get your happy face on

I am done school.
I got jobs.
Braces are off soon.
Finally seeing the Doc.
Writing and writing.


Yay me. One more thing left.....G cough 1

don't come knocking at my door

Racism in Toronto.
In journalism they tell you to never assume.
Well lately Kevin and I have been assuming some racists thoughts coming from certain people.
Well you see, Kevin was supposed to buy a place near lakeshore. Nice view, nice condo, kind of far but whatever. So I go with Kevin to see his place, ALL the way across town (well school) almost getting lost and losing our metro passes.
We get there and the sun is shining, houses are beautiful, hot man walked his dog, camera-clicks every five seconds, fresh lake, clean sidewalks, it felt like stepping into Utopia for a broke teenager.
Oh and did I mention there was a canoe over our heads?
Anyways so we get there before 7 p.m. (meeting time) and wait... and wait.. and wait.
We called the owner several times and even left messages.
15 minutes pass by;
More calls. More messages. And 33 new pictures to add on Facebook.
Where could this guy be? Did he get lost in his own house?
So we are sitting there, like two little immigrants in Toronto for the first time, and just watched the cars drive by.
That's when it happenened.
A black car filled with some men drove by just STARING at us. My friend had figured out the ages of the house owners and by the looks of it we were staring right at them.
The watched us and left.
We looked at each other and left.

Still I have that small 2% hope that I shouldn't be assuming...
but whatever!

Why would you not want to live with an Asian?

How to travel alone on the TTC at night

After a GREAT night with my two best friends, one gave me the idea of how to keep yourself SAFE and in one PIECE while travelling on the TTC at night.

1. Put a hood on. Now people might get the idea that, "Oh you are hiding something," WHAT A GUN? Oh no scary! mysterious. All these thoughts and more will come in favour of the oh-so-clever hood wrap.

2. Make funny noises while sitting alone. If that doesn't scare the stalkers away, what does? Like seriously who would want to mess with one making random sounds everytime they hear 'The Next Station is _____, ______ station.

3. The best move to pull to avoid people from following you is to always stay in your seat, until the subway door ALMOST closes. This way with suprsie you can run out and if the stalker follows you know they need a punch in the mouth.

4. Always carry a hot cup of steaming coffees for obvious reasons. If you really don't want to spend the money, carry a thermos, with hot water. Once again, for obvious reasons.

5. Try sitting near people who might look like they MIGHT be related. This way it doesn't look like you are alone and therefore there is a less chance that you might be followed. I heard relatives make good shields. HA HA no.

Wow top 5 at 130 AM. These steps will surley help you be more safe riding alone at night.
toooo much love tonight, I love you TTC, Please do not strike.

Shopping Green While Seeing Green

With a cold bitter winter wrapping up, it is time to put away that heavy-wool coat and salt-covered suede boots and take a sniff of that fresh air lingering outside.

With an eco-conscious fashion industry taking way, everything from reusable bags to t-shirts with clever sayings like “save the earth,” stores today have new approaches to make sure fashion is safe for both the Earth and us. Here are a few ideas to take on spring 2008 with a new tree-hugging spin:

H&M has been able to take fashion to a new cause by offering pieces made by music artists to help fight AIDS in Africa and this time they are introducing clothing made from organic cotton. With neutral greys and soft-whites, women’s tops will be for one’s comfort while trying to rock rose-coloured dress as well. These pieces will not only fit the blooming spring lifestyle, but also keep our environment shiny. H&M is also offering 1, 500 tonnes of this cotton this spring alone, according to their website. The pieces also come in men’s clothing and as well children. Why not take the whole family on the green-mobile?

Eco-friendly totes, for reasonable prices, take a new stand at Forever 21. From cute phrases like, “100% Home Grown,” to “Think Green” with a green light bulb printed under, these totes will sure to have spring feeling even warmer. Also made from organic cotton, these white-toned bags will have both space to carry your goods, but at the same time be eco-conscious. And remember, white always matches, how can you go wrong?

And for the really high-fashion junkies, designer labels have also taken a dip into the green coloured pool. Clothing designer Linda Loudermilk has only a selection of textiles made from anything like soya and bamboo. This haute couture diva has been able to put together pieces for casual to dressy wear, with not even a pair of yoga pants in sight. Loudermilk’s collections are inspired by nature and oceanic surroundings she told organicclothing.com. Another great way to look great without stomping on any leaves.

If all fails and you still want to be savvy and chic, always say no to the plastic bag.

typical MTV

So I am watching this show called the "X Effect" which is pretty messed if anyone has not seen it before.
So there are two couples and one person from each couple used to date one another.
For exam A+B was a couple and so was C+D HOWEVER, A once dated C and B and D are the new ones.
Okay so the show goes like this, the Exs stay with each other while the O's (others) get to spy on them.
And we all know MTV is fake and rehearsed (sorry if I crushed your dream) but at one point of the show the O's can plan a date for the X's.
Alright so I am thinking, if my partner is with their EX and I get to choose a date, wouldn't I want to choose something non-fun? So they hostess comes and gives them two choices. One is always romantic and the other is always lame. Here is the catch. You can only spy on them if you choose the romantic date... and you see nothing if it is lame...
SO why is it that every couple (okay, beside it being all fake and rehearsed) would they choose the romantic one? Yes you want to spy, why on a romantic date?
I don't get it, if you can already see the exs into one another, why send them on a romantic getaway?
But like I said, fake!

