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If I were a punctuation mark, I would be...   
11:50am 18/02/2008
 
mood: determined
music: None
 
     
4 more flames| To light your way through the darkness
 
A (Non-Love) Letter to my Thesis.   
07:13pm 16/02/2008
 
mood: distressed
music: My cat snoring.
 Dear Thesis,
     You suck me dry like a bad vacuum cleaner.  I go to bed early, exhausted from your idle chatter and I wake up nervous because I know that today will yield yet another attack from my wiley nemesis.  Sailing on your torrential, theoretical waves, I've been forced to listen to the delirous rantings of Foucault, Beck, McLuhan, Fraser and other drunk and naked stowaways running around in empty ale barrels.  You also insist on uncertain ethnographic practices.  Your nagging, perfectionist attitude insists upon nailing me to this province, this town, this apartment, this laptop, this book and to this single and unromantic life.  I dislike you and everything that you stand for.
Sincerely,
Me.
 
     
2 more flames| To light your way through the darkness
 
grrrr grumble grumble   
08:57am 07/02/2008
 
mood: frustrated

grrrrrr grumble grumble.  School is cancelled which makes my whole intended schedule topsy turvy.  I needed to get books at the library today.  Now I will have to get them tommorow making work both today and tommorow limited.  I never thought I'd be complaining about a snow day :S.

 
     
To light your way through the darkness
 
encouraging resolve   
12:26am 07/02/2008
 
mood: stressed
 I admit, I am kind of sleepy as a I post this entry (second one in a week!  impressive!) but, its the new moon.  And things are starting.  Today, like many days my mind was utterly blocked and distracted even though I should have progressed on writing some of my thesis or at least on researching some of it.  I did at least get an outline for my chapter writen and finished a chapter in the book I am reading called "Media and Ethnic Minorities".  Last week I presented and attended a "Thesis Sharing Session" with other graduate students in my program.  It was kind of helpful but also overwhelming realizing how far ahead some people are compared to myself.  Last time I had to get some writing done (and I have to get some writing done now, particularly because my committee hasn't gotten back to me yet about carrying on with my interviews) I decided to stop feasting on candy and junk while working and turned to more brain positive foods.  This actually did help my mind to work well.  But I think I need more.  Those of you who are interested in this whole brain positive foods idea, said brain positive foods include but are not limited to avacados, bananas, brocolli, brown rice, cantaloupe, cheese, eggs, milk, oatmeal, oranges, peas, peanut butter, potatoes, romaine lettuce, spinach, wheat germ, and yogurt.  During my last writing stint I became particularly addicted to avacados and oranges and really fancy smoothies.  Anyway, as I said, I needed more.  So, tonight (after having a really good tarot sharing session with Ally who wanted to learn about Tarot cards and we had cookies too and it was yummy) I had a short but invigorating ritual where I called on Artemis and Brigid and developed a new routine that I hope I have the will to stick to.  Within the realms of the ritual I only cast my energy towards working within the routine for a week and if it seems to be working well than I can renew it next week or change it a little bit.  But for 4 days out of the week this week it is Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, I will try and get up at 5:30 am (the morning has always been my best work time).  This means I will have had to go to bed at 9:30pm the night before but so long as I can get to sleep this isn't a really unusual schedule and I think it will be a decently healthy one.  So, when I get up at 5:30 am, I want to start doing daily meditations in the morning, just to clear my mind, get ready for the day and stay relatively spirtual.  After breakfast I want to focus on my writing from 6:30 through until 10:30 am.  After this, Until 1:00pm I figure is my break time.  I can get a good lunch and do all my goofing around that I feel like I need to do.  Then I would work again probably researching and reading instead of writing from 1:00pm until 5:00pm after which I'd have the night off again to do as I please until going to bed at 9:30.  I didn't really figure Thursdays and Mondays into this schedule too much because I have to worry about getting to class those days and that's truly enough effort as is.  Perhaps I will do some researching and reading in the late afternoon on Thursdays though.  Wednesday I figured I would take completely off because without at least one day of leisure I would go nuts.  So I will try this for a week.  And continue to eat my brain foods.  And maybe read a good book on the side that isn't thesis related...know any good ones?  So, what do you guys think of all this...am I stretching too far?  Will I ever get my thesis done?
P.S. I also like cookies
 
