aboutI'm a fourth-year geology student at Lakehead who sings, plays piano, and loves to rockhound and sew. archives
links
free hit counter Thunder Bay, ON
|
Monday, September 29, 2003 I hate being sick. It is the bane of my existence. Bridget (in Bridget Jones' Diary) said "When one area of your life is going good, another area screws up". I've been working so hard this year, keeping up and ahead of my readings, doing my labs thoroughly, studying, and then I get sick and miss two days of class. It's like my body says "oh, you know what would be fun, let's get sick and make her work twice as hard to catch up to stuff", which will inevitably make me tired and that much more susceptible to getting sick again. It doesn't seem to matter what I do. Take my meds, don't take my meds. Sleep, don't sleep. Worry, don't worry. I ALWAYS get sick. I hate all the curveballs life throws you. Couldn't Lady Luck, God, whoever just back off once in awhile and let everything go OK for a change? No matter who or what throws a curveball it always breaks your step. They say to take it in stride, but some things are too big to step over, so you have to find your way around them. And that takes time, patience, and experience. Life definitely has it's frustrations.
Karlie@10:41 a.m.
Saturday, September 27, 2003 This morning I went to go have a bowl of cereal, and when I poured it out it was crawling with ants. Apparently a bunch of apartments here have them. So now I'm eating oatmeal and trying not to think about it.
Karlie@12:47 p.m.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003 FYI... Here's a random fact. Did you know that the lines on pavement aren't just painted on? They're redoing them near my apartment, and they actually scrape a layer of pavement off, then fill the line-shaped hole with thick coloured putty-like stuff. I also had a 220 lab today, it wasn't stimulating or exciting, but at least it wasn't particularly difficult. Just a lot of monotonous Excel calculations over and over. Wow...I think I figured out how to allow comments. Kudos to Allan for having that neat page for "how to begin blogging".
Karlie@6:25 p.m.
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 Apartment LivingGotta love renting. About 4 or 5 days ago we discovered that our kitchen and bathroom had aquired colonies of smallish, red coloured ants. We were disgusted, but recovered and went to London Drugs where we bought ant baits (the kind that have two different attractants in them, both with poison that are supposed to go back to the queen and kill the whole colony off). The ants have thanked us for supplying them with new and abundant food by multiplying. This morning I opened the cupboard to throw out some garbage and found a slew of them on the door and the garbage lid. I yelled to Kayla "they're everywhere!", and she came in, looked and shuddered. She then saw the bottle of Orange Action Fantastik next to the can, picked it up, and started squirting it at the ants. They started wiggling, and eventually all the visible ones died in a mist of orange-creamsicle-smelling solvent. Tonight while doing my dishes I saw one on the tile above the sink and blasted it as well. It desperately tried to climb up the wall against the running Fantastik, but succumbed once it got to the foamy bit at the top. We also came home this afternoon to a puddle in our kitchen, apparently the hose that drains the stuff that melts when the fridge "auto-defrosts" doesn't reach the condensation pan properly, so all the melt-water ran onto the floor. After a call to Dad ("Help!") and a look under the refrigerator (where we seem to have petrified dust-bunnies, if carbon-dated they could date back to the Devonian I'm sure) we found out we'll actually need to reach in under there to shuffle things around. I can't wait until I/we can afford a house.
Karlie@11:14 p.m.
Monday, September 22, 2003 Today was pretty good, I was thinking I'd have to be late for my first class, because I needed to pick up transcripts for another summer job application, but then the line-up was short so I wasn't late. Of course it was EAS 220 which is the most useless class I have taken in my life, but oh well. Then I found out that Palaeo was cancelled (yay for a lunch spare), and I went to the Geo common room to discover a bunch of people in my Mineralogy class who helped me understand stereograms. And to top it all off, the Palaeo lab today, which I thought would take 3 hours and more only took two and a half. So. It was a good day. All these job apps for Geology are beginning to stress me a little. First I spent a LOT of time getting them ready, at least 5 hours in total. Then I spent another hour getting them where they were supposed to go. A 7 dollar fax later and many hours at CaPS they're all sent off. But then something else struck me. Pretty much all these jobs are in Calgary. Now I don't mind Calgary that much myself, and I could handle living there. The only thing is: transportation. IF they like my application and IF I get and interview and IF I get a job, how am I going to get around? The only solution is a car, and I don't think that's any kind of a solution. Anyone with access to my finances (which, hopefully, no one but me does) knows, cars are out of the question. And besides that, if all these places are based in Calgary, will I have to go there to conduct my interview? I don't know what's harder. Work or School.
