remember from my childhood.
5 - What countries did you visit? I went with Chris to Niagra Falls New York for a whopping two hours a few months ago.
6 - What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005? More fashion sense. I was told by a high school friend that my clothes have not 'matured' since high school, so I would like to change that while still looking like me.
7 - What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory? Definitely December 16, when Chris proposed. Besides that though, it was a perfect day.
8 - What was your biggest achievement of the year? Getting into both the Creative Writing Poetry and Creative Writing Fiction courses, and being handpicked by both the supervisor of studies in English Literature as well as a Canadian author.
9 - What was your biggest failure? Feeling extremely under-prepared for two of my five final exams.
10 - Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing terrible.
11 - What was the best thing you bought? I don't really buy all that much, but I'll include something that I asked for as a gift. I'm so embarrassed by this, but I got a filing cabinet for my birthday. Now, I have all of my schoolwork in one place and it's all cross-referenced, and stuff. I'm a nerd.
12 - Whose behaviour merited celebration? Chris' for (finally? hehe) asking me to marry him.
13 - Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? My managers at work at various times throughout the year (which is nothing new). While many of them are good people and are intelligent, they are far too lenient when it comes to customers and trivial matters, but are far too strict and tyrannical when it comes to internal policies with the employees.
14 - Where did most of your money go? I honestly don't know. Books for school and books for my pleasure (which have yet to be opened, I'm sure). Christmas presents for my huge family.
15 - What did you get really, really, really excited about? My cartoons. Oh, those cartoons. I will not make a shameless plug. But the cartoons really are... hilarious.
16 - What song will always remind you of 2005? "Do You Want to" It reminds me of great moments with Kate at the Franz Ferdinand concert.
17 - Compared to this time last year are you:
a) Happier or sadder? Happier.
b) Thinner or fatter? Fatter... but I'll add for all you doubters "you don't see me naked, so you don't know"
c) Richer or poorer? About the same, I would think. Only richer because I got a raise... woohoo 35 cents!
18 - What do you wish you had done more of? Seeing my friends outside of school.
19 - What do you wish you had done less of? Worrying about schoolwork and things that I cannot control.
20 - How will you be spending Christmas? I attended Chris' church service, which was nowhere near as disastrous as he makes it seem. After very little sleep, I went to my mom's house for brunch with her side of the family. Mid-afternoon I went to my dad's house to have dinner with his side of the family, which Chris attended. I also had a post-Christmas day on Boxing day at my stepmother's brother's house. I had fun, although it was hectic.
21 - What was your favourite new discovery of the year? Chocolate truffles. They are my new weakness.
22 - Did you fall in love in 2005? (I'm keeping Chris' answer because it is also true for me) No, I fell in love in 2001.
23 - How many one-night stands? Are they that glorified? This question doesn't even fit in with the rest of the questions. Answer: 0
24 - What was your favourite TV program? I am a slave to the Amazing Race. Chris and I have also been watching and re-watching Arrested Development on DVD.
25 - Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I can't think of anyone, but I don't think I would name them anyway.
26 - What was the best book you read? I would say Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Great and shocking novel.
27 - What was your greatest musical discovery? I don't know. I didn't really listen to new music this year.
28 - What did you want and get? A position as a prestigious cash line member at work.
29 - What did you want and not get? Great marks. I don't have all of them yet, but I know that one of my marks is nowhere near what I had wanted or, if I can say, what I deserved for my work.
30 - What was your favourite film this year? I didn't see many new movies so I can't make a judgement.
31 - What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I don't even remember what I did for my 20th birthday. It was a Tuesday, so I imagine that I was in my Poetry class reading and critiquing poetry.
32 - What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? If I could find a job that I am both enthusiastic about and genuinely enjoy. As it is, I find working mildly entertaining when it comes to stupid customers and I have many friends, but the work is unstimulating and unrewarding.
33 - How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005? Comfortable. I was recently told that I wear unique sweaters, which is cool... I don't mind that reputation
34 - What kept you sane? Chris always keeps me sane. I am lucky to have such a caring listener and advisor in my life.
35 - Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I don't think that this question matters at all. They are celebrities and you would have NO chance to EVER meet them, so why bother pining?
. Shall I make up my own #36? Which of your "life's a cartoon" cartoons is your favourite? Oh, I don't know. I like "The Movie Talker" because it was the first of my more sophisticated drawings. I also like my series of Studying Psychology cartoons, as well as my "Final Purge" cartoon because it's so deliciously gory.
37 - Whom did you miss? Chris, because we only see each other once a week.
38 - Who was the best new person you met? I have made a few new and good friends at work and at school in the last year, but none read this, and I would not name them anyway.
39 - Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005. Try your best. I know that I am too hard on myself a lot of the time, and I let marks get me down a lot, especially because I see others around me getting terrific marks. I try to be happy with everything that I do, and am trying to get beyond my expectations and simply try my best.
40 - Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. I've been thinking about this one and I can't think of anything at all. Maybe this one to managers and horrible customers: "Hope your ride to hell is a bumpy one and you get sick on the way"