Already a month!?

Yes, it's already been a month since I moved to new york! Time flew by so quickly... it's going to be my midterms before I know it. AND it will be my spring break soon too, which means I'm coming back home for approximately 10 days!

We had another snow day this friday because it started snowing like crazy, beginning on thursday morning. Thursday should have been a snow day too... I almost fell down a bajillion times walking to and from Tai Chi. FIT decided to close the school AFTER my tai chi class arghh.

Now it's actually not that cold, but there's dripping water everywhere. OH and snow clumps falling which is quite dangerous.

School is still okay, not too difficult yet I think. I got one of my assignments back from my advertising and promo class; I got an A! I was quite happy because a lot of people had to redo the assignment. Gotta give all my effort for everything else though! Every week is flying by right now, probably because the week ends for thursday for me.

Laterz...

Under the sea

It's official. I am convinced Ottawa is the lost city of Atlantis. There is water everywhere! People are wading through rivers just to get from building to building. I don't mean large puddles. I mean rivers! The roads have turned into streams complete with ripples and waterfalls at the curb. And do you know why we are suddenly sloshing through all this water? Maybe it's because it's been "snowing" for the past week and a half but the temperature's been hovering around -2 to 3 degrees, giving us a soggy, slushy welcome-back from Reading Week.

On the plus side, I just had the best apple of my life. This was actually a great apple! If I were Eve and that apple was on the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, I would definitely throw caution to the wind and eat as many as possible before God ousted me from Eden. That's how great it was. You missed out, guys. It was the highlight of my life. It's all downhill from here!

I also would like to say that I found my favourite group of people on campus. The Charlatan staff. They are without a doubt the funniest people I've ever met. With every extra second I spend in the news room, I like them more and more. There's never a shortage of entertainment and everyone is so chummy. It's exactly like the play family at HTS, only with fewer fairies and no giant rift between the cast and the crew. I love newspaper!

Too bad I can't actually stay there forever since I don't actually work there anymore. I'll just keep popping in every now and then. They won't mind . . . and if they do, I'll just start picking up some papers and pretend I'm copy editing. It's brilliant! Cue evil laugh.

Now I should really get to work. I have this journalism assignment to do where we have to come up with 10 questions to ask a dead guy. It's to help us practice making an interview plan and we're all supposed to research a famous journalist and ask thought-provoking questions and explain why it's significant to today's society, put it into context, the usual blah blah.

It's not that I don't like the person I'm interviewing (her name's Nellie Bly and she's this crazy American chick who did these crazy stunts just to get an interesting story. Role model!), but it's just tedious work that I don't want to do. Oh well, thinking happy thoughts!

And of course, there's that whole issue of I have a midterm the day before my journalism assignment is due! Yay time management! So in the spirit of making every minute as productive as possible, I've wasted about 20 minutes keeping you all up to date on my awe-inspiring life.

P.S. You all need to watch "Kittens inspired by kittens" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtX8nswnUKU. This is not an option. You must watch it. You're welcome.

i would love spring to come

Hey!

Wow we haven't been updating. Reading week was great. I did nothing, until I realized I was screwed.

So I love living in Toronto! Because it's such a major city, a lot of people come here and events are always happening and stuff. I really love going out in the city. Although I haven't really -omg the floor just shook- our building couldn't fix the floor when they renovated the building could they?! Like we're in Interior Design, we are always drafting and 1 step could mess you up. Our floor is so old!! GEEEEZ SID! xD Jk

okay, now where was I??

Oh yea....so yea living in the city has been amazing and dangerous (money-wise). I get the opportunity to go to concerts and events without having to schedule it around my parent's time. all my time, no parentals :)

on the other hand, I REALLY NEED A JOB! Any ideas??

Gonna keep it short. Gotta head to class soon!

ps. i just realized this was a random post :P

CANADA! CANADA! CANADA!

Hi,

I just like to say:

GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!GO CANADA!

