Podcasting Binge

Earlier in February, I went on what I'm gonna call a podcasting binge. I downloaded a bunch podcasts, both video and audio, from the Zune Marketplace as well as CBC.ca. And by "binge", I mean a ridiculous amount of downloading in a short period of time. I'm no sure why, but maybe it's because I have not been getting my regular dose of informative and interesting information since I've stopped listening to the radio. Or perhaps after last semester's Canadian studies assignment where I listened daily to CBC's Maritime Noon podcasts (in which they discuss various topics from the eastern part of Canada),  I've becoming fascinated with them.

My favourites are TEDTalks, a video podcast with a wide range of topics, from creativity, to multidenominational and religious cartoons to building houses out of recycled material, and CBS Radio Mystery Theater, a radio show from the late 1970's. TEDTalks are on average 15-20 mins long and very interesting to listen to. Authors, carpenters, academics, experts, and heads of organizations are just some of the many lecturers. They also do interviews. The Mystery Theater is very cool because it's a story told over 45 mins, with man different voice actors and sound effects and fascinating plots. I also love The Age of Persuasion because it's clever and entertaining.

Here's a list of the ones I currently subscribe to and recommend. Click on them for links to the websites and more information. Feel free to suggest more in the comments :) 

• Age of Persuasion - a Canadian podcast talking about various aspects of marketing and advertisement and how it affects us
• CBS Radio Mystery Theater - 1970's radio theatre
• Amateur Traveler - short videos following the travel adventures of Chris Christensen
• The Stuff of Genius - genius stuff
• Stuff to Blow Your Mind - fascinating stories from the world of science
• TedTalks - TED = Technology, Entertainment, Design
• C'est La Vie - CBC program about the Canadian French-speaking community (it's in English)
• Craft - DIY crafting
• Wire Tap - with Jonathan Goldstein on CBC
• Tapestry - weekly exploration of religion, spirituality and the search for meaning
• Ideas - talks about everything (CBC)
• Les années lumière - french program about science
• PRI: Science and Creativity from Studio 360 - explores science as a creative act

 

- Turtles ♥

P.S. If you ever need to insult someone, try this: "May the hair growing on your lip grow backwards and tangle with the hair growing from your nose!" (courtesy of Sophia Patrillo from the Golden Girls)

El capital

Long time no post. I've been kinda busy. And while I'm not one to blog about my life, cuz it's terribly unexciting, I will this time because things have happened.

Earlier this week I got my hair done, but due to frustrating circumstances, it took ages (literally days), but I was on reading week and didn't really have any plans so ultimately it was okay. Its black and blue and twisted, though from a distance, it looks like I have locks o_o.

The exciting fun stuff happened at the end of the week. Because my friends attend university and not college, we have our winter reading weeks at the same time (colleges are next week I believe).  So we decided, why not go to O-town (Ottawa)? Four of us live there and I had visited last October and it was fun. Three of my friends decided to go, with two more coming the day after us (nine in total in Ottawa).

It was fun. We didn't do any sighting seeing stuff, but just hung out. And when you haven't seen your friends for months, that's enough. We were really looking forward to going with the school's French immersion club to Montreal's Nuit Blanche. I've been to the one in Toronto for the last three years and they have all been excellent. I went with friends who were on this trip and we all had good things to say about Toronto's so we had high expectations as said those who heard our various stories.

It was kind of a let down. We were, admittedly, kind of tired and it was really cold, but it just wasn't as good. The main issue was that everything was spread so far apart, so it was really hard to find things. Another thing is none of us knew the city (unlike Toronto, where we are all relatively familiar with the terrain). But we did still have some good times :) Though Montreal will be receiving a strongly worded letter.

Some highlights:

• FRIENDS of course :) mes amis sont fantastiques  et vraiment drôles :P
• Poutine. LEGIT POUTINE.
• Hull/Addiction….Google it
• Fast and Loose (the show)
• Nail marbling/acetone overdose
• The Roar of the Shrimp
• Nuit Blanche
• Paper Towns (so excited to read!! - I got it from a friend)
• Random jokes that I forget but I'm sure someone will remind me of later :P

So pretty awesome weekend over all. My money's gone, I got 6 hours sleep, I'm hungry,  train's delayed, I won't get home for another  5 hours or so and I have a French presentation tomorrow morn at 9, but c'était le fun :)

- Turtles ♥

P.S. Some photos! They're from Nuit Blanche, like the only time I took pics

note: this was written around 6:25pm

The Perils of Polish

Random post ahead...

