On Being Awkward, Issue 3.

I've been studying my brains out/working on papers for the last week, but I'd just like to take a brief break from my frantic studying (two finals on the last day of classes? LAME.), mostly for selfish reasons (as in, I don't want to study Sociology right now), and share another awkward moment.

(I know I'm bringing these up a lot now, but seriously, they're just too easy for me to write. The whole photo&a song thing is probably getting old as well, and it's not nearly as fun for me to write. So I guess this is how it's going to be for now on, at least for a little while.)


On Being Awkward, Issue 3.
This one occurred to me last week in my Sociology class. It was 9:30 in the morning, I was pretty tired, and my conscious had just edged out my love of sleep in the thrice-weekly battle that is whether or not I should drag myself out of bed to go to Sociology. My prof was going through our last exam, question by question, discussing the answers, etc.

He'd got to about question 10 of 50 when I first sensed it. Oh no, I though, don't let this happen. Not this early. I'm too tired for this. By question 15, I was pretty sure I saw where this was going. By question 25 or 30, I knew for sure. It wasn't until around question 35 or so when my prof also clued in.

He was mid-way through a telling a whole room of students something that most of them were not even interested in. Although what he was doing was undoubtedly very thoughtful, he neglected to take into consideration that a) most people were taking this 100-level course as an elective, b) the people who did really poorly on the test were probably not even in the room, and c) no one even remembers all the answers they put down.

Still, he'd passed the point of no return, and couldn't very well stop without going through all the questions. So he continued, speeding it up a little. I felt a little bad, because he's obviously quite keen on sociology, and seems like a nice, albeit a little nervous, prof. So I feigned by deepest attention, trying not to let my thoughts wander. Half an hour into class, he finished going over the quiz, and not a single awkward silence was had.

This situation wasn't too bad, but it got me thinking about this kind of situation in different positions. I figured it can go a few ways. When you get part way through a story and realize that a) no one cares or b) no one is listening, there's always a certain feeling of uncomfortableness/embarrassment/awkwardness. Usually, you end up kind of trailing off, or severely shortening the rest of the story. It ranges from being instantly forgettable when it's around your parents/small children, to cringe-worthiness embarrassment when around people you are trying to impress.

The worst, however, is when you awkwardly throw out a really dull/irrelevant/pointless, slightly long, comment, just so that people don't forget you're there (or something), and then someone asks you to repeat it. It's the worst, because it sounds even lamer the second time around.

Anyways, just a thought. Is it just me?

Because this post needs a picture.

P.S. You can now view this blog in a much more enjoyable/nicer looking way! Either click the link in the sidebar (>>), or add /view at the end of the URL. There are 5 different views. Check them out?

If deer take over...

There are a lot of deer in Victoria. I guess at first I never really thought about it, due to the excessive amount of bunnyness on campus. Like every first year, when I first got here I was all like:

Excitement!

 Now all the bunnies are gone, which is a shame, and some people are more like this:

click to enlarge

(In case you've never experience full-fledged UVic Bunnyville, this is kind of what it looked like. Okay, I know that it's photoshopped, but honestly it's not that far off. Those guys were BIG, and more than plentiful.) Anyways, so now there are NO bunnies on campus, so I guess I notice other wildlife (yes, wildlife. Like I live in a freakin' jungle or something) more. Most notably, the hoards of crows and seagulls that flock on the crowd like bunnies, but not as cute. I hate seagulls.

I keep on getting off topic. There are too many tiny creatures around here. Back to deer though, I see them around a lot. One time I stepped out of my dorm to see this:

Also, whenever walk to my sisters house, there is this little corner of campus that is always full of deer, who are always just eating away, and get really nervous and stare you down if you walk by too loudly. I literally see one or two or five every time I walk there, no matter what time of day. A few weeks ago, I saw eleven of them. All standing in the same little area and I was like "ahmahgad they're finally joining forces" but I didn't panic because there was another person on the path and I was pretty sure I could outrun him.

But this incident got me thinking. This is how my logic went:

Lots of bunnies = a few deer

No bunnies = LOTS of deer

Obviously, I came to the conclusion that maybe the deer were scared of the bunnies, and laid low when they were around. Maybe the bunnies bullied them, and purposely shat on all the good grass, because bunnies will probably eat anything and get fed by tourists and little kids and students on pretty much a daily basis, but deer have to be more selective about their food, because no one feeds them. At this point I got a little carried away and started thinking about how funny/scary it would be if, because the bunnies were no longer a threat, UVIC's campus became overrun with deer. 

