TWILIGHT.

The title says it all.

It is my new obsession after Harry Potter.

With the upcoming movie and all and practically everyone raving about the books, I knew I had to give the first book a try at the least - so my brother got me Twilight for my birthday this year. I finished it in a couple of days and I LOVED it.

I really never thought I would become re-fascinated with vampires after I stopped watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer when I was still in elementary school, but I guess I like Stephenie Meyer's portrayal of the "cold ones" more.

I'm well into the 2nd book, New Moon as of now, and bought the sequel, Eclipse after class tonight. This obsession is a little more intsense than Harry Potter ever was; yesterday I had actually considered asking my own boyfriend to pretend he was secretly a vampire - jokingly, of course - but I think I partially meant it in my head. However, this was during my World Music Lecture around 8:35 pm so I can't be sure of how clear I was thinking of anything, for that matter.

I am probably going to buy the soundtrack and poster sometime this week (and I have not bought a poster myself since Spice Girls were popular, or a soundtrack since the first Tomb Raider movie). As for the movie, I will probably wait it out until the crowds and lines subside, well after the 21st (which was supposed to be Harry Potter's day! HARRY POTTER'S!!). If I can wait that long.

I have a problem.

I have a serious problem - a spending problem (and working at a clothing store does not help matters at all). It was never as bad as it is now, but that's probably because I've never had a job until the last couple years.

Not only am I constantly making staff purchases of endless numbers of clothes and bags at the store I currently work at, but I have now plunged myself into the world of online shopping, as well as buying used bags and tops from local girls in the city through an online forum. Just last Friday I had gone to the mall after withdrawing $200 and left with somewhere around $50. That $200 was supposed to last me until next payday. The 3 digits may not be a lot, but it is for me especially when it was used in a mere 3 hours. That day I had:

- gone to get my PR card photos taken ($12)
- bought a Joker tee from FCUK for my boyfriend because they were having their 3-day 40% off regular priced items sale ($26)
- purchased a plaid skirt from a local girl ($5)
- picked up an order of clothes I made with a bunch of local girls ($32)
- gone into a cheap clothing store to pick up tops I could wear on my birthday...and came out with a belt and a dress as well ($42)
- gone into another cheap clothing store to kill time and bought one top to wear to work ($12)
- bought a Paint Pot from MAC after deciding to kill time in there...a bad mistake on my part ($20).

The last 3 was an intention of wasting time, not my money. Although I'm pretty content with my purchases, I am pretty ashamed that I had spent so much on myself within such a short span of time. Not to mention next week I have plans to meet up with other local girls to buy a used Kathy Van Zeeland bag for $46 and a used Coach pouch for $65. I know what you're thinking - but they are being sold for more than half of retail price! That's something I have a hard time passing up; good deals. I of course don't need more handbags. I do, however, have a need to acquire more every week.

I know, it's pretty ridiculous. Knowing others have it worse makes me feel a little better. Well, not really, because they have more money to spend than I do at the end of the day. Me, on the other hand, have $30 to last me the next 2 weeks.

Nightmares!

I've been having some nightmares these last couple nights. Of course, with most of my dreams, I barely remember them at all, but from what I remember, one dream included my younger brother who was seemingly being possessed by the devil because he was doing all this exorcist-type shit. He kept on beating me while I fought back and he just kept on throwing cut-up pieces of cardboard for further assault (what's odd is I think I helped him cut them). At the same time, he was closing up my throat with his mind, Darth Vader style. But I could still breathe. He was just keeping me from calling out to my parents when I finally realized that this wasn't like the childish fights we used to have when he was 3 and I was 11 and he finally started to seriously freak me the fuck out.

The other nightmare was me being shot in both arms (one bullet per arm) execution style by some thug - I don't know why, I don't know where. But the thing is, it didn't hurt at all - and not a lot of blood came out, either. But the worst part is nobody around me gave me any sympathy after the holes in my arms were stitched up. What kind of friends and family do I have in my nightmares? And where was my so-called boyfriend? I bet he was hanging out at Denny's with Mikey stalking Asian transvestites...

Potter movie pushed back

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I had already booked off the 22nd of November so my boyfriend and I could go see it together, when it comes out on the 21st. This is because I love Harry Potter.

