hey luvies!

yesterday was "job shadowing" and i was sent to Magazines Canada even though my friend at Harlequin asked for me. MC is a non-profit company that helps promote magazines, they have events and catalogues and deals etc. C was the person i was to contact (she graduated from the program 2 years ago) and she gave me a tour of the place. it is actually pretty small, just part of one floor.

i was basically sent around to different departments in the office starting with ad services. I was set up at a desk with a laptop and C wasn't very clear in what i was supposed to be doing. essentially i spent an hour and a half reading the company's facebook, twitter, and actual website. apparently i was supposed to come up with a schedule of some sort for when to post on fb and twitter but, yeah *shrug*

the best part of the morning was getting to look at the final proofs for a magazine add. we were to look for any errors, oddities, the paper stock, etc. it was fun to hear them discuss it and the paper felt sooo amazing! it was kinda satiny and smooth. i never knew paper could feel so good

next i was sent off with E to a conference call meeting. since it was over the lunch hour, there were catered sandwiches. apparently they were late and i overheard someone say that they should have stuck with pizza and i wish they had! the only sandwich which i recognized what was on it was egg salad and they put some stringy sprout type things on it too! okay, egg sandwiches aren't normally a fave with me but way to make it worse.

in the meeting the people were going through options for workshops at an event they hold next year. they only had just over an hour to discuss nearly 150 options that had to be narrowed down to 60 so they kinda flew through the package. i'm assuming that the others had the package earlier and were able to read through them to have an idea of what to say. a worker from one of the magazines that CM promotes also attended the meeting and brought two of my classmates who were job shadowing there

the meeting ended a little earlier than i was expected to my next person so E talked to me a bit about different events the company hosts and showed me a few interesting things on the website. since C already talked a bit about the website and left me to look at it, i knew a lot of the stuff.

after that i met up with P (she graduated last year) who is in charge of the catalogue. CM sells nearly 200 different mag subscriptions in that thing and some of them now have a digital/online mag option as well. she also does what is called "eblasts" which i think are short emails to promote deals for subscribing to the magazine. P showed me a couple examples and sent me off to my desk to create one for christmas holidays and for valentines day. she loved them and said she plans to actually use them!

the two C's sit in the same area with P and one was really chatty but i didn't quite comprehend what he does. it is something to do with sales so perhaps he is the manager of the sales team? it had something to do with trying to get bookstores and other venues to buy magazines. the other C takes the magazine invoices, inputs the information on the computer, then passes off the invoice to the accounting department to deal with. definitely NOT a job i'd want!

next i was with B (graduated 4 years ago) who does membership and communications. basically she deals with any questions the members might have and applications for new members. she also went over the website but showed me a couple things the others didn't and also what might prevent a magazine's membership from being accepted.

she got finished with me a half hour before i was to leave so she took me to the warehouse. i chatted with one of the guys in there, G and E (not sure which was which). there were shelves and shelves of back-stock magazines and they told me to grab a bunch to have! (provided it wasn't the last couple copies, they need to keep those). i was also given a canvas company bag to put the mags in and it was packed full! i have a stack of mags and literary journals eight inches high!

it wasn't much fun trying to lug my backpack, purse, and the bag of mags back to my apartment but C gave me even better directions home. to get there i had to bus to the subway station, take the subway to downtown (which involved going on a bridge that scared the bejabbers out of me it was so high up!), jump on the streetcar, then walk a couple blocks south then west. on the way back she told me there was a better way of walking one block south and west to jump on the street car that would take me to the station and i'd just have to jump the bus home again. *shakes head*

when i woke up this morning i was wondering why my back and shoulders were sore and why i had a bruise on my hip... then i recalled lugging all that stuff around *ugh* as if my 8:30am start wasn't bad enough i had to deal with pain all day. on my way to class i met up with a classmate who had to job shadow today instead. we had an assignment due so i was getting hers to hand in. she was going to stop over last night and i stayed up waiting for her because she was running late but she decided it would be better to meet me this morning on the way to school.

the assignment was the photographs i posted a few days ago; i had to choose ten and print them off to hand in.
i fought with my printer for HOURS trying to do this. i tried to do it on my mac but the photo programs kept crashing when i tried to open the pictures in them. i tried to print them on my PC but the printer kept spitting out blank pages rather than printing what i asked it too (any suggestions for how to fix this?). so finally i hooked the printer back up to my mac, opened the pictures in just a preview, and printed one...

but they weren't turning out right, they were all streaky and the colour was funny! yep, my ink was low and needed to be changed. thankfully i had bought ink before i moved up here so i had some on hand but i couldn't figure out how to switch them up. i had to fight like crazy to get the ink cartridges out and then i couldn't get the new ones in! finally i found a tutorial online on how to put them in and realized i was trying to insert the black into the colour spot and vice versa. i was doing this because that is where the old ones were thus explaining why i had a hard time getting them out too. the question is, how the heck were they working when i printed stuff before?!

