Thursday, July 30, 2009

Nutella Tales

I'm currently sitting with Riana and Emily, eating Nutella with a spoon, and...well, just generally doing nothing.

Emily's saying something about mustard. And happiness.

We're all scrambling for the Nutella. It's good stuff.

So, we're originally here for SYTYCD. So You Think You Can Dance, for the uneducated, and uncultured.

Or rather, for those who actually have something better to do with their time than watch silly reality TV shows. Unfortunately, we do not fall under that category. Deal with it, we're proud of it.

*Nutella break*

For those who think eating condiments with a spoon is silly, it's definitely not weird. And we're really only doing it because A) Nutella's freaking awesome, and B) we couldn't find the lid for it. So really, this is the only reasonable solution.

In other news, I finally have the car back. We're listening to jazz. Emily has an iGEM blog. And Riana keeps forgetting what iGEM stands for.

And I also think nights of sitting around the table eating condiments from spoons are very important, bonding experiences. I wish they were more common.

Add that to my to do list.

Copy, paste, save.

I'm also broke and racking up my credit card because I'm broke. Wonderful.

But hopefully that will be paid off soon in the fall, when I'm getting shifts again, and hopefully working another job. So it's all good.

I love people, and hanging out with people, and just chatting. Good times.

~Calminaiel~

"The stage is your bowl. Eat from it."

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Harry Potter 6!

~Warning: May contain spoilers~

A bunch of us went to see the new Harry Potter movie yesterday, and it is amazing! We were all definitely on a Harry Potter high for the rest of the night.

I don't even know what to say about it. It was very excellently done. There were a few scenes from the book that weren't included, which I was excited to see and then slightly disappointed to find they weren't there, but even so.

Okay, here is where the spoilers will really start, so if you till continued reading despite the warning, if you really don't want spoilers, you should actually stop now.

One worry of mine going into the movie was Dumbledore. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of the recent Dumbledore actor. I like the one from the first two movies, but this one...I don't know. To me, he seems a bit too...eccentric to really be Dumbledore. I'm not completely sure how else to explain it.

However, Dumbledore proved to be quite good in this movie. Which was very relieving, because I was very afraid that if I didn't like him, I wouldn't be sad when he died, and basically the whole point of this part of the Harry Potter story is to be sad about Dumbledore dying.

I was a bit disappointed with the Snape / Bellatrix / Narcissa scene. To me, this is supposed to be a scene that really makes you question which side Snape was on, and I didn't get that feeling from the movie. In fact, I almost got the feeling that he was hesitant to promise Narcissa that he would help Draco with what Voldemort ordered him to do. Which isn't supposed to happen, because Snape is supposed to be an expert at playing his part.

I also wanted to see the memory about Marvolo and his family, because they sound like pretty messed up people, and I really wanted to see how they'd be visualized in the movie. But that scene was left out, which was a little sad, but I can see why it was left out.

They also felt out a lot of the drama that goes on which works really well in book form, but totally wouldn't work out in movie form. Like a lot of the drama concerning Ron being the new Keeper, and the whole argument that comes from Harry pretending to use the Felix potion.

Of course, I could have done with more Harry-Ginny action, but I'm a big fan of the Harry-Ginny part, so that's just me, and I can totally see why they left out a lot of it. I did like the little part they did put in. I thought it was really cute.

They also added a scene where Death Eaters come to the Burrow, and the end result is the house being burned down, which does not happen in the book. It wasn't a bad scene at all, but at the same time, it seemed to have little point, and I kinda wondered why it was put in. Graham thinks it was just to emphasize that Voldemort and his followers really are rising, and suddenly all the places that Harry always considered safe, such as school and the Burrow, are suddenly not so safe anymore. Which makes sense.

Anyways, the movie was fabulous. Lots of suspense, and even though I've read all the books and knew everything that's going to happen, I was still kept at the edge of my seat for almost the whole movie.

It was also very hilarious at parts. Here are some of my favorites:

"I'm going to Hagrid's. I just feel like Hagrid's is the place to be tonight, you know?"
"No."

"She only likes you because you're the chosen one."
"But I am the Chosen One!"

"How much is this?"
"Five Galleons."
"How much for me?"
"Five Galleons."
"But I'm your brother!"
"Ten Galleons."

"Well, the thing about Unbreakable Vows...well, you can't break them."
"Thanks, I think I figured that much out."

~Calminaiel~

"I think the eyes get to people most."
"And the pincers."

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Installing Love

I didn't write this, but it's definitely my kind of style, and I think it's awesome. I took this from a friend's facebook note. Enjoy. =)

---

Tech Support: Hello... how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I’ve decided to install Love. Can you guide me through the process?

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I’m not very technical, but I think I’m ready. What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running?

Customer: Let’s see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off ?

Customer: I don’t know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, “Error - Program not run on external components.” What should I do?

Tech Support: Don’t worry. It means that the Love program is setup to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.

Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the “My Heart” directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

Customer: Thank you, God.

~Calminaiel~

"I swear, I only threw the ice pick out of the window because you didn't have any bunnies at the time! How was I supposed to know you had just put down a bunny?"

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Registering Frustration

I registered for classes yesterday. Which was kind of a pain. It was kind of confusing in the beginning, and I was still trying to figure out what I should be taking in my second year and all that...and then I found out that one of my classes that I was positive was required was already closed because it was full.

So, naturally, I panicked, and ended up getting in the car and driving to the university to speak with somebody at the FASST office. (Fine Arts Student Success Team). Julia was excellent there. I introduced myself and said that I'd like to talk about classes for next year, and she immediately brought out my file, printed out my transcript, brought out a sheet with all my requirement for my degree, and began crossing things off that I've already done, and marking what else I need to do.

Anyways, after we had a good talk I proceeded to go home and register for everything she told me to. Which was quite painless, except I still had that problem about the class being full. Julia told me to email the prof and ask them to overload me into the class. I did so, and I'm still waiting to hear back from them.

I also discovered that I can't have lessons when Francesca wants to have them, because she wants to have them between 9 and 12 Mondays and Wednesdays, and I have classes between 9 and 12 on both Mondays and Wednesdays. So I emailed her too, and I'm still waiting to hear back from her.

On another note: I'm taking Greek as an option. According to the class description, it will be teaching how to read classical and New Testament Greek texts. Which I think will be pretty cool. It took me so much time to find an option that I was both interested in, and fit in my schedule.

My first preference was a German class, but nothing fit between my other classes. So I tried Russian, but, that I could see, the university doesn't have a Russian language class. Well, they kind of do, but it's mixed in with Russian history, and culture, and I really just wanted the language. I considered Religious studies for a while, but decided to reserve that for if I couldn't find anything else. I also spotted Slavic, which I considered, but then I came upon Greek, which looked pretty good.

So that's the story. Oh, and on my little sheet for what I need to get my degree, I saw that for my fourth year I basically need to take a handful of ensembles, lessons, and 5 other elective classes. Which I think is kind of amusing, but I guess it makes sense if I'm in performance. I have no idea what I'll take, but we'll think more about that later, I guess.

Did any of you notice that I seem to alternate between calling non-required classes 'options' and 'electives'? It's hard to get out of the high school habit, I guess.

In other news, I'm currently sitting at home while Graham films a music video with his friends, so I'm pretty much just staying out of their way. It's kinda boring. I'm considering putting some calls/texts to people to see what they're up to but...well, I'm still just considering it.

Happy Canada Day! =)

~Calminaiel~

"Have you updated that thing yet? You've been saying that you have to for the past few months."