There's a particular individual I know whose completely unaware of how ignorant and intolerant her words are. I'm good friends with her because, ultimately, she's a great person and we get along really well. She's very much aware of how confrontational I can be whenever I hear something I don't like, but I'm also very much aware of how much she dislikes this sort of confrontation. It irritates me even more that she doesn't realize what she says is intolerant and discriminating.

On Sunday, I went to see "Earth" in theatres with the gang. There was a large family behind us with about 3 kids who could not stop chattering. I'm generally accepting of kids who talk during movies, but the utter lack of discipline the parents had over their children was just incomprehensible. Needless to say, I was pretty pissed off and so was she. Regardless of just how annoying they were, though, I still could not understand how the fact that "they're Jewish" had anything to do with it. Fast-forward 30 minutes after the movie, when we had dinner at Swiss Chalet, and she had to comment with an annoyed frown that the family beside us was also Jewish.

I'm very much aware of her unfortunate orthodontist situation (who, unsurprisingly, happened to be Jewish). I cannot help but wonder why she insists that the problem starts with him being Jewish. Under normal circumstances, one would normally believe that the guy was merely incompetent. The fact that she has to add "being Jewish" into the equation is discriminating and anti-Semetic. Hasn't our world established that this sort of thinking is morally wrong? Can't she herself establish that it also lacks rationale?

To be perfectly honest, her off-hand comments about Chinese drivers and Asian restaurants drive me up the wall. Next time she dares bring it up in front of me, I'm gonna give her a good talking to. Besides, her best friend is the worst driver I know, and she's Italian.

On a more positive note, Madame Cyr just e-mailed everyone saying she was sick, so our final exam is postponed till next Wednesday. I know I should be hoping that she'll recover soon, especially with the swine flu out and about, but deep down, I'm jumping up and down in jubilation. If it wasn't postponed, I would have utterly failed this test. She's also cutting out the final dictée, so our 2nd disseration will be worth 15% instead of just 10%, which is perfectly fine with me. :D I always do better on take-home assignments anyway.

Getting anxious about the Japan placement now. I really don't want the middle of nowhere!

There are loads of things that piss me off. Some of them are fairly minor annoyances, while certain others -- like animal cruelty and environmental irresponsibility -- anger me on a greater scale. For some reason, though, there's this one particular small annoyance that just really gets me the wrong way.

Why do people consistently write and speak grammatically incorrect English, when it's their first language? Why!? It's not even the use of slang that bugs me. It's the constant mix up of "your" and "you're", made-up words like "funner", run-on sentences, and the forgotten use of the period and/or comma. GRRR!! Go take some English classes or read some goddamn books!

On a lighter note, I was shortlisted for the JET Programme! :D :D I suppose I should start using this journal as a record of things going on in my life in Japan. For the moment, I'll concentrate on my French Linguistics class, eating as much spider maki as I can stuff into my mouth, and drinking as much TenRen's BBT as I can. It turns out the spider roll was invented by the Iron Chef, so I won't be able to find it anywhere in Japan. :(

I climbed the CN Tower on Saturday. It was utterly exhausting, and I'm glad it's over. I was a little disappointed, though, 'cause it took me about 40 seconds longer than last year to complete the climb. Darnit. I won't be able to do it again for some time though. The long school break in Japan won't be until the summer. >_<

I set Sympatico as my browser homepage and they have Michael Jackson as a featured image. I get scared just looking at him.

China just spent approximately $1 billion U.S. dollars on electrical equipment from Germany. So apparently, the only car industry that isn't completely flopping is Germany's. :P

Republicans Radical conservatives have taken the plunge and started directing unnecessary accusations against Obama and his interview on 60 Minutes. I agree, his off-hand derogatory (though, not really) comment about the Special Olympics was a fairly bad misstep. But to accuse him of belittleling the current economic crisis simply because he laughed a little, is really just immaturity on their part. Given the difficult situation he's in as President, should he not be allowed a few luxuries, such as making a few jokes here and there?

I also hate that it gives Sarah Palin more things to talk about. I wish that woman would just shut up and disappear from politics completely.

Today (or yesterday) marked the beginning of the Canadian Seal Hunt. More innocent seal pups are being slaughtered without ever getting the chance to swim for the first time, and more of our taxpayer's dollars are being wasted on subsidizing this ridiculous "tradition". I wish Canadians would just wake up, and realize that what puts food on the fishermen's tables is not the profits of the fur pelts, but the subsidies from a government that still refuses to listen to reason.

