God, it’s been forever since I posted. Oops. But I got a netbook last weekend, for university, so now I have the ability to blog anywhere, even in lectures! But that would be Bad and Not Very Professional-Student of me, so I wont do that. Just when I got to cafes (like now), or the food court, or am hiding in a corner of the library ‘studying’.

Have you ever had a mochaccino with hazelnut syrup? You should; they’e great.

Last week was the first week back at uni after mid-semester break and I about died from it. I was so exhausted at the end of every night I couldn’t do anything else. Like blog, or even read my rss feeds! Tragic, really. This week has been a little less traumatic, probably because I’m not going to the gym because I Have A Very Busy Week (And Next Week Too), therefore I do not have time. So basically, I can still walk when I get home at 7 every night, and I don’t collapse in a snoring heap by 9.

In non-university news, on Tuesday my man thing and I celebrated our six-month anniverssary. We went to see Hot Tub Time Machine which was fairly amusing. We had some time to kill beforehand so we played in the arcade and Josh won me a little Tigger plushie that is reading a book! Aww ♥ After the movie we went to McDonalds. We weren’t originally going to get McDonalds but both of us neglected to realise the foodcourt by the cinema wouldn’t be open at that time of the evening. So Macca’s it was. They have these new family meal things, with enough food for four people, and you get it in a fancy red cardboard box. We got one of those meals (the Big Mac and Cheeseburger one) because Josh wanted the box. Seriously. (He didn’t keep it though, thankfully.)

Anyway, tomorrow is my 22nd birthday. I’m pretty excited actually! Josh and I are going to Rainbow’s End (an amusement park) for the day. I haven’t been in years and there’s a couple of new rides, so that should be fun. My goal is go on all the major rides, do the bumper cars and maybe bumper boats, and go-carts. I also want to get a hotdog (the on-a-stick variety) because I forgot how awesome they were until recently. They really are. Not good for my fat per centage, but it will be my birthday so I don’t care.

With the aim of helping me to practice written French, I’ve created a blog over at Blogspot just for that purpose. I haven’t begun posting in it yet because I only decided to do it yesterday, but I’m planning a few posts that should be up within the next couple of days. I think it’ll be a fun way for me to learn, and hopefully others will get something out of it too, because I’ll be explaining grammar rules, sharing vocabulary and maybe even interesting facts about French and France, as I learn them. I’ll be sure to post a link to the blog when there is actually stuff there to read.

On a completely different subject, something that makes me giggle is that a movie as awful as Twilight: New Moon (I still think Bella looks permanently constipated) can have at least two incredibly awesome songs on its soundtrack. ‘Rosilyn’ by Bon Iver & St. Vincent and ‘Meet Me on the Equinox’ by Death Cab For Cutie. A part of me is slightly repulsed those songs were asked to feature because I love the artists on their own and kind of wish they weren’t associated with such stupidity. But, don’t get me wrong, this is not something I think about often. In fact it was only just before that I realised both songs are on that soundtrack, and then the wave of nausea struck (ok, exaggerating here, ).

I’m going to be doing a little giveaway soon, so stay tuned!

Bonjour! Yes, I am aware that I haven’t posted in something like 7 million years. This week has been super-busy with the semester starting this passed Monday so I’ve have my head in psychology, sociology, accounting and French! I’m done for the week now (yep, Fridays off, so 3-day weekend, here I come ) and I’ve got a bit of time for some blogging.

To be honest, the week didn’t start out all that well. Last weekend and until about Tuesday I had been experiencing a lot of confidence and anxiety issues which did not make for the most enjoyable time. I was actually more anxious about beginning this semester than I was about beginning my first ever semester at university! I think that is probably because I know what to expect now and I’m not going in with the naiveté I was last year. I know there is a lot of hard work involved — you don’t just how much until you experience it — and that (for me) I end up working my butt off and having bugger-all time for anything else (like hobbies). Anyway, I digress. Fortunately I managed to pull myself out the funk with the help of some lovely people, namely my boyfriend and my mum. They are the best. So, the last two days have been really quite fun.

My accounting course is about developing financial literacy, so we’re learning how to wisely manage our money, including: saving, investing, retirement saving (in NZ we have something called KiwiSaver) and that sort of thing. There isn’t heaps of reading and the textbook, Get Rich Slow by Mary Holm (who is also the lecturer), was originally written for general population consumption, so it’s non-academic and thus very straightforward to read and understand. The assignments are also looking to be very straightforward and not too time consuming.