BTW School is over :)

i don't know why

some people on the subway decide to put music from their cell phones like out loud, so the whole world can listen to whatever they are. SO ANNOYING. It's called headphones, go to the dollar store, buy them and then use them! Why blast music in a public space, the subway, it feels like i'm losing privacy (Yes, in a subway, the closure feeling is gone; all I hear is rap). And no, this isn't freedom of speech or expression, when you pratice something like that, it comes with repsonsibility.

my last article for class.

I never thought I could compare a porn magazine to a weighing scale. I knew what it was going to say and yet I couldn’t help but to take a little peek. The curiosity from Playboy’s best sex tips and seeing how far that red pin passed 100 suddenly had the same pleasure.

I was 117 pounds when I started Ryerson University. I didn’t have temptations to eat food or watch my weight, since I was a commuter and friendless, I would go home after class.

A few weeks in, I made some close friends, ones who never said no to eating. As the money in my pocket and their pockets began to disappeared, the numbers on the scale increased.

My friend told me it was called the “freshman 15,” a first year student at university who gains about 15 pounds.

A boundary that was in my disadvantage was the university’s location in downtown Toronto. As I got off Dundas subway there was a Pizza Pizza, before I crossed the street there was a hot-dog stand, when I got to a building another hot-dog stand or Tim Hortons would be there. It felt like these places watched me, all the time.

Then there was Salad King, the “have to be place” at Ryerson, a friend once said. I would find myself there more than two times a week trying to decide from their almost 10-dish vegetarian menu. I would always order the spicy tofu with extra cashews at the end, even after 10 minutes of deciding. I figured out then that something I ate had to be well thought-out because the taste of that spicy tofu would be in my head all day.

As this new pattern of buying and no appreciating food was attached on me at school it continued to stick to at home. Being a junk-food addict, I would always have something hidden on my computer desk’s narrow shelf behind a collection of Bollywood CDs. I would usually hide Hershey’s dark chocolate because I had a 14-year-old brother who would eat it if he saw it. The black desk that was once used for homework was now covered with cranberry granola bars, four or five cups of orange juice, almonds and even a plate from whatever I had for dinner that night.

The desk was almost like a storage space to me, as I now found every spot useful to store food. When I had essays due, I would keep plates of pasta or whole peanut butter and bread with on the sliding section of the desk that was once used for a keyboard. I thought my reason for eating would be stress from school, but at the same time eating food was more experimental. The smell of peanut butter on the bread still didn’t have the same taste of texture as a banana slices with strawberry jam.

When exams started and I was 125 pounds, I would have group study sessions in Kerr Hall’s lounge at Ryerson. The black leather chairs would be cluttered with bags of chips, orange-juice containers, chocolate bars, trail mix, water bottles, coffee and anything else that could keep us awake. We wouldn’t sleep or think about going home, even when it was close to midnight. We would eat and eat until we lost the taste for food.

Eating wasn’t even about stress anymore; it would now give me comfort. If I had a rough day in class, if I did well on a test, or even if the weather was nice outside, I would go eat something. This comfort made eating my new hobby. I would love trying out new restaurants and dishes like the Green Mango’s lemongrass tofu, Pickle Barrel’s roasted vegetable, pesto and smoked gouda wrap, Spring Roll’s fried Shanghai noodles and even trying olives and hot peppers on my tofu hot-dog from a near by stand. More food however equalled to higher triple digits on the scale.

When the New Year rolled around and I was 130 pounds, it seems like everyone was in the mood to loose weight. Fitness centres in the area started to offer trials and discounts, newspapers had articles on how to cut calories and the Women’s Network played re-run episodes of weight-loss shows all week. It felt like a sign. I had to put in the effort; I had to beat the freshman 15.

I joined Ryerson’s gym with a friend for $35. At first it was an adrenaline rush, I would run two kilometres, do 50 sit-ups and even climb 10 floors on the stair master. No matter what, I was still hungry at the end.

I remember working out with a friend once and deciding to eat a salad because I thought it would be healthier. Two hours after the salad, my friend and I were so eager to buy popcorn from Kernels, hypnotized by the smell of fresh popcorn and melted butter; we gave in.

Then it hit me; it never really was about losing weight or beating the freshman 15. I loved eating food. The taste of Thai food after class or even dipping my celery in peanut butter or melted chocolate seemed much more important. It was all about presentation, how it looked and how food felt when I took a bite. I guess I will be a freshman forever.