That is all!
-David

Post from the editor

I write to you, not merely as Veronica Tang, but Veronica Tang, national editor of the Charlatan! This is the week I get to be guest editor and it has been extremely stressful. I've spent so many hours in the office clicking away on the abominable Macs and trying to scrape a layout together.

That's right. I am proud to say I am a PC. Macs are pretty but they make me want to smash them against the wall or hurl them out the window. To those who are offended, I offer you my insincere apologies if it makes you feel better.

The important part is, all Mac-hating aside, I have finished layout and I'm just waiting for the results from the copy editor.

I'm catching up on news at the moment (along with all the other school work that I have tossed onto the back burner since this editor gig). So I'll just leave you with this little snippet from the news room.

I was trying to print off my layout to get it copy edited but the printer was not my friend. I tried to change the paper in the paper tray and I made it angry. It made screechy sounds at me! I implored the editorial editor, Marlee, to help me. After about two minutes of fiddling around with it, Marlee turns around to face the news room where all the other editors are staring intently at their desks. At the top of her lungs, she says, "HEY! DOES ANYONE WANT TO MAKE LOVE TO THE PRINTER? IT'S GIVING VERONICA A HARD TIME!"

I just about died. But that wasn't even the end of it. Joel, the news section editor gets up with an enthusiastic, "I WILL!"

It doesn't end there either. Joel walks over to the printer. There's a little wall separating me and the printer. It doesn't reach the ceiling but you can't see over it. All I hear is Joel talking to the printer and making tinkering sounds.

"Who's a good printer? That's it! There's a good printer! Let Joel make it all better!"

He then brandishes my printed pages in the air with the flourish and says, "See? You just gotta show the printer a little love. You see, Veronica, printers are not that different from you and I. They throw tantrums when you're mean to them, but with a little lovin', they'll do anything for you. The printer and I have a special connection."

How I love the news room. The longer I sit there, the more I love the Charlatan and all its quirky characters.

P.S. Our e-in-c made us watch "Kittens inspired by kittens" on YouTube. We had a whole office meeting to watch it. If you need a break from your academic woe, watch it!

All by my...SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELF!

In case my use of capitals, repeated vowels, and conveniently placed ellipsis weren't clear enough, the title is meant to be sung. Sing it! That's an order!

Silliness aside, let's take a quick snapshot of my life as a hermit, shall we? It is extremely quiet in my house. The TV is now constantly on, partly to make noise, partly so I can watch the Olympics all day long (and convince myself that it's all academia-related, for the good of news quiz!), and mostly because I haven't watched TV in about two months. There just is nothing to watch when -

Sorry, I've been taking about 10 minutes to write that b/c I'm watching speed skating and we just beat New Zealand. Third place over all for men's speed skating. Well, race is over. Back to the keyboard!

-you have to fight over the TV with some avid sports fans on our floor. They can actually sit in front of that screen and watch the sports channel all day. I don't have that kind of commitment or patience. Now I can hog the TV all I want!

You see how I make this whole living-on-my-own thing fun for myself? I'm so self-motivated.

So I've been working away for the past day and half that I've been home. It didn't even feel like I was on break. There's just so much to do! I just realized how much work it is to be an editor, and not even the e-in-c, but just a section editor. I used to always want to be an editor, but I think I prefer writing the stories than assigning them. Reporting is where it's at!

I'm going to my dad's tonight for Chinese New Year Eve dinner. I'm looking at about four hours give or take of awkward, forced social protocol. That means I've got to polish that fake smile and feigned interest. I foresee a lot of, "How are you liking university? Did you make friends? Do you like your classes? What's your residence like?" For my own amusement, I'm going to see how long I can keep up a one-word (or better yet, a mono-syllabic) answer without sounding rude. Very exciting.

