Check this out.

Super cool invisible streetlights by Jongoh Lee:

Happy New Year.

New Year's Resolutions:

1. Be more positive.
I used to be extremely optimistic as a youth, however I've realized that this is no longer the case. Instead, I'm almost the exact opposite (i.e. extremely cynical)--and it depresses me. I suppose the optimism was a product of naivete, however I would have liked to have kept a bit of it. Optism not cynicism!

2. Be more outspoken.
Depending on who I'm with I can be extremely tactless. While I realize my behaviour can be hurtful, I only am this way with them because I know they can handle it. And that's why I love them and want to spend time with them. It makes me uncomfortable and distressed when I am in a situation where my expressivity (word?) is hindered because people are too 'weak' to handle the truth as I see it. Therefore, this year I'm going to try to think less about how people will react and more about what I want to say (and how I want to say it...basically less sugar-coating things).

3. NO MORE BUYING CLOTHES!

Book update.

I'm well into Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers, (the one I mentioned previously) and I must say that it is simply amazing (just as how I predicited it would be). As I read, I find myself admiring people who use the English language the most efficiently and competently. Gladwell is simply one of those people. Sigh. If only I could get my ideas across as effectively as he can.

If you read any book this year than make it this one. Or atleast read Chapter 7.

Edit: All of Gladwell's books are SO MUCH BETTER THAN Freakonomics, which in my opinion¹ was a poorly written, arrogant attempt at "exploring the hidden side of everthing" that resulted in the authors exploring absolutely nothing at all. One of the main reasons why I severely dislike this book is because its ego-centric tone. It would have been tolerable had the writing been good and if the examples they give had actually been used to prove their points--however neither was the case in this book. I do hypothesize, however, that Gladwell either 1) didn't read Freakonomics, 2) was misquoted or 3) lied, because he is quoted as saying "Prepare to be dazzled" on the front of Freakonomics. (Considering the unyielding hype surrounding Freakonomics, there must be some value in the fact that Gladwell was quoted on the cover. He truly is the man when it comes to explanatory non-fiction).

¹ My opinion is based on the first 4 of the 6 chapters of the book. I had to force myself to read past the first 2...and gave up after the 4th. I'll finish reading it eventually.

So good.

Another dreamhouse.

Binimelis House

Designed by Polidura + Talhouk Arquitectos

Photo: trendir.com

This really love the natural feel of this house despite its modern design. The stone, glass, and wood..sigh.

I think that the reason why I have such low tolerance for a lot of people is that I expect people to treat me the same way I treat them. And when that does not happen, I get annoyed and dislike them..if only for a moment. I don't always treat people with the respect that they deserve. However, while it may seem that I am tactless at times, I do withhold a lot of comments. I realize now that I am really conscious about what I say...

...and for stairs.

Photo cred: Apartment Therapy

I have a thing for beautiful bath fixtures...specifically sinks.

All pics from freshome.com

The first sink uses the used water to feed the plant that grows out if it.

MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I love Christmas.

I think you really get a good description of people based on how they spend their Christmases:

Even though it means blasting Abba in my room in order to drown out the Filipinos singing Christmas carols with a karaoke machine downstairs, Christmas is my favorite time of year.

This year, my parents prepared a sirloin in my mom's new 'Nuwave' oven that she spontaneously bought after watching an infomercial. I was skeptical, however it was really tender, so it was a good purchase.

Usually (meaning practically every Christmas since my birth), I don't leave the house on this day. BUT I really want to watch the Darjeeling Limited...so I'm hoping my dad will drive me to Blockbuster...which is OPEN 365 days a year! Along with the North York YMCA lol. I wish Michael's was open all the time--I need to buy acrylics.

About 3 hours later:
So I just finished watching Lars and the Real Girl. Blockbuster didn't have Darjeeling. I'm going to watch A Good Year next. I'm hoping for the post-'Under the Tuscan Sun' feeling.

Fun facts.

Did you know that the plural of cherub is cherubs AND cherubims.

Like how the plural of seraph is seraphim.

New blog.

Change is going to come.

In all of my bitterness about having to work today and tomorrow and the next, I'd still like to mention:

I love this time of year not only because of the chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping on your nose, Yuletide carols being sung by a choir, and folks dressed up like Eskimos; but because its that time when everyone takes the time to clear their busy schedules to meet with the people they love. And even though its one of the most hectic and stressful times of year, everyone wants to make the most of it and enjoy themselves...because unfortunately, its pretty much the only time of the year when life for almost everyone (atleast on the Western hemisphere) slows down a bit. I love this feeling in the air right now. And even though today I was the bitchiest (excuse my language), its only instantaneous in the grand scheme of things. I'm really content right now.