Sociology (cultural studies and theory) may turn out to be the one with the biggest amount of reading involved. Two big textbooks, some other required readings, and lists of recommended readings which our lecturer really recommends, lol. The reality is that no one is likely to read all of it, unless this is the only course they’re doing. Fortunately sociology is not terribly difficult for me to grasp and my previous sociology course has given me some decent background knowledge. I don’t think I’d want to be taking this one if I’d never taken a sociology paper before.

Psychology (mind, brain and behaviour) is probably going to be the one I find most challenging, but that’s a good thing in the grand scheme. Maybe not so much when it’s 3am and I don’t get something, no matter how much background research I do… But oh well, that’s what tutors and lecturers are for — to bug when you don’t get stuff. Bug, bug, and bug some more if necessary. We’ve just finished the research methods lectures and next week we start the statistics ones. Oh joy… Statistics is not something I am particularly fond of but I better get used to it because it’s a huge part of psychology (and I have to take a Stage 1 paper in it if I want to major in psych, which I do).

And lastly there is French! Learning a new language is so much fun and the tutors are marvellous. I have four classes a week and two tutors (two days each) who are both lovely ladies from France, Audrey and Marion*. This week has been fairly easy but I know things will become more challenging as we progress and I look forward to it! It may be early days yet, but I think I would like to continue on with French with the goal of eventually reaching fluency. Hopefully this will be aided by actually living in France for awhile, at some point.

Ok, phew, that was a lot of get through! I think I remembered all the main points of that poor lost post.

Tomorrow I’m off to stay at my boyfriend’s place for a week or so. We get to play house for a bit, though sadly I don’t think either of us will have time to do any baking. For some reason I always think ‘playing house’ should include baking. Probably because I have a sweet tooth. Speaking of which, I had my first ever macaron yesterday (yeah, I know, nearly 22 years without ever having one before, where the hell have I been??) and HOLY SWEET THINGS it was good. It was probably the most delightful, decadent treat I’ve had in a long time. I think you should go and find a macaron and try one if you never have before!

Loves!

*Same names as two of my favourite French actresses, Audrey Tautou and Marion Cotillard!

One thing I learned from my first semester and going through exams is that it is imperative my study notes are all organised throughout semester and that I methodically work through all the material so that there is as little cramming as possible at the end of it. The worst is feeling bogged down by loads of information that’s barely making sense.

The other thing I learned was not to set myself too many tasks to do in a short space of time. I am notorious for having giant to-do lists and a ridiculous amount of time to complete it all in; it’s often just not possible to accomplish it all. Unless I suddenly turned into Super Woman or something. Doing this only ends in irritation because I become cross with myself for not completing everything. Though I would probably accomplish more if I also got a hold on the procrastination and managed my time to every minute detail. I guess, with a lot of things, I just like to take my time. I’m not one of these hyper people who rush about doing whatever it is they’re doing. I’m methodical and I find myself feeling stressed if I rush myself too much. Hrm. :/

So, 2010 will see me not procrastinating and not over-stretching my time! I vow to you, to the universe, to any potential god(s) and/or goddess(es), to my ancestors, to my future children, to…to…Twisties chips and ginger ale, to my mother and father, and most importantly, to myself. I do. I vow it whole-heartedly.

I think I should make a deal with someone that if I don’t honour this vow I should have to get all my hair cut off or something.

Anyway, time for me to get going and do a couple more things online before I ice my dad’s birthday cake (carrot). Happy birthday, Dad! Love you! ♥

Anyway, I will be sure to blog more about this subject at a later time when I’m not so tired. In the meantime, click below to read the latest instalment of the 5000 Question Survey.

