42 posts tagged “video”
Hey, guess who's taking a break from homework to finally update this - wait, what do they call it again? oh yeah - blog? That would be me. Sorry about the extended absence; my free time tends to get sucked up by chores or trying to get as far away from my computer as I possibly can. (Preferably somewhere outside and oceany.)
Anyway, here's a quick rundown and some of what you missed in the past three months (or at least what I can come up with right now):
- My week-long break from school at the beginning of July was nice, if way too rainy. I didn't do much of note (that was the idea), although Shane and I went in for a couple's pedicure at one of the fancy spas on West Fourth (the yuppie part of town). That was a riot, since it's very much not the norm for either of us.
- When my second term of school started, I made a point of sitting in a new seat. That change has been really good, as it's allowed me to get to know more students and feel less isolated. The program has finally been getting into the web design/development in the past couple of weeks, and I have definitely been enjoying that. (Even JavaScript! Who knew?)
- After spending the first half of the term in the (required) video class for my program, I realized two things. One, I was not going to learn ANYTHING new. Two, I was going to waste WAY too much time on projects for that class. I went out on a limb and asked the program head if I could drop the course, and it turns out I could! Now I am just waiting for my St. Thomas credits to transfer, which hopefully will go through fine.
- For my birthday, Shane and I went out to eat at a new Thai restaurant here called Maenum. Both the food and drinks were amazing, and I can't wait to go back and try more of the delicious curries and cocktails. (Mmm, coconut-flavoured anything.)
- At the end of July, my mom and brother came out here to visit for a long weekend. Shane and I had fun being hosts for the weekend (we don't get to play that role enough!), and we made a point to get out and be active. We biked and hiked around town (the weather was perfect), although probably not enough to burn off all the food we ate over those three days. My family also got to experience a rarity that weekend: a Vancouver thunderstorm! Even better, a Vancouver thunderstorm during the annual Celebration of Light fireworks show. Awesome.
- In related news, Shane and I came home from the final fireworks show of the summer to find six people trapped in our (small) apartment elevator. Our landlord was not around, so we helped keep everybody calm until the elevator repairman could arrive through all the post-fireworks traffic. We managed to crack the door open, pass in ice packs and playing cards, and set-up a fan to blow some air in (did I mention this was happened during a heat wave? it was HOT here). It took about 75 minutes for the guy to get here, but eventually everyone got out.
- My latest obsession is with the bagels from a local bakery here called Siegel's. They are not kidding about having "possibly the best bagels in the world." Seriously, you guys. We've been buying a dozen bagels a week, meaning I have pretty much been eating a bagel a day for the past two months. DELICIOUS.
- Shane bought a new laptop recently, and thus my 2005 desktop PC was finally put to rest. Or at least put into our basement storage until we can figure out a place to donate it.
- Last weekend, we went out to BC's equivalent of a state fair: the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition). You may recall we went with Carrie to this event last year, when we saw the Superdogs show for the first time. (Okay, nobody but Carrie probably remembers that.) Well, we went back to the Superdogs show again this year, and it was even more hilarious. One of the performers this year was a tiny, tiny Yorkie named Pocket Rocket. Every time Pocket Rocket came out on stage (to compete in the obstacle course or just run around), the contrast between her and the other, bigger, built-for-agility dogs made me laugh until I cried. I cannot even tell you how much that sight tickled my funny bone. Good times.
- As some of you may have seen on Facebook, I went in for an appointment with a rheumatologist here last week. My pain has been getting worse lately, and I was hoping to come away with some new treatment ideas for my fibromyalgia. Instead, my new doctor wanted to run a series of diagnostic tests on me, to see if we can better pinpoint the problem. I will know the results of some of the tests by the end of month; it's weird to think that I may have been suffering from something else entirely all these years. (And no worries, so far nothing he's suggested is life-threatening or debilitating, if treated properly.)
That's about it. Now
back to my regular homeworking...and counting down the days until my
next week-long break (in October, when we will be joining Jon, Shannon,
Joe and Carrie in California for a long weekend, yay!).
Shane and I decided on Friday to visit the Vancouver Aquarium. It’s easy walking distance from our apartment, and we hadn’t been there since our first trip in 2001, so we figured what the hell? (Especially with the winter rates!) Let’s go see some fishes.
I really liked the aquarium. It’s a fairly small place, so we easily navigated around it in half a day. The focus there is on conservation, research and education, so there’s not that kind-of-creepy feel that places like Sea World exude (at least for me). The shows we attended – beluga, dolphin, sea lion, sea otter – were actually training/feeding sessions rather than choreographed performances. It was fun to watch the staff simply play with the animals. And the show scripts weren’t as cheesily kid-oriented as I expected.
That said, there were a LOT of kids at the aquarium. Which I guess is to be expected on a Friday afternoon, but wow. We were constantly dodging tiny foot traffic and Hummer-sized strollers. And don’t even get me started on the gift shop madness. Oh my.
Random aquarium highlights:
- Seeing baby beluga Tiqa, who was born this past June.
- The giant clam and giant sea turtle, both living up to their names.
- The tiny green puffer fish that Shane wanted to take home in his pocket.
- A lucky timing coincidence that allowed us to watch the dolphin “show” twice, once from up above and once from the underwater viewing area.
- The weird little fish that followed our eyes at water level.
- The bright neon jellyfish display.
- Finding the exact species of my former frog.
- The disgustingly awesome slow-motion video of frogs eating all manner of insects.
- A delicious macadamia nut cookie that gave us the
extra boost for walking home.
I’ve written previously of the disappointing second season Friday Night Lights had. There were certainly high points, but overall it did not live up to the expectations set by the remarkable first season. Thankfully, however, a deal between NBC and DirecTV gave this awesome show a chance to redeem itself with another season, which we’ve been lucky enough to watch via torrents.
With
a mere 13 episodes, the third season – amazingly – more than delivered. My only complaint is that the writers
(liberally) adjusted the ages of some of the characters, but otherwise:
WIN. The show avoided the contrived,
over-the-top plot pitfalls that plagued the second season and returned to its
roots: smart, subtle, heart-warming/heart-wrenching storylines with the
characters we’ve come to know and love. They gifted us with more of the moving,
realistic scenes that are the show’s trademark – Tami’s birds-and-the-bees talk
with Julie, Matt’s proof to Coach that he could fill another position, Tyra’s
beautiful college entrance essay, the list goes on - and more lovely moments portraying what is inarguably the Best (and Most Authentic) Marriage on Television. The writers even took time for two
multi-episode arcs to wrap up the stories of individuals who had moved past
high school. And the finale set-up some interesting
scenarios, should we be treated to a fourth season next year! (Are you paying attention, Grey’s Anatomy?)
So thank you to the Powers That Be. I love knowing the paths that my beloved Coach, Tami, Julie, Matt, Grandma, Landry, Tyra, Tim, Jason, Smash and even Lyla are on, whether or not I get to see where they go next. And for those who haven’t yet seen it, the third season airs on NBC starting this Friday at 9/8c. Don’t miss it!
