Who doesn't like dinner and a show?

I just got back from phase 2 of my birthday celebration, also closing curtain on my birthday week but it's been a good run! This was a present from my mom, a dinner for me and two friends at Scarlett's Dinner Theatre. Qu'est-ce que c'est? I'll tell you!

Like the title says, it's dinner and a show! It's actually a great idea! The restaurant is located on the second floor of a pub/restaurant called Fat Tuesdays (appetizing, isn't it?) and it's all cozy and dimly lit with lots of lamps and curtains and big comfy booths. It looked just like a scene out of the Clue boardgame.

There's a cast of seven actors and two crew members, and they engage the audience in an interactive murder mystery performance. I know what you're thinking: "I hate when people come into the audience." But this was different. The audience has to help the inspector figure out "who dunnit" and why. There were cheesy and melodramatic moments but it's really easy to get into it and I had a lot of fun.

They made a lot of Ottawa jokes. Exhibit A

Inspector: Maybe you shot Mickey by accident! You exchanged angry words. Things got physical. Before you know it, the situation has escalated too quickly! You pull a gun and accidentally shot him!

Stutters (that's the suspect's name): You really think I could shoot someone twice in the back by accident?! Who do you think I work for? The Hull police force?

This was met by a lot of yukyuking from the audience.

There were also a lot of general jokes that I thought were pretty clever. Exhibit B

Mickey: I've really turned over a new leaf! I've gotten a job with a company and now I'll never be unemployed again!

Inspector: That's great, and what company do you work for?

Mickey: Nortel!

Exhibit C

Inspector: Take Shay for instance! He used to be on the streets, stealing old valuables from others and pawning them off for money. Now he works for Ebay!

And my personal favourite: Exhibit D

Inspector: [with gun pointed at criminals] Not so fast! Take one more step and there'll be so much lead in you, you'll think you were made in China! [He turns and looks directly at the table where I'm sitting with Kitty and another Chinese girl] No offense.

Everyone spun around in their seats and stared at us. I was so tempted to say, "I'm from Michigan." It's not everyday you get to make a Mean Girls reference! But I decided not to steal the show and just smiled and waved.

In addition to all this splendid murder mystery fun, there was singing and dancing. There was a table full of evidence that I never got to see. There was always a crowd of old people who got really into the show and were trying to pick apart the evidence. I was not about to battle it out with granny to see a forged bloodstained letter.

Highlight of the evening: I ordered my first alcoholic drink! It's called a Fat Tuesday's Hurricane. I actually completely forgot that I could order drinks until the waitress pointed out the drinks menu to me, which then led me to realize

Disappointment of the evening: I had forgotten to bring ID!

Crisis averted: I decided to just go for it and order. Wonder of wonders! She didn't ask me for ID! You know what that means? I look 19! Living breathing proof that I have matured and now radiate eminence and sophistication. Look out, world!

My drink was awesome! To be fair, I didn't really taste the alcohol and Kitty thinks they gave me a virgin one, which kind of brought down my party. But I still think this is an auspicious moment. Even if it was virgin (which I refuse to believe), it was a symbolic gesture. Besides, it was pretty! All I really wanted as my first legal drink was a pretty drink with lots of colours. This one started off orange at the top and turned red at the bottom with a nasty maraschino cherry and a lemon wedge! It was tasty tasty goodness!

After the show, we decided to go have dessert (because a 3-course dinner just doesn't cut it, you know). We each ordered a giant slice of cake, since dessert cafes have become a bit of a trademark of my birthdays. There's no Demetre's in Byward Market, so we made do. It was pretty satisfying but now I think my arteries are completely clogged forever. Success? I think so!

I definitely need to hit the gym tomorrow, or at least think vigorous thoughts about the gym. Yeah, I think it's going to be the latter option. If I don't make it back for Reading Week, it's probably because I got stuck trying to get out the door.

And so concludes my birthday festivities. 19. NINETEEN. Just getting a feel for it. I think I could get used to it.

Frost Bite Warning

I am slowly losing feeling in my fingers and toes, so I thought I'd share some thoughts with all of you before my extremities fall off. Today, in the lovely city of Ottawa, it was -21 degrees (-33 with the windchill) and everyone was urged by the Ottawa Citizen's Weather Watch to stay home and keep their core temperature at a reasonable level. Naturally, everyone went about their day as usual with an extra sweater for good measure.

