harry potter and the half-blood prince

so, i started reading this two days ago and i finished it yesterday morning around 2am. i seriously read this book whenever i could - just ask liz. whenever i went away and was really quiet it was because i was reading harry potter. bah hah.

but really, that J.K. Rowling has an incredible imagination. so impressive. totally sucks me in and i seriously can't stop reading until the pages run out. i probably would have read the whole book straight if i could have. and whatever. i know i'm twenty-one. i don't care. i like harry potter. no. i LOVE HARRY POTTER. :P

the book itself was (in my opinion) very well-written. it didn't seem so drawn out in some parts like in the fourth and fifth books when i thought some portions of the book were too long, so that was a plus. i did, however, think the ending was a little abrupt...like one minute you're reading and really into the book, and then you turn the page and it's like the publisher information or whatever the crap it is that's on the very very last page of the book. i read somewhere that the seventh book is supposed to be somewhat like a continuation of the sixth book though, so maybe that's why...? i hate it when they make you wait. like in tv shows when the screen goes black and all you see are the words, "to be continued..." aghhhhh. that's the worst. i want to read the seventh book now. :P

but anyway, like levar burton (haha what happened to that guy?) said back in the day when he was on that old tv show (that apparently still exists...?!) reading rainbow, "don't take my word for it".

read it. i totally recommend it. :)

close and real to my heart.

"from protest to praise,
You're always amazing me.
You're changing me slow but surely,
and You're gonna see me to the end."

it's funny how the same song can speak to you at different stages of your life, yet still be just as powerful everytime.

it's the mark of a great song and even better lyrics... ;)

you know you grew up in the '80s/early '90s when...

the word "hypercolor" brings back memories of clothes worn "back in the day".

i was looking at some old family photos and in the ones from when i went to england to visit my relatives there (way back, like in '93 or earlier) i noticed that one of my cousins was wearing his hypercolor t-shirt (the purple one that turned blue - all the boys had that one for some reason.)

who remembers these t-shirts?!?!?! hypercolor t-shirts were possibly the coolest t-shirt idea ever. e v e r. they were better than those hideous neon vuarnet t-shirts. (nah, who am i kidding? i wanted one of those too. :P) liz had a vuarnet t-shirt i think...complete with one of those plastic circle things that you use to bunch up your baggy t-shirt on the side. (c'mon. you MUST remember what i'm talking about.) these were the "in" items to have around the same time stone-washed jeans were still considered fashionable.

stone-wash. bah hah.

well if you don't remember, or just have no idea what i'm talking about, they were shirts that used to change colour according to your body temperature. so if the shirt was cold it would be one colour, and then when your body heat warmed up the shirt, the colour would change. nevermind the fact that these shirts made all the naturally warmer areas, which people usually try to avoid attracting attention to (i.e. the underarm areas) all the more noticeable...they were still cool. they were quite the rage back then.

i never got a vuarnet shirt (thank goodness) but at one point i did have a hypercolor shirt...mmm...i think anyway.) one think i do know for sure, i DID have a pair of hypercolor socks. :)

i...

...could kick myself for not going to italy (what was i thinking?! aghhh. *kick*).
...miss my sister and mom. a lot.
...have allergies. (darn you grass.)
...have beev using my sister's computer lately because my laptop is sick.
...keep pressing the wrong letters because i'm not used to mac keyboards. (but i'm getting much better now!)
...get frustrated over the fact that laurier is so small and doesn't have the greatest courses to choose from.
...am sad that i can't take psycholinguistics. (i was really looking forward to it.)
...have become frustrated. with many things.
...wonder sometimes if i've made the right choices concerning certain things.
...know i shouldn't worry so much about the future. but it's hard at times... :(
...have been constantly sneezing or blowing my nose it seems. (i...need....reactine...).
...never used to get allergies this bad before. ever.
...am writing this post as a selfish attempt to bore myself to sleep.
...can't get to sleep tonight.
...feel pretty tired and exhausted.
...am going to try to fall asleep again...

g'nite. (hope you're successful at falling asleep than i am!)

Wicked The Musical

i'm going to see this....TWICE! :D hahahaha

once with liz and then again with jo (if things work out. jo? when are you free to go? lemme know.)

this morning, liz and i purchased our tickets. we're going on october 8, 2006. @ 2pm.

FIFTH ROW CENTRE.

i'm so freakin' excited.

another thing off my to-do list

so today was my first day volunteering at Mount Sinai - i'm shadowing the speech pathologists there. it's TOTALLY different from what i'm doing at york central (where i'm a volunteer in the aphasia day program.) everything is so fast-paced in this hospital environment and although at times it can be really intimidating and confusing, i'm really enjoying it so far. the learning curve is definitely steep, but i'm up for the challenge.

highlights of my day: seeing a swallowing x-ray being taken and watching the speech path do a bedside swallowing assessment. (oh and another thing i found out when i came home - but it's totally unrelated to my volunteering.) ;)

it was so cool. some people aren't really interested in this area of speech and language pathology (basically it's swallowing assessments and more "medical") and would rather do more speech therapy-like work (like in a clinical setting), but for me this kinda of work seems so interesting. in fact, this is the first time that i've come across something that i really wouldn't mind doing as a career in the future (haha, this coming from someone who is getting a BMusTh and a BA in Psychology.) :P ultimately though, i suppose i'll have to wait and see where He leads me...

i am Canadian.

i would have posted sooner, but i just got home now pretty much. :P

since a lot of people went to ottawa for the canada day festivities there, i spent the day with liz and some of her friends (who, i must add, are really nice!) instead.

a snapshot of our day:
- parked at harbourfront
- walked to nathan phillips square to listen to the Rob McConnell Tentet (part of the TD Toronto Downtown Film Festival
- ate hotdogs for lunch
- went to eaton's centre to use the bathroom. also bought a moolatte from DQ. (it sucked. i was very disappointed.)
- TTCed back to harbourfront
- bought tickets to a boat ride
- missed the boat
- exchanged tickets
- went on later boatride
- stayed at harbourfront after boatride
- got free chocolate milk :D
- listened to kabalash (part of the Canada day festivities at harbourfront)
- drove to ontario place
- froze our butts off
- waited a ridiculous amount of time for pizza
- almost got milk spilled on me (there are some rude rude people out there...:P)
- more freezing of the butts until my sister's friend brought out her sleeping bag
- sat on concrete for a long while waiting for the festival of lights to happen
- saw some AMAZING fireworks (unionville festival just doesn't compare...)
- rushed to the parking lot
- came home

it was quite the fun day today. i have pictures, but i'll have to post them another time when i'm not so tired.

oh yah, and to my fellow Canadians out there: Happy Canada Day! :D