     
1 more flame| To light your way through the darkness
 
What has facebook done to live journal?!?   
11:44am 03/02/2008
 
mood: determined
music: The tv in the background
You know, I think I can pin point when I stopped posting frequently on live journal.  And it's all facebook's fault!  See, all of the creativity and time I took thinking of what I would post on livejournal has been encapsulated into thinking of what sentence I will put in my status bar today.  I miss live journal.  It was more personal.  I took more time to write and talk to my friends.  I posted poetry and writing without worrying that it would be stolen by corporate big time companies.  I had a screen name.  no agonizing over profile pictures.  and it was more private! I could put a bunch of pictures in one story and picture post and I didn't have all these applications messing up my space.  I could even change the backgrounds and comments line!  I think that when I leave Peterborough and Trent University I will get rid of my facebook account and come back to live journal.  So, you guys had better start reading again.  I'm telling you...come back!  I'll even start writing my choose your own adventure posts again!
Today I am in Toronto, getting ready to attend Niki's Hand fasting ceremony.  I think it will be beautiful and I'm really happy for her.  Unfortunately, I must admit that I get a little bit jealous of how good Niki and Jay are together and that they are getting married.  I worry that I will never find that love and I haven't had a girlfriend for more than two weeks in about two years.  I'm like waaaaaahhhhh!  Where are all the caring, pretty women with great personalities that are willing to commit?  I don't think they are in Ontario.  There may be plenty of fish in the sea but last time I checked I live next to a kind of pretty but polluted river...not the ocean.
I am applying for a really fantastic looking job in Halifax.  I would be acting as a liason between the 10 supervisors at different tourism offices across the province.  I would get to organize and input lots of cool programs and get lots of experience.  The job goes from May through to October and pays 18/hr.   I applied last night and I really hope that I get it.  I also really hope that I get my thesis finished on time.  It's supposed to be done by the end of June at the latest.  I have one chapter written and I'm working on another but I still have to do my interviews.  If I get this job I would finish my writing while living in Halifax and then come back when I have to defend my thesis in August or September, just for a couple of days.  When I graduate, I want to have a big kitchen party in Halifax or PEI, instead of the ceremony and diploma and stuff.  I've already been to two of those and they weren't nearly as fun as a traditional ho-down.  So, all of you should come down to Halifax in October for my graduation kitchen party!
Anyway, I miss you all horribly and I miss these detailed posts where I actually described what was going on in my life and what I was feeling and doing and enjoying.  From this post forward, you can expect more live journal entries and less facebook updates.  I hope that you all read and comment again.
Much love,
and, its Amanda, by the way.  Not Lou.
 
     
3 more flames| To light your way through the darkness
 
WOW! A journal entry!   
06:50pm 26/11/2007
   Well, I am utterly inspired by Stephanie's ability to write a live journal entry.  So, I guess I have that ability too.  After what has it been? 3 Months.  So what did I do for three months???  Well, I started back at school.  I no longer have classes but have been working on my thesis like crazy (with strong amounts of slack off in between).  I hope to have 50 pages of it written by January.  In January and February I do my interviews.  The thing has be finished by about June.  I really hope I can do it and proceed to get out of this joint.  I went to Quebec for a week and stayed with my mom, sister and father in Le Chateau Frontenac which was very enjoyable.  I even got to see Meridith for dinner and feel the power!  I went to many great parties and over the course of Halloween went as a made up bi-moral superhero called The Deconstructor!!!, a Witch, and in a sexy Wig and fish nets for a Hedwig and the Angry Inch Wig party.  In the past month I have become obsessed with Wicked and My Little Pony on Youtube.  I went to a cool party on Saturday for Shopper's Drug Mart with a friend and I am seeing Janaya again.  I go home on the 17th of December and I can't wait to see her and my family.  I am also trying to make plans for after I graduate.  I might move to Halifax but I think I will do some travelling first.  Anyway, I will catch you up more later.  Back to work...or to sleep.  
     
1 more flame| To light your way through the darkness
 
Monthly update   
08:16pm 29/07/2007
 

Happy end of July.  I feel it somewhat mandatory that I post at least once a month to let some of you know what's going on in my life.  I now go to work and play hide and go seek tag with a random collection of brats all day long.  They are cute though.  Next week we are having a fair day and doing an overnight camping thing with an astronomer too!  We will also be painting Paper Mache balloons (the majority of which I did or had to fix because the kids were too impatient to do it right)  Anyway, it's still a good job.  I'm going to Ottawa for the long weekend.  To stay with my Aunt and Uncle which means I might be able to meet up with some of you if you are interested.  I'm working on my thesis,   It's not going particularly fast, but its going and I'm also working on PBP again.  Me and Jay are "seeing" each other again, although we haven't seen each other since March.  We've known and liked each other in some sense for 4 years but things have ussually gotten in our way.  We'll see how it goes this time.  I've got high hopes at least.  Well, back to the grind.  I'll update again sometime in August.  And, happy full moon all.