Before I forget and go on about the Olympics again, I'd like to send a little "Amen, sistah!" to Rach for her cynical view of Valentine's Day. I didn't know about the Starbucks festive cups (which is a little shameful because I was just at Starbucks and didn't notice anything. Observation is the key to all successful journalists. Awesome.) The only thing I like about Valentine's Day is the emphasis on chocolate. Other than that, it's a great big "Up yours, single losers!" from goo-goo-eyed lovers of the world. Doesn't that just give you warm fuzzies?

On the plus side, I have a little tidbit of entertainment for all to enjoy in relation to Valentine's Day. Hear me out, Rach! It's amusing, I promise! The Globe and Mail had this list of the most romantic cities in Canada (based on sales of romance novels, movies, and the new Michael Bublé CD, the obvious measure of romance). Results?

1. Saskatoon
2. Calgary
3. Victoria
4. Regina
5. Guelph

I love how the top four are all in the West. The west coast of loooooooooooove. And when they finally get to Ontario, it's Guelph. Guelph? Really? That's a little depressing. I would like to think we're a little more romantic than that here.

London is 10th. Ottawa came in 12th. And Windsor gets the Needs Improvement award at a dismal 20th place. Now we know where all anti-Valentine's Day people can settle down for the rest of their lives. Windsor's looking mighty fine. Those are the practical people. That's how we get things done!

I see it now.
It's a brisk winter's day in Windsor. Enter couple.
Woman: What's that you've got?
Man: A ring.
Woman: Oh. Marriage?
Man: Yeah. Pause while Woman contemplates number of carats in that diamond. So. How 'bout it?
Woman: Yeah, okay I guess. I got time for a quick wedding, no reception.
Man: Sweet.

On the other hand, steer clear of the love-drunk West! Unless you fancy the following:
Man: Oh smoochie-poo!
Woman: Yes dearest hunk of man candy?
Man: I've got a surprise for you!
Woman: What ever could it be! My heart is all aflutter!
Man: Brandishes ring with a flourish. Oh my darling lover whom I adore, won't you spend the rest of your life with me? We'll rent out a cabin in mountains, and stare into each other's eyes until we're both blinded by cataracts!
Woman: Oh you know I will, honey bunches! A dove flies out of his coat pocket, picks up the ring in its beak and places it on Woman's finger. A violinist pops out from behind a tree and plays mood music while the setting sun casts a gentle orange glow over the lovers. Oh, throw in some rose petals for good measure.
Man: Oh smoochie-poo!
Woman: Oh honey bunches!
Embrace. Kiss passionately. Grab a bucket while you gag.

On that note, I should really get back to work. It's been fun. Enjoy the break!

Snowed in...

Finished my second week of school! But this week was ridiculously chills for me because school was closed on Wednesday because of the raging snow storm outside (believe me it was BAD) and both of my classes were cancelled today! So I only had two days of classes PLUS it's a long weekend, so even better!

It's quite disgusting outside... all the slush and puddles, yuckiness. Snow/rain in the city is always the worst!

I decided to finally head to the gym yesterday since it was a snow day, but it wasn't exactly the smartest idea. Since it was a snow day, nobody had classes, so everyone either went to go exercise OR do laundry haha

My parents are coming to visit me this weekend, so I can't wait to see them! Lots of stuff coming down for me ^^

Have an awesome reading week everyone! Get lots of sleep and eat some yummy food at home! OH and HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR EVERYONE! oh and Valentine's Day. Go get some chocolates! We should have White Day here in North America. OH that reminds me: I can't believe they have Valentine's Day cups at Starbucks... it's just one overrated day. I understand Christmas, but Valentine's!?!? hehe sorry for my cynicism.

Good luck on your mid-terms!

Homeward bound!

I am running on four hours of sleep and a coffee that had zero effect on me. As predicted by my gremlin diagnosis, I was unable to sleep until about 5 a.m. this morning. I missed my alarm by an hour and only woke up at 9 when Kitty's alarm went off. It's times like these that make me love my roomie. I've just been so pressed for time all day long.

