new year's resolutions

... I know, I know, it's cliché.

First Goal. Veganism.

But I'm going to do it. My biggest one is the one I was flirting with, embracing, and have been pretty well following since the week after reading week. Veganism. I've decided January first, however, is d-day. (v-day?). No more cheatsies.

Not that I've done any hardcore cheatsies, really. (Whey powder in Ketchup chips, really.. cmon guys.)

You'd be surprised at the junk that has egg, milk or gelatin in it that you'd never expect. But anyway, my GOAL January 1st is to stick with it. Yep, I might cheat, but I'm making a dietary decision, not getting married, so bite me. (Plus, I have a hard time telling crotchety old Aunt Edna that no, dear, I can't eat your cookies. Sometimes you've got to pick your battles. We'll make this rule apply to starry eyed ladies older than 80 only, it does not apply to Subway.)

Second goal. Gym-ing.

Actually go to the damn gym that costs me an arm and a leg. I got the damn thing because I could go whenever, and they have unlimited yoga classes, which I was determined to go to three times weekly. I've gone tot he gym a buncha times (though not nearly enough), but I've only ever attended ONE yoga class. I suck.

Third goal. School.

I did okay this semester, but I could have done better. I really, really could have. I'm toying with the idea of doing all schoolwork at school, and staying at school til it's done on all assignments due less than a week away. I think my big thing is I get home and my time management blows. I have this shitty attitude of "It's due like, four days, from now. I can watch How I Met Your Mother for six hours straight instead of doing homework." This brings be to my fourth goal...

Fourth goal. Less wasted time.

I spend waay too much time using StumpleUpon, Facebook, Google Reader etc. Not to mention watching television. It's not that watching the new episode of the Office once a week is so bad, but I get into new shows and watch entire seasons in a day, accomplishing nothing else. It's disgusting.

Fifth and Final goal. Writing.

I don't write nearly as much as I used to and I need to get back into it. Whose quote this is escapes me right now, but someone awesome said that to be a good writer, you have to write. As in (and I'm slaughtering the quote) you really have to write a lot of words, whether they're good or well written or not, in order to be a good writer. I used to do this, scribble furiously in notebooks all the time (including one very memorable and very intoxicated time at the bowling alley..), now I rarely do, I barely even maintain this blog. But, I'm a-gonna. And, focus more on finishing and submitting things to journals/magazines etc.

Procrastination.

So, I'm getting to that point in my classes where everything is now due.

Of course, I'm procrastinating, and I'm sure you want to too.

Here are a few sites that I found interesting in a "WOW! This is SO interesting that I MUST look at it and CANNOT work on my essay." kind of way.

(The pictures of me in weird contexts are from photo funia, and they're awesome. Don't judge me. The ones without my picture in them are from the random internet.)

LINKS.

man, thats neato. (the end is the best, so fast forward if you dont want to watch the whole thing)

this guy is too obsessed with shoes (again, the end is the best part)


this has many powers: distraction AND annoying all your roommates. ok, so it has two powers, but they;re awesome


lego kids, rejoice and quite your jobs! there is a career in lego, apparently.

Baby duck!

I'm a geek and I like things that are just plain neat


This is just a pic of a hedgehog cheese grater, but it's still effin' fabulous.

this is why people don't eat tofu.

So, if you read my posts, you know that I already hate Aramark, but not nearly as much as I hate passing out from hunger, so yesterday I gave in and got a stirfry.

The dish of tofu looked gnarly, and I was originally going to go just veggie, but I was very hungry and just went for it.

Now, I've been eating a LOT of tofu and soy-ish stuff lately. So, i'm expecting my own kind of tofu, kinda chewy, marinated, cooked properly so it doesn't taste like soy-flavoured jello in the middle of my food.

I think they're using medium firm straight out of the package.

I LIKE tofu, eat it all the time, and have cooked it in ways to make most people who have tried it say, wow, that's really good.

But this shit!

Ugh. Grosser than gross.

In case anyone was worried I wouldn't be bitching about Aramark and their sins. (BTW this atrocity plus a cranberry juice cocktail rife with sugar cost be 9.95. RIDICULOUS.)

Dear Captain Inconsiderate:

This whole school is freezing. You actually have to wear a winter coat in the cafeteria. So I was happy to find out that the Owl's Nest was at a decent temperature. So, thank you for not taking off your sweater and instead just opening the door so that we can all freeze to death with you. You dumb cell phone talking piece of garbage. Thank you for asking everyone else if they want it opened, thank you for being loud, and most of all, thank you for irritating me on a lousy day.

