vitaminD

07.01.2010

Happy 143rd Birthday, Canada! ▐▌♥▐▌

06.28.2010

It has been a while since I've been truly active on Swapbot. Since I've resigned from my job and yesterday was my last day, I'm officially unemployed. My choice - wanted change. So I'm trying to learn to relax again and enjoy time off. For some reason, I cannot help this urge to jump back in the grind except it wasn't the point of quitting in the first place. Realign my mind, my goals and my plans. Take a bit of the NOW and ignore the future for a little bit. Walk through the park or around my neighbourhood. Enjoy the sun despite the rather chilly temperatures. (It's suppose to be summer!)

What will I do now?

Karate training. Try out yoga. Write a bit. Continue writing letters, of course. Maybe I'll help out at dojo... volunteer for kids' class. Be a good Senpai ("senior student"). Visit the library and get back into reading. I've missed my books and catching short slips of time on the skytrain or the bus to work just doesn't cut it. Not enough. My beloved books. I've missed reading. Sleep more. Go camping. Visit friends whose schedule never meshes with mine.

At the moment, I've already registered for the fall semester. Taking Art History, English, Biology and waitlisted for Political Science. I miss school. I look forward to all the new information being crammed and pounded into my head, even the stress of midterms, quizzes and exams. Productivity. I love school.

04.09.2010

Unfortunately, due to the max stress load from school and personal life (drama amongst friends), I will not join any swaps for the month of April. Maybe my focus will be better after April 26th, my last Final Exam for the Spring term.

On the other hand, I've finally posted my 101 in 1001 list: http://vitamin-d.xanga.com/723452676/101-in-1001/

Enjoy.

03.12.2010

School routine slips back in and here I am, nose to the grind, absorbing bits and pieces of knowledge. They all glisten like pretty baubles. How useful they are is a test for my future. Or maybe they are simply there to attract others. Whichever.

My 101 in 1001 list is coming along quite nicely. I've actually finalized a final draft and will post on my blog later on. I plan to start it on April 1, 2010 and the deadline date is December 26, 2012. Boxing Day. Woo-whee... I know I can't leave anything to the last minute. I know I'll be stuck working on that day, for sure. Oy.

My letter project is coming along just fine. I'm almost at my 500th letter and to celebrate, I'm going to buy myself a JapaDog. I've never had one. I've only heard rave reviews about it and it was only of those, "Oh. I can do that later." type of thing. Might as well zap my tastebuds. I predict it'll will taste like a hotdog mixed with the makings of takoyaki. Yum yum. To accompany my JapaDog, I'm probably treat myself to a bottle of Happy Planet juice. Triple yum.

Working on this mirco mircofiction piece for a swap has left me stumped. I didn't realize how difficult it is to cut back words. Each one needs to be succinct and I realize, at times, my image is a bit blurry. I don't quite hold to the theme or picture very well. This is a challenge indeed. I have two down but working on a third one. Ack.

The Paralympics starts up and the tickets to the sledge hockey are already sold out. It looks like the fun is still happening. It's not as big as the Olympics but events are still popping. I can't wait to see it. How are people going to react to all of this?

03.06.2010

Goodness gracious! Time does fly when the city is roaring. But now, everyone floats back down to reality.

Lately, I've been writing up a storm and collected a new list of pen pals from a random link on Indie Fixx. My right hand and wrist has sore spots. I've been massaging them, rubbing in Tiger Balm, but to no avail. It looks like I need to slow down or it may be necessary for me to wrap it up in a cloth bandage. I cannot write to people fast enough and sacrifice my hand. I still need it to complete the rest of my semester. =P

Anyway, I plan to follow @violettedream 's neat-o idea of "101 in 1001" because I am one to prefer a long to-do list and steadily work through it. I cannot sit and only complete three tasks 100%. A long list of preset tasks is preferable. It's the concept of choice. I have choices... and it will still lead to that small satisfaction one receives when the pen ticks off the tiny square. I love love love it! Check it out on her blog:

http://violettedream.blogspot.com/2010/01/list-aka-1.html

• 5000 letters with no deadline (at 625/5000)

I tried writing a letter a day for one month. An experiment of sorts. The results? I found myself writing more than one letter one day and struggling to pick up the pen to paper the next. It may have been my mood or maybe the lack of topic for me. All in all, I decided I didn't need a deadline, just a goal. Thus... to write 5000 letters. I'm not sure what I'll do after that but by then, I'll face that when the time comes.