651. Do you think that it would be a good idea if people served in the army, navy or air force for a while before they were allowed to vote? No, being in any one of those has nothing to do with being a citizen of a country and one’s right to vote. Wow, this question raised my hackles, a bit. lol
652. If you were required to do this to vote, would you? No, I’d start a revolution or move elsewhere!
653. Do people often give you weird looks? Not that I really notice.
654. Do like Japanese cooking? Depends what it is, but generally yes. I like most things Japanese, to be honest.
655. Do you care for stray animals? It’s pretty much what my family does. We unintentionally just kind of collect the unwanted, slightly loopy ones.
656. Which animated movies have you seen and what did you think of them:
A Charlie Brown Christmas When I was little but I don’t remember much about it.
A Garfield Halloween No.
The Secret of Nimh No.
The Last Unicorn No.
The original Lord of the Rings cartoons There were LOTR cartoons?
657. Are you ambidextrous (equally good at using both hands)? Nope, I’m pretty terrible at using my left hand for just about anything. I can copy a four-year-old’s drawings brilliantly using my left hand.
658. Do you always say; “bless you” after someone sneezes, or do you hesitate? Bit of both probably? If I’m startled by the sneeze I hesitate.
659. If you and your friends could go away for 2 days over Halloween weekend where would you go? To a haunted old mansion? Or maybe a nice tropical resort somewhere to lounge around and swim.
660. Which of these animated movies have you seen and what did you think of them:
Watership Down No.
As the Wind Blows No.
Grave of the Fireflies No.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas Parts of it. Meh.
Spirited Away Not the whole thing but I would like to see it all.
661. Do you feel that society is male dominated, female dominated, or neutral? Still male dominated. Sigh. Who the hell came up with that? Why is it so very common throughout a lot of the world? Who said men were somehow better? Hackles are up, feet want to stomp.
662. What words offend you? Racially/ethnically insensitive ones, using ‘gay’ to mean ‘stupid’ (I know language evolves, but it still pisses me off), among some others.
663. They’re just words. Can you get over it? Words can bear heavy meanings and they are also rather powerful. In some instances I will let it go, in others I will not.
664. Have you ever looked into different religions? Yep. None appealed entirely, but if I had to pick one I’d be a Buddhist or Wiccan.
665. Which ones have you looked into? Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Wicca more than anything else.
666. What do you think of Satanism as a religion? It’s fine. And before you think I’m a devil worshipper I highly recommend researching what it actually is.
667. Do you like it better when your classes are taught sitting in rows or sitting in a circle? Depends how big the class is. Circles are better for smaller, more interactive classes as they invite participation.
668. Have you ever read your own tarot cards? Not tarot, but something similar.
669. Which ones do you like better, Star Wars episodes four, five and six, or episodes one, two, and three? None because I’m not into Star Wars.
670. If you scream in outer space does it make a sound? Yes?
671. If you saw The Queen of the Damned did you want to be a vampire or a Goth afterwards? Haha, yes. For shame, for shame. In my defence, I was only like 14-15 and rather ridiculous. I suppose it was the Twilight of my time, but less teenagery and more…oomphy. But not as oomphy as True Blood. Oooh how I love that show.
672. If you saw SLC Punk did you want to be punk afterwards? Haha, yes. I was about 14 and going through my punk phase.
673. What is your favorite zombie movie? Shawn of the Dead.
674. Best kids birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater Roller rink, bowling or sleep over.
675. What were your parties like when you were a kid? Generally pretty good. I had a bouncy castle once!
676. Best teen (about 15-16) birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater, house party, catered in a hall, restaurant, family trip, concert roller rink, movie theatre, house party or concert.
677. What are/were your 15-16 year old parties like? Meh. I was more or less friendless most of the time, so they were very family-oriented. While lovely, not so awesome as a teen.
678. Best 18th birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater, house party, catered in a hall, restaurant, family trip, concert, club, pool hall, college party house party, catered, concert, club or college party.
679. If you are 18 what was your party like? My 18th wasn’t that great. It was a pretty stressful year overall so I wasn’t up for much celebrating.
680. Best 21st birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater, house party, catered in a hall, restaurant, family trip, concert, club, pool hall, college party, bar, Atlantic city/Las Vegas trip house party, catered, concert, club or bar. Or you could do what I did and have two: dinner with family and drinks with friends. Separation of the two is good for minimising embarrassing incidents you don’t wish either group to witness.
681. If you saw The Craft were you interested in wicca/paganism/magic afterwards? Yep… Again, I was 14-15, soooo…
682. What are your top 3 priorities? School, family, friends.
683. If you saw fight club did you want to get into a fistfight afterwards? No, but it was the only time I wanted to bone Brad Pitt.
684. What is your favorite smell? Vanilla, jasmine, roses, baby powder.
685. Give everything below a humor rating (1 = laugh your ass off, 2 = lol, 3 = smile, 4 = lame, 5 = not funny, 6 = offensive):
People falling 1
Rape jokes 6
Sarcastic comments 2 or 3 depending on context
Blonde jokes 2
Dirty jokes 1
God/religion jokes 1
Long-ass jokes Really depends on how good it is.
Death jokes 2 or 3
Pain/sickness jokes 4
Animals doing cute stuff 2
Bodily functions 4
Knock jokes 4
Ethnic jokes 6
Puns Depends
Ironic situations 3
685. If you saw Cruel Intentions did you want to have lots of meaningless sex afterwards? No, but I did want to keep a journal about how much I hated certain people. And I also wanted to marry Ryan Phillippe.
686. Do you get at least three hugs per day? No. Lame.
687. What should someone never say to you/call you if they want to remain on your good side? The word ‘panties’. I just find it so creepy, lol.
688. If you saw Trainspotting did you want to do drugs afterwards? Kind of…
689. Do movies have a great influence on you? Not so very much these days, thankfully!
690. Do you have a favorite reality TV show? Does Grand Designs count?
691. Are there certain roles that people are pressured to play in society or can they basically do whatever they want? Definitely the former.
692. How does the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake compare to the original movie? Didn’t see it.
693. Have you ever held a magnifying glass over an insect to burn it? No.
694. Have you ever pulled the wings off a fly, butterfly or any other insect? No! Awful.
695. What would you think of a guy (if you’re into guys) or a girl (if you’re into girls) who wanted to take you to the park to feed the birds and look at the turtles and fish in the water on a date? I would think he was pretty neat.
696. Do you use public pools? Rarely.
697. Do you use public bathrooms? About a million times when I’m at uni.
698. Do you use public showers? No.
699. How old will you be in 17 years? 38. Oh dear GOD.
700. Would it effect you at all if you knew that a very large meteor was headed towards earth that would impact in 17 years? I would feel a great need to ensure I accomplish all of my really important goals.