Last night, Sam called to invite me to a Calvin Klein fashion show. I didn't realize it was a lingerie fashion show until I spoke to Jodi earlier this afternoon (technically, yesterday). I just got back and my feet are killing me. It was located at an upscale lounge, and tables were limited to paying drinkers, so we stood most of our time there. I only had one drink, which kept my cheeks rosy all evening.

The show was suppose to start at 11pm, but we ended up waiting until 12pm, and by then, the lot of us were getting seriously restless. I was feeling sleepy, since I had school that morning. In the end, the underwear models came out, and Julia was happy. I tried to take as many photos of the guys as possible for her, but most of them walked too quickly (very un-model-like) and my camera was lagging from working overtime.

I got into a fight with my dad, before I left today. It's always about my weight... or not my weight, neccessarily, but about my inactive lifestyle. I always revert to sitting on my ass everyday during the winter, since the weather gets me down. When spring comes along, I'm usually much more active and willing to go to the gym (for some odd reason). My dad freaked out on me 'cause he noticed I've been gaining a lot of wait. Then I freaked out on him, because... he said a lot of hurtful things. It really pissed me off, and I had a good cry about it in my room. I don't like things being said about my weight, and hearing it from my own dad hurt me the most. I know he's not good with words and that he's bad at expressing himself, but I'm also inclined to think that some of those words were meant to hurt me, and hurt me they did. Right now, we're not talking.

Maisa called this morning before I went to school, and we had a long conversation again in the afternoon when I got back. She's coming back April 14th, 4 days before the CN Tower climb. :) Soon enough. She said she's sick of Israel, and wants to come back to Canada.

I'm exhausted right now. I don't know why I always go on the computer before bed, despite being extremely sleepy. It's like a ritual or something.

I'm at Serissa Caté again and I just completed my French composition (780 words as opposed to 1000, but oh well). The girls sitting across from me are loud, obnoxious, and immature. I know I was never like that when I was their age.

Last night, I had a dream that I was at work. Chapters now has a new clock-in system where, instead of swiping a card, you log into an account on a computer instead. Somehow, I dreamt that all the computers in the store had a special store password that we all shared, but had forgotten it and couldn't clock myself in, so I paged Scott, our general manager, and he informed me that he had no idea what the mysterious password was. I ran around the store, I can't really remember why, attempting to log in to all of them, but to no avail. By this time, 15 minutes had already past, so I was hence, late. On top of that, I went to work accidentally wearing one of my pink tops, which is inappropriate. Somehow, I was trying to chase down co-workers around the store, but I would miss each and every one of them. Finally, Kevin found me and helped me log in (always helpful, Kevin is). Then, I woke up.

This morning, Kevin really did call me to do a last minute evening shift. :D

Bonnie, of course, was disappointed I'm not going karaoke after all. I honestly thought it would take me longer than it did to complete my composition, but I was able to complete it within an hour, even with the ruckus the juvenile, high school girls were making.

I'm just biding my time, waiting till I need to go to work. What I should be doing, though, is memorizing pg. 234 in my textbook for my dictée tomorrow, and I shall do that after I get off this thing.

A couple of days ago, Paula from work showed me a clip on YouTube of these two men in the 70s reuniting with their once-domesticated lion, Christian. I say once, because after they realized Christian was just too big to care for in a city like London, they asked George Adamson, a.k.a. the Lion Whisperer, to rehabilitate him into the African wild. It was a beautiful story and their reunion was extremely touching. I cried the first and second time I watched it.

Maisa sent me a message on Facebook. I miss her so much. :( I don't remember the exact day she's coming back from Israel, but I know it won't be till sometime in mid-April. Time has been flying by. I can hardly believe we're already in the middle of March, but at the same time, April is forever looming by. I spoke to Eileen on the phone yesterday, and we're both extremely nervous about the incoming JET letters. I know I should be concentrating on school to keep my mind off it.

I'm sitting at Serissa Caté by the window and it's just beautiful out. It's too bad I'm stuck inside, writing my French composition. Bonnie insists that I finish it soon, so that I have time to go sing karaoke tomorrow night. I'm not entirely sure if I'm up for late-night karaoke, though, since I just remembered that I scheduled to have my graduation photos taken Wednesday right after class. If I were a nice, obedient, little girl, I would stay in tomorrow night to get a good night's rest.

The weekend has been fairly uneventful. On Saturday, I finished writing up my students' report cards, and all within my 1-hour break. I felt pretty accomplished. :) That night, I went out with the gang to see Watchmen in theatres. I will admit that I was one of those girls, expecting to see a more politically controversial version of X-Men, but instead was met with excessive blood, gore, and sex. I really did not enjoy the movie and neither did most of the gang, but Maurice said he enjoyed its "what-if" scenario.

