I've been listening to Metric non-stop for the past couple of days

Two weeks until Christmas Break

My parents and my brother are coming up to Etobicoke to visit me today. First we're driving over to Unionville to see my uncle, maybe go shopping at Vaughn Mills, and then we're coming back for dinner. There's this restaurant called Moxy's that I've heard nothing but good things about so I think we're going there for dinner. 

It's already 11:30am and I'm not dressed or showered yet. They will be here in just over an hour. 

Ick

It's looking to be a good weekend

Tonight I went down the stairs on a mattress, switched two futon mattresses around, watched Robin mix Diet Coke and Mentos and attempt to drink it, played some intense rounds of Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. on the N64, snorted some lemon Jell-0, and had some good time giggles. 

I did all of this sober. 

I forgot what it feels like to have stupid, silly fun when you're just running off of pure adrenaline. 

Kensington - at Night

Has anyone else seen these posted around Toronto?

I found this one on a side street off of Queen St. West. 

And I saw another one posted on a street near Kensington Market.

I'm really curious as to what they mean. If there is a meaning that is. For once Google did not have an answer to my question. 

Anyone? Any ideas?

Toronto adventure #2

I was supposed to go downtown to Kensington Market last Friday (Nov. 20th) with my photography class for another field trip. Instead, I decided to stay home and read 'The Book of Negroes' - 471 pages outlining a the life of a slave as she travels around the world - so that I could finish my essay that was due on Monday. It took me around 10 hours to read and highlight the entire book and yes, I did get my essay done.

My original intention for today was to leave my house around noon so that I could have all afternoon to photograph. Never happened. It rained cats and dogs the entire morning/early afternoon. Around 2:30pm the weather finally cleared up, so I gathered my camera and some money and was on my way to catch the city bus that takes me to the subway. 

There are only two times that I hate the city bus:

1. mid-afternoon when everyone normally finishes class/work

2. when the temperature cools down and the bus driver decides to blast the heat

I felt like I was going to puke everywhere it was so hot and uncomfortable on that bus. 

I was feeling pretty good about myself when I was riding the subway. I rarely get out of the house unless I'm going to class or to the library to do work. Even then it doesn't sound that exciting, does it? Anywho, I'm always full of excitement every time I leave Etobicoke and adventure somewhere. You never have the same experience twice. It's awesome. 

Bubble burst #1:

It started to rain again once I got off the subway.

Bubble burst #2:

I walked in the wrong direction once I got off said subway. Thankfully my friend Leviana was just a text message away and guided me in the right direction.

 

While I was walking down Spadina, I got a little discouraged that I hadn't found Kensington yet so I turned down some random road. Here are my findings:

I texted Leviana again and she told me to keep walking down Spadina and I would eventually find myself at the Market. This woman speaks all truth. 

I found myself in many vintage stores. And I tried on some fun things, but didn't buy any clothes or accessories. Although I'm pretty stoked about my one find... Jethro Tull's 'Aqualung' on vinyl that I bought for five dollars. It's in pretty good condition too. I cannot wait till Christmas break when I have access to a record player again. 

I had no idea what I was going to photograph once I got to Kensington. I find this is always the best though. I love going in 'naked' and letting the area take over me. Since it was pretty much nighttime, I decided to shoot 'Kensington at night'. There's only a couple shots that I'm completely satisfied with, but it was a different learning experience. I regularly photograph during the day so this was a nice change. 

Bubble burst #3: 

I didn't run into one street-meat vendor when I made my way back to the subway stop. I've always taken the time to stop and buy a delicious hot dog before boarding the train, but today that didn't happen. 

This made up for it though... 

A 7/11 consumed the corner of Spadina and Bloor St. so I went inside in search of one thing, and one thing only. A banana slurpee. And they did. And I happily bought one and drank it on the subway. A nutritious supper. 

Kensington Market has not seen the last of me. If I don't make it there before I head back to Port Colborne, I will be making a special trip during the Christmas holidays to pay my respects. 

Yours truly. 

This is for all those hot shots that think they've got it all

My Vitamin Water is called 'XXX'

I finished writing my last essay of the semester last night. 

This is how excited I am right now. 

However, I still have to do all of my readings that I've neglected over the past three weeks. Meh. As of right now, I'm honestly not that concerned. 

Signed, a happy camper. 

I don't have a library card, but do you mind if I check you out?

I played my first hand of Magic: The Gathering tonight. 

Is it wrong if I say that I kinda digg it?

I'd say it was about a 5 on the drool richter scale

It's been a good 3 months since I've eaten any kind of chip. And it's not cause I'm on a diet or anything. Since I'm buying all of my groceries this year, I just don't want to spend the money on them. I guess it's called being a student. 

HOWEVER. 

When I was at my friend's house tonight, I noticed a bag of Ruffles chips on the counter. And, of course, they happened to be sour cream and onion... which is my favourite and I have been craving them for the past week. I still say Old Dutch has the best sour cream and onion, but beggars can't be choosers. Right?

They were so good. I can still remember how they felt in my mouth, but that's probably because they leave a distinct trail on your taste buds. I await their return. 

(http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/sour_cream__onion.asp)

Yours truly. 

Seriously

How big is your weenus?

I hate when essays get in the way of your nap time

*all images taken from Photobucket

Who likes to rock the party? These kitties like to rock the party. 

I meant to post these the day after Hallowe'en

The doings of my hair.

The end result. 

(from left to right)

Kristie: Alice in Wonderland

Me: Bride of Frankenstein

Ashlee: Devil

Katie: Tom Cruise from "Risky Business" 

<3

My favourite time of the day

One thought always manages to enter my mind before I go to bed... 

