I finally got my damn diploma!!!
I had my convocation ceremony earlier today, and now I have officially completed my Bachelor of Science! Whoo! But H-O-L-Y C-O-W, it was so freakin' hot today. Our ceremony was in a giant tent on the McGill campus, and it got unbearably humid. I was sweating like a pig in my black gown and mortar board.
There was a lot of blah-blah-blah-ing for the first hour. Roger Tomlinson, who is dubbed the father of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) got an honorary doctor of science award (or something like that), and then he gave a really, really long speech. I could barely understand what he was saying because he wasn't enunciating his words very well.
When I was waiting in line before crossing the stage, my heart was pounding really hard in my chest and my hands were shaking. I'm not even completely sure why; there wasn't really anything to be nervous about, lol. This dude tapped me on the head with his cap (my dad said that this gesture is descended from the way men are knighted, where they get tapped on the shoulder with a sword), and then I shook hands with the chair of the Geography department. He said, "It's great to have you back again next year," in reference to my Master's program in Geography. I then received my diploma in a big, fancy McGill envelope. When I descended from the stage, I really had to grab onto the rail because I was shaking so hard. Geez, relax!
Afterwards, I took a bunch of pics with my family and various people from the department. My mom bought one of those fancy McGill picture frames for my diploma ($140! I tried to decline the offer, but she insisted on buying one for me. It definitely looks very elegant). It started to rain, though, which is when we all had to run for cover ;).
What a nice day ^_^. Now, to find a place to hang my diploma, which I've worked so hard to earn.
Holy guacamole
I came across
this blog entry, titled "So I nearly got killed today...". Turns out his neighbour somehow fired a gun through the wall and barely missed him. Check out the pic of all the guns on the bathroom counter.
I've never seen a gun up close; just on TV and on pictures. I remember, on a field course, one of the profs was telling us about some of the field work he's done in really remote areas. The students had to learn how to fire a rifle, because there were a lot of bears in the area. Of course, shooting a bear was only to be done in a life-or-death situation. If I had to learn how to shoot, I'd probably be a terrible shot. I dunno, I kinda have a hunch that I'd have bad aim.
That same prof also told us about this time when he was an undergrad, him and a group of researchers were working in a forest, and a huge bear was going through their food. They fired shots in the air to try to scare it off, but the bear didn't seem to give a shit. Finally, the research supervisor picked up a rock, and threw it really hard at the bear, hitting it in the butt. The bear got upset by this, and finally left. Man, it's a good thing that the bear didn't decide to charge them!
Oh boy, oh boy! X-Men 3!!!
Yahoo Movies has some cool photos from X-Men 3:
Iceman and Pyro are gonna duke it out! I wonder what are the 'events' leading up to that battle. I mean, they were friends before Pyro turned traitor; when they meet again, does Iceman try to reason with him, or is he pissed that Pyro joined Magneto?
Bobby and Kitty are going skating. Stupid cheating Bobby. I'd like to go kick him in the crotch.
Okay, Wolverine seems surprisingly calm despite the raging inferno going on behind him, lol!
Storm looks totally wicked here. ^_^
Meme time
Stolen from
The Girl1. Born on what day of the week? I looked it up, and apparently June 7, 1983 was a Tuesday.
2. Chore you hate? Washing the bird cage.
3. Dad's name? Chang
4. Essential makeup item? I don't use makeup much, but I sometimes use foundation to cover up my damn acne scars.
5. Favourite actor? Ewan McGregor
6. Gold or silver? I dunno...I guess silver
7. Instruments you play? Piano (it's been a while, though), saxophone
8. Kids? None.
9. Living arrangements? In a house with my parents and sister.
10. Need? Confidence
11. Overnight hospital stays? Can't recall any
12. Phobias? Insects, being left for dead
13. Quote you like? Hmm, let's see... Oh, how about: "Life is 10% what you make it, and 90% how you take it."
14. Religious affiliation? None.
15. Siblings? One older brother and one younger sister.
16. Time you wake up? 7:30
17. Unique talent? None that I can think of. I'm not special! :(
18. Worst habit? Does my paranoia count? Otherwise, there's my habit of cracking my knuckles, my short attention span, etc.