I didn't get to finish doing my laundry. I ran to class only to sit there for about 20 minutes doing nothing while our professor tried to fix some "technological difficulties" followed by an extremely dull presentation about using the library catalogue. I was so tired, I think my eyes were slits all day! As my friend Lindsay would say, I was having "an Asian day."

I had no time whatsoever to get caught up. I think I still had laundry lying on my bed until 5:15 p.m. The only good thing about today (other than the fact that I'm going to be home in about six hours) is our TA in journalism tutorial let us leave early! She was having a bad day too. And by bad day, it was really bad. I thought "bad day" would mean she missed her bus. But it was much worse. She was locked out of her apartment while getting laundry, stuck outside with no coat and no socks in -10-degrees temperature. (It's actually a warm day for Ottawa but not when you don't have a coat). She ended up breaking into her apartment with the help of an onlooking stranger. That right there is the epitome of a bad day.

I'm all packed now and ready to go! I'm probably going to head out in about an hour and a half. I'll just chill at the airport until it's time to board. I just want to get out of the Carleton campus!

By the way, I am going to be swamped with work this Reading Week but I would still look favourably upon any attempts to get together and catch up. Just putting it out there. If you don't like it, just send it back and we'll pretend it never happened.

Toronto-ho!

Breaking News: I'm a Gremlin

You have not misread my title. I am in fact a gremlin. I went out to dinner with my floor (it was one girl's birthday) and we didn't end up eating until really late, maybe about 9 p.m. We went to The Works. That burger place must see a lot of students, but I never get tired of it. With about 100 different burgers, it's not really an issue. Plus, I made good use of my birthday coupon. I got a free burger! All I had to pay for was my mocha oreo milkshake. And oh yes, it is just as good as it sounds.

Now it is 12:41 in the a.m. and I am still wiiiiiide awake! Kitty was the one who diagnosed me as a gremlin. This is exactly why I don't feed after 8 p.m. I become this raging wild beast! Behold!

I was going to start packing because I'M GOING HOME TOMORROW! In fact, in less than 24 hours, I am going to be back in Toronto and snuggling down into my own sweet bed. Life is grand. The only problem is, I have yet to pack and there's nothing I can do about it because tomorrow is laundry day. I can't possibly pack what I don't have.

So now that I've killed some time, I think I will start sorting out the things other than clothes that will be making the wonderful trip home with me. Ahh the life of a gremlin is really going to hit me like a pie in the face tomorrow.

So close yet so far

I can't wait until Reading Week! Kitty and I haven't been able to focus on school at all! Brains have already left for Toronto. There is zero productivity going on here and it's not just us. Our entire floor is going ballistic. People are skipping down the hallways at midnight singing the Friends theme song.

Side Note: These past few nights, I've had little luck getting to sleep because our washroommates next door always choose to watch their documentaries at nighttime. I really hope it's for school because I can't stand another night falling asleep to "And so, Woodrow Wilson... mumble mumble mumble... US at war! Mumble mumble mumble Why do people fear religion? Mumble wartime! Mumble...Eisenhower." It's most distracting.

Now I should really be reading the news and then heading off to class. I've got a French midterm today that I didn't study for (because it's so mind numbingly easy). Just think, in a little more than a day, Toronto will once again bask in my glow. Get pumped.

Happy Hump Day!

WASHROOM PROJECT IS DONE!! --WELL OFFICIALLY IN 4.5 HOURS =D =D =D!!

I'm in my CAD class now, and after I have to go photocopy my washroom working drawings then see if I have anything I have to fix then I'M DONE!!!!!!!! I NEVER THOUGHT THIS DAY WOULD COME!!! :D

Now on to Vertical Studio -_-
Let me explain the hell that I have to go through for the remainder of the semester. So every upper year you talk to at Interio Design will tell you Vertical studio is hell. So you work in a group of 3 and a group of 3 of 2nd year. (wow that was not gramatically right, but I'm running on 0 sleep for 2 nights) And this year the theme is adapt and reuse. We haven't officially been introduced to it yet though. that's this afternoon.