anyhoo, i finally got the ink in and i had to "calibrate" my printer but the stupid thing was jammed. back to the tutorial and then i resolved that issue thankfully quicker than the others. i was terrified that i broke the printer struggling with the ink but luckily the jam is a known issue instead. i finally got the pictures printed looking fairly decent for being on regular paper. i had no control over any editing or cropping or layout which totally ticked me off but at least all ten pictures were printed.

if you remember i had to borrow my dad's camera for this project and we, thankfully, get to use the pictures in two or three other assignments in design class. the one assignment that we dont get to use those same pictures but have to use different pictures is for a faux cook book. i was thinking of calling it "The Two Kat Cookbook" and use recipes from PersianKitty's blog and my mum since they both have the nickname of Kat.

since i have to give dad's camera back this weekend i thought i'd start taking pictures for that (and hoping to take more at home). i made mashed potatoes, asparagus, and cheese sauce for dinner (all using the recipe cards mum made me) and took pictures as i went for a "how to/step-by-step" recipe for each item. i'll have to find out if i have to take all the photographs or if someone else can, if so can i snag some of your pictures kat?

needless to say that i've learned one person should do the cooking and the other the picture-taking. i nearly burned my cheese sauce cuz i couldn't keep stirring while taking pictures. my mashed potatoes went cold while i was snapping a shot of the asparagus and cheese sauce. i have to say that the final picture of mashed potatoes in a "mountain" with the asparagus pieces rayed around it and sauce drizzled over it all looked amazing! i'll show y'all the pictures some other time, perhaps around when i'm actually working on the project.

i guess i should maybe do the dishes now...

SUMR

He has driven a tank, flown a plane, and rappelled from a helicopter. He endured harsh situations, made sacrifices, and protected those weaker than himself. He is not Clark Kent or James Bond but something better: a military man. He is the former Chief Warrant Officer Joseph Louis Georges Benoit Boulet and he says that life in the Military Police is “All about attitude.”

He has driven a tank, flown a plane, and rappelled from a helicopter. He endured harsh situations, made sacrifices, and protected those weaker than himself. He is not Clark Kent or James Bond but something better: a military man. He is the former Chief Warrant Officer Joseph Louis Georges Benoit Boulet and he says that life in the Military Police is all about having “the right attitude.”

His wife Carole says, “Behind every good soldier is a good woman.” She should know; she has been married to him for thirty-seven years.

While many women love a man in uniform they usually wed the man with a regular nine to five job. Who wants a relationship with someone already married to his country and career? “When in the forces, [Ben] was a man with dedication to his career, like his second wife,” Carole admits “[but] my husband always gave his best to our daughters. He loves them and is always there for them and for me.”

Ben is known by his friends and family to be a man of sincerity, intelligence, and a big heart. “I would trust him with my life,” states Kevin, a friend and member of the Service Riffle Shooting Association. “He has a great sense of humour with a French accent thrown in for good measure.”

In his years of military service Ben worked his way from Private to CWO, and sometimes in dangerous situations. It is said that Ben has the abilities to be a sniper but this is unconfirmed; when asked if he had ever seen combat, Ben answers with just one word: “Classified.” The only thing he will say about his shooting skills is that “Carole is a good shot. While in Germany she beat me at an international shooting competition sponsored by American Forces.”

The Boulet family had many adventures in their travels to Germany, Russia, Thailand, Finland, Maldives, Sri-Lanka, Israel, and back again to Canada. Through it all Carole and Ben supported each other and their daughters as they discovered the world. “Being married to Ben gave me the chance to meet new people from different cultures [and] make new friends everywhere.”

Only once did Ben accept a position in which his family could not follow. Due to a “job well done” Ben was asked to take a yearlong UN post in Cyria. Ben became the Sergeant Major for International Military Police Forces compromising of MPs from Japan, Austria, Poland, and Canada. That year apart was hard on Ben because spending time with his wife, his daughters, and his grandchildren is Ben’s idea of heaven.

Ben may be a recipient of the Order of Military Merit but that does not mean in his retirement he rests on his laurels: “My wife was always beside me on all my moves in my career. She was there for me all those years and now I’m there for her.” Ben jokes, “It’s payback time!”

If you ever see a man in uniform, catch him as quick as you can; a woman will never be happier than when married to a military man.

*********************************************

this is my new and improved profile project for class. please let me know what you think and if you noticed any spelling/grammatical errors. Tell me which magazine you might read an article like this, as part of my assignment is to say what magazine might market the article. And last but not least, what do you think the headline and subtitle should be???