In a moment of poor decision-making, I decided today would be a marvelous day to strike out into the great outdoors and make the harrowing journey to Loblaws. I was in dire need of cereal and milk, a healthy part of my complete daily breakfasts! So I bundled up with my coat and my snow boots and my woolly scarf and my monkey mittens and my monkey hat to show Mother Nature that she can't scare Veronica Tang into hiding.

Mother Nature is such a bitter old lady this time of year.

In the time it took me to put my change into the OTrain ticket machine, I thought my fingers were going to fall off. I could see myself holding quarters but I felt nothing! My legs were also beginning to feel like ski poles holding me up precariously. There was a tiny gap between the hood of my sweater and the bottom of my hat, leaving a sliver of my neck out in the cold to fend for itself. And to top it all off, I suddenly became very aware of my eyeballs freezing in their sockets.

I had a momentary flashback of watching To Build a Fire back in Gr. 7. At least that guy had a dog he could cut open and wear as fur coat. All I had were woolly monkeys!

I eventually made it back from Loblaws with all my fingers and toes (with the help of a much-needed stop at the Starbucks in Chapters). This is why we have tunnels here at Carleton. People just aren't meant to go outside in the winter. I now see tunnel rats in a different light. They are the smart ones with a good sense of self-preservation. So they're more susceptible to scurvy, you win some and you lose some.

update from art history again!

Hey guys and gals!

I'm just sitting in art history again updating my part of the blog. I hope you guys are doing well! Apparently some of you guys have midterms around now, so good luck! You guys are going to kill it!

Well phase 1 of my washroom is over and the pics finally made it to facebook. Well I feel like this big load is off my shoulders, but NOOOOOO my busy life continues on. Still got phase 2! And everything else. But I guess that's the life. And I should just suck it up. This crazy life has taught me a lot and if I look back to September I feel like my learning curve is like WHOA! lol.

Eat well, sleep well!

Officially 19!

Greetings from the other side of the legal line! I don't actually have a drink in my hand at the moment, but let's not lose sight of what's truly important - I could be having a drink right now if I was feeling it. Yeah. Drink it in.

I had an awesome birthday! I'm sure you want a play-by-play and even if you don't, well I'm going to give you one anyway. Why? Because it's my birthday and I can do whatever I want and you have to like it! It's all part of the package. Read the fine print.

12:00 a.m. I counted down to my birthday and Kitty and I had a short-lived whooping and hollering moment. I was instantly bombarded by text messages and a phone call from Emily, soon followed by my mom! I'm just so much more important when I'm 19. People can't get enough!

At this point in time, I opened Em's present, which arrived on my birthday eve. Perfect timing. Why? Because the mail carriers knew it was my birthday, obviously.

Birthday Present #1: Thumb Doodle Book! It's great! I think I've wanted one of these for about five years! I don't even know how she remembered, but I knew that memory would kick in one day!

Emily also currently holds the title for Best Birthday Card. There's a girl standing in front of a long line of animals, each with a flower for her. The first animal in line is a big pink elephant and the birthday girl's giving him a smooch on the nose. I found it very fitting, which begs the question: Where's my big pink elephant?

12:30 a.m. I am much too pumped at this point to go to sleep so Kitty and I decide to watch the Colbert Report where he challenges Shani Davis to a speed skating race. I got some good laughs and way too many scarring images of Colbert in a skin-tight uniform. At one point, there were sequins, a cape, and a plunging neckline.

1:00 a.m. I decide to mosey off to bed and drifted off into the pleasant world of birthday dreams.

8:00 a.m. Up and at 'em! I'm not going to waste my precious birthday daylight snoozing in my bed! Time to seize the carp!

8:20 a.m. Off to Tim Hortons to get myself a birthday breakfast. It was pretty sweet. I then proceeded to munch away while watching the news.

10:00 a.m. I hit the job fair and was shut down again and again and again. Who would've thunk that there could be so many companies looking for engineers and fourth-year students? I was attacked by a bilingual lady who shoved flyers and pamphlets in my face, each one explaining the many rewarding reasons to be a personal trainer. I told her I hadn't set foot in a gym since Grade 9 physical education. Fitness unit. She was not amused.

10:30 a.m. Escaped from the job fair with little to show for my efforts. I didn't even get free chocolates that a Join the Army! booth was handing out. I would've feigned interest just for the chocolate, were it not for a rather wrinkly old man who barked at people to serve their home and native land. It's kind of hard to smuggle handfuls of chocolates into your purse when a retired general is asking you where your sense of patriotism is.

11:something a.m. I'm sitting around in my room and decide to open a birthday card that came in the mail at the same time as Emily's package. A card from my family in Montreal.