 
     
4 more flames| To light your way through the darkness
 
Birthdays, Dragon boats and, filing! Oh my!   
11:20am 16/06/2007
 
mood: optimistic
music: None
So a few weeks ago it was my birthday and I've been waiting to post about that because I had hoped that I would have finished my list of things that I've learned while being 23 as I did with 22.  But...I've been pretty busy and I haven't but I will.  It's just that the list probably will come about a month after my birthday...oh well.  So, on my b-day my friend Maggie took me out to dinner and than that weekend we rehad my 13th birthday party.  It was a lot of fun!  The cake was disgusting...4 layers of chocolate, vanilla  and icing.  I can't believe how many pieces I ate!  Alex came and visited this weekend, that was lots of fun.  I now have a new job.  I work at the Community Counselling and Resource Centre.  For June I'll be working in the counselling offices and then I am helping design and carry out kids programs starting in July.  So far I have trained on the phones and switchboard, the photocopier, I designed a pretty fancy flyer and I folded brochures!  Yesterday I got to copy out meeting notes, add up the postage costs of different departments on an adding machine, file, figure out what pamphlets we need in our waiting room and call a bunch of companies for new ones.  It's a really low stress job which I love and will be great on my resume.  Finally, none of my co-workers are teenagers!  It also gives me time to work on my thesis.  I'm trying to revise my proposal for my committee by Monday but I did pretty good on it and I'm still hanging onto an A- average although I haven't gotten one of my marks back yet and I guess it could make or break it.  I've been approved by the Research Ethics Board now to do my interviews!  I'm trying to get in contact with the community now.  I've sent them a letter but am wondering about phoning too.  Today is the dragon boats festival and I went to see them, it was really neat.  People racing in some pretty elaborately painted boats with dragon heads and tails.  People are totally into the rowing thing in Ontario.  It makes Ontarians REALLY excited.  It's pretty excellent to watch too :).  I just got back from the farmers market and now I'm going to do some more Harry Potter reading, I'm excited about the 7th book, yeah!  Me, Niki and Jeannie are all in on a Harry Potter pool, like a hockey pool.  We are making predictions about what will happen and betting on somethings.  I have Harry down to die and I've recently come up with an interesting theory that Aunt Petunia is only Lily Potter's half sister!  Anyone want to join in on the geekiness?
 
     
4 more flames| To light your way through the darkness
 
I'm Here!!!   
08:52pm 05/05/2007
 
mood: thankful
Well.   Here I am.  I've got my own place!  It is sooooooo sweet!  It's warm, it's quiet, I'm not taking care of everybody.  Just me.  I handed in my Thesis Proposal yesterday.  30 pages total.  I have one more 25 page paper due on Friday and then unless I do a PHD (which is still a possibility) I will not be in classes again for a REALLY long time (except for teaching).  I am excited to do this independance/working on my thesis/own schedule thing.  It's going to rock.  I'm looking forward to the summer.  My cat is very happy here with me.  I love Sage sooooo much.  He's my man.  And, I've got 5 gold fish, Copernicus, Shakespear, Helen, Napolean, and Armageddon.  And I've got a Tomato plant, rosemary, thyme, dill, chives, Aloe Vera, an African Violet, and two plants of whose species name I am somewhat uncertain.  I've got Lily, my beautiful guitar and my fingers are sore in the way that I totally love.  I spent my whole morning playing and singing.  I don't have a phone yet but Alex stayed a night and kept me from going completely nuts as I churned out the thesis proposal and Niki stayed a night too which was fun.  We sat out on my roof, drank beer, played dirty spades, and looked at the grave stones (I live right beside a place where they make gravestones).  Aviva is coming to visit on Monday, we are going to play basketball I think, at the park, which is awesome!   I'm putting together a really awesome puzzle.  I'm eating really well and sleeping a lot.  I'm going to be doing a little self exploration.  Life is really pretty good for me.  Welcome May.  I have arrived.
 
     
4 more flames| To light your way through the darkness
 
Moving!   
12:25am 28/04/2007
 
mood: creative
Tommorow I'm moving!  Wow!  I will have a phone hooked up on Monday and maybe I'll give some of you a call.  No internet until the 5th though....gee golly whiz.  Anyway, I'm generally doing well, I'm still working on my thesis proposal and other big paper, handing in my marks.  Got a crush about the size of Montreal...but generally doing good.
 