SUMR

hey luvs,

if you haven't voted for the ten pix from my previous blog do so after helping me with this

what i need help with is the pitch proposal i had to create for a nonfiction book. i do not tend to read nonfiction so this was a bit difficult for me PLUS it had to be a book that fit in with the "publishing company" assignment we're working on in groups as well and thereby limiting the content to work with. i have to hand it into class this coming week and we've basically been told to do this blind -not one of us has ever seen or heard a book pitch and we have only the assignment sheet to go on. anyhoo, please let me know if you think this book would sell at all and if i've made any spelling/grammatical errors...

Title/Subtitle
Keeping The Peace: How to Survive Living with Your Parents… again.
Keeping The Peace: How to Cohabit with Your Adult Child

Concept/Content
This book will boast the pros and cons of an “emerging adult” moving back in with their parents as well as the pros and cons of parents allowing their children to move back in. It will offer tips on how both the parent and child can co-habit peacefully and how to communicate to negotiate compromises and house rules. It will consist of interviews with other emerging adults and ex emerging adults who live or have lived with their parents and parents who have had their children move back in with them or who did not allow their children to move back in.

Author Credentials
This book would be co-written by a researcher in the field of emerging adults such as Jeffrey Arnett or Christine Hassler and a fiction author. This will allow the book to be a more interesting read while still remaining grounded in fact.

Specs
This would be a flipbook, one side for the parent and one for the emerging adult. The hardcover option would have a wraparound Z-binding (similar to McSweeney’s Issue 24) while the paperback edition would flip over.

The emerging adult side of the paperback edition would be colourful and attention grabbing; the parents’ side would have a more academic feel. This will make the book interesting to the younger audience’s eye while still appearing intellectual for the discerning adult.

The pages of the emerging adult portion will be trimmed with colour. This would be intriguing as the book would not only have coloured trim but only half the book would have it and cause consumers to wonder the reason why and therefore pick up the book. The coloured pages would also have a practical use of dividing the book into the two aforementioned segments. The division of the coloured trim will indicate to the reader the portion of the book that is relevant to their side of the experience. There should also be at least two colour options to promote the book as “different” and possibly double sales for those families who do not like to share books or can be given as a gift to both a parent and child and not be the “same” gift.

Target Reader
This book would be geared towards “emerging adults” (college students/graduates) and their parents. A secondary demographic would be adults moving back into their parents’ homes at any age.

Other
The book would be promoted on opposing sides of the bookstore display. One display would show the emerging adult cover while the other would boast the parents’ cover; this will show that this book has two different sides -both in cover and content.

SUMR

Tour De Danforth

So my classmates and I were let loose on Danforth today with cameras so we could take shots for our school magazine. We were to capture architecture, take portraits of strangers, shoot objects at odd angles, find the nature in the city, locate the landscape that gives a danforth feeling, etc.

In around 2-3 hours I took approximately 150 photos. The girls I met up with kept leaving me whenever I stopped to take photos and whenever I caught up they were either all together or in groups of two and three. It seems I'm the only one no one waits for. When I finally caught up with them again they decided it was time for lunch and I went with them because I was getting a little hungry even though I wanted to take more shots.

Anyways, now I have to choose the top ten photos that I will be working with for much of the rest of the semester. Needless to say I'm having a hard time with it and myself and two other friends managed to narrow it down a bit. I'm sorry half of them are not rotated but you can always check them out on fb as well!

so which ones do y'all like best???

LANDSCAPE/ARCHITECTURE:
bike & cars (needs to be rotated)

broadview and danforth pillars (rotate)

moontower (rotate)

latin building (rotate)

sidewalk

FACES OF DANFORTH/PORTRAITS OF STRANGERS
wwf stretcher (rotate)

singing scrapers

ladder painter (needs to be cropped)

calgary cowboy (rotate)

second cup guy (rotate and not sure which i like best)

canadian cap guy (rotate)

RANDOMS:
calgary hat

signs (rotate)

pinwheel

fence (rotate)

red door (rotate)

bamboo door

betty boop (rotate and not sure which is better)

construction wire

angle bench

NATURE:
pigeons are for the dogs

flowers

electric tree (rotate)

leaves

SUMR

so today is horribly rainy and grey and blah and i don't like it. i was yawning nearly all day due to a combination of the icky weather and the boring classes. our entire first class was to create a production schedule for a book that would hit the shelves in june of 2012 and since it does not take a full two hours to make one, we were all let out early.

for another class we're working on a group assignment and the others in my section decided to go to the BAM room on break to work on it but i had to first see about confirming my bursary. with that group i feel like i'm not participating enough in the conversation but whenever i do make a suggestion there is a beat of silence and then they move on ignoring what i just said *grrr*

we were still working on it with less than ten minutes until the next class and i had to get my books from my locker yet so i left them. its not like my input was worth anything but a couple of the girls made me feel like i wasn't pulling my weight by leaving. it was hardly enough time to hit my locker before class started since nearly everyone was already sitting down by the time i arrived. since k-town jer was passing my locker i walked with him to class and decided to sit with him and cutie.