Birthday Present #3: Little did I know, it was more than a card. I got a Chapters gift card! God bless transferable money. I really do think gift cards for books is a beautiful thing.

12:00 p.m. I went to yoga. That's right. Uniting the body and mind. Aligning my chi. Namaste-ing my soul, all that jazz. I figured I'd give it a try and so far, I don't seem to be splitting open and spewing blood like I did in Grade 10 physical drama. It wasn't pretty.

Birthday Present #3: I was taking my time packing up after yoga and shuffling out the door when I get the most epic moment of my life. MY MOM WAS STANDING IN FRONT OF ME! That's right, ladies and gentlemen. My Marmee flew all the way from Toronto just for my birthday! AND she brought marshmallow cookies! Best day ever!

I spent the next hour and a half giving my mom an exclusive tour of the school, complete with pointers on best exit strategies and detours around smelly stairwells. On the way, I go through the bookstore and I get

Birthday Present #4: Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for this play? Well, let's just say it's been years. My life is complete. I bought it courtesy of my grandmother.

2:30 p.m. I took my Marmee to class with me. The Mysteries of Language. She really enjoyed it, but then again she doesn't have to write the midterm.

4:00 p.m. My mom and I catch up over Tim Hortons. Hey, there's a lot to talk about! I am her favourite daughter, you know.

5:30 p.m. Time to say goodbye to my mom and send her off to the OTrain station. Meanwhile, my friends and I catch the bus to dinner at The Works. They have epic burgers, and I mean EPIC. You can get everything on these burgers from your traditional cheese, mushrooms and bacon to your exotic avocados, pineapples, and pears. And if you're really feeling whimsical, they have peanut butter and Kraft Dinner. I told you they have everything. I also feel like I should mention they serve onion rings in a tower with awesome dipping sauce.

Birthday Present #5: My friend, Lindsay, got me a notebook and a giant block of note paper (you know, the kind you put on your desk for memos and stuff) in very vibrant colours. It's called a Writer's Block. Oh the puns are just too much. And the cherry on top: gift card to Chapters. Most excellent! I will be putting that to good use.

My Birthday Drink: Are you ready for this? It was the best 19th birthday drink ever: Oreo Milkshake. I'm just a wild, reckless teenager. Look out, world! Don't judge me until you taste those Oreo bits. This was a real milkshake, served in a measuring cup. Mmm. Clogged arteries.

7:45 p.m. My friends and I waddle to the bus stop, teetering on the brink of food comatose. There was just so much food and so limited stomach capacity. I immediately regret the salad I had a couple days ago. I should have saved room for what really counts, like sweet potato fries!

8:00 p.m. I turn 19! There was much rejoicing.

Birthday Present #6: I went on a bit of a scavenger hunt for my present from Kitty and Natalie, my friend from elementary school who also goes to Carleton. It was "wrapped" in a Rice Krispies box, how innovative. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Hoorah. It was possibly the most beautiful book I've ever seen. They got me a book of collected works by Alexandre Dumas. It's gorgeous! They got it from the Rare Books Store that I found on Bank Street. There are illustrations and a bright red hard cover with gold lettering. I can't wait to read it! Alas, I now know true happiness!

8:52 p.m. Sean, a guy who lives on my floor, walked by my room and heard Kitty and Natalie singing Happy Birthday to me in a throaty impersonation of a drag queen, complete with burlesque dance by Kitty So. "Who's birthday is it?" he asks. I enlighten him and...he serenades me. I was surprised he actually finished the whole song. Well done, Sean. Well done.

I spent the remainder of the night making thumb doodles (which I shall post on Facebook when it stops being obstinate) and admiring my presents.

And so concludes my eventful day of turning 19. And now, as I journey on into my last teenage year, I would like to impart some words of wisdom to all you young 18-year-olds: Prioritizing your life is the key to success.

Practical Application: Eat the burger before you drink the milkshake.

our lil reporter.....

our successful reporter is 19!!!

woooooot!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRRRL!!

hello from ny!

Hey peeps! I have arrived safely to my lovely new dorm in the heart of ny. I couldn't update yesterday right after I moved in because conveniently, the internet was down in my whole building... just swell! So this time, I actually have a roommate and she's pretty cool, a knitwear design major and she's getting her BFA after this semester so you can guess how old she is haha XP but I think we're gonna get along great!

Today was filled with orientation sessions so I have a lot of information swimming around my head right now. Plus with the overwhelming feeling of the city, everything seems so intimidating. It just hit me that I'm living in ny for the next four years (minus the summer... hopefully) or possibly even longer. I think I will get homesick but I'll make it through! I have a lot of things to look at and to explore! It's going to be one hell of an adventure.