You know that fleeting feeling that you get when you initially feel relieved? When your body relaxes completely and for that one second you're so comfortable, it sort of stuns you?

GAH.

Today started out well, became the worst, and then ended happily. Let me explain:
I woke up today thinking that, because I gave my shift away at work, I would be able to do all of the wonderful things I had planned to do--go to Mandarin, stuff my face, go to Indigo, buy a book, go to the ROM potluck, stuff my face, go to J's, stuff my face, drink wine, go home, and read Breaking Dawn (Twilight in disguise). I got dressed, baubled around the house for a bit, and then made my way to Yonge and Eglinton to meet up with fellow UofT science nerds.

There's a life science learning forum that the organizers of BIO150 (1st year bio) set up a few years ago--its a really popular website that all life science students can use (not JUST lifescis, but mainly, since it is for sciencers). Theres the expected course forums where students and profs (b/c a lot of them use it too) can post/answer questions, an announcement board for events, course union profiles, prof profiles, etc--the list goes on. Aside from the school stuff, there's also a general chat where everyone can talk about anything and everything under the sun. Like I said, its pretty popular. So today, like at the end of every semester, the people of Biome (that's its name...it's pretty clever if you get the ecology speak) get together for a Biome social...basically where everyone comes out from behind their computers and their screen names and actually show themselves to the people they've been talking online to for months but don't actually know. A lot of EEBUers are mods on Biome, so last night after the EEBU movie night they invited me along...even though I'm barely on Biome. It's really intense! And addicting! Once you post about something, you can't stop. There is really a thread for EVERY SUBJECT IMAGINABLE. Gossip Girl, check. Twilight, check. High School Musical, check. White supremacy, check. EVERYTHING. Anyhoo, I'm not an intense Biomer like everyone else, but I went anyway because its fun to meet new people, hang out with people you like, and eat like a pig at a buffet.

JUST as I'm about to go into the subway, the girl who I gave my shift to, texts me this message, "Hey K, just reminding you of your shift today." WTF??!!?!?!?!!??ifdjpafidjapfdj;afkj!?!?!?@!?!??!?!?jfi;ajfdkjaf;d!?! WTF?? GAH. So I obvi text her back, "Um...remember I gave it to you..????". Anyway, long text message story short: She's stupid.

Another long story short: After getting fed up with her stupidity, I cut my lunch short (good thing I guess since I didn't eat too much? Blah, who am I kidding? Its Mandarin); and went to work. At work, however, I was the most mean. I got there and I explained the whole situation to my manager, including the part about her being stupid. He laughed, but I think he now thinks she's stupid too, so hopefully I won't have to deal with her for much longer. Here's a play by play of our convo after I angrily explained to him what went on:

MJ the manager: [Looking at the schedule] So what do you want to do today?
Me: Other than go home? Or drink wine at my friend's Christmas party?
MJ: Uh...
Me: Stab Princess in the eye. (Note: the girl's name is Princess...no words.)
MJ: ........So you'll just fold clothes then?

GAH. Anyhoo, everyone knew I was mad, so they pretty much let me do whatever I wanted...which was nothing. I think I stood around talking to someone for like half an hour and no one said anything. I think they realized that without me they would have been screwed since most of the people working today are new and therefore don't know anything yet. And its not like I didn't get shit done. I totally closed down half the women's section by myself and then I had to go fix everyone else's sections b/c they didn't do a good job. And afterwards, MJ was like "I'm going upstairs...you make sure they finish down here.." And then he left. And then the power trip began (jks..sort of). But ya, I better get a raise.

So after work, which ended at like 11pm, I phoned J to see how the party went, etc, etc. Unfortunately, it was over. But fortunately there were still are leftovers! So I went over to J's for literally a midnight snack..well, more like a meal. Sigh. Just thinking about brie, olives, avocado, and Nutella makes me happy. And since the stupid blue line 25 comes like every hour, she drove me home. Bless her soul. And now I'm in my bed, blogging. I would read Breaking Dawn, but I'll save it for tomorrow.

I love blogging!

And I love that a couple of you do too!





Start blogging. It's fun.

Question.

How does someone even accumulate 30 pairs of jeans?!?!

Sea of clothes.