Love, me.

MIracle Fruit.

Oh My God.

I am going to be sick tomorrow.

Well, not really, but my tummy is going to hurt.

We got Miracle Fruit in the mail today from ThinkGeek.

It works. It really, really works. I ate a whole lime, a whole lemon, and oranges (never mind Tropicana) were TOO sweet for me.

Vinegar is what freaked me out the most though. it tastes like sugar... something.

So I'm sitting here drinking very lemony water and waiting for it to wear off, as wine tastes like sugar wine, and like garbage. Peter is annoyed because his beer is too sweet. It's freaking awesome, and would be really good for sugar substitute, but from my experimenting (potatoes are still potatoes, bulgur is bulgur, ketchup is sweetish ketchup) foods have to have a level of acidity to them for it to work, milk is milk, water is water.

But vinegar, holy fuck!

Dear Aramark

Dear Aramark:

I know that it's tempting. Up here all alone, just you and me. I know, I know. Timmy's is limited. He's too big anyway, he doesn't give a shit about me or you. And hell, Pizza's all jacked up and doesn't know what is going on. So, in the end, really, it's just you and me.

So you stare at me, and I stare at you. I could've taken precautions, I know. Everyone said to, I guess I'm just not an organized person. I could just try to run away from you, but we both know you're everywhere, you'll get me eventually.

And Aramark, I know I'm a damned good looking woman. I know. But, Aramark, I wanted to appeal to any morality you might have, or ever had.

Please, Aramark, stop ass raping me. I can't take it. Over two dollars for a bottle of Coke I've dealt with. I've put up with it. When I've got a night class and I need my fix, I'll pay anything. But, buddy, I mean, I can buy two gallons of gas for what you want for 591 ml of Coke. That's fucked up.

Seriously. man. This is crazy.

So, please consider, you know, not raping me, or at least not as much.

No?

Not gonna happen?

Shit.


*******Beautiful picture courtesy of the beautiful Jacqueline B.

How badly do you really want that "A"?

So, I read about it in the new Maclean's, and now on BBC News. According to BBC though, the stats are that up to 20% of adults might be using them. If it's 6am and you're reading this, you might just be one of them.

Here's the quote from BBC that knocked my socks off: "Professor Sahakian's own work shows 17% of students in some US universities admit to using the stimulant Ritalin (methylphenidate) - a drug designed to treat hyperactive children - to maximise their learning power."
Seriously, guys? You're doing this? I've had dumbass stoner friends that have done snorted, smoked and swallowed anything and who "would've injected vitamin c if they'd made it illegal." (bonus point to anyone who knows that reference). But someone else's prescription drugs to do homework?

And, don't get me wrong,I'm not playing the judgment card, I've done the whole 15 cans of coke and some trucker's choice caffeine pills thing before. But Ritalin and the like? If I'm going to effin' bother to go to all the trouble to get a drug that isn't precribed to me, you can bet it isn't going to be Ritalin.

What was more interesting was in the Maclean's article, they were talking about one day REQUIRING workers in office jobs to take brain enhancing drugs. Now, I can sit in my little castle and judge the kids taking ritalin and finishing that last essay for being idiots, but at least they're free willed idiots.

Here's what Maclean says: "Now a report entitled "When the Boss Turns Pusher" in last month's issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics warns that some employers may soon pressure workers to take brain boosters as a way to improve their performance. The report argues legislation is urgently needed to protect workers' rights before the practice of healthy people using smart drugs becomes more common. "I'm a strong supporter of individual autonomy and I think people should be able to enhance themselves all they want," Dr. Jacob Appel, a bioethics lecturer at Brown University in Rhode Island and the report's author, told Maclean's. "But my concern is that employers will try to compel individuals to do that."


That of course just turned me into my 17 year old self, feeling an intense need to put on a 1984-inspired t-shirt that says "big brother is watching you" and running for my five hundred copies of Huxley's Brave New World and talking about conspiracy theories and "the man."

Like, holy fuck, man.

turkkeytimmmme

Dear Thanksgiving Travellers:

I have to travel exactly thirty-five miles on the north (two lane) highway today. It should take between a half-hour and forty-five minutes. It's really, really not far. And the highway is really badly maintained. So, I will be driving slowly. I will be driving *shudder* the speed limit.

So, Mr. Douche bag with his eighteen kids and fourteen guns and containers of kool-aid, sugar and ritalin, do not honk at me. I am not going to speed up. I want to be alive, and for my car to be not-broken when I get there.

