Polygraph, Right Now! (And the almost-end)

Like I said, I'm a big fan of the Aiello siblings. Go youtube them; they're fantastic. How about female pipes on what's normally a dark, morose kind of male-voiced song? Can we say it's absolutely happening? Yes. So go check them out. And if anything, we can replace the "her" and the "she" with "UTSG," right? Good stuff, good stuff.

One more exam. One more. I'm counting the days. The hours. The minutes. The seconds. The moments that have yet to pass before I'm allowed to lay back, not care and just not give a flying fuck about life. Well. For a week or so. Oh, I'm so excited. Now, if you'll excuse me. I've got Ella Enchanted on my agenda and far away dreams to enjoy.

To the PHY138 kids writing their final exam tomorrow -- hang in there. I've no passion for the course, and I say you're all brave and/or masochists for taking that course, but hey. Kudos to you for making it thus far.

See you on the dark side, mes amis.
(Green)Peace out.

Update, pre-study week.

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

-- Alan Kay

Cleaned the closet.

Dumped the shoes into the closet.

And my progress ends there. Geeze. Can we say intolerable amounts of work yet to be done? Yes. Can we say procrastination in the form of thinking of things other than exams? Yes. Can we say being collectively creative and coming up with shirt/sweater/stuff design? Heck ya.

I'll get back to the real world when I'm insane.

Reading Week: It's zooming by me.

"I've been cautious with the words I extend.
Allow this year before the world starts to end."
-- Coheed and Cambria
(The Light & The Glass, In Keeping Secrets of the Silent Earth: 3)

The week is going by unbelievably, incredibly quickly. I've a shitload to still do and mind my profanities, but that's really the only way (the best way) to describe everything. I still have a bajillion little itty bitty things to do, and I'm avoiding calculus like the plague. I hardly understand what I'm doing right now, but I suppose this is what you call procrastination.

Go listen to Coheed & Cambria on MySpace. I don't know if anyone's into that type of music, what with the lead singer nearing a half-baked falsetto, but they're fantastic musicians. If you get the chance to, go listen to "The Light & The Glass" and "The Crowing" and "A Favour House Atlantic". I've been listening to these guys since ninth grade. Or earlier, I think. My memory fails me.

Ah, back to the demon, better known as re-listening to BIO150 lectures I paid no heed to.

Pasta putanesca. Sort of.

"Homer: Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably.
The lesson is, never try."
-- Homer Simpson (The Simpsons)

This will be a short, unloved, uncared for post. Why? Because I dictate it so. I actually have nothing in particular to complain about, maybe except for a lot of nonsensical things (i.e. what happened to all my good TV? why is this writers strike still up and running?). I'm looking forward to the Oscars (February 24th, a day before week of death). I'm also looking forward to Jumper (February 15th, a day after the first CHM139 test -- also known as the first lash). I'm crossing my fingers for Paramore, who've been nominated for a Grammy (February 10th).

As for everything else? No. I'm not looking forward to anything school-related. If anyone has anything interesting, anything slightly enlightening -- please. Drop me a line. Right now, my mood is as grey and as turbulent as the weather. As unpredictable and as foggy as the skies.

I think I'll watch a movie.


PS: To anyone who likes watching movies and hasn't yet figured out the wonderful UTSU offers, let me reiterate -- $8 movie passes to Famous Players, Cineplex, etc are being sold at the UTSU office. The limit is 10 passes a week. Go stock up? Or, if you don't like that method, go buy a Scene Card. I finally got mine in the mail. Score.

Back to the books and all that jazz.

"My work is a game, very serious game."
-- M.C. Escher

I took a two-hour nap, right after watching the first hour of Jason and the Argonauts (a movie from the 1960s, go check it out on TMC). After a little lecture, thanks pops, on how movies from those days were superior to the movies of these days, and after agreeing half-heartedly, I kind of crashed on the couch and woke up pre-eight-in-the-PM. Then, I did what no to-be-19-year-old does (anymore, or admits to doing anyway): I watched Minutemen on Family Channel (with Nicholas Braun, oh how broodingly dorkily handsome, and Jason Doolie). I think I've done my share of dork-induced movie watching. Now... I'm forcing myself to do work.

Procrastination, by far, is my worst enemy. I'm glad I'm not the only one fighting it; it'd be a very one-sided battle, what with me giving up and the books slamming me with some post-failure jargon. Yeah. That's not to say I've got a split personality -- no, I mean people motivate you to work. I mean, most of the time. Right? I'll stop now. I'm rambling. Rambunctious. Razzle-tazzed.