So a couple of days ago the grand idea of removing every article of clothing from my closet and reorganizing everything popped into my head. Two days later I can safely say that since I'm still putting things back, it was a bad idea. That said, one good idea has come out of the black hole for clothes (i.e. my bedroom)--a clothing swap! What do you guys think? Have stuff you don't want? In my case, it would be a give-a-way rather than a swap since I don't need anything. If there's interest, let me know! It could be fun...and cleansing.

Rough.

So last night was staff party part deux.
:O
Really, these people are insane. INSANE.

And now, since the blog is private, I can post pictures. With commentary.

Another movie.

I would also like to mention that I'd like to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

What a wonderful world.

Happy happy happy happy weekend!
Friday was the best. An early (maybe too early?..sorry guys!) leisurely brunch/breakfast. Lots of laughs. Great group of people. It all came together so wonderfully. Sigh. Ha, I love how the seating plan worked out naturally. (Isn't it weird, the things I worry about?). After brunch, myself and a few others wandered around and did a bit of shopping. Eventually only JL and I were left. We were supposed to go dancing, but the fact that the day started out really early dampened those plans...too tired. Instead we rented a movie (Evening, with Meryl Streep, Claire Danes, Vanessa Redgrave, Glenn Close, Hugh Dancy, Patrick Wilson, the list goes on! Seriously, such a good movie. Go rent it now!), ordered some pizza and just chilled chez moi. An enjoyable ending to a great day.
Yesterday, work was looong. We're open for extended holiday hours now, so we closed at 10 instead of 8 :O. Pretty enjoyable though, it was a good group working.
And today is the staff party! Yay!
I wish I had something more exciting to talk write about.

WOOT

2 out of 3 are DONE!!!!!!!!
Now, if only I could finish the 3 papers I have due.

Aside from that, I'm excited about this weekend...which is starting early! I obviously don't have to mention how content I feel about tomorrow's plans, so I'll skip it. Saturday might be okay, depending on how busy work is (I unfortunately have to work from like 1-11 :S). Hopefully I don't have to work on Sunday...if I do though, the day should still be good because UO's staff Christmas party is being held that night. From what I heard about the last staff party (which I didn't go to because of the paper and test I had the next day) this one is sure to be wild. But of course, what staff party wouldn't be wild when you put doing-drugs-in-the-bathroom-at-work managers together with literally-starving-artists (they're all so thin...I just want to feed them) and hipsters-from-the-boonies in Baby Hueys. Aka the smallest bar possible. Sometimes I wonder where I fit in the UO mix. Other times, I try really hard not to think about it. We'll see what happens Sunday.

Dolls' dreamhouses.

"The House at Jardin del Sol"

Designed by Corona y P. Amaral Arquitectos

Photo: Busyboo

"Fallingwater"

Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

Photo: Google

T-minus 9 hours till my next exam...

I should be studying.
I feel like sleeping.
I might be dreaming.

A minor flaw...

I realize I am being extremely judgemental when I say this: I find it difficult to take people without a science background who are passionate about the environment/climate change/ecology/sustainability seriously; no matter how passionate they are. I really don't trust their judgement, especially when it comes to policy making. Not that they're always wrong. I guess I've taken up that whole 'science-exclusivity-mindset'...which is how the whole problem I explained in a previous post started.

I realize that I am being very judgemental. I am trying to overcome this.

HOWEVER, in order to save the environment one needs to understand the processes behind it and how it works to the best of their ability (I say this because we don't know everything about nature and never will). How can one make decisions about the environment if one doesn't understand carrying capacities, the role of fires in ecosystems, ecophagy, conflicts in species concepts, etc.?

Feel free to argue with me on this one, but how can someone with a BA in political studies be Canada's Minister of the Environment?

LOOK AT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or actually, watch it on the website for the full effect.

AHHHHHH!!! Totally CANNOT wait for this. Its like the BBC was made to document the Earth. Check out the website for more goodies: http://www.loveearth.com/us/film. Its not narrated by David, though...Patrick Stewart should be able to fill his shoes okay. I really hope this comes to theatres here...specifically Imax. Could you imagine?! I'd probably experience vertigo watching that opening scene.

Because there are too many words.

Check out this kitchen. The black walls are phenomenal, albeit the risk factor.

Photo: hgtv.com

An epiphany of sorts.

So below is what should of been a blog post that I instead sent to a couple friends. I copy and pasted. I'm too lazy to go through it all and actually use proper grammar, spelling, and capital letters, so bear with it.