Recently, while scanning the videos of YouTube, I happened upon a "water marble" nail art video...and then the addiction started. Literally, an addiction. I spent probably about 3 hours that day (just over a week ago) watching these videos by MySimpleLittePleasures. For some reason, YouTube would not let me subscribe to her videos, but thanks goodness for me, she has a blog!!!!!!! AND links to other nail polish blogs :D It's been non-stop ever since. I'm subscribed to only two of them (Polish or Perish is the other), but trust me, daily searches about collections and availability in Canada have been occurring.

Why is it an addiction and not just a new hobby? Well about a 1/2 hour after I finished the videos (I was hungry and I had to eventually start an assignment due the next day), I tried the water marbling. It's the randomest thing of life and it took me two hours to get it looking decent but I was hooked.

This was after a day  and my first try (don't mind the doodles on my hand)

Two days later, I had a four hour break in between classes and hopped on over to Zellers. I couldn't settle on just one colour so I bought three (that's a lot for a broke child like myself). Then before my next class started, I had done another set. This time red and silver. And once more two days later, this time red with a thick pink sparkle over.

O gosh, I'm in love ♥♥♥♥

Last night i did it again. This time: SPONGES!!! Silver and blue with a pink sparkle tip. My bro thinks I'm sad because every time he sees me I'm reading up on the latest OPI collection or what colour Zoya looks best against your skin tone :D. I'm pretty sure I've inhaled enough acetone to seriously affect me later in life.

So I know, random nail polish blog, but I HAD to get it off my mind...If I come up with any splendid and creative, I'll post it :)

Next post will be legit. PEACE!!

- Turtles♥

p.s. my hair is now partially blue (no more green for moi)

A Poem of Remembrance

A while ago, I wrote this poem inspired by a picture of a black, southern, slave with scars on his back in  National Geographic's Concise History of the World (2006). Love that book. Sadly I don't have a photo, because I'm not at home and will not be back for about a week.

Since it's black history month, I thought it might be nice to post it, although I'm not the biggest fan of the month, but that's another issue. No name for the poem because I suck at naming things :)

Untitled

The scars of my people rang hot on your back

Their pain was yours to carry

The suffering, the crying of a nation spent,

Their hurt is what made you wary

But somewhere inside a part of you said

I come from a long line of kings

Brave people and faces who toughed all strife

Who were guided by a voice within

Your scars are reminders of battles long fought

The pain a distant numbness inside

My nation no longer weeps great tears

But still struggles to keep hurt aside

The thoughts and ideas that held us captive so long

Are still keeping many souls hostage

There's a long way to go until true acceptance is found

Until we're finally free of this bondage

But we give thanks to  those who gave hope to the people

Thanks to those whose voices rang loud

Thanks to the hearts who gave everything they had

We promise, we'll make you proud

Judgements

Last night I was thinking about first impressions which got me thinking about how people judge other people. The saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" is all good and wonderful, but the truth is we do. Books, people, whatever. When we see something, we immediately get an idea about what that thing is and we form an opinion.

I wonder about these thoughts because I often think them. They're not bad things, just unjustified conclusions. But I have no clue about any part of these people I see. Maybe there's a reason she wears so much make-up. Or perhaps white, purple, yellow and neon-green are his favourite colours.

I also wonder what people think about me. I am a black girl of almost 19, currently with green and black hair. Today I was wearing a short black skirt, a yellow flowy tank-top, black cardigan, pine green, pink and yellow paisley tights, black rain boots and a black coat. Plus I'm writing like a mad man on the subway (was...). I'm curious to know what goes through people's minds...