"I cannot wait for breakfast tomorrow morning."

And then I think about my food possibilities and I go to bed happy. 

Happy birthday

My roommate Ashlee is celebrating her 19th birthday today. And we rang in this festive occasion with an epic sing-a-long to the Pokemon theme song. Haha. Out of all the songs in the world, I don't know why we chose to sing that one at midnight, but it kinda summed up the night that we'd been having... 

Ashlee, Serena, and I had a homework party in our dining room last night. Since it's November, that means a crap load of assignments that need to be completed in a short amount of time. Let's look at my life for the next month:

Nov 9: 2 page essay about "The Mysteries of Udolpho" (DONE)

Nov 12: 8 page film essay on "Nanook of the North" (DONE)

Nov 16: essay about the importance of the CBC and local television so that we can have a place where Canadian content is distributed 

Nov 17: moon project for Astronomy

Nov 19: Bus 174 seminar for film class

Nov 23: 8-10 page essay about "The Book of Negroes" 

*Sometime before the end of Nov: a follow up to a seminar presentation about sexualized advertisements 

*and some random photography assignments

AND THEN EXAMS START. 

In other words, we basically spent the night trying to get some homework out of the way. Nothing like spending a Friday night with a pen and paper trying to figure out your thesis and main arguments for an essay you don't even want to write. 

Story of my life. 

Considering the amount of frustration and hate at our assignments, we still managed to throw in some fun. We played an exciting game of "Simon Says", belted our hearts out to Backstreet Boys, Hanson, the Moffats, and S Club 7. We even tested our knowledge about the different Pokemon as we tried to remember their names just by looking at a picture. We're actually pretty cool people.  

It's a little after 2:30 in the morning and I'm still sitting in the dining room surrounded by my papers and general thoughts about my essay. I have my final moon observation to do in five hours (7am) which means that I can finally start/finish that assignment. 

Yours truly. 

I still have tan lines on my feet from my yellow flats

and I get sad every time I look at them. 

I MISS YOU SUMMER

become a part of my life again

Motion Sickness: 1, Kristina: 0

I ended up puking in the bathroom on the coach bus when I was coming home from Toronto tonight. For some stupid reason I decided to take the 4:30 bus, knowing in my head that traffic was going to suck. It was nothing but stop-and-go traffic as soon as we got onto the Gardner Express Way which sent my stomach into whirls. 

Everyone knows that I have a major problem with motion sickness. I have to face a certain way on the subway, I can't go on any rides that spin around in circles, riding in the back seat of a car is starting to bug me, and I can't watch any video that is shot in the style of home movies. Cloverfield is an example. 

By the time we got into Oakville my stomach couldn't take it anymore. I knew I was going to puke. Thankfully I made it in time to the bathroom or else I would never be able to get over the fact that I puked into one of those garbage bags on the bus. I honestly felt 10 times better afterwards. It was great. 

I killed two bird with one stone on that bus ride: 

a. I've never used a bathroom that's on a moving vehicle

b. I've felt nauseous from car rides, but never to the point of actually puking. 

I'm starting to think that my motion sickness it getting worse. Please let me be wrong. 

I've missed you too much

<3

Why can't there be more surprises like this one?

I reached into my backpack in search of an elastic to tie my hair back and instead I found some chocolate. 

Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in

Tuesday afternoon I decided to venture downtown to Queen St. for my photography assignment. My cousin told me about this alleyway covered in graffiti and it was my mission to find it using her directions. Walking west down Queen, I stumbled upon an alley covered in graffiti that ran parallel to me so I figured I was in the right place. 

About 10 minutes after I took the last picture, a teenage boy came along and added silver spray paint all over the bottom part of the door. I went to check the door after he left. I was glad that I photographed it before he came because the silver took away from the vibrant colours. 

It was getting dark by the time I finished walking around the alley and decided to make my way back to the subway stop. Walking along Queen St. I stopped in at Criminal Records to kill some time. I tried on this shirt that had David Bowie's face from Ziggy Stardust, but it was too small and they didn't have any larger sizes. The guy working there told me that another shipment of t-shirts will be coming in soon and that I should try again later. 

By this time, it was already 5:30 pm. Having never seen Much Music in person, I decided to stand outside on the sidewalk and watch the last half hour of MOD. One Republic was the guest for that show. Beside me was this middle-aged man wearing a blue Batman mask with a cape, made out of a bed sheet, that had the Batman emblem on it. In his hand he had a sign that said, "Uno Republic. I'm a Halloween left over." He allowed me to photograph him without any problems. 

Every Tuesday he comes to his appointment and then stops by to watch MOD. I don't know how long he has been doing this, but he mentioned something about an artist who came in the summer so I guess it's been happening for a while. I never got his name, but that's how I prefer it to be. It adds a level of mystery to his character. 

After eating some street-meat, I made my way onto the subway towards home. 

At first I was a little anxious that I wouldn't be able to find material for my photography assignment. But every time I go downtown I always manage to find myself in an area farther away from where I intended to be. 

Goal: travel downtown at least once a week and explore a different area of Toronto. 

I really want to do something cool for my next photography assignment

(http://audreyhepburncomplex.tumblr.com/)

I hate Monday mornings

But I love creeping blogs on tumblr.com. 

http://shutupwomangetonmyhorse.com/

A careful note of warning: this song will get stuck in your head. My one roommate and I have been singing it back and forth to each other since this afternoon.



Oh sweet lemonade.