It would be pretty funny because the university has spent so much time and energy and resources into getting rid of those furry little trouble makers, but can you imagine how much harder it would be to keep a rampant deer population under control? You can't fit half a dozen deer in a small cage. 

On the other hand, it would be scary because I feel like if there were that many of them, the deer would get over their ridiculous shyness and become aggressive. My friend is all like "if a deer attacks you, it wouldn't be that hard to beat. Just punch it in the face and it'll be scared and run away," (or something along those lines). However, he also carries a knife on him and could probably survive alone in the woods for weeks. When I make eye contact with a deer, all I'm thinking is Pleasepleasepleeeease don't charge, I am not up for testing this whole "punch-in-the-face" theory. I would rather avoid a fight with a deer. They have hooves and four legs and a scarily vacant gaze.

Anyways, so that's my thought of the day. How scary would a deer apocalypse be?

You can see his little bunny minions running towards me in the
background. A takeover from these guys? I could probably hold
my own. Deer? NOT SO MUCH.

Fail of a day.... or WIN at procrastination?

Sometimes, I fail so hard at organizing/maximizing my time, it baffles me.
Exhibit A:
Planned schedule for March 23rd, 2011
8:10am: wake up, shower, breakfast, etc
9:30am: class time!
10:30am: do laundry, finish English readings, be productive! Also, at some point, eat lunch.
12:30pm: class time!
1:30pm: go back to room. continue writing film paper until...
3:30pm: class! again!
5:30pm: get out of class. immediately find closest food source. eat dinner. get back to paper writing. If successful and productive...
6:30/7:00pm (ish): go to the This Side of West launch. those readings are always enjoyable.
9 or 10pm: get home. finish paper. watch the new episode of modern family when done. go to be at reasonable hour.
1:00am: I should be asleep by now.

Guess how successful that was? This is a more accurate representation of my day:
8:10am: wake up. hit snooze twice.
8:20am: reset alarm to 8:30.
10:30am: wake up. realize I've missed class. shrug it off, be more concerned that I missed breakfast, and now I'm hungry, but no time! I have to go shower, finish my readings, and then wolf down some food while my laundry is washing.
12:30pm: time to go to class! stare sadly at the free ice cream that I have to pass on my way there.
1:30pm: go back to room. consider writing my paper, but go on www.hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com for a while an hour or so...
3:30pm: class! again!
4:30pm: get out of class early. my nice prof sees that no one wants to be there because it is so nice and sunny outside and we have papers to write!
4:45pm: sit by fountain in the sun, watch the massive crowd that is the 4/20 club, and actually write a few pages of my paper while enjoying my iced coffee. (this is a highlight of my day, success-fullness wise)
6:30/7:00pm (ish): go to the This Side of West launch. those readings are always enjoyable. I have a paper due tomorrow, but that's okay.
9:45pm: get home. eat an apple. watch mr. sunshine. watch modern family. go on hyperboleandahalf.
12:15am: realize it's midnight, and i should finish my half-done paper now. blog instead.
12:40am: finish blog post. feel a little sad that this is how unaccording to plan my day went. shrug it off.
12:41am: START FINISHING PAPER. BE AWESOME. FEEL GOOD ABOUT POSITIVE ATTITUDES.

I'm not sure where I was going with this. Oh well. I have a paper to write!

On Being Awkward, Issue 2.

Hello little awkward ones. I have another one for you! Again, this one is inspired by my sister, but I always have a secret fear of this happening, and go to great lengths to make sure it doesn't.

So here's the setup:
It's just an average day, you don't really feel like writing that paper just yet, so you sign onto Facebook (just for 5 minutes, I swear). All is good. You are greeted by this:

 

Alright, that's cool. Time to move on to a brief scan of your homepage, maybe comment on a friend's picture, send your other friend a quick message, and then you will be back to work in no time. But then, seconds later:

Bing!

Ah! It's weird how there is always a slight lag with friend requests after you log in, isn't it? But cool, you know that person. ACCEPT.


BUT WAIT. What if there wasn't a lag? What if they just happened to friend request you right as you logged in? Here's where the awkward comes in. Because you, inadvertently, are just too damn eager. This is a different kind of awkward though, because mostly it's one sided on your part, but it might linger between the two of you for years, without ever being brought up. This is nice because you can externally move on fairly quickly, but there is always that ever so slight air of eagerness that will forever hang around you with that person.