• My life pretty much revolves around university. I have no idea how students manage to fit socialising, jobs and study into their lives at the same time.
• I have enough trouble just trying to get my assignments finished on time. I handed in a report today that had the potential to be made of pure win, but because my time management skills are much crappier than I ever thought they were, it was made of pure just-ok.
• I suppose it’s still better than pure fail though.
• Moving on. Still related to uni, but nothing to do with the academic side of things. I’ve always had the brilliant talent of being attracted to inappropriate men, which is something that my two months at university has proved without a doubt. I think I am incapable of fancying anyone available or who is not employed by the university.
• This is very frustrating because it’s not really appropriate to flirt with your lecturer, even when he is incredibly attractive and awesome. *insert a lot of facepalming here*
• In other news, soy mochas are my new favourite drink. I spend too much money on them.

241. Is fifty dollars a lot of money? Not these days, no.
242. Do you like the band Front 242 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_242)? I’ve never heard of them, so I don’t know/care.
243. Would you rather have fame, money, or self-satisfaction? Self-satisfaction, which sounds really, really rude, even though I know it’s not meant that way. I think. Or money. Money would be good right now because then I could have my own place and no student loan and a new phone because my current one keeps dying.
244. What’s your middle name? Jade.
245. What is the absolute limit, the craziest thing you would do for a million dollars? I don’t know. Eat something gross?
246. Are you good, evil or neutral? Neutral, though I guess I’m probably more on the good side of things. Well, I try to be, anyway.
247. Should ebonics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebonics) be considered a language? I really don’t care.
248. What color is your bedroom? Off-white. Very ugly.
What color would you like it to be? Maybe a pale blue or green.
249. When are you planning to move to a new home? I’m not.
250. If you added up the cost of everything in the room with you, approximately what would it come out to be? About a few thousand dollars.
251. Do you blow your nose in public? If I have to, though I do prefer to do that sort of thing in a bathroom/private area.
252. Do you want to follow in your parent’s footsteps? No, I have my own path to follow. Not that there is anything wrong with what they’ve done, mind you.
253. What is the coolest web site you know of? I honestly can’t think of any that I find THAT cool. I tend to go through phases of visiting certain sites frequently and then not again for ages.
254. Which cartoon would you most like to see turned into a movie? The Jetsons. Or did they do that? No, no, wait Pinky and The Brain!!
255. Of the following, which word best describes you: enthusiastic, fair minded, generous, helpful Fair minded or helpful.
256. Can you eat with chopsticks? Yep, I sure can.
257. Could you tell real money from counterfeit? Probably not.
258. What do you think about school uniforms? They don’t stop kids from being mean about other kids’ physical appearances, so therefore I think they are pointless.
259. What ancient civilization would you most like to visit? Egypt or Greece. Or I would go and see what people in Western Europe were doing.
260. What would make a great new Crayola color? Absinthe green.