One of the crappiest superpowers must be to have the ability to read minds. I know I would hate it if someone could read mine. It's such an invasion of privacy. And what I'm thinking might not be what I actually think, if you know what I mean. While it might be handy at times to see if someone is lying to you or to get the truth, what people think and what people do are two different things. It would suck to read minds because these thoughts are unguarded. People don't truly want to know what others are thinking. That's why it's called "brutal honesty", because it hurts.

I think the key is not basing your actions on these initial judgments. It's a matter of forming an opinion based on something more substantial than looks or whatever else it might be. As cliche as it sounds, there's more that meets the eye...

The 14th of February

Well it's Valentine's Day. Yea! I guess. I've never really been into it. But I do like the chocolate and candy, naturally. I had a container of conversation hearts, which led to make this little 6 second video. The song is Valentine by Kina Grannis. She's awesome.

My friend Rae made an interesting video about the history of Valentine's Day: check it out! :) 

In other news, the Grammy's were yesterday. And I actually stayed up, neglected my work and watched the whole thing :O. I'm not much for award shows because I have a dislike for speeches (the mute button and my self are close personal friends). 

  But I was surprised at two the winners: Esperanza Spalding (YouTube) for Best New Artist and The Arcade Fire for Album of the Year. I'd never heard of Spalding so I googled/wikied/YouTubed her and she's pretty awesome. Very deserving. 

And of course, the Arcade Fire are proud Canadians, so it's all good. I only know one song by them, Rebellion (Lies). <-♥ They seemed shocked, as did Barbra Streisand, who read out the award. Montreal was mentioned about 4 times in their speech - woot woot for Canada!!

Some good performances were by Miranda Lambert, Dr Dre + Rihanna + Eninem + Skylar Grey, B.O.B. + Bruno Mars + Janelle Monae, Mumford and Sons and the Avett Brothers.

Now, for some outrageousness...

 Yeah, she showed up on the Red Carpet in this egg and was "born" on stage as she emerged to perform her song "Born This Way". Ridiculous, but not as crazy as the meat dress...

 

Of course Ms. Nicki Minaj would show up looking like this with her signature pink lipstick and a Bride of Frankenstein wig. 

Oh, and J. Biebs had ninja drummers (though you can't see the drums here because they're in stealth mode)

 

Cee-lo was channeling some major Elton John and I was scared Gwen would fall off the piano o_O.  Those were like 5 inch heels! As my friend so awesomely put it : 

"I think he had a little brawl with Big Bird before he showed up to the Grammy's. Judging by his outfit, Big Bird won".

Anywho, 

♥ Turtles

photos from Yahoo and ABC Action

Realizations

There are some things I have realized in the last week or so that have been life changing! (not really). This is just a list of some of those realizations. Note, this basically contains a large amount of run on sentences :P

1) If you don't buy groceries like your dad keeps insisting that you should, eventually you will run out of food. Then you will be forced to rely on food from your school's cafeteria, subway stations or on an abundance of snickers, until you get off your behind and realize that 3 bags of chips do not constitute a decent meal.

2) Belts are a vital part of your wardrobe. They help keep pants in a comfortable place and eliminate the need for constant adjusting and pulling.

3) Leaving your house on time is a good idea to: a) prevent yourself from being late; b) eliminate anxiousness (usually found in the form of "OMG! Am I gonna make it??! AHHH!!!); c) stop the constant chasing after buses and running for subways (made worse because you forgot your belt).

4) Bus passes are vital. Without them you're screwed.

5) Know where your stuff is. Or else you'll spend 20 minutes trying to locate something (let's say earphones). You'll become frustrated and eventually music-less, because nature dictates that your earphones should be where your MP3 is. But alas, nature loves to screw people over.

6) Always be prepared for foul smelling apartment hallways upon exiting the stairs or escalator. Although at times it can smell deliciously like pancakes or deceivingly like Trix.

7) Don't rub your eyes while there's chocolate on your fingers.

8) Beware of your unconscious facial expressions and actions. Maybe when you're deep in thought you scrunch your face up, purse your lips and squint one eye.Perhaps you're a tongue chewer, unaware that when oblivious to what's happening around you, you sound like a well fed cow.

9) Don't make weird faces when leaving apartment buildings you don't inhabit. It's suspicious looking.