cutie hardly talked to me even though i tried. i think he was in a bit of a grump today and he said something about having to get over to the yorkdale mall area after class and thus wanting the day to end. somehow the three of us got talking about pets and he has five kittens he's trying to give away. sadly i'm not only allergic but not allowed to have pets either.

we got our test scores back for editing and i came out with a 42.5 out of 45. some of the mark-downs are legit but, honestly, taking away a mark because my evil red editing pencil doesn't write dark enough is a cracked up call in my opinion. it is not my fault, i was pressing the stupid thing as hard as i friken could! *bah*

after class ended as we were collecting our books to run away jer said something about the five kittens and i thought he said five kids! i don't know if cutie was making a joke or telling the truth when he said, "no i only have two kids" and jer threw in "that you know of". what is the consensus, was he joking or do you think he has kids?

i intended to go grocery shopping after class today but it had started raining again just before my last class ended and so i decided against it. i finished up a few things this morning when i baked muffins -such as milk and eggs. i was impressed with myself and the muffins were totally edible! i had a bit of trouble with the oven because this one has two knobs, one for the temperature and one you have to switch from off to either bake or broil. so weird.

anyhoo, since the day sucks massively and i'm waiting for Glee to come on and procrastinating from doing my homework here are some photos of my apartment!!!

As you walk in the door: bedroom to the left and main area to the right

my bedroom

my couch and bookshelves (bedroom on other side)

across from my couch

my kitchen, office area, and entrance hall

SUMR

I hardly got any sleep last night but there was no way i was going to bail on Karo and our excursion to the "word on the street" festival. she showed up just after ten am (i was nearly ready i swear!) and we headed downtown. this took longer than i thought it would but, hey, that's toronto traffic for you.

at first we just wandered around getting the lay of the land so to speak before heading back up to near the entrance. Karo wanted to get a drawing of superman done and i wanted to talk to the people at the Harlequin booth since i'm hoping to intern there. i bought three books to "show my support" while speaking with one of the reps. ironically i managed to talk to a girl who was in my program last year *L0L* her name is emma and was super nice

by then karo and i were starving so we bought hotdogs as that was the only recognizable we had seen by that point (i realized later we totally missed the north west corner of the festival and that is where most of the food booths were *L0L* i thought the hotdogs were horrible and i was really angry at the ketchup because it splattered all over me instead of my hot dog. i was far from impressed!!!

while eating we headed for the tent in which Kelley Armstrong was to be. she mentioned she just finished a two week tour and told us about three more books she was adding to the one series -there is a trilogy starting with the summoning with one group of experimental kids then the next trilogy of the set is another group of kids and she signed up for three more as yet unknown who the kids will be.

she read to us from the book that will be coming out in a couple months which was totally awesome! she's not the best reader in my opinion but it was kewl nevertheless. there was a mass exodus to get in line for her autograph and it took forever! people had stacks of books to be signed and got their pictures taken and such. turns out Emma from the Harlequin booth was in line behind us

the three of us got talking books while waiting which is always fun. karo went first and had to spell out her name so i decided to make things easy and just have my book signed "JK" to which Kelley likened to the harry potter author *L0L* if i don't get "just kidding" or "jr kindergarten" i get "jk rowling".

after that point i had to head for volunteer training which basically consisted of the instructions of "check the binder". apparently these binders were to have all the instructions but ours so didn't. and our walky-talky was malfunctioning so we had to run to the volunteer tent or people had to come to us to pass needed messages.

so my "as yet unnamed tent" ended up being the money matters tent. it was sooo freaking boring! the authors talked about pensions and mortgages and savings plans and that sort of thing. only one author was interesting, adam goodman, he talked about his life experiences which was really kewl. it kind of helped that he's well dressed and cute

i asked for autographs from all the authors anyways since they were the only ones i was going to meet. one of amy's authors in her tent tried to hit on her *L0L* i have to say that if i do this again next year i will need to remember to bring a coat and scarf. it was friken freezing!!!

a bunch of girls from class were going out to eat but my dad had called twice -once just before kelley spoke and again while in my volunteer tent- to tell me the update about his friend who was coming up to toronto today and would be giving me the cord for the camera. it meant i couldn't hang out with the girls but c'est la vie.

the girls basically pointed out the subway entrance (stairs heading underground) and told me one stop north, switch to the bloor-danforth line and get off at my stop. when i got into the station i asked for a bus map because without one i'd be sooo lost! i managed to get on the right subway train and get off one stop up but was sooo confused trying to find the east-west line.