I’m doing the whole stressing-out-about-a-predicted-outcome-that-may-not actually-come-true thing again. And of course it’s about university because some of the biggest personal struggles I experience are related to my academic insecurities. It’s really rather exhausting going through this every time I have to write an essay, no matter how many words it is.

I’m trying very hard to remind myself that essays are still new to me, as is university, and that this time next year I will undoubtedly feel better about my academic skills. But right now it’s a bit stressful and bit scary and bit overwhelming. I’m frustrated with myself for not having better used my time over this two week break. I mean, I’ve done work, yes, but I could have done more. Cue the psychologist in me telling me not to beat myself all the time. I can counteract every positive thing with at least two negative ones and that is a very damaging habit.

Classes start again tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it.

I’ve spent the last six weeks doing at least some study every day so it’s kind of become to ingrained; having this time to do whatever I want feels weird. I don’t know what I want to do! And I keep thinking about all the work I want to get done over this break. I wish my brain had a switch I could flick in order to turn these thoughts off, but no.

I spent yesterday getting a peanut butter sandwich smeared all over me by my niece (no complaints, she can do that as much as she likes); talking to friends online; spring cleaning my room, and, oh my god, watching that thing called a television. Now what? Maybe I could finish reading that book I started before university began, or start a new one, or dye my hair, or cook something, or have a nap. I would love to leave the house, but being drivers licenseless and a bit rural makes that difficult.

Do you ever notice that when you have free time to do whatever you like, if you don’t fill that time with many things you just end up feeling incredibly tired?

Cute, right?!

Pink and green pens of the skinny variety. I think they need to be to fit into the skinny pencil cases.

These pens are probably the finest I’ve ever used, which is handy for writing teeny-tiny notes on my lecture powerpoint copies.

Anyway, the rest of my week went like this:
Saturday — Hung out with some of my family, including niece and nephews; studied; relaxed and enjoyed the nice weather.

Sunday — All my siblings and 3/5 of my nieces and nephews came over for lunch. Haven’t done that in awhile, so it was really nice; the still-gorgeous weather made everyone lazy (the good kind). Only downfall was that I definitely started noticing I was getting sick with a sore throat, runny nose and cough.

Monday — Nothing much worth noting, except that I almost forgot about my English tutorial and was about 5 minutes late. Opps!

Tuesday — I didn’t have class until 1pm, but I arrived slightly late because my bus was having issues and we needed to change at the depo. I had to sit on the floor of my psychology class. There are two streams for psych: 1-2pm and 5-6pm; many of the 5-6 people try to sit in on the 1-2 lecture which leaves those of us who have a right to be there, without a seat. Needless to say, it’s very annoying. Upside of Tuesday was watching an adorable guy drawing all the way into the city.

Wednesday — I was feeling like hell by this point; coughing, nose and eyes running, headache, sore throat, etc. As a result, my first class was pretty unpleasant to sit through, but as the day went on I started to feel a little bit better, or to just cope better, I guess.

Thursday — No classes so I stayed at home. In the evening there was an emergency with my 3.5-year-old nephew. He started having a seizure after feeling sick most of the day. My mum and I rushed to my sister’s house to look after my 11-month-old niece so my sister and her husband could go to the hospital with my nephew. The ambulance was there when we arrived and the driver was able to tell us that the seizure was caused by a very high fever that came on very suddenly.

They came home around midnight after getting tests done, etc., and my nephew was mostly his usual self. We still don’t know exactly what’s causing the fevers, but with so many viruses and such floating around at the moment it could be anything, I guess. I’m just relieved he’s ok, though he is still having fevers, but my sister is able to ensure they don’t get too high.

Friday — Today has been alright. I’m just feeling absolutely shattered from this cold, which started to become quite chesty yesterday, so I’m going to the doctor tomorrow. I only had sociology, and my first sociology tutorial, which went well. I think out of all my subjects, sociology is the one I’m having the hardest time grasping properly. It’s incredibly interesting but it’s a bit like having bullets of information fired at you from an automatic weapon that never actually runs out!

I realise that there isn’t really a ‘right’ way to do it because everyone is different and one must do what works for them. But I don’t really know what works for me, yet. So, those of you who are, or have been, students, how do you go about organising your notes, what do you do when you feel a bit frazzled by everything?. Also, any other advise you might have will be very much appreciated.

Thank you!!