And now, guess freaking what. The release date got pushed back!!!

I have been waiting months for this movie's release and now they are not going to release the 6th installation until July 19th, 2009. 2000-freaking-9!!! And do you know how long that is? 335 days.

What's worse is that the movie is going to be ready for release for November yet they are going to keep it sealed tight in their vault for another 8 months. And guess what the cause of all this fan-disturbing commotion is?

The Dark Knight!!!

That's right, I said it, it's Batman's fault.

For details as to why, you can read the new article on LA Times.

Not the sharpest tool in the shed

And whom am I speaking of, you ask? ME. Yes, that's right, ME. I'll admit it, with an amount of shame I cannot measure, that I am in fact an inner blonde at times (no intentional offense to natural or fake blondes).

Since The Dark Knight has been released in theaters, I have viewed the film a total of 2 times, enough time before and after both of those times to read up on the actors who starred in the film as well as on background information. I knew I heard the name Gary Oldman somewhere, but nothing clicked for me when I was watching the film (neither of those times). Earlier today when I was browsing through Wikipedia, I click on the actor's name and I take a look at his filmography - and what recent movie of his do I find there? Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He was Sirius Black! And all this time, I was convinced I was looking at an actor I have never seen before in the face on the big screen. I felt like a fool at a certain level, as I felt it was a responsibility of mine to know the actors who take part in the films, being a fan of the Harry Potter series. Speaking of, I am certainly ready for the upcoming movie that is to be released on Novemeber 21, 2008. In October I will be asking the earliest time I can purchase tickets and buy them for the 22nd, and arrive several hours early for the good seats. And when I say several, I mean 4-5 hours.

Moving on to my dry, empty skull...

There was even a time when I was in Japan and I was watching a Nissan car commercial - and I asked my dad, "why does Nissan make cars and instant noodles? aren't they a little too different? Although Yamaha makes pianos and motorcycles..." My dad gives this a thought for a second and responds with a half-laugh, "Nissin makes noodles, not Nissan." This was a little more funny and a little less embarrassing.

But what's embarrassing is my knowledge (or lack thereof) of geography. Any geography. Don't even try and ask what I got in Canadian Geography last year. I know where Nunavut is, that's all I can say. And American history? If I know anything about that, it's from watching National Treasure. Case closed. This just goes to show that not all university students are even close to smart. It's not like I don't want to remember everything bit of history or any information regarding the wold we live in because I do - but seriously, it takes effort to remember stuff learned in school (a matter of 3 months per semester) and I need to make room for whatever I am required to "learn" the following semester.

I'm taking World Music next semester, a 300 lecture course, where grades are pretty much based on the exams from what I hear.

I'm expecting no higher than a B+.

You can OD on caffeine!

I have somewhat of what I would like to call a "relationship" with high-caffeine (energy) drinks. This relationship is kinda what other people have with coffee, except in this case, it's energy drinks. I wouldn't go far as call it an obsession, but rather a former, deep, dependency on the beverage (but NOT addiction).

Last Summer at my old job I would always work at 8am until 4:30pm 5 days a week. I would sleep about 5 hours before getting up for work, so I often craved caffeine prior my shift, and lots of it, fast. I used to really like coffee when I was 13 but recently I had stopped taking any interest in its bitter taste and the small amount of caffeine. After being introduced to high-caffeine drinks through my dad when he brought them home one day (back then I was consuming them like cans of Coke), I turned to them for the energy I would require to push throughout the day. At first it was Energy, then it was Red Rave - pretty much the cheapest ones at 7-11. Red Bull was overrated and contained only 5mg more of caffeine than the former 2. If we didn't have any in the house, I'd just leave a couple minutes early to drop by the convenient store to purchase the thin can of caffeine goodness. I did this pretty much through the entire summer, a little over 3 months. 1 can a day, 5 cans a week.