     
4 more flames| To light your way through the darkness
 
Spring!!!! in the APGR   
08:01am 10/04/2007
 
mood: creative
music: None
The sun is shinning!  The birds are singing!  The bees are having sex with them (as is to my understanding).  Things are definatly a bit more beautiful this time of year.  May 13th I have a 25 page paper due on economics and industry on aboriginal reserves following the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People in 1996.  April 30th I move.  I am so excited to move!  And my new place is going to be so cool!  I want to do a little bit of a theme in each room (living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, office).  I'm going to collect pins and put them on my shower curtain so if any of you have crazy cool pins, send them my way!  I also have my 25 page Thesis proposal due on the 30th but I'm going to try and have it done on the 28th so I have two days to pack and move.  You guessed it, I am once again in the Abysmal Pit of Graduate Research!!!  Tommorow I have office hours for my students and on Monday they have their final exam.  On Tuesday, the 17th, I have my thesis proposal presentation.  Niki is moving out today.  I am sad to see her go.  I'm going to have to defume the house once she leaves because her Dad has been staying since Sunday and smoking in the living room :(.  I hate cigarrette smoke smell!  So, I am going downtown for scented candles, also helping with a little bit of organization around the drag show on Friday, I hope it all turns out well.  Things are really shaping up for my contentment despite stress.  I am good old cuddly 'Panda again :).  I miss you all and love you.   I haven't been able to keep in touch very much and especially with Stephanie because I haven't been able to afford a phone card with all the moving and down payments and bills etc.  But Steph, I love you, and I hope you are doing alright and that your mom is too.  I think I'm going to do a live journal favorite quotes posting soon because April was the month last year I got my lj, like a corny anniversary thing.  Anyway, I miss you more than peanut butter misses chocolate.  P.S. Happy Easter and Oestera to all who celebrated.  My Easter was great, I spent it with my cousins in Ottawa and Oestera and St.Patricks day yielded utter craziness and stuff to do with swans.
 
     
1 more flame| To light your way through the darkness
 
An update from BEANZ   
11:08am 19/02/2007
 
mood: calm
music: I Feel Like I'm 12 Years Old by that chick that did Jerk.
Well, here I sit in a coffee shop in Charlottetown, PE.  Beanz.  Thank goodness for coffee shops and wireless internet service.  I drove my little sis here today so she could get to class although she was still a little late.  The roads are messy and you can't see the yellow lines :(.  I also haven't driven in almost 8 months.  The plane trip was surprisingly good and I listened to music on headphones.  yeah!  We got in around 2am but I was up until about 4am going through boxes of my stuff I left in my room when I moved.  I've missed it.  It feels weird being back in rural PEI.  It feels so small.  And narrow. And isolated.  But you can see the stars!  Yesterday we had pancakes, visited my grandmother and watched The Shaggy Dog.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. lol  I'm going for lunch with Janaya at Capt. Sub and calling Crissy to see if we can get together today.  Tommorow I am making a spontaneous trip to Sackville!  Yeah!  I missed New Brunswick.  Maybe I can visit Dr. Nurse or other Sackvilleans.  Well, my computer is telling me its battery is dying and soon I have to go pay more on my metre so I will continue to update whenever I can :)
 
     
To light your way through the darkness
 
Dating...   
05:15pm 16/02/2007
 
mood: hopeful
music: None

So, I went on my chocolate cake excursion which was lots of fun.  We talked about random things like school and friends and roomates etc. then we walked home.  She's going to come to my Academy Awards party which will be awesome and we might do something again after I get back like watch a movie etc.  It's kind of weird how much I've been going on "dates" in the last year or so because I never used to go on them.  Somebody would just say to me or I would say to somebody, hey I like you.  And than we'd be girlfriends.  So this is a bit weird.  I guess I'm getting kinda good at "dates" though.  Restaurants cafes and movies have been the extent of my romantic life since June.   Just random dates that for one reason or another don't work out.  But I hope that soon I get to go steady with someone! lol.  Dating is fun but I don't like how not straightforward they are.  You never know whether its going well or if the other person likes you at all until an email or whatever the next day.  Oh well.  Tommorow I will pack and than go to Toronto to catch my flight....scary plane.

 
     
To light your way through the darkness
 
Valentimes!   
02:03pm 16/02/2007
 
mood: cheerful
music: None
P.S. go watch the Teen Girl Squad valentimes cartoon.  Its sooooooooo good!
 