i had to go down stairs to get to the right spot! i wasn't sure if i was to get on the left or right train but i guessed the right and lucked out in seeing another classmate heading home as well. we rode together and talked about our different tents and class and stuff.

once i got out of the subway station i could have taken a bus but didn't see any so i decided to hoof it. the problem was i once again did not know whether to go left or right. i was about to ask someone but three people passed by and i got fed up. thankfully i caught sight of a street sign i recognized and thus got started the right way.

i stopped at the grocery store on the way to the apartment because there was no way i'd be going out again. my dad's friend arrived less than an hour later to bring my the camera cord so you lucked out and get to see a couple photos!!!

this is my awesome swag:

i got a free tshirt for volunteering (i was glad since mine was covered in ketchup). i bought three books for $5 even though they cost more than that alone in a bookstore. i was also given two books for free. i acquired a few bookmarks, a poster, a festival newspaper and program booklet. i was given two buttons. and i acquired two cards when inquiring about internships, one from Emma and another from scholastic canada.

since my friend laur has most of my kelley armstrong books -and has for about three months now!- i only had this one for kelley to sign and here it is:

SUMR

hey luvs

i had to write a profile for one of my classes about an "interesting person". i'm not sure i know what a profile should be like but we were told that it has to have: "a strong focus/angle and answer the question 'Why is this person worthy of a feature story?' It cannot read like a biography or cover letter for the individual". did i manage to do that???

and i went over the word count limit, is there anywhere i could take out words or rephrase something to make it shorter? are there any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors or anything like that? so without further ado...

Goodbye Superman, Hello Super Frog!

Hero and Family Man, Ben Boulet Says It’s All About The Right Attitude.

He has driven a tank, flown a plane, and rappelled from a helicopter. He endured harsh situations, made sacrifices, and protected those weaker than himself. He is not Clark Kent or James Bond but something better: a military man. He is Chief Warrant Officer Joseph Louis Georges Benoit Boulet of the Military Police but, now that he has retired, his friends just call him “Super Frog.”

Boulet’s interest began when his father served in WWII, exposing him to all things military. He enrolled in the Air Cadet in 1963 but transferred to Regular Force by 1969. Boulet began his military career as a private but made his way through the ranks, serving nearly every facet of Military Police, before becoming CWO.

In the thirty-six years he served, Boulet received numerous commendations –namely that of the Order of Military Merit (MMM). This medal was given to Boulet in 1992 by Canada’s Governor General on behalf of the Queen and is the military equivalent of the civilian Order of Canada. Nevertheless, Boulet does not consider this the most rewarding moment of his career; that he reserves for Operation PARASOL. Boulet was the SSM of the Kosovo Camp of Refuges at the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) in Trenton, Ontario.

Do not be fooled though by Boulet’s success. Life in the Military Police is not just a job that allows you to travel to exciting places; there are dangers as well. Boulet says his worst moment was when he went to Yugoslavia as part of a six-man bodyguard team for the Provost Marshall. It was his job to keep the crowd at bay and Boulet had no choice but to knock people away with his gun. It was a situation in which Boulet had to keep his rifle “cocked and ready.”

It is rumored that Boulet also has the abilities to be a sniper but that has never be confirmed. “He can outshoot me any day of the week,” admits a friend and member of the Service Riffle Shooting Association. “He is quite serious about his work in the military […] I would trust him with my life.”

When Boulet is asked if he had seen combat, he answers with just this word: “Classified.” He will say one thing about his shooting skills though: “Carole [his wife] is a good shot. While in Germany she beat me at an international shooting competition sponsored by American Forces.”

During his military career Boulet kept his wife and children with him. It was only when, in 1996, he was asked to do a UN post in Cyria for a year that his family was not following him. To Boulet his family is everything: “When around my wife and daughters and grandchildren, I’m in heaven.” Boulet’s wife stood by him throughout his entire career. “She was there for me and now I’m there for her,” Boulet says before joking, “It’s payback time!”

Those who know him consider Ben Boulet a loyal and devoted friend, courageous and heroic. But Boulet says life is about having the proper mindset, “[It] is what you make it, it is all a question of attitude.”

