So in the past three weeks of no blog entries, what have I been up to? I’d call it the “work hard play hard” life, but I’ve only had a few intense fun moments and my marks have been lagging… so no. I’ve just been busy.

Anyway, a facebook friend (i.e. some guy I talked to once, and only once) posted a site on Facebook and I decided to go check it out. And what do you know, it’s amazing.

It’s called Omegle.com

Basically, the site hooks you up with some other random person, and you guys chat. Instant messaging sort of, except you don’t know the other person and he/she/they don’t know you. For people like me with no life, it’s lots of fun. Usually the other person disconnects after a minute because they find you boring, but 1 in 4 conversations, you find someone that you have a somewhatly long and perhaps even meaningful conversation with, until the other guy asks you for your email and/or facebook name and then it gets creepy.

I have no doubt that other sites like this exist, but I didn’t really think about searching for them. So I waited until facebook friend posts one up. Having conversations with strangers is insanely fun. It’s kind of like blogging with strangers, but it’s instant. And better than face-t0-face, because there’s a chance you’ll see them again. I pretend to be a psycho, flirt shamelessly, talk about made up life problems… Why call the Rogers customer support guy or Kids Help Phone when you can do this guilt-free, because you’re not holding up the line?

So check it out! I’m going to have one more convo on Omegle and then finish my unfinishable math homework. Exams are going to drive me crazy.

It feels like forever since I’ve written something here. I checked it and it’s been about two weeks.

Last Sunday I came back from a 7-day student exchange trip in a small town in British Columbia. A small town near Vancouver that screams ‘Hello Suburbia’ with all the picturesque connotations that come with it, including nice people, green green grass, and low density sprawl.

I went downtown, which included Robson Street, Stanley Park, Gastown, 4th Avenue, a beach, the Planetarium for a laser show  and of course a very pretty dock. I dipped my toe into the Pacific Ocean, or more like dipped my toe and then decided to stick my whole foot in and then the other foot as well.

And since Vancouver is hosting the Olympics next year I went to Whistler too. I saw those mountains and wished I could ski on them, which would be an impossibility because I didn’t have money, didn’t have gear, didn’t have time and most importantly didn’t, don’t, and probably will never have any real skiing abilities. But that’s okay. I went up the gondola for forty bucks (’Sightseeing Pass’ - who knew?) and snapped photos like a tourist. I snapped photos of all those pretty mountains, and the view, and the village. I probably looked like an idiot, especially to those hot British skiiers I saw, but that’s okay. The pictures I snapped were worth it. I’ll post them up some time.

Of course I also went to Victoria but if you ask me it was an awful lot like a combination of Ottawa, for the old buildings, and Kingston, for the old buildings plus the water. The ferry was nice. Big.

And now I shall talk about the family I stayed with. They were AMAZING. The whole family consisted of the mom, dad, sister, and younger brother. Their family reminded me of those families in family sitcoms on tv, like 7th Heaven. The mom bakes cookies and brown bag lunches. The sister diligently does her homework on the dining room table after dinner. The brother plays his video games quietly/enthusiastically (?). The parents read the paper at night. I know that since they had a guest over (me) that the normal family drama wouldn’t be there, but I didn’t even know such typical-tv-family-ness could even exist. I am still shocked.

So since I came back last Sunday, I’ve been super busy with catching up on school this week. Essays and tests. Projects. Upcoming debates and other events I won’t be prepared for. So much to do, so little time.

Side note: HELLO SUMMER! i.e. ice cream trucks

They say that you shouldn’t feel “guilty” for eating junk food. They say that if you feel that kind of guilt after eating certain foods, then the media has really gotten to your head or something and you’re far too obsessed with trying to be a size zero.

“They” is a a few of my friends, guidance councilors, teachers.

And you know what, I’m sick of it.

The reason for this rant (which may be a overreaction, but I’ve been thinking about it for a while) is that many times, a conversation like the following will occur, and I will actually feel guilty for it.

Friend: You want to go get some bubble tea after school?
Me: No thanks, I had a muffin this morning.
Friend: So?
Me:  So I don’t want to overload on too much sugar in one day.
Friend: Sure, if that’s your story. You need to stop with the lose weight, dieting thing. It’s not like you need to weight or anything.
Me: I’m not trying to.
Friend:  Okay, health freak.

And immediately I feel bad because they temporarily (aka for a few seconds) convince me that I’ve been sucked in by the media to be weight obsessed. But then I realize I haven’t.

I am not a health freak. I don’t get enough exercise or sleep or vegetables. But I try. I think I was in sixth grade when I saw the nutrition information for some of those muffins from Timmy’s, and I was thinking that they were just like donuts, and … it made me try to avoid muffins after that. Except the ones that I make myself, because I put in about 1/4 the amount of sugar the recipes tell me to and they turn out fine.

