How is it July already? Didn't school just end? Summer can NOT be half over already!

Last week my sister and I went to get our drivers licenses. She's 16, I'm 21. We do things differently, you can say. I'm glad I finally got it, it's about time! Today I went out with my mom, and on our way home she drove into the empty parking lot by the subway, and told me to drive. I drove around for maybe 10, 15 minutes, getting the hang of it. It was slightly terrifying, but also slightly fun. I still don't like the idea of being in control of such a large, powerful vehicle, but I'm going to have to get used to it I suppose. I feel so... grown up.

I'm been out a couple times recently with Marcie and Vlada, since they're both back in the city. We've been friends since elementary school, and we still get along so well. It's pretty great to have those girls around :) We saw Away We Go on Friday, which I really liked. It's been getting mixed reviews, but we all enjoyed it. It was funny, and sweet, and John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph were both really good.

My summer reading is going alright. I lost steam with Catch 22 a while ago. I was liking it, but I just never felt motivated to pick it up and read, so I'm giving it a break. Maybe I'll go back to it one day. Now I'm reading A Spot of Bother, which is really good and funny. It's the second book by Mark Haddon, who wrote The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I'm also rereading the entire Series of Unfortunate Events, because those books are hilarious and quick to read, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I want to finish before the movie comes out next week.

Tomorrow passes for the Toronto International Film Festival go on sale, and course selection is Tuesday! I am very excited for both of these.

I have been neglecting you, poor livejournal. Though tumblr has become my newest internet hang-out, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this livejournal. I've had it for nearly 5 years! That's 4 jobs, 3 trips, 2 schools and 1 emo-period. And while I haven't always articulated myself well, or been very social online, this blog means a lot to me. It's a record of me growing up. I started this when I was 16 and working for the first time in a day camp. And while I may not be very different from that awkward 16 year-old, I feel like I've learned a lot since then.

Anyways, excuse the rambling. What I wanted to say was I'm sorry I haven't been blogging, and I'm going to try to do it more.

I've been busy(-ish) since I last posted. Let's have a run-down, shall we?

~ I saw No Doubt with Marcela. It was amazing. I have loved No Doubt for a long time, and seeing them live in incredible seats was such a rush. They performed all my favourites (Underneath It All, Bathwater, Spiderwebs, Just A Girl) and gave a totally electric performance. I had so much fun that night, more than I think I've ever had at a concert before. If you're interested, I posted a few videos here, Marcie has a few videos up here and my photos are here.

~ Last week I went with my mom to a gallery opening in the Distillery District for Douglas Coupland's "Atelier". It was a really strange, surreal kind of homage to Andy Wharhol, with defaced Marilyn prints and framed, flattened wigs. There were also children's letter blocks spelling out words like "mother fucker", "define normal" and "total asshole". My mom's friend Kat wrote a much more eloquent review of the show than I ever could - you can read it here.

~ On fathers day a bunch of my mom's family came over to celebrate. We BBQed, drank, acted silly and had a wonderful time. My mom's family is a little bit insane, but I love them dearly. We had a candle in the cake my sister baked and we all sang "happy father's day to you". Most importantly though, my dad had a good day (I hope)! We got him a CD and the first three books of the Oishinbo series, which is a manga about Japanese cuisine that has been around since the 80s, but was just published in English. He's already read the first two, and I'm going to read them as soon as I get a chance to.

~ I've also been watching a lot of movies recently. So far this month I have seen Forrest Gump, The Apartment, Chasing Amy, Drag Me To Hell, Smiley Face, Harold and Maude, The Go Getter, Crossing Delancey, Harvey, The Pillow Book and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. That's what summer's for, right? Sitting inside and watching movies? Well, it's how I spend my summer at least! Mostly this movie watching has been the result of my discovery of Video Flicks, an amazing independent video store at Laurence and Avenue that has pretty much everything, plus amazing prices. You can get 7 movies for a week for $12! Its pretty much my new favourite place ever.

~ Today has been nice and relaxing. I've done some GRE studying, caught up on my Google Reader and YouTube subscriptions and read the first book from A Series of Unfortunate Events (I'm rereading the whole series). Tonight my mom, sister and I are having grilled salmon and baked potatoes (mmmm) and watching The Graduate. I am excited :)

That's pretty much it. I'll be posting again soon, for reals this time.

What I've been up to recently:

~ I saw Spinal Tap live with my mom last week. Christopher Guest, Michael McKeen and Harry Shearer are on tour now, doing music from Spinal Tap and A MIghty Wind, and it was an amazing, hilarious show.