19 in 23!

I have 23 minutes left of being 18 (well, not exactly but for simplicity's sake, let's just pretend I automatically age at midnight).

What's changed since January 25, 2009?

• I don't feel particularly older or wiser. Quite the opposite actually. Last year, I had 4 wisdom teeth and this year I have none. Symbolic? I should hope not.
• More accomplished? Maybe. I am now a suffering member of j-school. That's got to count for something. I've definitely lost more sleep. I've been published! Not too shabby.
• Less ignorant. Well I haven't been religiously reading news for nothing. Now I'm more worldly. For instance, did you know a Montreal man killed his partner and hid him in a suitcase?
• Healthier? Ha! Well I suppose I'm making good use of Carleton's athletic facilities, though the same can be said about the many Tim Hortons. I support the industries.
• More mature and sophisticated. Oh, most definitely. By the way, your gluteus is plenty maximus.

So I guess there's been a little change over the year, although I don't know if I like the word "change." It's so arbitrary, so ominous. The winds of change! Beware! I prefer to think of it as a...slow fermentation of the essence that is Veronica Tang. Don't you worry. Like a giant wheel of cheese, I get better with age.

onto spoons...

so my busy life continues on.

we're done phase 1 of our washrooms!! which is basically presentation drawings, so they're funner to do. the next part we have to do all the working drawings, which means include dimensions and programs and schedules and stuff the contractor/ engineers/ plumbers read. BUT first I need to come up with spoon ideas. My concept: Stable Environment.

i also need to clean. i have cardboard EVERYWHERE!!! But i'm so tired that I can't. But I'm too scared to sleep because if i do I'll wake up at like 2AM and I need to sketch spoons for tomorrow and our prof scares me. Sighsss!

I'm sooooo aiming to go out this weekend and just chill with friends because I sooo need it!!!!!!

So Ve wanted to see pics of my washroom so I'll just post 'em here :) (they're up on facebook too along with Vegas pics too!! so overdue but o wellz!)

well blogger is taking awhile to load the pics so check facebook!!

I'm really proud of my model (TYTY KEVINNNN!) soo maybe in teh summer I'll go back and make it super duper legit.

enjoy :)

happy trails [hehe]

Protestors Against Prorogation Storm the Hill

You heard it here first. Well read it. And I suppose it's already all over the news by now while I'm still working on my story. But hey, you know me personally so this should be epic for you.

This will also (to the best of my ability) be short and sweet, mostly because I should be writing my article right now, not gushing about my life to all you lovely people.

So, what went down?

I went to the Hill today to cover the prorogation rally. It was amazing! I won't tell you all the details. You can read that in my article that will be coming soon, assuming I actually finish before my fingers get arthritis or I have an aneurysm before tomorrow morning. I will only tell you the really cool stuff that I can't possibly put into an article.

First epic moment: I interviewed Jack Layton, Michael Ignatieff and Elizabeth May! And not just the moocher's interview where you shove your microphone into the person's face while they're answering someone else's question (though that is how I first got Jack Layton talking, but I quickly stole the interview of course. Don't feel bad for the other reporter. She was weak. Her questions sucked). These were actual interviews, all conducted by ME and no one else! 100% Veronica Tang. It was awesome!

Second epic moment: People started to recognize me as a reporter. I didn't even have to hunt down Elizabeth May. Her spokesperson came and got me, albeit an old man told her she should talk to me. But hey, I'm that much closer to being Barbara Walters. I don't go to the people. The people come to me.

There were many more epic moments but if I share any more right now, I will be wasting crucial typing capacities that should be spent on my article. I would also be making this another signature long post. So I'll spare you and my fingers for now and polish this off another time.

P.S. I strongly encourage you all to attend a major rally at least once in your life. It's really so much better than they tell you on TV.

no sleep marathon

first:: Ve i'm so proud of you for keeping one post short! :P

Since I haven't updated I thought I would while I'm in art history, because it's the only time I have to have time for myself.

Well my washroom project is going to be the death of me. I'm not sleeping at alll this weekend. Starting tonight actually. I will be doing my washroom model, floor plan, AXO drawing, and sections. It's actually not a lot compared to the preliminary work. My prof is FREAKING crazy. Our class is like miles and miles ahead of the other class. So we're all killing ourselves, while the other classes have been (a) getting personal critz and (b) having a less stressful experience.