By the following Fall semester, I was once again in need of surges of caffeine to make up for the loss of sleep (due to nothing special, internet or TV...) on school nights, to keep myself awake during lectures. But alas, the 75mg of caffeine per dose no longer had an effect on me anymore. And I mean NONE. It's not like it had a much more minimal effect, I mean it did NOTHING. it was a very disappointing moment, though I guess I had it coming. As a result I was forced to move on to the much larger cans, containing twice as much caffeine. That was pretty much Rockstar or Full Throttle (I didn't like Monster), what the campus sold. A couple sips and I was wide awake. I turned to these and burned a lot of money drinking them up before and in lectures to last throughout the day. So you can pretty much guess what happened next - a few months after I discover that one giant can no longer did anything for my body or alertness. I was convinced I was immune to caffeine. Having read the back label of these several times, I know that one big can was all I could have according to the recommended dosage.

But it's a drink. A non-alcoholic, legal beverage. How could having a little more hurt?

One day I needed to get some readings done so out of false hope I downed one Rockstar. It didn't work, obviously, so I popped open another a couple hours after. I was drinking, reading, highlighting, and finished the second can for the day. The second can definitely worked and did the job, but before I knew it I was feeling all jittery and shaking and couldn't keep myself still. I also had a sick feeling in my stomach as if I was going to vomit it all back up (which would be a total waste..). I began to get somewhat worried so I did a little research on the internet. And guess what?

You can overdose on caffeine!

How the fuck was I to know this? I guess I never saw caffeine as a harmful substance when taken in large doses. Well, any dose. I read that I'm not to induce vomiting unless instructed to by a physician - so I kept it down in there (though it wasn't like it was on the verge of coming up). The next morning I felt fine and vowed never to OD on caffeine again.

I stopped taking energy drinks since of any type or amount shortly after as the daily dosage was doing me no good and neither was the over dosage.

This was last Summer and Fall.

This Summer, I had one Coke Zero an hour before going to bed and could not get a blink of sleep until 3 hours past the hour I had decided on going to sleep. Until that night I was still kind of convinced that I still had a little bit of immunity left in me towards the deadly, strong stuff (especially because a couple weeks prior to the incident I had a couple of huge cans of Inked, supposedly a new type of energy drink, being sold for a 2 for 1 deal at 7-11). Either way, I have no particular interest in finding out anytime soon.

Taking Religious Studies at SFU

During this past Spring semester I enrolled in Introduction to Religious Studies at SFU, where I am still attending. I thought, "hey, I liked Comparative Civilizations in high school, and this is kinda like that. I like studying religion, although I never really studied it to be honest. I will like this course". Well, it was pretty much what I expected. It was very intro, and very basic - the textbook basically covered world religions and that was what consisted of the distance ed course. Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Judaism, Islam...yeah. As part of the curriculum we were also required to read Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins. It's actually still sitting on my book shelf.

With distance ed courses and really long, boring texts, it's really rather difficult for me to wrap my head around them at home as I get distracted quite easily. So obviously despite my attempts to finish all the readings for all 12 weeks, by the end of the semester I had successfully read the first 4 weeks of readings, excluding the novel (which I had read the first 8 pages of out of 400).

By the time exam week rolled around, I had no intention whatsoever to finish those readings. I mean, who didn't know bits here and there about Moses? Karma? The chapter on Shinto was fairly short though just as detailed - but growing up in Japan proved the time spent reading that portion of the text was a waste as it was all everything I knew already anyway. As I figured the primary interpretation of the various world religions were generally all the same, I turned to the one source of information I turn to with a thirst for knowledge - Wikipedia. Profs will tell you and me all the time that Wikipedia is in fact not a reliable source of scholastic information - or information in general, for that matter. But I took my chances and studied for my exam via the site. It was pretty helpful, I must say, though I obviously wouldn't recommend this studying this way for obvious reasons.

With the 2 papers we had to write and the online discussion we had to take part in, I walked away from the class with an A-. I know I shouldn't be proud of this but it did make me pretty happy, as half way through the course I had realized that I was taking an elective I did not need (I miscalculated the amount of credits) thus piling on more readings and papers and exams for myself. The GPA boost did nothing.

Oh, and in case you were wondering how I bypassed the question regarding the novel I didn't quite finish in the exam, make Google (GOOGLE, not like that piece of shit HotBot) your friend if not already (and if even possible) - it works luxurious wonders.