~ I went to Doors Open Toronto with Sam and John on the weekend, which was fun and really cool. We saw a couple old synagogues in Kensington, the Gardner museum, and the Church of the Redeemer.

~ I've been working at my professors lab, which I'm still really liking. Everyone there seems really nice, and I'm finding it really fun and interesting.

~ I saw Angels and Demons with Rebecca last night. It was alright, enjoyable but not great. The story was convoluted and kind of poorly thought out, but it was well done overall. Definitely better than The DaVinci Code. Plus, Ewan McGregor's in it, so I automatically like it a whole lot more because of that.

~ Today's been the first day in a while that I haven't had to leave my house, which is nice 'cause it's been raining all day. I've mostly just been lounging around. I did some GRE research and ordered a couple of prep books, I took a bath, I watched three more episodes of Skins, which is becoming my new addiction. It's like the British OC, only with more sex and drugs.

Sorry this is kind of boring, just wanted to write down what I've been up to before I forget!

Okay, so a few days away from blogging turned into a few weeks. Oh well... I've been busy, I guess. I started working at my professor's lab last week, and I really like it. I love that I'm seeing the actual, hands-on side of what I've been learning about for 3 years now. I'm so glad I'm doing work in my field this summer and not working retail. It would be nice to be making money, but the experience I'm gaining is awesome, and going to be very helpful in the future (I hope).

I've also been hanging out with friends and enjoying the warm weather! I had a great day with Sam downtown last week, which included bagels and Starbucks, browsing at Umbra, and painting our nails in the park behind OCAD. I also saw Star Trek on the weekend. I've never seen anything Star Trek before in my life, and I wasn't too sure how I was going to like the movie going into it, but I loved it. I wasn't bored once, it was funny, and exciting, and I'm definitely recommending it to everyone. I don't know what else to say about it without gushing, but see it!

Yesterday was Victoria Day, and my sister decided to bake scones. I made a pot of tea, and we sat down with my mom and dad and we had a lovely little afternoon tea together. My mom and I decided that it's going to be our new Victoria Day family tradition :)

Well... I think that's all the major catching up I had to do. I've been updating my tumblr more often than I have this, it's easier posting pictures and videos and things than it is writing about my (not very exciting) life.

Today was not a great day. It's rainy and grey outside, and I have bad cramps. Also, I couldn't really concentrate on studying for my exam tomorrow morning. I am so ready for it to be over, I really need a break. I feel so worn out and tired of school right now. Of course, in about a month I'm going to get all bored and antsy and won't be able to wait for it to start again. I guess I'm just never happy with what I have...

I did a little iTunes spring-cleaning today, deleting stuff I don't like or have no interest in ever listening to again. A lot of the stuff I got rid of I don't even know how I got in the first place. It felt good, de-cluttering my music. I'm also in the process of adding more stuff that I do like, including some Beatles stuff I don't have (shocking, I know). It's mostly singles and B-sides that I don't have, since we have all the studio albums on CD. I'm also adding some No Doubt albums I don't have, since I got a free download of their discography with the purchase of my ticket for their show here in June. I need to do some actual spring cleaning of my room, but that's going to have to wait until I'm feeling better.

I'm currently in the process of reading Catch-22 and Suite Scarlett. The former is part of my attempt to read classic novels, and the latter is a young-adult book that I am loving, despite being "too old" for it. After I finish these, I have pile of other books waiting to be read. I'm so looking forward to reading on my new balcony this summer! I'm so glad I started reading again. When I started university I kind of let it fall by the wayside, despite it being one of my favourite things to do. That transition from high school to university was tough, and I stopped reading for enjoyment, which is sad. After first year, I realized I hadn't read a book all year, and I started to fix that. It took a little while to get myself back on track, but I did, and I am once again an avid reader.

Well, this is my final BEDA post. I didn't quite blog every day in April, but I did post 26 times, which is a lot better than the 3 times I did in March. I think this project has gotten me back into the blogging spirit. I just checked, and I'll have had this blog for 5 years in July. That's crazy to me, cause I remember so well when I started it. I didn't even want to really, but Marcela and Vlada both had livejournals, and I felt left out. So I made this account, and I've been here ever since.

I'll be posting again soon, I promise, I need a few days break though.

Yeah, I completely forgot to post yesterday. Oops. Today was spent pretty much like all my days have been spent recently, not doing anything too exciting. I studied physiology, which I will be so glad to be rid of forever as of Friday! I walked Maple in the ravine by my house with my mom, which was lovely. I cooked a delicious roast chicken and vegetables, mashed potato and steamed broccoli dinner for my family. Then we watched Lost, which was amazing as always. Such has been my day. I am tired, and don't feel like going into further details. Tomorrow will be my last BEDA blog, and I'll try and put some more effort into it.