     
To light your way through the darkness
 
Help with a dream   
10:29am 12/02/2007
 
music: None

Lately, since about January, I've been having a strand of premonition or go do this kind of dreams.  I need your help figuring out if the one I had last night is another.  The first started out with Ivy and I and some one else in a truck and this vision of Persephone appeared in this blizzard of snow and someone, the driver, asked me if I thought she was real and I started talking about spirit, etc. and he turned the truck around and high tailed it out which made me very upset.  I know what that's about.  But, for this whole dream I was at a castle/hotel awaiting a bus to go for a relatives wedding.  Maybe my older sister because she is engaged.  My little sister and I were waiting and I went down these long dungeon corridors in search of something and a ghost which was more of a sculptured bust came out and started talking to me as though my life depended on it.  He told me about a poet, spenser or spencer, who had a thing about apostrophes.  He had his friend murder him to make a point about it...death by apostrophe.  He made it sound very crucial that I retrieve this book from the castle library before catching the bus.  I was trying to find the library when I woke up.  I googled spenser/spencer and apostrophe.  And death by apostrophe.  And apology to apostrophe which later came up.  It appears people care about apostrophes an awful lot.  But I'm confused about why it matters to me and if there is actually a writer out there who had himself killed over it.  If you know anything, please do tell.  I might also be a little loopy ;).

 
     
3 more flames| To light your way through the darkness
 
not so great update, but there it is...   
09:14am 07/02/2007
 
mood: sad
music: None
Things have been really rough lately but I don't really want to go into all of that on this public forum or even know how to talk about it in this space.  hugs are welcome though.  I'm going to try and start actually journalling.  Maybe it will do something.  Just worst and best thing that happened each day or something like that.  I've got a ton of work to do though, so I gotta go review the Empire of the St. Lawrence.  I love you all.  And miss you.
 
     
3 more flames| To light your way through the darkness
 
Watch where your putting that thing!, in the APGR   
09:59am 05/02/2007
 
mood: sick
music: None
Ironically enough, Niki and I both got horrible colds from chanting to Brighid out in the snow...This makes me sad.  And stuffy.  And coughy.  I want spring NOW!!!  On a side note I am very tired.  I am on page 148 of the Empire of the St. Lawrence.  It continues to be very boring :(.  Lot of work to do today but on Saturday we went sledding on Armour Hill which was awesome!  And than to the Only.  I gave a girl my phone number and email, Carly, talked to her a few times and she seems awesome.  Mostly been talking on face book.  Maybe we'll have coffee or something sometime.  Also, its self love week at the Uni.  There's a sex toy workshop and orgasm workshop and also a self love movie night and a self love cabaret and all sorts of fun!  If I only had money.  They should have a sex toy workshop for people with very little moola to spend, like maybe with vegetables!
 
     
8 more flames| To light your way through the darkness
 
Deep in the APGR   
11:17am 03/02/2007
 
mood: stressed
music: None
Ga.  Writing thesis proposal for Dean of Grad studies and Admissions committee.  Talked to Harrison yesterday.  Said one proposal on thesis.  One proposal to say why I should be able to do it in graphic novel form.  One portfolio.  Explanatory letters.  My proposal is 5 pages so far and I haven't even finished reviewing all the literature...Also have 700 pages of reading at least to do this week.  Also, decided I am staying in same apartment because I have no money to afford a new one.  Must clean house to show on Monday.  Somebody please move out here and be my other roomate!  I'll make you cake!  Ga.
 
     
1 more flame| To light your way through the darkness
 
Happy Imbolc!   
08:03pm 02/02/2007
 
mood: Spiritual
music: None
Happy Imbolc to all who are celebrating!  It's been a busy day.  Worked this morning but then had Shannon over.  Niki, me and Shannon cleansed our shakras with Niki's stones and mediations, it was really neat.  Than we did a Brid's Wheel spread tarot reading for each of us and for the house since we will be getting a new roomate in May.  It seemed to say somebody with a lot of water in her would be joining us.  We just got groceries and we are going out for a ritual underneath the full moon in a few minutes.  I'll let you know how the rest of the night goes tommorow.  Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the day! :)
 
     
To light your way through the darkness
 
Name thang   
11:27pm 01/02/2007
 
mood: hopeful
music: None
I've officially asked some of my class friends to start calling me Lou in a mass email kinda thing.  If you are into also starting the trend, I would be really happy, although I know its weird because so many of you have called me Amanda for years.  Just giving the heads up :).
 
     
6 more flames| To light your way through the darkness
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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