SUMR

i love fridays. not just because it is the weekend but because it is the best school day ever - totaling only two hours!

today we had a guest speaker named jenna who is our prof chantel's publicist. she graduated from ccc two or three years ago but unfortunately had trouble finding a job because of all the lay-offs and such that were going on at the time. jenna said she got her internship because the person hiring saw on jenna's resume that she worked at the bar the the person's s/o always went to *L0L*

eventually jenna got an actual job thanks to the contacts she had made volunteering at events like word on the street festival (doing that on sunday *w00t*) and the giller light bash. have any of y'all heard of it? its like this uber prestigious canadian award for literary fiction and the winners win thousands of dollars! anyhoo, jenna was at school to ask for us to volunteer for the bash and start making contacts with publishers and authors.

i totally volunteered! it sounds awesome and it will be a great foot in the door i think for when i try to get a job myself. i will have to do a bit of research about who is in the running and stuff so as not to embarrass myself. the catch being is that it is from 5 until midnight. we have class until 5:30 that evening and then class the next morning at 10am. our prof said anyone who volunteers will be allowed to leave class early but who knows what we would miss and only a month before the final exam

after jenna's talk -which was pretty amusing, she told us about the time she tricked one of the prof's into wearing her pjs to class *L0L* we were told to make groups of five to work on another assignment due in a couple weeks. i was hoping to get into cutie's group but he ended up in the one beside mine *bah* nevertheless i caught him looking at me a few times in class... i think.

i didn't get to chat with him yesterday or today and wont have time on monday since daddy's friend is bringing up my computer and daddy's camera but i'll try to on tuesday. for the camera assignment we're to get into groups for that as well only because there aren't enough cameras, the school only has friken four to rent out and only some of my classmates have a digi cam made in the last couple years (due to some needed technology thingie about being able to take "raw" pics instead of jpegs or something?!?!). i'm going to see if he needs a partner

oh, two of my classmates are thinking of starting a creative writing group which i think is totally awesome. i was thinking about something like that but didn't figure anyone else would be interested since our program isn't really about creative writing. i wonder if cute will join... *ponders*

anyhoo, after class today i was just leaving my locker and heading downstairs when i went past the adorable janitor. i was just putting on my sunglasses and looked up to see him staring at me and say "woah!". ya gotta love when that happens! *L0L*

when i got home i naturally checked facebook first thing. i got message from another friend of mine saying that this guy on my friend's list was bothering them. about a week ago my cousin asked if they should accept a friend request from this strange guy who was trying to add her. i told her not too since the guy was starting to creep me out big time. remember how over the summer i said i was chatting with some of my schoolmates? he was one of the people who replied. this friend didn't have as much security set up on her fb page as myself or my cousin does so he kept bothering her. i sent him a message today to tell him to quite bothering my pals and deleted him from my list

to give you an idea about what he's like, i'm going to post a couple messages from him here for you. from his growingly disturbing behavior i started to think that maybe he's not even a student at the college but just some creepy stalker dude... WHO NEVER FRIKEN USES SPELL CHECK!!!!

him (getting my name wrong for the millionth time): Hey Jaime whtzzzzzzzzzzzz up???????/ What re the plans for this weekend???????/ Tc!!!!!!!!!1

me: it's homework for me. i have assignments -multiple assignments and readings and tests to study for!- in every class!!! *wince* how about you? ~JaimeKristal~

him: Looks like u are very stressed and freaked out from the first week of school but thts normal u will get everything done in couple of weeks, the studies are little easy as compared to Seneca so everything would be fine. To reduce ur stress I have some great plans for us....We can walk to a nice beach here, can have nice conversation, know both of us well for our great friendship and then can end our day by having a great dinner at a very nice resturant. It would prove to be the best and stress busting day for both of our life. So whtzzzzzzzzzz say, the plans looks good for 2mrow i.e. this weekend??? Hope would reply soon with a positive and happy news. Tc and always keep smiling!!!!!!!!11

me (um i was a bit mad when i wrote this, can you tell?): You are lucky to be in such an easy program then! I have had homework every day which is due by the next class; I do not have a couple weeks to get my assignments done, merely a day or two. This weekend alone I have to read at least eleven chapters from various textbooks, 3 pages to edit, a presentation to research and prepare to give on monday, a test on tuesday to study for, a written assignment and a group presentation on wednesday. I have more due on thursday and friday but I know I will not get to them this weekend *bah* It would show very poor time management skills on my part to do other things instead. I do not have the time to go out, that would only cause stress not reduce any I may have. ~JaimeKristal~

him: Hello Jaime, It seems like u are getting stressed out very badly and getting pressurised due to large amount of assignment [...] If u want any help regarding getting some stuffs or finding something around the city, plz feel free to message me on facebook or can even call me as u have my cell no too at anytime as FRIENDZ ARE ALWAYS THERE TO HELP EACH OTHER AT EVERY WEALK OF LIFE. Tc & always keep smiling......

him (again. x3. with essentially the same words): Hey jaime whtzzzzzzzzzzz up??????/ How are u doing these days?????/ Do u like to interact with me??????/ Wht do u feel abt me??? Plz be frank on it???????/

I sure as heck did NOT have his cell phone number and didn't want it. we were sure as heck NOT friends considering i only answered maybe one in five of his messages and usually very tersely because he was progressively getting on my nerves but i did not want to be rude and delete him for seemingly no reason. and i always turned down all offers to get together, which he offered in nearly every message. *ugh* so what do you think? just someone desperate for a friend or some desperately deranged psycho?