19. X-rays you've had? Teeth; large intestine and colon (for a barium enema test; boy, that sucked, big time)
20. Yummy food you make? Almond cookies
21. Zodiac Sign? Gemini. I kinda have a dual personality to a certain extent.
Messed-up dream #3958349
Sometimes I wonder what's going on in this little head of mine. I had a really freaky nightmare last night, involving zombies (again, lol). This most recent zombie dream was partially influenced by that book I read, The Rising by Brian Keene, because animals could become zombies, too.
Anywho, so there's this zombie outbreak, and I'm part of a group of survivors who hide out in the countryside. We acquired a tour bus (somehow), which we'd use to find abandoned stores with food and supplies. One day, one of the survivors was secretely plotting to lead us into a zombie-infested building. When we were in the building, I spotted the zombies before they could jump us, but in fleeing the zombies, we were all separated. I ended up inside this giant kitchen (like the big kitchens in hotels). I heard a rattling sound, and, approaching the source of the noise cautiously, I saw that something was underneath one of those dome-shaped lids. With a butcher knife in one hand, I pulled off the lid with the other, and to my utter disgust, it was a zombie duck roast (although the funny thing is, I'm actually not sure what a duck roast looks like, yet in my dream, I knew it was one). It lunged at me, and I was swinging my knife wildly, frantically trying to hold it back. I grabbed a big fork-thingy, and started stabbing at it with both the knife and the fork.
"Zombies go down if you get 'em in the head," I thought. "But this duck roast doesn't have a head! WTF am I supposed to hack at?!"
After dozens and dozens of stabs and slices, I managed to cut it up into pieces. The individual pieces were still twitching, trying to attck me.
The other survivors rushed into the kitchen. "We handled the other zombies. What's going on in here?" they exclaimed.
"Even headless ducks can turn into zombies!" I yelled, breathless and in shock. "This duck roast tried to kill me!"
"Ooh, duck roast," they said. Some of the survivors started picking up chunks of the hacked-up duck (which were still twitching) and started eating them.
"What the hell are you guys doing?? You're eating zombie!" I said.
"Oh come on, live a little!" they said, savouring the wriggling, decomposed flesh of the duck.
===================================================
And then I woke up. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Probably: what is up with all these insane dreams?? lol!
Also, how ridiculous is it that I was fighting a zombie duck? Geez, at least have me duke it out (and win) against a horde of
human zombies.
Down in the dumps
The results from the second scholarship I applied for came out today. I didn't get it.
Frankly, I feel really devastated. I was really hoping to win the scholarship money. When my brother applied for it two years ago, he got it; people also say that students are generally more successful in winning the FQRNT scholarship than NSERC, so I had really high hopes for it.
I'm not sure about exactly how they decide on the winners, but what I do know is that there are a bunch of committees, and each committee evaluates a certain number of applicants. My application was in a group of 25, and mine was ranked 22nd in the group.
22nd. Out of 25. I'm damn near the bottom. I feel like such a loser.
Well, I know I shouldn't get overly upset about it, 'cause I can still pay my tuition fees without a scholarship, but it's just the fact that I had such high hopes for it, and I totally got crushed, that bothers me. And it feels like academia is the only thing I'm strong in; I'm not socially popular, I'm not good-looking, I don't excel in any sports, I'm not an artist or a musician. My grades are all I have, pretty much, and I didn't get the #@!%ing scholarship.
My mom said that the FQRNT people had to give out fewer scholarships this year due to reduced funding supplied by the government (apparently, some dudes in the government or whatever wanted to abolish the scholarships completely because they felt it was a waste of money). So if this is indeed the case, that probably contributed to my rejection.
Anywho, I just need a few days to get my head back together. I
will get over it, but it usually takes a bit of time.