• knitting stuff & setting up Etsy

I'm horrendous about this one. I'm still deciding upon a format I want to present the necessary information. I also need to get around to taking pictures of my products. Oppsie me.

• applying for bursaries, scholarships and writing opportunities

Gotta pay for school somehow.

One of the big things in my life is karate. It's a big deal for me and I have several minor and major goals set for it. I'm not sure if I'll ever reach them but I am certainly giving it my best shot.

The best things I love about karate is the discipline it instills in me, the stress relief it gives me, and, most especially, the people who I train with weekly through my dojo. It's a group of very special individuals which I cherish quite a damn bit. Of course, I feel somewhat bashful of ever letting them know... it must be the whole "tough exterior" thing going on. Hehe...

I love to play sports. I'm usually game for most kinds and fairly active. I play soccer, basketball, frisbee and volleyball. I swim. I hike. It's all about fun and games to me. The only one I may take seriously is only karate though.

From 'Life of Pi' by Yann Martel:

Chapter 56

"I must say a word about fear. It's life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unerring ease. It begins in your mind, always. One moment you are feeling calm, self-possessed, happy. Then fear, disguised in the garb of mild-mannered doubt slips into your mind like a spy. Doubt meets disbelief and disbelief tries to push it out. But disbelief is a poorly armed foot soldier. Doubt does away with it with little trouble. You become anxious. Reason comes to do battle for you. You are reassured. Reason is fully equipped with the latest weapon technology. But, to your amazement, despite superior tactics and a number of undeniable victories, reason is laid low. You feel yourself weakening, wavering. You anxiety becomes dread.

Fear next turns fully to your body, which is already aware that something terribly wrong is going on. Already your lungs have flown away like a bird and your guts have slithered away like a snake. Now your tongue drops dead like an opossum, while your jaw begins to gallop on the spot. Your ears go deaf. Your muscles begin to shiver as if they had malaria and your knees to shake as though they were dancing. Your heart strains too hard, while your sphincter relaxes too much. And so with the rest of your body. Every part of you, in the manner most suited to it, falls apart. Only your eyes work well. They always pay proper attention to fear.

Quickly, you make rash decisions. You dismiss your last allies: hope and trust. There, you've defeated yourself. Fear, which is but an impression, has triumphed over you.

The matter is difficult to put into words. For fear, real fear, such as shakes you to your foundation, such as you feel when you are bought face to face with your moral ends, nestles in your memory like gangrene. It seeks to rot everything, even with the words with which to speak of it. So you must fight hard to express it. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don't, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you."

Additionally, I'd like to add a beautiful saying from a friend:

"My friend: upon reading this, I will remember your words and cherish your guidance. In suffering times, thanks for rekindling my spirit when it burned faintly; for replacing my ignorance with perseverance, my stubborness with determination and my hesitation with discipline. Your inspiration was the greatest gift that showed me no goal exists without a path. I will continue to smile but today my smile struggles through saddened pain when I say we must part before we can meet again."

~ Welton Vo, via his Grad Write-up

RIP Welton (Aug 30, 1986 - Feb. 15, 2005)

I plan to reuse packaging and whatever means I have at home. I can be very creative. I also plan to bring home any reused packaging material from work to save even the little bit.

Please remember to add your username and the swap's name to every piece of mail sent to me. Thank you very much.