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Later:

so karo was slightly late coming to get me and thus we were late for andrews gig. not that it mattered really since hardly anyone was there at that point so we got primo seating. even though i ate no more than an hour before i was hungry and karo hadn't eaten yet so i got fries, she got an icky salad, and we shared some weird cornbread thing.

andrew and L- (i forget her name) sang and played fabulously! and L had this totally awesome pink hello kitty guitar which karo got a picture of so you'll have to check out her page for pics as soon as she posts them.

a friend of andrew's that karo doesn't like kept hanging out at our table and i was annoyed within minutes by this guy. thankfully while he was out getting lung cancer our table was soon joined by three friends of L. one of the girls apparently works for disney and she thinks i should get a job there as one of the characters *L0L* sometime i just might do that for a summer

we were joined shortly thereafter by three more people... sort of. we got a picture of them enjoying the music and drinking and stuff so the pictures should rock, ya just gotta see them! karo when are you posting the pictures? *whines* all in all, it was a lot of fun so: THANKS KARO!!! i didn't get to say much more than hi to andrew so don't be jealous kat!

SUMR

I WATCHED GLEE ON TV!!!

now to most of you that may not seem like a big deal, but considering i haven't had cable since grade five (other than off and on while attending university) its something to be excited about. i had rented the first four episodes of season one this past summer to see what the fuss was about but i totally got it and wanted more. after watching the premiere of season two i found a site (via Kat's friend) that would allow me to watch season one online -which is good since i have no money to rent any movies. i managed to get through episodes 5-9 last night and then watched episodes 10 & 11 tonight instead of doing my reading for tomorrow *wh00ps*

last night there was also this uber storm and all the thunder kept me awake. i had to take a graval and put in earplugs just to tone the sound down enough to get some rest. the rain was hitting so hard i thought it was hailing golf balls until i looked out the window. i wonder if it is because i'm at ground level and i can more easily hear the rain hitting the pavement *ponders*...

anyhoo today was really tiring. classes may not begin until 10:30 but as per usual the neighbours morning preparations woke me up early. the good news is that my throat is feeling a lot better. figures after i purchase two packs of lozenges yesterday. but chicken noodle soup, garlic bread, gargling with salt water, and taking vit C really does do the trick. go figure.

my first class was kind of fun, at least. we're working on group assignments where we get to create our own (fake) publishing company. three of us came up with book ideas and both of mine were shot down while the other two were well-liked. another girl came up with an idea during our "meeting" and the others went for that as well. i guess i'm not cut out for thinking up non-fiction book ideas which is unfortunately because next week i'm supposed to pitch a book idea to the entire class. any suggestions?

i had lunch with a different group of people today. even the rest of the sixers were divided among the different classmates' tables, go figure. anyhoo, i sat with the two jer's, elaine, and a blond girl that i'm not sure her name. ktown jer's dad is a preacher or an organist, i'm not sure which as i got a little confused since we were actually talking about ghosts at the time. there was a tie-in i'm sure but the caf was loud and he was at the other end of the table. the cute guy was going to sit with us but realized he was about to sit in elaine's chair -she had gone to buy food- and sat at the next table over and was on his laptop the entire time.

also there was the editing test. i was a bit freaked especially since the prof hasn't even taught us all the symbols or how the symbols work for copyediting so it just seems so completely mean of him to do. i mean if there is an early test that was to see where we're at, that's one thing. but this is going to be part of our final mark! i think i did alright - i went over the thing three times in the fifty minutes we were given- but i know for certain i missed at least one *sigh*

after that class most of us went back to the caf to get chocolate. honestly, there was a line up at the vending machine almost entirely of our class! while waiting to get my kitkat and saw cutie by himself again and asked him why he's always sitting alone. he just shrugged and offered me a seat. after i got my chocolate bar i walked to the other two tables that most of the others were at but saw there was no room and not much interesting conversation and went back to sit with cutie.

i had heard earlier that we were sposed to have a story idea to pitch for the next class (i thought it was the one on friday *wh00ps* its the same teacher, easy mistake) so i worked on that and chatted with cutie. i actually wrote a whole lot about our conversation but realized i was gushing and you probably don't care so i'll just summarize and give you the highlights:

we talked about school -thats a given.

we talked about movies -he likes old movies too and knows who audrey hepburn is!!! he thinks brando is the best and he thinks the harry potter movies are well made (he's never read the books though *shakes head*). maybe i should invite him to go with us? laur and caro and whomever else happens to come...

