Freedom!

Exams are done! I know I always say this, but these were the most brutal so far. These past two days, I've had:

Diversity of Life* at 2 P.M.
Developmental Biology at 9 A.M.
Eukaryotic Cell Biology at 2 P.M.


Let me re-iterate: brutal. I have to admit I'm pretty impressed at the ridiculous amounts of information my brain can retain. For the last exam, I walked into the room convinced I'd forgotten all of the course material, but once I sat down and read the questions, the answers would pop out to me out of nowhere. Nevermind that I've forgotten it all today.

I had this fantasy of spreading my notes all across the living room floor (there were alot of notes), and having my flatmate take a picture of me laughing in glee as I tossed my index cards (there were alot of index cards too) up into the air.

But now that I'm finished I've found all I want to do is clean/do laundry/cook/get ready for my trip. I'm leaving in 8 days! I have so many errands to wrap up before I do! Agh!

*For the reccord: life really is diverse, like woah. That's the last time I take a course at McGill thinking, "Gee, I think I'm up for a challenge."

Eureka!

I now know what I want to be when I grow up:


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

If you're going to browse through the archives, I'd better warn you that most comics are politically incorrect, and dark humor.

The weather is lovely here, it isn't conducive to studying at all. Everytime I look out of the window, I see people tossing a frisbee around, or basking in the sun.

6 days until summer...

School buses on fire!?

A friend brought this news article to my attention (EDIT: hopefully it will work now).

Why would I be interested in a news article about burning buses, you ask? Well... because those buses belong(ed) to my dear old high school, that's why.

This is completly crazy. I can't believe this happened; it's a shock enough to think that my high school kept on existing after I graduated (I'm not at all ego-centric, I swear), but this?
Those were the beat up old buses I used to ride to school, and the cranky bus drivers I've known all my life. Nostalgia.

I'm having trouble believing the anti-semitism has escalated so much since I left the States. Either I've forgotten how bad it was after living in happy-go-lucky Canada for two years, or the media is exagerating things and this is just the result of some bored hicks out for an exciting night.

Happy Easter!

Hi all,

I wish you all a very "Joyeuses Paques!" (or Passover).

Back home, Easter was one of the most important holidays our family celebrated. We'd all gather 'round the table and dig into this amazing lunch, after about 4 hours of dreary church service (I kid, I kid). Sometimes, if you were lucky, the Easter holiday coincided with the famous Washington D.C. cherry blossoms. Inevitably, it would be pouring, but when surrounded by friends and family it hardly seemed to matter.

Today it's raining as well, but unfortunately there's no dreary church service on the menu, or Easter lunch, or friends and family. People who celebrate Easter have left to be with their families, and the rest of us are studying for final exams.

Well, happy Easter anyways. I'll be thinking of you from the depths of some McGill library!

Finals

Well, it's finals season! This is the first year that all my finals are concentrated at the very end of the exam period rather than at the very beginning. Which has left me a certain amount of time to study. Weird. Up to now I've been in this strange, peaceful state, but I'm sure that by next week I will be flipping out, as usual.
Because it's finals season, this means that the McGill libraries as choc-full of nervous, mumbling, sweaty students. It always amazes me how the libraries are so empty all year, but come April, well hey! McGill has students! It's a miracle!

Because I can't stand to stress, and the noise, in McGill libraries during finals, I've branched out. These past three days I've studied:
-At McGill's other campus, MacDonald, about a half an hour away from the main campus. It's lovely; all green fields, and quaint brick buildings... The buildings are furnished with throw-back furniture from the 60s, and the halls are painted in bright, primary colours. People all seem friendlier, and actually speak to each other on campus! My friend remarked that it was like high school, minus all the hormonal imbalance. Another plus is that most students at McGill aren't even aware that this campus exists.
-At Montreal's new public library. Oh, wow. That library is love! I've always been a library nut, but walking into this one, I felt like I was dreaming. Beaver wrote a fantastic post on this, so I won't even try describing it.
-At my friend's house, in Montreal's suburb Town of Mount-Royal. This one, by far, was weirdest to me. He lives at home, and his house has actual stairs in it, with carpet. He doesn't have to worry about bothering his upstairs neighbor (just his family, haha). And he has a backyard! Who knew!! To be honest, I felt like an intruder, studying in that house. It's been so long since I've seen a real suburb (Madagascar doesn't count), it's almost like I forgot that they existed.

Anyway. Since today is Saturday (and Easter Saturday at that... Happy Easter!) I'm hoping the libraries will be a bit more bearable at McGill today. Have a lovely weekend!

Nap Attack

Mom, this is why I don't like naps.

So my friend is part of this choir called Simply, Sweetly. I've been to every single one of their concerts for the past two years--and not just because she's my friend, but because they're just that good. For every performance, they glide onstage dressed all in black, and position themselve at various corners of the chapel. It's quite the experience to close your eyes and just let the sound envellop you.

Tonight, this friend of mine was conducting for the first time. This is a big deal, and we were all counting on going to support her. This would be fine and dandy, if, two and a half hours ago, I hadn't decided to lie down to take a little nap. I'll just sleep for an hour, I told myself in classic sleep-deprived stupor. WRONG.
The concert started half an hour ago. And I am at home.

Yeah, another weather post.

April snow brings May... wait, what?

It's snowing?

Silly Canada. Looks like I spoke too soon!