I could have also sworn that Nixon's nose wasn't that big. Although they did change history, the least they could have done was make Nixon look a little more believable. That nose was distracting, as was another particular part of the movie. Julia enjoyed that part immensely. Two movies I'm looking forward to watching are Transformers and Half-Blood Prince. Oh, especially the HBP. I haven't been this excited for a movie, in a long time. In fact, I believe the previous movie that had me brimming over with excitement was The Order of the Phoenix. :P

An auction is ending tonight for a used Adios Star Buon Viaggio. I'm still debating how much I'm willing to pay for an Adios Star, but it is a BV which would be perfect to use for school. It's only at around $31 at the moment, and I hope it stays that way. It would even match my new Caramella. <3

Gossip Girl finally returns tonight with a new episode. :D It's my guilty pleasure.

So, my plan to go work on that French composition at the bubble tea place across from me totally failed. Depending on what I'm doing later tonight, I may do it later. I have absolutely no clue what to write, so I know I'll need some time to think about it.

My Adios Star Caramella arrived today. :D I didn't expect it to be so big and it fits a lot more than my Dooney & Bourke wristlet. I was debating using it as a pencil case for school (and for when I teach in Japan if JET accepts me, teehee), but it's too nice so I'm using it as a wristlet. D&B will have to hang out in the drawer for now unless I decide to sell it, which is likely as I've no use for more than one wristlet, even if it is made of cruelty-free canvas and not leather like most of their products.

I also bought a used Paradiso Denaro from someone on the forum. I've been watching it for a while, but I always thought the Denaro was too small for my wallet-needs, especially when I have so many cards and receipts to keep track of. In the end, I caved after the seller lowered the price again. It doesn't have the sushi boy, which is my favorite part of the print, but it does have two birds, a little angel in diapers painting the rainbow, and an iPod girl with pigtails! :D

I had a really weird dream last night, but I can barely remember what it was about. I do remember Calvin was there, who was asking me out again? That was really unusual and completely out of the blue. The only times he's been on my mind, since he moved to Kingston, was last year when he climbed the CN Tower with us, and this year when I saw him at Damon's funeral. I did invite him to the climb with us again last week, but he hasn't responded.

Rainbow and Xiang are supposed to be coming anytime now to help me with my tax returns. I should really take a shower before they come, though. I look like a complete mess. I'm not entirely sure what we're going to do afterwards. In most likely case, they'll just head home. Andrea and the gang might want to get a coffee later tonight, as per usual, but what I really want is to have Gal Sushi for dinner. :)

Gaaah, online shopping can be so exasperating! I bought a pair of UGGs in the Snow Peak style on eBay which sell here for $299 so when I got it for only $83 (plus killer s/h of course), I couldn't let it get away. The seller had stupidly marked the value on the UPS package as $300 U.S. which was not only extremely inconsiderate, especially considering the ridiculous customs and bokerage fees we, Canadians, need to face, but also odd because I know for a fact that this style sells in the U.S. for only $250.

So the UPS man came demanding that I pay $101, which I of course had adamantly refused. I contacted the seller, informing him that he needs to fax in another invoice to change the value to only $83, as is appropriate because that was how much I paid and the boots weren't even packaged in the original box and hence, could be "second-hand" for all I know. He e-mailed me yesterday morning about faxing it later that day and I called UPS to double-check just now, and it turns out he still hasn't done it. That asshole. It was snowing earlier today and I want my damn boots!

I also bought an Adios Star Caramella on eBay for $10 U.S., but after shipping and conversion, the total came out $24 CDN which is of course ridiculous because the girl only lives like 25 minutes away from me. What's even more ridiculous is that she mailed it out over two days ago and Canada Post still hasn't delivered it to me yet. I've had packages from Japan arrive faster than this damn thing! Not only does Canada Post have extremely high shipping rates, but it is perhaps one of the world's slowest and least dependable postal services. If I get into the JET Programme, I will take advantage of Japan's speedy postal service as much as possible. :D

I went to work today, which was quite uneventful. I got to see him briefly (<3), but he's always working in the back so I never get to chat with him properly at work. :( I haven't been hanging out with anyone lately, especially not the usual gang (other than the girls) so I really haven't spoken to him much at all. Maybe when summer finally roles around...