we talked about dream jobs -his is be an agent that pairs literary manuscripts with movie studios, awesome job or what? turns out he's always been into the arts but isn't musically inclined *le sigh* he didn't even scoff when i mentioned i wanted to work at harlequin, just said i wouldn't get any competition from him there *L0L* and i told him about "mania". i didn't explain it well i dont think and mentioned that my "pitch" needs work but he said i sold him. i doubt it, but nevertheless he said it.

we talked about what he does on his laptop all the time -it was driving me insane, how could anyone spend so much time on a computer when you could be chatting with classmates? it turns out he coaches a hockey team for little kids and has been trying to work out a practice schedule. he also works at a bar *note to self: find out what bar*

we even talked about chocolate and allergies. i said i love chocolate but not with nuts in it and he asked if i was all about keeping chocolate pure. i said yes but also that i was allergic to nuts. turns out he's allergic penicillin. he asked if i had an epi-pen (yes) but he doesn't carry his. i mentioned that he probably wouldn't need to, and he said no, there isn't much penicillin just hanging around.

i'm not sure how to describe it but i like his sense of humour. its not class-clown type that's totally in your face but nor is it so dry you're not sure someone is joking. everyone does laugh when he says something funny, we all get what he's kidding about. what kind of comedy would you call that?

huh, even trying to summarize i still wax poetic about the guy. I'M SORRY!!!

moving on! i tried to cook an actual meal type supper tonight. i made myself mashed potatoes, asparagus, and cheese sauce. i know, its lacking protein but whatever, there is no way i'm going to try to cook meat thats for certain. in making this i realized that i did not know how to tell when the potatoes were done being boiled plus that i had no masher and had to use a fork and spoon to get my potatoes mashed. hey, it still tasted really nummy!

its getting late, i'm getting tired, and i still haven't done my reading. i have to be in class for 8:30 tomorrow with the hawt teacher... i guess he's CCC's answer to having a Mr Schu? (Glee reference people *L0L*). i suppose i'll just have to attempting doing the reading over the hour break *ah well*

SUMR

i spent this entire weekend doing homework. okay so i took a couple breaks that allowed me to finish a book and watch two movies but it was necessary for my sanity! i got most of my homework done, which was pretty impressive of me if i do say so myself

one of my assignments was for a group presentation on the google book project and the cute guy was in my group. the nine of us split into three subgroups and mine was on the issues of google books while the cutie was in a different subgroup. since we had an hour between classes some of us were discussing about getting together in the BAM (book and magazine) room and so i went into the caf to find the others of our group to let them know to meet us there after eating. while i went to look for them the rest of the group decided that we would work in our subgroups before discussing together in class for the ten minutes we were to be given.

one of the people i told was the cutie. the girls in one of the other groups apparently did not tell him that we weren't meeting after all when they went into the caf and cutie met up with my group by my locker (i had to get my research). i told him that the entire group wasn't meeting but that he was welcome to hang out with us if he wanted... he wanted. *happy dance*

i tried to get everyone talking as we were walking together by asking about how their weekends went. the two girls in my group spent most of the time chatting about their days while cutie just kind of mumbled that he went to the bar or worked at the bar, i'm not even sure which *L0L* anyhoo, he ended up helping us with our part of the assignment which was sweet.

while we were working i tried to keep everyone on topic and playing devil's advocate just to make sure that we covered all the bases but one of the girls had trouble understanding that. she kept going on how great she thought google books was and that we shouldn't just be negative about them. we were to cover issues and they got sued a lot so how is that not negative? *shakes head* but whenever i asked a question she wouldn't actually answer it but explain what she meant. i knew what she meant but it made me feel like i looked really stupid for not understanding when i did and she wasn't getting what i was asking

when i got home today i practically squealed when i saw my email, sore throat and all! one of my assignments is to learn about my dream career and who currently holds that position. well for me, i'm pretty specific: i want acquisitions at Harlequin Enterprises for the Super Romance brand (only because its the better of the two in Canada, the rest are based in the states or the UK and I dont want to start out in another country). i sent an email with questions over a week ago and i was getting a bit antsy about it -last time i emailed i got an answer in four days- but i found a reply today! *yAy*

so all in all, today turned out pretty good! yes the stupid door by my apartment kept waking me up all night and into the morning (there must be some night shift or night hawk people), and yes i am a bit sick, BUT i got to spend an hour with my class cutie, i got a great email from my future profession, oh AND i found out the editing test is supposed to be on wednesday instead of tomorrow, which is a total bonus!

WOTD!
inaudible (adjective) Impossible to hear; imperceptible by the ear. Synonyms: unhearable,

QOTD!
"Think about a woman. Doesn't know you're thinking about her. Doesn't care you're thinking about her. Makes you think about her even more." -Martin Sage and Sybil Adelman

VOTD!
"One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple." - Psalm 27:4

SUMR