Karlie@10:58 p.m.
Sunday, September 21, 2003 I had the best time yesterday. Choir in the morning (Sectionals, so not AS much fun and we have a really wickedly hard piece, but all in all not bad), then Marcia and I went out shopping. We went to Whyte Ave first, where I got my Mom's chistmas present, and then we went to West Ed. We walked for a bit, ran into Claire and Melissa and talked to them for quite a while, then found some t-shirts at Old Navy. Afterwards...hee hee he. Elizabeth and I were going to go out, and when we found out Michelle (Elizabeth's roommate) was going to the Stonehouse with a friend we decided to go too. I went early, but not before finishing the Tom Collins I had started the other night, and brought the other three with me. Elizabeth and I then enjoyed a few Tom Collins and some Pink Elizabeths (we invented it, it's very girly, peach pop with vodka and grenadine) and giggled our heads off at the Disney movie we'd put on. Anyway we danced for about 2 and a half hours at the bar and had a blast, came home exhausted, and I spent the night at Elizabeth's. Fun was had by all, and we managed to get lots of good looks, but no phone numbers. That's OK, I didn't want any anyway. It's really nice, this year has been a lot different. I'm enjoying my classes, I'm enjoying where I live, and I'm enjoying doing stuff with my friends. My first year I was 10% turmoiled and 90% happy. Last year I was about that but in reverse, ie high turmoil low happy. This year I'd say I'm about 70% happy and 30% turmoiled. That's OK, turmoil makes life interesting. It's so nice that when I'm not doing anything, like when I'm on the bus or in Eas 220, I don't sit and worry or feel sad or depressed, I just mostly feel calm and content. Thank God.
Karlie@3:18 p.m.
Saturday, September 20, 2003 Sometimes I loathe coming back to Edmonton, like now for instance. My lips are peeling and cracking and bleeding, and the soles of my feet will soon follow. The reason for this is that there's always at least a 10% difference in relative humidity between here and Dryden. It's usually higher but today Edmonton's is high and Dryden's is low. Anyway, coming to an area of low humidity wreaks havoc on me. In other news, Allan and I are going to go to the LOTR on Opening Night - and hopefully we'll get to see the marathon. They'll be playing all three of the movies in a row. I suggested we pack a picnic, but we'll have to smuggle it in in GAP shopping bags so they don't kick us out.
Karlie@2:59 p.m.
Friday, September 19, 2003 Here's a WHOLE WHACK of those quizilla things...  Hecate ?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ?? brought to you by Quizilla  Goddess of winter, with a cold exterior but deep down a warm, caring heart. What element would you rein over? (For Girls) brought to you by Quizilla  You're Shirley Manson, you saucy girl. What sexy girl are you brought to you by Quizilla  Cinderella! What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!) brought to you by Quizilla Phew. And now that you all hate me for scanning through so many pictures...
Karlie@9:04 p.m.
 You will sink in a mire. You like to think you're normal, but deep down you really just want to strip off your clothes and roll around in chicken fat. What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die? brought to you by Quizilla Hmmmm I've always wanted to sick in a mire...
Karlie@8:39 p.m.
Thursday, September 18, 2003 THIS
Karlie@9:57 p.m.
The weather has finally smartened up a bit around here, the weather should be getting into the double digits this afternoon. Thankfully (sort of) I was sick on Tuesday so I deferred my three-hour outdoor lab to today. So we should at least be warm while we're crawling all over the river valley with putty knives, examining glacial features in the wall of valley. I went to CaPS this afternoon to check out the campus job listings. It's unbelievable, all the big companies like Exxon and EnCana are already asking for applications, the deadlines range from September 30 to October 4. Hello, I don't even know what I'm doing next WEEKEND never mind this SUMMER. But, of course, my applications are already filled out and I got some transcripts (I have to go get more tomorrow, they only let you get 5 a day for some reason) to go with them. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be getting some nice e-mails saying "We would like an interview". Hopefully I don't have to go to Calgary for them...most of the jobs are out of Calgary. Ah well, back to the grind.