"so i just had an epiphany and i'd like to share it with you. (i know eh, perfect timing...the worst time of the year to go through a 'turnaround')over the past few weeks i've come to the realization that i'm in the wrong field. not that ecology isn't something that im passionate about. but that im not a 'scientist.' i need to do something with my life that is more creative...and that has a larger scope. ecology and evolution are yes, extremely important, but at the same time extremely specific and thus, only a few people actually get into it. studying ecology the past few years has made me realize that humans have everything at their fingertips to save the enviro, however those tools are usually limited to only scientists. im not saying that science is to blame. what im saying is that there is a HUGE gap in knowledge between the science world and the general public. and its not because the science words are too technical, or b/c the technology is extremely advanced...its because there arent that many people doing a good job at bridging the gap between the two 'worlds'.
a prof once told me a story about how he was being interviewed by a reporter from the star about invasive species in the great lakes. he thought that he could cite his opinion and whatever; that the reporter would know something about the subject. however, as he soon found out, this so-called environmental reporter didn't have a clue about invasive species. INVASIVE SPECIES!!!! one of the most basic things ever, and this person had no idea what the term even meant.my prof was so shocked and upset...and it wasnt his job to explain the entire thing to the reporter; so he didnt finish the interview. i believe he hung up.
but anyway, im not trying to blame the reporter or anything. what i think the above story shows is how the two sides need to work together because we're on one side.thats where my epiphany comes in. doing a phd in ecology is too specific, too focused...theres no integration with the rest of society.thus, i've decided to go into environmental design or journalism. (leaning towards environmental design at the moment...being an architect would be so cool). i think journalism probably involves more learning; however creating harmony between nature and one's own living/working/etc spaces is extremely important. my fave building at u of t (im not sure if you guys have seen it or not..if you havent ill have to show you sometime) is this building which has one entire wall made of glass. and so when you look into it, you can see every floor, etc. the cool think about it, is that there are trees growing inside the building, even though there arent many trees outside. its like bringing nature in. the concept is soooo cool. "

Soooo yah.

A lazy Sunday disguised as a Wednesday.

Today was unproductive (seems to be a trend these days), although quite pleasant. Met up with JH and ZY for some breakfast at Flo's. We were there for literally three hours. Conversing, laughing (e.g. Merlin), crosswording and even a bit of drawing (ha). After a stop at Pusateri's to look at cheese, we went to Indigo. YAY! I wanted to buy a copy of Paris Vogue, but they didn't have it! Disappointing; they had like every other foreign Vogue (India, included), but not the one I wanted. Oh well. Next time. Summary: We ate. We browsed. We went home.

Right now I'm writing a mini paper on conservation issues and fisheries ecology. Summary: There is no solution. Unfortunately.

Tomorrow will most likely suck. I have class from 9-4 and then work from 5-10ish. :( Summary: show me something sparkly.

Winter projects.

I've decided to paint my room over the break.

I'm going to go with a beige/aubergine/black theme. All of the walls will be beige except for one feature aubergine wall. That said, I don't know which wall to paint aubergine!

A tempest in my mind.

I've had a lot on my mind lately.
Yesterday, while taking the bus home from work, I experienced the worst bout of motion sickness ever. I didn't throw up (thank God!) but I felt light-headed, dizzy, and just all around terrible. I'm wondering if it was actually motion sickness, or perhaps, just the motions of getting sick. I tend to be one of those people whose physical state of being is closely linked to their emotional state. When I think clearly, or am happy, I FEEL happy. When I feel confused, anxious, or uneasy, I get sick. I think thats what's happening now.

Even though I tried really hard not to think of the 'future', I couldn't help myself. In terms of school, I'm miserable. As much as I love the three E's: ecology, evolution, and the environment; I've realized this year that I don't want to engage myself in it for the rest of my life. I'm having difficulty coming to terms with the fact that what I've spent almost the past 4 years studying is not, like I previously thought, what I plan on doing with my life. I've realized in the past few months that I definitely need to engage myself in a more creative, visual field. But what?! I could see myself in fashion, but like I was discussing with a friend this morning at work, the 'scene' and the people within it are too much to handle. They don't seem real. And that's what I want, you know. I want to feel alive, but in this world. Not in some fantasy, dreamland that only exists at night and where the only aspiration people have is to be surrounded by the flashing lights of paparazzi. It's too surreal. Surreality, in my mind, is great--within limitations. I think the fashion industry, while it has its major, completely inspiring players, is surrounded in a mist of dense fog in which all of the minor players get lost in. (I'm running on a Shakespeare analogy right now: "All the world's a stage..." -As you like it, Act2Scene7). Too many people want to do fashion. And quite frankly, its not even about fashion, per se. Its more about style...I think I'm ranting now, so I'll stop. But ya--lots on my mind.