On top of this crazy project, it's Toronto International Design Festival. And we have to do this passport thing where we have to go to different events and things and complete this list. So since we have this grand festival it's an easy way to check off my 3 design events I have to attend. I'm going to go to Interior Design Show, Gladstone Hotel's "Come Up to my Room", and MADE's light show. Although I just realized we have to go to this career night thing next week, so I may or may not go to the MADE one, although I would like to go. Soo that will take up my whole Sunday and MADE might be tonight.

Hope you can keep up with me.

ON TOP of all that: I GOT A ROOMMATE :)

but she's moving in this weekend. So I have to clean my stuff and clear some space for her. She seem cool.

With the combination of that and other work, no sleeeeeep Thursday to Monday.

Don't think I can even sleep on Monday because I have to have 6 spoons drawn out for another project where we have to make a utensil.

ISN'T LIFE GRAND! [[SARCASM SIGN]]

So I hope you all kept up with my rant.

Hope to see you guys soon!!!!

I will always make time for you guys.

Short and sweet for once

Keeping it snappy, I'm on a deadline here!

It just came to my attention that I have been neglecting my blogging duties for the past few days and it pains me to blame it on a busy schedule. How predictable of me, I know. Build a bridge and get over it.

I'll just share the front page news in the life of Veronica. I've got a new story to write for the Charlatan. I'm sure you've all been following the prorogation (Ha! I bet you never knew it could be a noun!) of Parliament very closely, chomping those nails and losing sleep. I know I have! The government's getting paid to do absolutely nothing! How exciting!

There's going to be a huge rally this Saturday (Jan. 23) and I think a few of your schools may be involved too because there's one in almost every major city. Well, Veronica Tang will be on location! Ready to report the angst of concerned citizens! I just hope I don't get trampled in the process. It's going to be great!

See? I told you I'd keep it snappy. Well it's snappy on my terms anyway. Come on, people. You're going to have to meet me halfway.

Going. Gone.

Tired. So tired.

A conference that's seven and a half hours long is about six and a half hours too long. It wasn't bad exactly. It was just incredibly long. As previously mentioned, I was Ireland, with absolutely nothing interesting to say. Everyone kept fixating on Somalia. Whoop-de-doo, Somalia's got pirates and suddenly no one cares about the Provisional Irish Republican Army. We had angry, armed leprechauns and all anyone wanted to talk about was Somali fishermen rebelling through piracy.

On the plus side, I made a few good points, which remained largely ignored at first, but later adopted as their own. Such is my life.

Thank God I came up with something to say. Otherwise, I was going to have to pull out my backup Irish remarks: "Tup uh tha mornin' tuh yeh, laddie!"

I am also extremely battered and bruised from kayaking. Those plastic boats are not meant to promote circulation. My legs went numb so many times. At one point, I had to hop out of the boat because I couldn't feel my legs at all. And I was standing in the pool, wiggling my toes (or what I assumed were my toes). They didn't feel like my toes at all. So naturally, I took a step forward, and my legs decided they had grown quite tired of living. I face-planted.

And now, Kitty decided to-

***OMG Moment: I just saw the title, "l'enfer vivant." Aww Melvin, you do read my posts! I am sending you warm fuzzies right now (telepathically of course), just so you know. You make Veronica proud!

-invite people over at a time when I am ready to lose consciousness for an undetermined number of hours (or days). So now there are two other girls in our room plus Kitty and me and there's loud music and Stephen Colbert. One of the girls is sleeping over and I don't know how long the other one will be here, spreading her bubbly enthusiasm. Joyous. Sleep seems further and further away.

If someone could come put me out of my misery, it would be really great.

On a lighter note, 10 more days until my birthday! I'm going to be 19 and mature and sophisticated and competent. Or else, I'll just be 19.

"Oh dear God, this parachute's a backpack!"

In case you didn't get the title reference, it's Chandler Bing as he digs himself further and further into a hole. Case in point: I may be leading myself to an early grave.

It's supposed to be my lovely Fridays off from school, but there will be no actual weekend relaxation in the making today. I am trying to finish as much work as possible today because I have an epic day tomorrow! From 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. I will be Ireland!

Explanation: I joined the Model UN Society (MUN) last semester. If you can't figure out what it is from the title, then I'm afraid I can't help you, you lost cause. Fine, I'll be nice. New Years turning over a new leaf and all that jazz. Basically, everyone is assigned a country. There's a topic up for debate (i.e. this time, it's maritime piracy, which is really your Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Hook, Somalians gone wild type of thing.) and everyone acts as a diplomat for their country and you try to reach a resolution by the end. It's actually a lot of fun.