So this isn't a complete waste of time:


This is the only Arrested Development video I can find on YouTube. Stupid Fox takes them all down. I wanted to find one of GOB on his Segway for my post a few days ago, but not luck... This one's still pretty good though.

Didn't feel like posting yesterday, I still don't feel like it today. But I'll try anyway...

I had my human behavioural biology exam toady, which was fine. Not super easy, but I knew pretty much everything, and felt pretty confident when I left the room, which is always a good sign. All I have left now is physiology, which is going to be a whole other story. I just want it to over with, I HATE that class!!! I don't think my brain is capable of memorizing so many stupid, boring details.

I am kind of in love with Michael Smith. I've been watching a lot of Chef at Home (what else would I be doing when I have studying to do?) and I love it! I want so badly to be that confident and sure of myself in a kitchen that I can just make things by throwing ingredients together with no recipe. I am definitely a stick-to-the-recipe kind of a cook, and I get nervous when I stray too far. I'm getting better though, I think that confidence is just going to come with experience, which I'm trying to accumulate! I would love nothing more than to stand in my kitchen cooking (and eating) all day. I found myself admiring aprons the other day. I'm thinking housewife is sounding like a pretty good life pan right about now....

Today has been a strange day. It was absolutely gorgeous all day, sunny and hot and breezy, and know there's serious winds and thunder and it's all very dramatic. My mom and I went to the opening of this new outdoor shopping centre today, where Douglas Coupland was unveiling the new clock-tower sculpture he made for it. Of course though, of all the afternoon's "entertainment" (read: boring, pointless interviews with people I could care less about), he went last, and we sat outside for 2 hours waiting. I am very sunburned now...

Afterwards though we went to say hi to him (my mom's met him a bunch of times at book signings and gallery openings), and he took us inside to this sort-of holding area, and showed us a segway that he was going to ride. He got myself and my mom to try it as well, and it was so. much. FUN! I totally get why Gob rides a segway now. I want one!

How do I know it's finally spring? Well, for starters, I wore shorts today. We also barbecued dinner and had corn on the cob. And finally, my spring allergies are kicking into high-gear. It's not terrible yet, and hopefully Aerius is going to keep them at bay, but I'm definitely very sneezy today. Other than that though I've been in a very good mood today. I studied with my window open, letting in the fresh spring air (and pollen... oops). I went grocery shopping with my mom again, which is becoming our thing. I go with pretty much every time she goes, which is probably twice a week on average. I also watched a lot of the Food Network today. I think I'm fast becoming a foody. I never expected this to happen. I was the pickiest eater growing up, until a few years ago really. I'm getting better. I'm still not great, but at least I eat more than just plain spaghetti, chicken fingers and meatballs (my staples growing up).

I just tidied up my room a little bit, and while I was doing so I found a few projects that I had stashed away. These include knitting), a notebook I'm filling out with random things I've cut out of magazines over the years, and painting supplies. These have all been sitting around my room for varying amounts of time, waiting for me to feel like picking them up. I've forgotten about them though, since they've been stuffed away where I can't see them. I have them out know, and I am going to work on them all this summer. I'll probably start one tomorrow, when I need a study break. My breaks should be more productive than checking facebook and my google reader.

I posted some videos on my tumblr today. These are perfect examples of what makes me laugh. Jim Carrey, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Woody Allen. I love these men.

I missed posting yesterday. Again. Yeah, I'm kinda running out of steam. I'm trying to keep it up though!

Yesterday was a very very long day. We had to get up early to go to my cousin's bris (circumcision ceremony) at 7:45. They're not the most fun aspect of Judaism. It's pretty sad actually, hearing the baby cry and knowing that there's not really anything to be done to make him feel better. He's feeling pain that has been inflicted on him voluntarily :(

I also had a dentist appointment yesterday, which I had to shlep myself to. It took 2 hours out of my day for 5 minutes in the waiting room and a 15 minute cleaning. Oh the joys of public transit... I have very clean teeth though, and no cavities!

Today I studied, I cooked myself lunch (breaded chicken breast and sweet potato chips), and I went downtown to work at the clinic. It was a lot of tedious data entry today. I'm getting so familiar with all the questionnaires that are used in the packages all patients get, I find myself passing the time by thinking about the people who fill them out. The woman who filled the "current medication" section with tiny writing, and still had to add more on the back of the sheet. The man who's scared of people not leaving him alone. The woman who will do anything to make her past relationship succeed. I give these people personalities, appearances, mannerisms in my mind. I wonder if I'd be able to recognize them if I saw them. It's an interesting way to pass the time, if not a little creepy on my part.