I'm sorry if you get to your destination 2 minutes later. I'm sorry that you have to wait another 2 minutes to crack open that first beer.

Just chill the fuck out, kids. It's a nice relaxing time. Don't push me over to get in line first in Sobey's. Don't honk if I'm not speeding. Get your damn high beams outta my mirror.

And have a fantastic weekend, kids.

Love, Shauna.

me want fooooood!!

So, eating.

It's kind of important I guess, keeps me alive and stuff.

And, I like to cook. I cook a lot. Sometimes, my roommates buy food and I eat for free if I'll cook it. That's always a bonus when you're a student, and therefore, poor as shit. I like cooking so much, I have an infrequently updated blog on food too.

I recently picked up the book Skinny Bitch, which isn't just pro-vegan, it screams and berates you for being anything but. Not that I think I'd be completely able to go completely vegan, (I have little to no self control when it comes to milk, cheese and bacon.) I thought I'd incorporate some vegan and vegetarian meals into my regular diet.

Now, I feel like a hippie. I fed one of my roommates 'tofu' masquerading as pork, and he ate every last bit of sauce on the plate. If I'd have told him it was tofu, he would've either


a) rejected it completely and gone back to some kind of sports video game
b) quoted an episode of Simpsons or South Park were tofu and/or hippies are mocked
c) eaten whatever because he was high and had the munchies.




Back to the point.

Does incorporating the occasional hunk'o'tofu or soy milk or whatever make you a hippie? Is it that big a deal, really? I mean, everyone I've talked to or that I've had try any recipes including tofu or soy have asked me if I was going vegan. Why can't these things just be regarded like regular foods are?

I think that's half the reason people don't like tofu/soy products anyway, they jump into them expecting something gross, so of course they're going to perceive it that way.

Sigh. Well, for now, I'm going to sit in the Owl's Nest lounge, eating my trail mix, maybe dive in my Clif Bar and hope that my pants don't mysteriously turn into hemp.

Things I found on the internet before my first cup of (ancient chinese?) tea was done.

I'm sure the majority of you facebook, and then perhaps have seen this super awesome ad to the left. I saw it the other day and just could not stop laughing. Really, guys? I can lose a thousand pounds with this tea? Come on. I can see someone clicking on something thinking they're going to win a million dollars for hitting George Dubya with an egg, or complete a thousand offers and bug countless numbers of their friends so they can not get a free ipod, but really, guys, really!? I suppose the blonde hair and matching orange outfits does really prove it's the same girl, kids, but come on now. 

This group on Deviantart blows my mind. The only times I've used MSPaint is to draw a stick figurine of some type doing something scandalous to shock or upset my friends and family, but these kids, well these kids are kerazy. LINK.  I couldn't make a believable semblance of anything more complicated than a lamp, and am truly in awe of these kids.

people that have graduated

Currently doing my last year at Nipissing, I've got a mix of friends that are in, just finished or completely out of school. 

Your position relative graduation can be a big factor as to whether or not, and how, people judge you and choose to make snide little comments behind your back, or even more likely, to your face. 

It's getting close to that time in life that you can't simply say, "Well, he/she's still in school...." This simply phrase once let us avoid more faux-pas sentences like "He's a philosophy major, Daddy!" (though this is usually followed by a fit of screaming somehow involving, 'BUT I LOVE HIM!' and the perpetual classic 'I HATE YOU!'.

Anyway. 

I was talking to a friend of mine this morning, and had to realize that I'm almost a grown up. He was talking about a girl that he might date, and I asked what her major was. Apparently, she's graduated. I know people that have graduated. But it still blew me away for some reason.  Now, we don't get the aforementioned trump card phrase. "She's still in school" gave us such possibilities. It gave us the possibility that she could be studying bio, then going to med school and finally curing cancer. We didn't need to know that she was studying gender equality and becoming a haughty receptionist who tells you where her eyes were, which I can only assume is a throw-back to her anatomy class days, back when I made up that she was curing cancer and shit.

Meeting people who have already graduated (and are actually done with school) can sometimes be scary. I mean, when you're an English major and you meet someone who has graduated from the same program a couple years ago and they're driving a porsche and holding a D&G purse, you feel terrific (and subsequently congratulate them for winning the lottery...). But, when you meet them as your new coworker who is earning as much of you, but actually has had to start paying back their OSAP and so ends up with less spending money than you.... Well, you panic.

For now, the real world scares me, and I'll sit in my ivory tower of academia and research grad school.