Karlie@3:27 p.m.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003 I really have been interested in Geology for a long time, although I didn't know it was Geology or that I could major in it in University. I remember as a kid taking one really big rock, and using it to crush other rocks powder to see what they were made of. My grandpa used to take me hiking all the time, and we used to look for gold (we have a lot of quartz around) and chalcopyrite. I even had a rock collection, and my grandparents gave me a birthday gift of cool ones they'd collected in Alaska. I just came to University and floundered first year. This being because I intended to major in Chemistry and minor in Physics. HA! What a laugh! One good dose of Chem 163 cleared that right up. Then my ex (who wasn't an ex at the time) started telling me about his cool earth sciences class. So I took it, and really like it. However, at the time I also took Ling 101 which Kayla told me to take, and liked that too. So my intention was to major in Geology and minor in Linguistics in order to get into Speech Pathology. Then came the clincher - you need an 8 (out of a 9-point scale) GPA to get into Speech Path. Well that was an easy decision. I'd do Geology. And if I was going to do Geology, I might as well do it all the way and go into Specialization. And here I am. I'll stop ranting now, because that's more than you ever wanted to know about me. If you want more angry/interesting/funny/strange blogs check out Biogeek and Eyes Lies and Spies under the links section.
Karlie@10:45 p.m.
I have this really really stupid cold, that goes away for bits in the day, then comes back in force everytime I stand up/walk. With four labs this semester I can never miss school and therefore get better. Hope it doesn't come back to bite me in the @$$. It's also FREAKING COLD here, what's with this weather? When was the last time it was below zero (Celsius, in case you were wondering) in September? Today has just really bit...or would that be bitten? biteted? The only plus is that I got all my index cards done for Mineralogy. We have to (well don't have to but may as well) make index cards of all the minerals we see in the lab. We just finished Sulfide minerals. At least they're pretty. Like Cinnabar and Bornite: 
Karlie@9:58 p.m.
Poor Allan. He spent at least an hour with me tonight helping me to change the look of my blog. I know enough html to make a mess and not enough to fix it...
Karlie@12:20 a.m.
Monday, September 15, 2003 Today's paleo lab was a lot easier than I expected it to be. I think the reason they have that class is to drive us geologists crazy. All those stupid names to memorize, complicated specimens to draw, and to top it off most of them are extinct! Do I care about learning about them? Well, yes and no. I like to learn about them, but I hate the labs that shove it down our throats. After all I did get a really nice trilobite specimen for my birthday from Kayla. It's Elrathia kingi, here's a picture from another site: 
I also have a headache drilling it's way through my skull, I got a cold for my birthday as well. Awhile ago (like 3 weeks ago) I'd just had a headache so I wrote a poem about it. I do that a lot actually, when something pisses me off I put it in writing... Hiding in a dark corner of my mind the dark thoughts play raquetball bouncing ideas off my skull, off my nose "would she really? do you think?" the sharp sound - reverbrates hurts my head the sharp thoughts - resonate hurt my heart then in a darkened room a cool bed soft pillows they reluctantly retreat lurking in the shadows
Karlie@8:59 p.m.
So the other day I walked home from Elizabeth's to find that there was a police car in my back alley. Further inspection proved to show that their was another car in front of the house next to our apartment building along with three officers and the canine unit. See here
Karlie@10:24 a.m.
Friday, September 12, 2003 So this blog is named after a poem I wrote awhile ago, last autumn actually: The music begins, softly slowly and seductively the notes float, drifting in the air they hang suspended. Currents move them gently, gathering them together, compelling them into one. And then they fall, black drops empty and full, oblivion and eternity. They coat me, obscuring me. Washed into nothingness. I am gone. Sometimes I can write some cool stuff. I can also write really BAD stuff, but that's beside the point. I also have a headache disgustingly large for such a small person. Choir tomorrow and then IKEA for a mirror. I need one in my room, because having only one in the house is not condusive to a good relationship between three girls. We'll see how that goes, as my Dad says "IKEA is Swedish for 'out of stock' "
Karlie@7:45 p.m.
Tuesday, September 09, 2003 There are so many types of people that you know personally in the world. There are the people that when you see them your day just gets that much better. Usually they're the old friends you haven't seen in awhile, a new "prospect", or that special someone you already have. Seeing them lightens your heart and spreads a smile across your face. There are the people you don't want to face. The ones you feel uncomfortable around. These are people like - a person who likes you, but you don't like them back! or they invade your personal space, or talk about subjects you don't want to discuss. Catching a glimpse of them your heart beats faster and you duck your head. It's nice to be walking with a friend or in a crowded area when this happens, because you can hide behind something before they spot YOU. There are the great friends. They don't make your heart jump, but they are friendly and comfortable. You know you can talk about anything for any length of time. Then there are the people you hate. You might hate them for any number of reasons, but you loathe them with the core of your being. When you see them red-hot loathing spreads through your mind - and then you feel guilty. Afterwards a feeling like a punch in the stomach tends to follow, usually because you hate these people because they make you feel embarrased, or bad about yourself. You quieten down and stop talking all together. There's lots of people in the world. |
listeningReading |