Can't wait for reading week!!!! Just gotta sit through 3 hours of art history, 1 hour of Vertical Studio, and 3 hours of an inclass project.

me sleepy, but must sit through class :(
Happy Hump Day! Almost Friday, which means it's almost READING WEEK!! =D
A week of sleeping, no not really. I'm going to take the week to explore Toronto ....finally!!!

See you guys soon!! :)

Beware the sketchy do-gooders

I forgot to mention in my last post my latest adventure. I don't have Friday classes (and it's the best feeling of life) so I decided I'd do something nice and volunteer with the Ottawa Mission. They needed people who help make sandwiches for the homeless. I figured sandwiches were pretty easy. Even I can make a sandwich.

Carleton has this club called Meal Exchange. They were in charge of doing Trick or Eat, which is the equivalent to Halloween for Hunger. It sounds like a good cause. They sound pretty legit so I decided to go with them to the Ottawa Mission. Biggest mistake ever!

These people are WEIRD! I should've seen it coming from the beginning. I went to their office where we were supposed to meet and it's this tiny little room with a precarious divider acting as a temporary wall down the middle. This huge girl named Tabitha looks up at me with her dopey face when I ask if I'm in the right place. She gets up (which took a lot of effort) and she shakes my hand. That doesn't seem too bad, right? Wrong! I know people are supposed to have firm handshakes but this one was bone-crushing! I had to check to make sure I was still smiling as I tried to inconspicuously pry my hand out of hers. She tells me to sit on this old squishy couch, which was covered in bags filled with loaves of bread and jars of peanut butter and jam.

About 10 minutes go by. This guy comes in and Tabitha seems to know him. He largely ignores me and starts talking about how much he hates first years.

Excerpt from bitter guy: "I hate all the random little first years running for election. Who are you? Get out! They don't even know anything about the system and they think" [cue high pitched, squeaky annoying voice] "I was president of student government in high school. Now I'm going to be super involved in university! Yay!" [back to normal-pitched annoying voice] "Ugh! I hate them all! I'm not voting for any of them. I laughed in one girl's face when she asked me to sign her nominations board. Please, like I'm really going to vote for you."

At this point in his lively rant, he turns and sees me, puts on fake cheery face and says, "Oh hi there! I didn't see you! I'm Andrew." Extends hand for handshake.

I wipe off the look of disgust and shake his hand while mumbling "Veronica." in a less than ecstatic voice. And I couldn't believe it. Twice in 10 minutes! He has a bone-crushing handshake too! Who are these people!? Why do they hate fingers?

We start heading out to the bus stop and I just follow along quietly. Tabitha and Andrew continue to swap stories about every crappy thing that happened to them in the past 24 hours. For people who are supposed to be helping the helpless, you'd think they'd lighten up a little. Another volunteer who seems to know Tabitha and Andrew comes to join us. His name is Daniel.

We finally get to Byward Market and we're moving along at a brisk walk. Andrew confidently leads us into a building clearly marked Salvation Army. I think to myself, "That's funny. I didn't know the Ottawa Mission was the same as the Salvation Army." But I didn't question. I really didn't want to trigger another rant from the Hitler of first-years. Yeesh.

We're sitting around in the lobby for a good 20 minutes. Tabitha's been on and off the phone with two other people who are supposed to meet us. They're the executive members of the club and yet we don't see them anywhere. It turns out we're in the wrong shelter. Big surprise. We walk out shamefully with our bags of food while a group of homeless people stare at us as they lean against the side of the Salvation Army. We're feeling wonderful at this point.