Chapters wants to organize a CN Tower Climb under their name. I'm seriously considering doing it twice this year, because if JET accepts me, I may not be able to come back to Canada in time to do it next year. Scott told me the company just wants to become more eco-friendly. I think it's because Heather Reisman wants to make her company look better. :P

So I ended up not really studying at all last night. I feel like such a bum. :P I read through the chapter very briefly in the morning which actually helped a bit because I was able to apply a lot of it to the test this morning. It was fairly straight forward and something expected of Madame Cyr since she's so nice and lenient. :)

I know I did quite badly on the last few questions, but that would be because I didn't get to reading through the last few sections of the chapter. I still can't figure out what the question about "gradation" meant and I know that a few people in my class were quite baffled as well.

All in all, I don't think I did horribly though I don't know if I'll end up scraping a B for this one. I feel really horrible about Melissa's situation. Oral French was never my strong suit, but she seems to be having an even worst time of it than me (is that even possible?).

But my god, can that girl whine. The concepts aren't that difficult to remember. The rules themselves are very easy to memorize, though I can see how easily one could mix them up because there're so many of them. Still, I wish she would stop rambling on and on about how unfortunate she is, if only for just a single moment. It's really draining to be listening to her ranting while trying to pay attention to a lesson spoken in a language I've only begun to get a grasp on.

On a lighter note, the new Tokidoki flats are available for purchase at Eilatan, which is where I bought the Tokidoki x Onitsuka Tiger sneakers last summer. They won't ship the flats outside of the U.S. though, which breaks my heart. :( I'll probably need to wait until Tokidoki.it has them. GRR, more waiting...

I went to LUSH after school today. I had a bit of a headache going to school (probably car-sickness from the bus ride there... those damn Viva drivers), but it's gotten better since I wrote the test and got some polluted fresh air.

I handed in my resume today, figuring that the student rush will be starting soon and I really want to land a job there. They know my face well enough and the girl informed me that I'll probably receive a call from them by next month... which is when I find out if I got into JET. So... more waiting for me.

I'll need to start working on my composition soon. Madame Cyr requested that we write about our thoughts and feelings on the York strike and I need to memorize a page in my textbook for the upcoming dictée. I'm seriously going to try to get a perfect score this time.

For now though, I think I'm going to do my facial regime. I bought the Cosmetic Warrior face mask when I was at LUSH since I've been breaking out a bit these past few weeks (I suppose that would be the junk food). I took a glance at the expiry date and it turns out the mask was made just yesterday, so it's uber, uber fresh! :D Go me!

Today was a complete bore. I initially planned to go to the bank and continue studying for my linguistics exam tomorrow but the weather outside was just so depressing, I couldn't put any effort into accomplishing anything. Madame Cyr sent us an e-mail with the rules we need to have memorized by tomorrow and I'm not too confident about what I've studied so far. At least I completed the homework packages she assigned to us last week and I'm nearly done the exam/dictée corrections.

What I did instead was catch up on some interesting videos I found on YouTube. Hearing Ann Coulter speak really peeves me, but at the very least I got to enjoy her getting picked on, on The View. I also love Ellen Degeneres. She's funny as hell and watching her shows always puts a smile on my face.

Ugh, I just realized that I'm going to have to start working out again very soon. The CN Tower climb is a little over a month away and I want to beat my previous record. I've been sitting on my ass all winter, especially with York going on strike for a solid 3 months, and I feel like such a couch-potato.

A few days ago on my way to work, I decided to pick up a drink from First Markham Place along the way and passed by a JCY House that wasn't open yet. Through the window, I was able to see a Tokidoki shirt from their Spring 2009 line. I was so desperate to go in and take a look but I knew I'd be late for work if I waited for them to open so I reluctantly walked away and haven't gone back since.

I did take a look at their new Summer 2009 line and I absolutely love it. It's made up of light blue pastel colours and features the unicorn everywhere which is a little juvenile, but anyone who knows me knows that I'm still quite juvenile for a 23-year-old. My only issue is that Chapters isn't giving me enough shifts and I'm really trying to save up for Japan (whether or not I get into the JET Programme) this year.

I've only been thinking about it, but I think I really will apply for another job at LUSH come spring time. I was also considering giving Notabilia full-time hours during the month of July like last year, but I think that will have to depend on whether or not I get accepted. Last year, I hardly had any time to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather, what with balancing a full-time and a part-time evening job. I mean, I love teaching kids but Alice just gave me way too much pressure and even now, I disagree with her business ethics.

If I'm lucky, I'll land a job at LUSH (and get the employee discount, yay!) around mid-April and perhaps Chapters will open up to giving away more hours at the same time so I can start doing some major saving. If only luck will have it my way. :D