10) Always check your pockets (maybe that's where you'll find the missing earphones the next morning).

:)

An Abundance of Katherines

3 minutes ago I finished reading the book An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. And oh-my-goodness, was it fantastic; the funniest thing I've read in a while (since Rick Mercer's book of course). It's been months since I've read a book that was not required for school. Yesterday I went to my local library, and after semi-sorting out random issues from 2007, I went looking for some of the books on my book list and this was the only John Green book there. It was so good, that I stayed up until 2 a.m. reading, missing my television shows :O. I had to force myself to go to bed. Luckily I don't have class till 3 today, but anyways...

This book is about a boy, Colin Singleton, who has just graduated from high school. After being dumped by his 19th girlfriend named Katherine, and because he's feeling down about the fact that his child prodigy status did not result in him becoming a genius, his only friend Hassan decides that the two of them should go on a road trip, to who knows where. They end up in a random town in Tennessee, where much hilarity, weirdness, trivial knowledge, heartbreak, Arabic, mathematics and feral hog hunting later ensues. It is very funny book that had me often laughing out loud. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

It won some awards and was nominated for many others, and is just awesome.
Here's John Green's website, complete with his Vlogbrothers YouTube videos: http://johngreenbooks.com/

I've got a Haiku on my mind

So occasionally I like to write poetry. I'm not very good unless I have a specific reason or some parameters (even then...enhh....). But I wrote some haikus the other day cuz I felt like writing but had no clue what about. And now I've decided to post them. Doubts anyone will see them but, oh well :)

Joy

What sweet joy it is

To meet Sir Death at his door

And venture inside

Red Light

The gun. Point and aim.

Red light upon his forehead

Watch how the blood flies.

Burdens

Heavy are our burdens

Crushed by the weight of it all

We have surrendered

 Inner Wisdom

Fly high butterfly

Follow the winds of Tara

Serenity comes

Untitled

Rumble in tummy

Om nom nom I am hungry

Yeah! Food is yummy :)

Terrified....

For some reason, I have developed a fear of driving. It's stupid, considering I have my G2 (the second step in licensing in Ontario, before the G, where you can drive anywhere). I drove all summer and since school started. I have had my G2 for probably almost 2 years now. But my dad just called and asked me to drive his car to work and I got really scared. I live in a big city, with narrow roads, street car tracks, crazy drivers. And all of a sudden, this is extremely nerve racking.

Before I moved here in September, I was perfectly fine. My old town had wide streets, not a lot of crazy drivers and was easy to get around. It could get really busy in rush and stuff but it wasn't that bad. I even drove on the highway a lot. Even when I moved to the city, I was still driving, mostly my brother around but it was still something. For the last two months or so, I haven't driven because there hasn't been a need to, but I feel like a failure. It's the stupidest thing to be afraid of, especially since I can go and get my G. I've been able to for almost a year now. But somehow I can't. The thought of sitting behind a car wheel, waiting to make a turn of the drive way, possibly hitting pedestrians or crashing into a bus is giving me chills and keeping me cooped out in my house.

My dad is coming home because he's concerned about why I'm scared. We're going to go driving together, but somehow I think that freaks me out even more. I wish I had my friend's confidence. I can think of two in particular who have never been afraid and just embrace it. Hopefully I'll learn to enjoy driving again and get over my unrealistic fear. I guess we'll see...

Mariella

Recently, there has been a song that I cannot stop singing: Mariella by Kate Nash. I have no clue why. Maybe it's the extreme change of tempo from the slow begin to the infectious end. Maybe it's that I been in love with British things recently, and Ms. Kate Nash falls in that category. Perhaps it's because part of me wants to "never ever ever ever ever ever ever unglue my lips from being together!" (you know, if they were). Whatever it is, I freaking love it. So much that I even made a little postcard thing about it. (I've been doing that lately, decorating a postcard to express whatevs on me mind).

The song is basically about a girl who takes a glue stick and glues her lips together, much to horror of her mother. Mariella throws out all the colour and only wears black. She doesn't speak or have many friends, but she does what she wants and is perfectly content in her own little world.

Sometimes I wish I was Mariella.