Maybe I have skewed this way out of proportion in my pea-brained awkward head, but I always feel disproportionately paranoid about this happening. So if there is ever even the slightest lag, I always wait a few minutes before checking out. That way, I can pretend that I am not on Facebook too much, and I actually am really interesting and have much better things to do with my time than keep tabs on the many people who want to be online friends with me and really I swear I'm totally cool and not overly eager in fact you're eager you added me jeeeez why are you looking so far into this?!

So yeah... internal awkward dilemmas. Increasing exponentially since 2004. Thanks Facebook.

On Being Awkward, Issue 1.

From what I remember from my English/Creative Writing classes in high school, you're suppose to write what you know. (And draw what you see? I forget.) Anyways, so I'm not the brightest kid out there, but I do know a thing or two about being awkward, as I have mentioned before in this blog. So I'm assuming other people out in this world have their share of awkward moments as well, so it's important to know that you are not alone. So here's something I'm going to try: every once in a while (a frequency likely determined by how much I'm daydreaming in class/while studying), I'll share nice little awkward moments with the blogosphere. They won't necessarily be cringe-worthy situations, just ones that happen to all of us, but you never really thought about before. Does that make sense? Hardly? Well try to keep up, I'm going ahead anyways.

Being Awkward, #1:
When you're watching a movie with a group of people and you have a bit of a cold, but can't sniffle/rub your eyes because you don't want to be "that person," who is a total sap and looks like they are crying at weird times, like when Harry realizes he's a wizard, or whatever. So you end up half focusing on the movie and half focusing on not making any movement that might be misconstrued as crying. Is this just me?


And this is just for Hilary, a slightly less common, but just as awkward moment:

PSYCH100

So I'm taking Psych 100B this term, and I took 100A last term. I really like my prof, and it's definitely one of my favorite classes. The content is actually interesting, and I like going to lectures. An added bonus to this class is that my prof slips in random videos every few lectures. This is one he showed us way back last term, in the unit about learning. For real, it makes my day. I DARE you not to smile at this and forward it to all your friends/family/co-workers/person serving you at Tim Horton's. Heck, if you're cheap, it might even work in lieu of a tip (although I wouldn't recommend it).

So without further adieu, here it is: The Marshmallow Test.



D'AWWW. You smiled, didn't you?

Apocalypse?

You know that shit's going down/the world is most likely going to end soon when you look out the window and see THIS:



Seriously, so scary. Especially the big mofo around 0:10.

Awkward

Awkward:
Doing the awkward-shuffle-dance with a stranger when you're both trying to avoid bumping into each other. But, it happens to all of us, shake it off.
More Awkward: 
Doing the awkward-shuffle-dance with a stranger when you reach the door just as they open it all the way. Who goes through first?
Most Awkward:
Doing the awkward-shuffle-dance with a person on a motorized scooter as you attempt to cross Ring Road in front of them and they've stopped-but-not-quite-maybe-they're-still-going. Same goes for small cars.


Unrelatedly awkward: Penguins, apparently.

That awkward moment when you realize that not all artists are left handed.

And finally,  just a song that I like. My family may or may not rock out to this in the car on roadtrips:

>> Ghetto Gospel, 2Pac ft. Elton John

Pi Day

Happy Pi Day! (In case you don't get the reference, it's March 14th, aka 3/14, aka 3.14, the beginning of pi.)

I was walking through the caf today and heard someone yell "What! No pie on pi day!? THIS IS A TRAVESTY." It's nice to know that I'm not the only nerd here.

Also, I don't usually like to take webcam pictures of myself, but I took this one for my friend at UBC, who finds Pi Day even funnier than I do, because we couldn't eat pie together today. Sweet, I know.

And now for a song that's always good to listen to:
>> Float On, by Modest Mouse

Red Fish Blue Fish

Not my book.

Not my picture.

Living on res, having any food that is not from the caf, whether it be home-made or take-out, is always nice. It's especially nice when the take-out food you happen to get just happens to be the most delicious seafood you have ever tasted. And you don't even LIKE seafood.

All of this isn't hypothetical, in case you didn't catch on. Yesterday, my sister had a groupon to a little place called Red Fish Blue Fish, a small little stand tucked away on the docks by the parliament buildings in Victoria. So not only does it serve all kinds of tasty seafood, but you can eat it right above/beside the water. Or, you can get it to go and walk around around the harbor, which is also pretty nice. I'm no food critic, but the salmon sandwich I got was about the yummiest thing I've tasted in a while. If you have the chance, I'd recommend checking it out. It's worth it.