After several narrow alleyways, we finally get to the Ottawa Mission. There I meet Allison! and Mumblemumble! That's actually how they say their names, loud and chipper like it comes with exclamation marks. We all sit around a table with the food we brought and we wait for the volunteer coordinator to come out. She does eventually and goes on a very long explanation of everything the Ottawa Mission does. I get bored and focus on the two pigeons attacking each other outside the window. At first I thought they were fighting but I actually think they were busy making baby pigeons. There's the Discovery channel for you.

The long explanation eventually ends and we start making sandwiches. That part was okay. It was kind of fun actually. We made so many sandwiches. I think we used up 10 loaves of bread. It was great! Who doesn't like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? The real sketchiness starts after we start cleaning up.

I'm finishing up the last of my sandwiches when Mumblemumble! picks up one of the end pieces from the bag of bread. "I'm so hungry!" she says. And she starts spreading peanut butter and jelly on the end piece and she eats it! I think my jaw actually dropped. She's stealing from the poor? Seriously?! I know no one likes the end pieces but I've just been making sandwiches out of them anyway because I'm pretty sure the hungry poor will still want to eat them.

Mumblemumble! must have seen me staring at her because then she offers me one! She actually reached into the bag and offers me a sandwich! I said in a rather disgusted voice, "No thanks. This is for the poor." She shrugs and starts making another sandwich! I couldn't believe it! And you know what everyone else does? They JOIN her! They all start munching away on the last pieces! I was disgusted.

I start cleaning up. I gather up all the leftover jars of peanut butter and jelly and I take them into the kitchen to donate them. Or at least I try. Tabitha reaches over, grabs a jar of peanut butter and says, "I think I'm going to keep this! I'm out of peanut butter anyway." And this was after she said everything was on sale at the grocery store.

These people disgust me. I'm never volunteering with them again.

To top it all off, they left me to fend for myself and find my own way back from the Ottawa Mission. I asked Daniel for directions to the Rideau Centre. He says he's going there too so he says, "I'll walk you there." Great. This means I won't get lost. We're walking along at a good place when suddenly, he points off into the distance and says, "There. The Rideau Centre's right there. See ya." And he books it! He just runs away! He ran across an intersection and left me! He's so bizarre. I just kind of wandered off in the direction he pointed out in a bit of a daze.

Common denominator: These people are all in third year. I met a lot of people here at school but they're all either first, second, or fourth year. Third years have just disappeared. Now I know where they all are. They live in a private room in hell together, stealing from the poor and sharing bitter stories. Good riddance.

Filling in the blanks

Like I promised earlier, I will now be filling in the giant gaps in the ridiculous life of Veronica Tang as I'm sure you've all been perched anxiously on the edges of your seats, desperate for updates. And don't you worry. I shall deliver.

Madness of CUSA elections

These are the Carleton University Student Association elections. It's absolutely insane! I actually think it's more intense than the federal elections. You can't get through the tunnels without being bombarded by platforms. Candidates shove pamphlets in your face and every wall and pillar in the school is plastered with posters, each featuring a confident-looking student with a too-happy smiles.

Why does this concern me? Well other than being an actively concerned member of the student body, the CUSA elections are of great interest to me because I am a newsie through and through. Well, the second half of that is true. I actually couldn't care less who's representing me. School politics are not really my thing. I've got bigger fish to fry. I am Veronica Tang.

How did I suddenly find myself face-first in students' campaigns? I wasn't so much introduced to the subject as I was thrown, plunged and launched. At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, I receive an email from the Charlatan's news editors. They have three people for me to cover. Three executive members. Not just the little council members. This is much more prestigious and they chose me! Finally, all my hard work pays off and I get recognition!

The real kicker: The three profiles are due at 6 p.m. the same day they were assigned. Let me crunch some numbers for you.

• 3 hours
• 3 profiles
• 250 words each = 750 words

Three hours may seem like a lot but let me remind you I have to track down my sources, set up a meeting with them, actually meet them (and wishing the campus was a lot smaller), interview them, transcribe my recordings, condense their platform into fast and easy points to read, and oh right, actually write the thing.