Problem: We get to pick our countries and I knew absolutely nothing about maritime piracy so like a true scholarly researcher, I Googled it. Needless to say, it was all about Somalia (the only thing I did know about pirates). I scrolled around and picked three countries (they try to give you your top two choices) and I threw in Ireland as my last one. I figured it's an island so it must have something to do with pirates right? Wrong! It turns out Northern Ireland's the one with the pirates.

Summary: The UK stole my pirates! (I bet you never thought you'd ever see that sentence.)

Now I have nothing to argue about except the Irish Republican Army, basically Ireland's own private terrorist group. They blow up stuff trying to unite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. I kind of wish they'd hurry up with that so I could get my pirates back.

Additionally, I'm going kayaking tomorrow night! It's going to be great! And before you start picturing me kayaking through wind, snow, sleet, and a frozen Rideau Canal, let me clarify. It's kayaking in a pool. That's right. You laugh now but it's actually so much fun. They're really small kayaks so you can actually fit a lot of people in there. I'm not very good at it but I learned what to do if I tip over. Well, I learned what not to do. You don't just sit there, upside down in your kayak underwater and flail your arms and spew bubbles. It turns out no one can see you flailing when you're under a boat.

So that's my intense academic schedule for tomorrow, making today l'enfer vivant for me! That's "a living hell," about the only useful phrase I learned this year in French.

I've already wasted 22 minutes of my working time blabbing here (not that I regret it of course) so I'm going to start making my way to the guillotine now.

Western Life #7: New Year, New Semester, Still No Life

Hey guys & gals!!

So every1 seems to be posting one after another so I decided to take a break to contribute so i don't feel like a loner haha... not really. More cuz i'm tired of doing chemistry for today.

I hope every1's first week and a bit has gone fairly smooth and that every1 is off to a great start! As the title says, its finally 2010! The first decade of the 21st century has finally come and gone and i'm glad to say that each of you are still alive (some more than others...lol). But still i hope every1 sticks around for a bit longer as there r still many decades to come till our time is up!

Well back to my life at Western. Happy to say that everything is going according to plan :). My design group still fails, homework is still piling up, and ppl on my floor still think i'm dead cuz they never see me. So yea my life at Western seems to be exactly the same as when i left it in December! And truthfully, i wouldn't have it any other way as weird as that may sound haha (engineers r suppose to be weird like that lol).

So my schedule this term is basically the same: 7 lectures, 3 labs, and 4 tutorials which equals to the lovely total of 35 hours! I can't believe i'm saying this, but it's not actually that bad lol. You get use to it after a while i guess. KK well i guess i shuld get back to work b4.

Talk to you guys later!

Hope to see you guys during reading week!

3:52am....

You might be wondering, "Emily you always complain about not having enough sleep, why aren't you asleep by 3:50AM?"

Well let me tell you why.

a lovely project called public washroom [sarcasm sign]

our interior design ii class our bitch class this semester, so they had us measure a washroom in Kerr Hall (our main class area) and then redesign it. So for Monday we had to have a floor plan, concept statement, and 3D views of it. And then for the lecture component of the class (on Tuesdays) we had to have visited 4 public washrooms and basically analyze it to see what elements we could use in our washroom design. Then for the Wednesday studio class, we had to have a model made and refine everything from Monday. So basically I ran on 0 sleep and no food today. SO after class i crashed and slept from like 6pm-10pm woke up, replied my texts and fell back asleep till 2am. sooo now i'm relatively awake. I have art history and I have to wake up and visit OCAD's store, so maybe I will try to sleep.

Hope you guys are doing well!!!!!!!

Come visit me soon :)

Still chilling...

Yes... that's right, I'm currently still at home, doing absolutely nothing except for packing and eating. I only have one more week before I head down to NY and that's going to be one LONG trip. Driving down there first since I have so much crap to bring down there.

I did ONE important thing today, which was registering for my courses. I had to wake up earlier since I wanted to quickly get the best times for my courses. I'm going to be taking 7 courses: 2 fashion ones, excel for business course... yes as in microsoft excel, english comp., advertising comm., psych, AND wait for it... tai chi. Yeah as in the slow moving, relaxing tai chi haha I have 18 hours in total, which is two more than what I had at ryerson because I decided to take 3 liberal arts courses since one of them is tai chi 8D And I also have Fridays off since I planned my schedule that way. Mondays are going to be pretty bad for me... my day starts at 8:10 am and ends at 9:20 pm, my first night class. Thank god it's the excel for business course, so it shouldn't kill my brain.