And now, for a bit of upbeatness (is that even a word? No? It is now.) in this gray gray icky weather:
>> Money Box (Jamie xx remix), Eliza Doolittle

And, just because this weather might be getting you down:

Oh god, this makes me laugh... The first time I saw this I just about lost it. I showed it to my brother, and he found it just as funny. Basically, if this doesn't make you giggle, you have a serious case of the grumples.

Heels

Unless the library is carpeted, HEELS STAY OUT.

Heels are not for school. Why?

Because, inevitably, if you insist on wearing them, you will be that person.

The one walking through the library.

Sounding like the leader of a gang of tap dancing horses, staking out the library in preparation for your take-over of all places quiet and ideal for studying.

And, as a result, I will never look at you the same. Yeah, you don't want that.


But seriously, people who wear heels/loud shoes in the library is another one of my irrational pet peeves. Despite knowing that they're not walking loud on purpose, or maybe they wore heels because they didn't know they would end up in the library, or whatever other reasonable explanation for their loud walking they have, it still irritates me to no end. Yeah... how's that for neurotic?
In conclusion, for all of you library-wandering, heel-wearing girls (and guys) out there: You suck, but if you need to be here, don't be like that person last week, who walked by me no less than four times in half an hour. If you are lost, just consult a map, they're all over the place. (And to the guy who went sprinting by me last night, headed towards the doors: that seemed a little excessive. But also a little heroic, so good luck with whatever you were so keen on getting to.)

This video confuses and delights me all at the same time:



Especially when played with Lion King Music.

iMovie

So remember when I said I was working on a stop-motion video? (If you don't, refresh your memory here.) Well, I gave up on that, for two reasons:

1) My tripod broke. It is very hard to make a stop-motion movie without a tripod.
2) iMovie frustrates me to no end. When I used it in grade 10, it was awesome and super easy to use. The new version that I have on my MacBook makes me want to punch through walls. It's not particularly user-friendly, and I'm not so invested in making any movie that I want to spend a few hours learning how to use it. Also, I might be bad with computers.

So anyways, that's what's happening there. To make up for it, you should watch recent interviews of Charlie Sheen. That quote I mentioned before is just a small sample of some of the best interviews I have ever seen. They're seriously unbelievable. And hilarious. I highly recommend watching at least one interview (perhaps the one where he says that he's not 'bi-polar,' but maybe 'bi-winning.' You can check it out HERE), and, if you're really bored, some of the remixes, because those are always fun.

Ah! This is you on Charlie Sheen.

Finally, I am aware I need to stop mentioning Erase Me by Kid Cudi, but here's a sweet acoustic cover:
>> Erase Me (Acoustic Kid Cudi Cover)

Pizza

Basically, the trio that is made up of me, my brother, and Chelsea, make the best mini pizzas/pizza pockets ever. EVER. They are overloaded with toppings and absolutely delicious. Also, I miss making my own food. Is it too obvious?

 

As well, I've been listening to a bunch of Florence + The Machine lately. For the last year or so, the only song I'd heard by them was The Dog Days Are Over. BUT, I got a bunch more of their songs recently and I was not disappointed. Not only is Florence Welch has a great voice, and awesome hair. So really, what's not to love?

>>  Drumming Song, by Florence + The Machine

Running

I started running again today. I'm horrendously out of shape, and it sucks. BUT, I'll push through it. Maybe. I'm pretty bad at sticking to routines such as exercise.

ANYWAYS, for me, the key component for a good run is a good playlist. Personally, I like mine to be full of Girl Talk, Jay-Z, Kanye West's new CD, and (as I discovered today) 3oh!3's "Don't Trust Me." An embarrassingly bad/catchy song, yes, but awesome to run too.

If you don't have a running playlist, give those artists a try.
If you don't run by choice, that's cool too. They're still worth a look when you need a pump-up song (say, if you're being chased pack of rapid dogs against your own will. Or something like that.)
But most importantly, if you have sweet songs that are good for running, I'd like to hear them, as I need new and exciting things to keep me motivated.  
Comment below and let me know (don't be shy!)

Also, I took some pictures for a feature in my sister's friends' blog (which, incidentally, I've mentioned before, and it's much more interesting than mine, you should check it out). Check it out here.

 

A small preview.

Cropping

Yeah I know... my paint skills are awesome.

THIS HONESTLY DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE. I don't understand why people do it. It's obvious that there is another person beside you. And now the picture looks all lopsided. AND I'm distracted by that unknown cheek floating beside you. Leave your friend in the picture, they will probably love you more. (And you will look less self-centered.) (Although I'm sure you're still a good person.)

Check it out:
Kids (MGMT cover), by The Kooks