Long story short, I missed my deadline by 10 minutes but I think we should still categorize this as a success, partly for my self esteem and partly because they still published it. I really tried my best, okay? I nearly gave myself an aneurysm. It's the biggest rush you'll ever get, trying to make a newspaper deadline. I think I'm leading myself to an early grave but it's great! I love the thrill, the rush! Three hours has never felt so short. I am significantly closer to getting arthritis than ever before, but we all make our sacrifices.

Small fill-in: I've spent the past week and a half groveling for stories at the Charlatan office with excellent results.

• I'm going to be National editor for a week after Reading Week.
• Our e-in-c (editor-in-chief) now recognizes me. Face and name!
• The news editors told me everyone raved about my prorogation article at post-mort (the weekly meeting after the paper's released where everyone gathers and goes through the latest issue.)

My latest story: I have one day (tomorrow) to cover a conspiracy story! One of the campaigning teams, United Carleton, has violated several rules. They've advertised on Facebook and they have a Twitter account, and they've spent a fortune on their website. It looks amazing but it's definitely violating some rules. If you want to check it out, it's just their graphics on their opening screen. Go take a look if you have some time to kill since you all seem so bored and not stressed at all. Here's the link: http://unitedcarleton.ca/

Kitty's Birthday

I got up extra early, partly to set up for Kitty's birthday but more so because I had mucho work to do. I've been incredibly busy lately. It's terrible! I really need this Reading Week. Anyway, I made a card for Kitty and I got everyone on our floor to sign it. I got her some DVDs (Benjamin Button and Princess Bride) and some books (Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm). I hid them in a Cheerio box so when she had breakfast, it would be like the prize in the cereal box! The only down side was it didn't fit in her Cheerio box (she hasn't eaten enough of it for me to fit a present in there!), but I'm a thinker! I had just finished a box of the same Cheerios. Kitty had the family size and I had the regular size and I was kind of hoping she wouldn't notice. I needn't have worried. Kitty can't register anything suspicious within the first hour of waking up.

We didn't go out and celebrate that night but tomorrow night we're going out to dinner. Kitty went to LCBO today and stocked up on so much booze. It scares me a little. She's got another bottle of Baileys, she just finished her bottle of raspberry Smirnoff so she got several cans of Heineken, and some coolers and rum for our friend (which she is definitely going to help drink). I feel like I should be concerned.

Reading Week

Okay. I know it's going to be difficult but I'm going to segue into a more serious subject. I am super excited about Reading Week and coming home, but it's not really going to be as great as I expected because my mom is in Hong Kong until Mar. 9.

My uncle in Hong Kong has stage four cancer in his spine, neck, and lungs (and possibly more places that they have yet to track down). I don't know a whole lot about cancer, but I do know that stage four is just about the worst stage there is. On top of that, spine cancer is extra risky because it's hard to do treatment so close to the spinal cord. My aunt (my mom's sister) is terribly upset, as I'm sure you can imagine. They also live with my grandma. They didn't want to tell her about the cancer yet so as not to upset her.

What does this mean? This means my aunt has to go with my uncle to the hospital and find out all this horrible news, cry her heart out and then go home and pretend nothing is wrong so as not to alarm my grandmother. No one should have to go through that, especially not alone. My mom was also really upset when she found out and she was telling me about it. It's the worst feeling in the world to have your own family so far away and there's nothing you can do to help them.

My mom decided (with my full support) to go to Hong Kong and be with my aunt and my grandma while my uncle finishes all his tests and to break the news to my grandma. It doesn't look good so far, but we're all keeping our fingers crossed.

So anyway, I think we're all up to speed now. I should really try to post shorter updates more frequently instead of one long update. Easier said than done.