Off to watch my dramas now...

Say When

A year has come upon us and hopefully everyone has some New Year resolutions this year to accomplish. :D Winter is so dark...when I wake up on a weekend; the sun is already beginning to set. I love snow but darkness at 4:30pm is just not right. A new year means a whole new semester. I am going to die this year, 7 courses. Can anyone beat 7 courses? (2 Biology, 1 Chem., 1 Chem Lab, 1 Computer science, 1 econ, and 1 scbus) I am going to have no life. By the way Kevin, I have 26 hours of class per week. :D

DrScheme and I are going to be best friends as I will have to figure out how to program even though I never have program in my entire life. Have I started ranted about 8:30am classes on here? Its like death, my eyes can’t even fully open in a computer science course.

So this is where the story ends...

David

Friday Night Madness

Yesterday was the first Friday back at school here at Carleton and people on my floor seemed to be making up for lost time when they could be drinking and getting high together over the Christmas break. Fortunately, they are extremely efficient in that that area of expertise and by 10:30 p.m. our floor was filled with woohooing, halloing, whoopeeing, and yeehawing.

Meanwhile, Kitty and I sidestepped those hooligans and were having a more sophisticated evening. One of our friends was sleeping over and we were having a movie night (or as much of a movie night as we could have given that my laptop was the only one working and DC++ was not cooperating). On the agenda was:

• Mulan (1998), in which we discovered that Captain Shang is secretly gay and wishes Mulan was a real boy.
• A Night in Casablanca (1946) featuring the Marx brothers, not to be confused with Casablanca (1942), which featured the nauseating talents of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. But that's another review for another time. The Marx brothers' version is so funny! If you haven't seen one of their movies, you have been living life unknowingly missing a limb. I'm sure you all love them. You just haven't realized it yet.
• Various episodes of Friends in which we decided to take on the challenge of naming all 50 US states. We painfully managed to get 46 before admitting defeat (It was about to be 45 but Vermont suddenly came to me at 5 a.m. in my sleep).

In the middle of A Night in Casablanca, the two worlds collided - the world of suave, urbane sophistication and the world of mindless, stoned euphoria. This is possibly the only entertaining part of their wild nights of substance abuse: watching the stupid be stupid.

With absolutely no warning, our door was flung open and a drunken Swedish guy stumbled in. All three of us stared at him while the movie continued in the background. Sweden tried to focus his line of vision (it looked like it took an enormous effort) and he blinked at us blankly. Three Asian girls huddled around a laptop watching a black-and-white movie. Silence for about 10 seconds. He stared at us. We stared at him. He smacked his face into our wall. We stared at him. He almost fell into our closet. We stared at him. He finally decides to explain himself, "Oh g-...mumble mumble...isn't my room...mumble mumble...THIS IS THE WRONG ROOM!" And with that, he flings himself out the door, slamming it behind him. We burst into laughter.

So now we have a new addition to our list of intoxicated characters that live on our floor:

• Stoned Chris - permanently high and hopelessly laid back. On occasion, he has been known to stand outside our door without knocking, ready to scare the bejesus out of us when we open the door.
• Wasted Tara and her supposed supervisor, Drunken Danielle - our washroommates who insist on going barhopping every night only to come back noisily at ungodly hours of the morning. Tara is always in miserable shape, and has spent many a night in our washroom sprawled on the ground yelling obscenities at the world. Danielle, who insists on being perfectly capable of holding her liquor, tries to help Tara back into the room while screaming at the top of her lungs for people to be quiet before they wake up the whole floor. Very considerate people.
• Drunk Pete - an exception. Pete doesn't live on our floor. His friends don't even live on our floor. And yet we have seen him about four times last semester and every single time, he is drunk out of his mind. We secretly think he's permanently drunk. In past experiences, he has walked into our room, rolled around on our TV room floor, invited us to a party, and nearly cried when we said we were going to have to pass on that offer. Always a treat.
• Sweden - I suspect his name may be Pad (that's right, as in "I'm writing on a-") I met him once on the first day back. He's living in the foreign exchange student room, which used to belong to Roderigo, who no one ever saw. He's making a wonderful first impression, getting out there and making some high friends. Kitty pointed out that it was possible he wasn't making friends and he was high all by himself. But that's a whole different kind of party.

It was a rather eventful evening to polish off my first class-less Friday. I now notice how much I've been missing out. Free Fridays are the new love of my life. What a day of possibility, of wonder, of excitement. Anything can happen Fridays! I can hear the hallelujah chorus.