I am tired of “feeling guilty” for not wanting to eat too much junk food in one day. By junk food I mean empty calories. That’s what they are. I do not count calories, count carbs, or count any of that stuff. I count how many empty calorie ridden items I eat in one day, and try to limit that. That does not mean I am obsessed with losing weight or dieting. If you really want to know how often I check my weight, it’s about once a month.

Why do I hate taking in empty calories if I’m not diet obsessed? I don’t know, perhaps because I’m more health obsessed (do not read that as health freak, haha). And I’ll admit, I’d like to maintain my weight, seeing as I’m not exactly going through a growth spurt or anything right now. Actually, right now, I don’t have the money nor time to go buy a bunch of new jeans and slacks a size bigger or smaller.

As well, I know that too much sugar (or sodium!) isn’t healthy.

I’m not saying here that I wouldn’t want to lose five pounds. I’d still be able to fit in my old jeans, and maybe  I could have more toned arms and less belly fat. I’m short, so my size one/three doesn’t mean anything. I’m still nowhere as  thin as my 5′8 and size 5 friend. But there’s a difference between not minding something and being obsessed. If I was obsessed, I would exercise like crazy and eat 10 servings of fruits and vegetables and drink 8 glasses of water every day. Do I do that? Hell no.

It’s just that I like to keep a balanced diet. I feel bad if I eat more than one significant ‘junk food item’ in one day. And I don’t want to feel bad about feeling that. I want people to stop telling me that I’m “diet obsessed” or “sucked in by the media.” Thank you.

I’m serious. I come home from school and the the first thing I think about is Criminal Minds. And if I can’t control myself to go after more important priorities, I make my way upstairs to the computer and watch an episode or two of Criminal Minds online. I thank those servers in China for allowing me to stream it for free.

I started this obsession last week. Wednesday. I was bored and decided to watch some television, and what do you know, Criminal Minds is on. It was an old esisode, but I didn’t know that, I loved it. (It had Jason Alexander - that’s the guy that plays “George” in Seinfeld - playing a serial killer with long white hair. How could that not be awesome?) It was only 10pm when the show ended, so I Googled it and found more episodes. And I watched another one. And then I went to sleep.

Every day since that Wednesday, I have watched at least one episode, usually two or three, of Criminal Minds. For a few episodes the only place I could find free streaming was Megavideo, which of course became super annoying because of the 72 minute time limit. Annoying, but good, because sometimes I can’t self-control my addictions with unrealistic television dramas.

This latest obsession to be rather interesting. Firstly, I’ve watched Criminal Minds before and liked it. I just never became addicted. Secondly, this is my first obsession with a crime drama. I’ve always loved (teenage) dramas such as Dawson’s Creek, Gossip Girl, or the OC because of their criving plots. And while I like the CSIs and the Law and Orders, I’ve never went to the point of wanting to watch old episodes online. The new thing here is that I don’t need to watch them in order. I just go to Wikipedia’s List of Episodes and find one that sounds interesting.

For anyone reading that watches Criminal Minds, I love Reid. He’s such a dork.

Earth Hour just ended about half an hour ago, and I’m glad that I participated this year. From 8:30 to 9:30, I turned off all the lights in my house.

I first heard about the idea last year, but I didn’t participate in Earth Hour ‘08 because my family had friends over from Calgary and we were out for dinner for the duration of the event.

I’ll admit that I don’t think that an individual turning off the lights for an hour makes much of a difference. I don’t feel guilty about not participating last year. But I love global events! I was so inspired when I heard that even the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower, prominent structures in their respective cities’ skylines, were turning off the lights too.

I was hoping on participating in the local lantern walk, which is basically walking a couple kilometers with a bunch of other people, and you bring your own candle or lantern to guide the way. Though it’s not like the street lights won’t be on. However, I discovered that the route was too far to walk to, and didn’t have much parking along the way.

So what did I do for Earth Day ‘09? (not much, really)

Took a walk in the park with my mother. It’s not very Earth-Day-ish because we do this all the time anyway. The not so bright park lights were on, and so were a few lights in the houses by the park. We kept making sarcastic comments about this.

Took a new route. We ventured off into the road less taken towards the shopping plaza. And I discovered a pretty cool tunnel. It looks like a nice place to have a small party.

Walked around in the brightly lit shopping plaza. I guess they don’t celebrate Earth Hour. The shops were all closed, so it was only me and my mother in the whole plaza. It felt nice. I don’t think that the point of Earth Hour is to hang out somewhere with light, but what the heck. I turned off my own lights.

I also struggled to find the right keys and my sneakers in the darkness of my house, before heading out.

Did you participate in Earth Hour ‘09?