Bye Bye First Week

I have successfully survived my first week of classes here at FIT!

Here's a breakdown of them:

Monday - Fashion Business Practices (8am), Intro to Psych (3pm), and Excel for Business (6:30pm)

Tuesday - Advertising and Promotion (9am)

Wednesday - Intro to Fashion Industry (12pm)

Thursday - English Composition (9am) and Tai Chi (2pm)

Friday - NO CLASS!

Needless to say, I was really nervous for the first day of class because I really didn't know what to expect since I was the newbie here. I actually wasn't as nervous at Ryerson because I had already met so many people who had the same schedule and classes as me. But here at FIT, meeting people is one of THE hardest things ever; you have to be the one that has to take the first step to say 'hi'. All of my classes seem really interesting, especially Advertising/Promo, Intro to Fashion Industry and Tai Chi. I think Tai Chi is going to be one of my favourite courses ever, I've already learned some moves! The only class that seemed really intimidating is the Fashion Industry one because my professor is ridiculously strict about punctuality and assignments. He's also flamboyantly gay LOLS He's very nitpicky and a tad whiny... All my other professors seem pretty chills and cool. OH and there are only 25 people in all of my classes, good and bad. The good is that it's easier to talk to the profs and to the people in the class. The bad: it's impossible to skip class here; they take attendance every day.

I've met at least one person in each of my classes so at least I'm not TOO lonely. The first two friends I made at FIT are both Korean haha. There are A LOT of Koreans in FIT; they make up most of the FIT population. This is really funny, but I actually feel kind of at home in Ktown (Koreatown) on 32nd and 6th. Also at Kinokuniya, my beloved bookstore at Bryant Park.

My first week here at FIT was really lonely because I didn't know anyone here and everything seemed so intimidating. The crazy people are actually scary. The insane in Toronto seem tame. I'm serious. I'm petrified of the crazy people in new york, but I'm learning the ins and outs of the city, so I should be okay. Plus I'm learning Tai Chi, which is actually the 'calmer', more 'peaceful' way of killing someone, so I'm learning some self-defense moves too along the way. I'm slowly warming up to the city but I do miss Toronto. A lot surprisingly. I also miss DRIVING; I'm so tired of walking everywhere, especially when you have to buy groceries and lug it all back to dorm.

I can't wait to see you guys in the end of March!

One deadline away from an aneurysm

Let's get some perspective, shall we?

It's 12:06 a.m. I am still awake and typing away on a blog when I really need to be studying for my midterm in 14.5 short hours. I know it seems like a lot but it really isn't. I don't have nearly enough time and energy to fill you all in on everything I want to say. It's been a horribly long time since I last posted. Mere days can equal thousands of words in my life as I'm sure you know. But don't worry. I'll spare you. Partly for your sanity but mostly for the livelihood of my soon-to-be-arthritic fingers.

As a teaser of what's to come (hopefully), here is a list of topics upon which I hope to elaborate in the near future:

• Madness of CUSA elections
• Kitty's birthday (a.k.a. my extremely long day of consciousness)
• Reading Week (incl. mom, uncle, and Hong Kong)

There is undoubtedly more points or at least more subcategories. But that's all I'll say for now b/c I need to sort laundry. That's right. I need to. Trust me.

Absolute

Soooooooooooooo its been a month since the semester started and hows my life?

Well, I'm running out of food in my fridge and the meal plan is terrible here. Currently, I just finished my com sci project that is due at 5pm. Also, I'm doing laundry and i have 20 minutes till I can retrieve my clothing from the dryer.

How's my life?
I have no life.
Just had a midterm last night and taking seven courses is tough. Especially if you are taking 2 biol, a chem, a chem lab, econ, com sci and a scibus course (which is like a Harvard business review workshop...no jokes)

O_O, ]_], o_o, =_=, -_-, :S, :_:, ?_?; >.< RANDOMNESS!! WOOHOO

Enough for now,
David