On a side note, it's 10:32 a.m. and the people in my room are still asleep. I'm starving! I want breakfast! But in case you haven't tried it yourself, it is very difficult to go anywhere with two unconscious people dragging behind out.

Oh! Will wonders never cease? They seem to have heard my telepathic commands. Kitty suddenly sat up in bed and my other friend rolled over and said, "Good morning." It's a miracle! Time to feed!

2010 Begins!

I hate being out of the loop! Melvin, Melvin, Melvin, how you have failed me! You had anally announced to the world in bolded angry red lettering, "our blog will be moving to thegatheringtwentyten.blogspot.com at the start of the new year." And did we move? Clearly not! How you lead us on with your cruel unyielding ways. What else can we count on in life if not the unadulterated word of Melvin!

You besmirch my character, and I don't need to take that. Let me be alone in this time of heavy emotion, and recover from the shock of it all. All this time I was waiting for a new blog, I could have been writing more pages of my mundane Ottawa life? Say it ain't so!

Fortunately for you all (as I'm sure my lack of entries has been quite a shock for you as well), you needn't grieve any longer! Hang up your mourning garments, your shawls of despair! Weep no more, my compassionate women! Cease the beatings upon your breasts, my courageous men! There is hope, for I have an In-Case-of-Emergency entry for an occasion such as this.

All is not lost! You will have a glimpse into the new year for Veronica Tang yet! Take heart, gentle friends! Read on!

January 4, 2010. 11:10 p.m.

It’s back to the life of routines and schedules. I can’t believe Christmas is over already and it’s winter semester. We’re more than halfway done our first year of university, and supposedly a great deal smarter than we were in June when all we had was a high school diploma. We’re university scholars now, founts of knowledge and worldly insight to be honed and refined into profound brain things!

I don’t feel a whole lot smarter, just older and greyer. I daresay I’ve sprouted more white hairs and etched a few more lines into my face (from all that furrowing of the brow that comes with reading mind-numbingly boring material). Ah yes, such are the fruits of our labour!

But that’s enough philosophizing. On to more pressing matters, like the welcome I received from my beloved Carleton University.

The snow in Ottawa has become outrageous. It was nothing like this when I left for Christmas break. There’s at least 30 cm of snow on the ground and there are snow-shovelling trucks everywhere, ready to run over any inattentive students. At first, I thought it was a pretty good deal. All our roads and sidewalks would be snow-free and ready for pedestrians to use by 8:15 a.m. There’s a small catch. The snow-ploughing people choose which roads they’re going to clear, and they don’t particularly take an interest in short cuts. I learned that the hard way.

I was on my way to class from the library, separated by a big open courtyard known as the Quad. Normally, there’s a path going right through the Quad so you don’t have to make a detour and go around the perimeter of this enormous square. The perimeter happens to be one of those routes deemed worthy of shovelling and they’re all wonderfully clear. I assumed that the Quad was shovelled too. NEVER ASSUME! You know what they say: When you assume...you end up stranded in the middle of the courtyard, up to your knees in snow! Half of the path was shovelled and the other half was left au naturel, all the better for students to admire Mother Nature’s winter beauty. Ah Mother Nature, I can only offer you the words of Sheldon Cooper: “Thou art a heartless b****.”

Like I was saying, I was stranded halfway to my destination. I couldn’t go back because at the time, I thought it would look stupid to just turn around after I’d gotten so far. So I settled instead for the dignified alternative – plunging onward into the deepening snow. I slipped and slid and flailed and teetered my way to the edge of the Quad. “Success!” I think to myself. But I spoke too soon. I lifted one foot to start climbing up the stairs, only to find a steep, snow-covered incline where the stairs should have been. What else could I do? I climbed with all the grace a girl can have with buckets of snow packed into her boots. It was most unpleasant.

And here’s the real topper, because my journey wasn’t enough of an embarrassment. The building I was trying to get to is made completely of glass (on the outside at least) – large, squeaky-clean glass windows. And all along the side of the glass were students with their faces pressed against the glass taking in every graceful step of my harrowing journey.

I flung the doors open, marched inside, stomped my snow-filled, sodden boots on the mat, dug out as much snow as I could by the handful, brushed off my jeans (which were already soaked from the melting snow), and walked off to class with every single student in the building watching me.

Still the motto remained: Dignity. Always dignity.

on to the next one

Just wanted to say good luck with this semester to everyone! Even if you are in a coop term, work hard and have fun on your job! Oh and dont forget to meet new people. Get a good start to the new year!