Get to work. If you haven't done any all week.
Get some rest. If you haven't done so yet.
See you on the dark side... of calculus, chemistry and all that jazz.

Finding peace of mind with a few movies.

"For most of history, Anonymous was a woman."
-- Virginia Woolf

For any who believe that watching movies, instead of doing well-deserved notes, is a waste of time, I beg to differ. Watching movies has this acute way of healing your broken, fried, dried and mushed mind. It helps gather the pieces, re-frame them and voila! You've recomposed your once messy self, and have settled from your volatile disposition. Trust me. Movies, now and then, are necessary for both enjoyment of the heart and peace of mind.

I've watched my share in the past week. I think I've watched more movies than I've ever done in a summer (then again, I'm usually reading sci-fi or classic fiction or doing something vaguely stupid, like hiking in recluse parts of the park/woodsy areas). They've definitely helped in reshaping and moulding my mind. Once a cynic, now a poet. That's how I see it.

Here's a list of what I'm recommending:
Persuasion, Juno, Mansfield Park, The Jane Austen Book Club, Atonement, Ratatouille, Bridget Jones' Diary: The Edge of Reason, Harry Potter 5: Order of the Phoenix, The Butterfly Effect, 27 Dresses, Driving Lessons, Ocean's Eleven to Thirteen, 13 Going on 30, Perfume (warning: very disturbing) and perhaps Ella Enchanted.

So see some movies before the tests kick in, or at least see a movie when you've finished one. I'm sure it'll ease your discomforts and remind you that there is life beyond four sides to a paper. I'm not saying to slack off and settle for less than you're capable of, I'm just anointing this factoid of relaxation. It's crucial to performance. Every now and then, a car needs a tune-up, right? That doesn't mean it goes straight for a fifty-mile road trip run -- no, it goes to the mechanic and lets itself loose.

You should try it sometime.
It really does help.

WJC: Going For Gold

"A good hockey player plays where the puck is.
A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

-- Wayne Gretzky

So I did the hockey-dork routine again. I woke up super early, ran to Price Chopper (ok, so I got a ride, but that's besides the point). I picked up all the possible ingredients one can possibly have (without being too fancy schmancy) for a vegetarian lasagna. Got started on that as soon as the clock's hand hit 11:00AM. Slaved over a stove and a cutting board (did you know how difficult it is to cut onions?). All this, so I could relax, watch the pre-game, semifinal showdown between Canada and the USA, show. With a plate of lasagna to warm me up.

Yes. I'm... strange. I've been on my feet since roughly 9 in the AM. I don't sit when I watch hockey games, in or out of an arena. I just can't. I get mini-heart attacks. This entire game was fantastic. I ran out of breath commentating (to no one but my half-asleep brother and a Landsberg-like dad). I, of course, was holding my breath with each passing second (knocking on wood whenever I could). And huzzah. Canada won, 4-1. Lovely, lovely, lovely. I'm overwhelmed with joy.

Now I can go back to work. Like I said, when the 5th come sand goes -- I'll resume my post as a boring, non-androgynous, grey-in-the-face U of T android. Until then? I think I'll take my sweet time eating lasagna, whilst I read a bajillion books. Hockey first. Work later.


PS: Go watch the WJC 2008 finals -- Canada VS Sweden on: Sat. Jan 5/2008, 2:00PM (EST). Make me proud. Ha.

WJC: So glad it ends before Monday.

"If you cannot convince them, confuse them."
-- Harry Truman

So I've been a hockey dork for the past few days. I had to stomp on my foot when Canada's juniors lost out to Sweden in a shaky third period. My brother let me squeeze his hand, as we watched the quarterfinals against Finland today. You can't imagine how loud I am when I watch hockey (with or without family; in an arena or in the comfort of my living room). Biting my nails (now, seemingly stubby), clapping like a seal and squawking at all the misplays. Oi vey.

This will all die down by January 5th. Two days before the new term. Which is good. I can only imagine how unfocused and glazed-over I'd look. Ha. Well, that's either a very fortunate coincidence or the IIHF working in favour of all U of T hockey fans.

Hmm. What should I do now? I wonder. Oh. Yes. Work. That dreadful word.
Maybe later, I'm thinking. Oh, what a dreadful thing procrastination is.