Hello from ASTU. We're being productive in class :)

Note to self...

Start researching new cameras. The current one isn't keeping pace...

Today I declare, it's officially winter. Maybe it's not actually, physically, scientifically winter, but it certainly feels winter-ish.

I've been getting these whooshes of "Christmassy" feeling lately--an icy wind, the smell of a pine tree, not to mention the fact that Costco has been selling Christmas junk since September...which even pushes my boundaries of when Christmas spirit ought to start. When I started whistling "Carol of the Bells" the other day my mom flipped out. From her perspective, you're not even allowed to think about Christmas until the end of November at earliest. Oh, and I started Christmas shopping already--my dad always says he wants world peace for Christmas (which is obviously way beyond my budget), and I found a chocolate bar called "world peace" at Holt Renfrew. So ha ha ha, or ho ho ho (that's too cheesy again...), the Christmas season has begun...

Look what I found...

So I was wandering in circles during my ghastly 3-hour break yesterday, when I came across these huckleberries in that little forested area between Koerner and I. K. Barber. It made me happy, because I haven't tasted them in so long (not that they taste nice anyways, they're kind of sour and watery...), and it made me think of when I was little and we used to go for walks through the forest by our house.

No picture today...only a complaint. I WISH that you could stop the bus whenever you wanted, because I see so many picture opportunities from that muggy, bacteria-laden sauna on wheels every day. For example, on the way home tonight, there was the sunset over English Bay, which had these lovely stormy dark clouds contrasting with the sunlight. And then there were countless other mornings as the sun rose over the fields along Highway 99, and it was all foggy and pinkish-orange and heavenly... I guess the solution would be to drive myself to school, but then I couldn't really do my homework or cram for tests, now could I?

A New Place

I'm getting the feeling that this is going to turn into a sort of chronology of my daily life, but I suppose that's okay...what else do I know better, and what else can I record, besides the things I do every day? That was a very pitiful philosophical attempt...

This week, Anna (far right), moved into a little apartment downtown, and today we all visited it together for the first time. I must say, this is a huge step for all of us, to have a kind of "home-base" away from home. For as long as we've known each other, we've always had fun cooking and doing stuff together (essentially, playing "house" in a big-kid way), but now it's becoming real. I think we all kind of realized that as we sat there together--that we're entering a huge transition period in our lives (excuse the cliché, but how else can you put it? A "new era" perhaps...but that sounds pretentious...). Well, we made breakfast together, lugged a massive pumpkin home (which was really perfect, until the cashier went and broke the stem off...pooh pooh...) to carve next week, and overall were quite content just being together. A note on the picture: you wouldn't believe how many shots I had to take to get a picture without at least one of them shoveling their faces with food...

A New Direction

Okay, so I'm thinking I should re-direct my path with this whole blogging thing. The past three entries have been purely seasonal observations, which are interesting to a certain point, but for how long can I continue like that? I'm really more of a people person; I enjoy people, with all their weird habits and individuality. So perhaps I should take a more journalistic approach to this, and record experiences. So here goes...

This weekend I went for dinner with my friends, at a cozy little tapas place on the beach. Luckily for me, after years of fruitlessly moving from friends to friends in elementary and highschool, I've finally found my people. They love food, I love food. They love clothes, I love clothes. We're perfect for each other... But back to the story. We were walking down the pier, it was getting dark, the lights of the stores along the beach were sparkling, and I was desperately trying not to let my heels get stuck between the planks. The whole ambiance was just so nice, and I had one of those moments when I really, really was wishing I had squished my camera and tripod into my purse. But luckily my friend Arabella had her little Nikon, and it actually has a good night-time feature...so this picture is the one of the results. So these are them, my friends, Arabella, Anna, and Veera.

Fall Leaves

I always eagerly await the coming of Fall. What does it mean to me? The leaves will turn brilliant colours, and smell beautiful as they rot. You can wear boots and wool coats and scarves and gloves again, and bundle up for walks in the chilly outdoors. Everything slows down, and becomes quiet in the Fall. The trees and plants go to sleep for the winter, the animals buckle down for the coming cold. Perhaps we should take the cue from nature, and slow down ourselves?

Pomegranates

Pomegranates... Really, they're quite hideous in the outside--but inside, they're packed with explosive little berries, tart, juicy, sweet...and exquisitely perfect.

Images of Fall...

It's fall again, and the smell of the falling leaves is sweet and delicious. The fields are full of pumpkins and gourds, the stores are stocking up for hallowe'en, and pretty soon it'll be time to carve up the pumpkins and roast the seeds...