last night's dinner was seriously awesome. the food was shit, but it's the people you go with that make it aaaallll worthwhile. boston pizza with mike, carmen, kate, and smitty. oh, good times! our server was soooo bad though. it was so bad that it was really funny. i was laughing so hard, i had trouble talking to nique on the phone. and then this girl from the table beside us was getting out of her seat to take pictures with her friends, and she totally tripped... ohh man... the 5 of us cracked up laughing...hahaha! good times. then to mike's house to do the usual. and mark showed up!! whhhooooo!

tonight's group dinner was awesome! i couldn't have asked for anything better. well.... except smitty cancelled on us. what an ass. it was great that kevin g. came though! he's such a sweetie. hahaha! aww.. omg! and nique showed!!!! YAY NIQUE!!!! it was the best surprise ever! anywhoo... i got violated by kamla though.. it was so scary. so me, her, alishia and mike were chatting, she suddenly reaches out and fully grabs and squeezes my boob. it wasn't like a brush. i was like, whoa! NOT expecting that! after a minute, i calmed down, and mike tried to take a picture of me and kamla and alishia together. right before he clicks, kamla licks my cheek. honestly... if she told me she was gona do those things, i could be like, alright. but it took me completely by surprise. and it didn't help the fact that while we were slowly getting ready to leave, she kept checking me out. even kevin g. caught her staring at my boobs.
i guess i feel loved?....violated? hahaha.. but i got in two nice pics with mikey. yay! (for pics that are loving!)


anywhoo, i went shopping today with my mom. we went to a lot of diff places, AND vaughn mills! just cuz i've never been there before. i really like it! i got a nice pear of jeans, and (you can all slap me for this) an eskimo coat. yeah... i know... i've conformed to society. it's so sad. but my eskimo coat is really hot! if it was a long trech coat, it would be orgasmic. but i'll settle with the short. and i bough fabric at fabricland, for my outfit for music formal. i hope it can be ready in time... otherwise, i won't be able to go. well... i will, but... i won't have the ieal outfit, which will suck. maybe i will ask beth if she can help me, since she is such a martha stewart.

anywhoo... i'm bored of posting. so... bye. pictures will be up perhaps tomorrow night.

wow, i haven't posted in a really really long time...
well, my exams all went okay. kinda... i passed everything, so...whatever. i can't really stand classical music right now though, no thanks to the history listening. anyway....

so i went to Cuba on the 16th, it was really quite a good trip, now that i think back. the first day was crazy though, cuz i left my house at 4am, and our plane was at 8:30am.. it was a 3 hr flight. and when we got to Cuba we had to wait for a really long time so that everyone on our bus got on and then we had to drive half an hour to our hotels and drop people off at various resorts. oh, and the Varadero airport is kinda freaky... guards and security everywhere. anyway... we finally got to our resort and waited forever to check in. the people at the front desk were really slow. we finally checked in at 3pm, went to eat a quick lunch, since their dining hall thing closes at 3:30, and proceeded to our room. it was pretty big. there's like two sections to it. but our balcony view sucked. but whatever. the rest of that first day consisted of my parents sleeping a lot, and me going out and exploring the beach and the resort and stealing seashells from the beach (there were literally hundreds!).. and taking pics.

anyway... the next day we taxi-ed to Matanzas, a city about half an hour drive away from Varadero. it's a pretty small city, but we visited a cave and.. some other places.. our taxi driver was pretty good lookin. really suave. haha...shh... i took a picture with him. anyway... we went to this local market and shopped among locals, but didn't really get anything because it was all local stuff... like, you know... shampoo and other household items. but the thing about that place was that you could really see how they live. like...their markets are shit, because they are generally less priveledged (not really poor) than us. it was actually a bit freaky, cuz the streets and stuff were really dirty and there were people everywhere. anywhoo...

the next day, sunday, we just stayed at the resort and chilled... i sat in the sun and got a nice tan. oh, and it was also the day i met Alex. he works at the resort, and he is really hot. but he started talking to me first, cuz he noticed my scar... and he asked me about it, and he's like "oh, i have one too!" and i was flabberghasted! "really? open heart?!" i says. and then he opened up the top of his shirt and showed me. it was HOT. mmmmm.... but yeah, i have never met anyone with the same scar as me, so obviously, there was an instant attraction. yeah, i know it's corny... but whatever. you're all just jealous. haha! anyway... so...after i finished eating, i worked up the nerve to go up to him and tell him he had gorgeous eyes (they are green). he just kinda laughed and all the other guys working there with him at that section laughed too. haha.. oh well. anywhoo.... okay. me and the guys who worked in that section became pretty good friends. they're so fucking nice. i miss them. (they all eventually knew i had a crush on him because it was so disgustingly obvious)

on monday, my parents and i took another taxi to Havana, which is the capital of Cuba. it was a two hour car ride. our taxi driver this time was much better than the first, becuase he could at least speak english, so we conversed and got to know each other. we also spent the whole day in Havana, compared to the 4 hours in Matanzas. we even ate lunch with him (i guess in Cuba, you pay them a set price and they take you whereever you wanna go for the whole day, or however many hours you want). he was a pretty cool guy. he's married to a 21 yr old! damn.... and yeah, he was like our tourguide too.. haha.. it was cool. we went to the the pirate ship place (i forgot its real name), the cigar factory, Revolution Square, the cathedral, flea markets, and walked around old Havana as well. there's this one street that is super narrow and really crowded with people. but it was cool. oh, and we visited two public libraries (adult and children sections are separate), and some other places. it was a really fun day. and i took a picture with the taxi driver.

the next day, tuesday, just chilled at the resort again, soaking in the rays... that night at dinner, all alex and i said to each other were hi how are you? i'm fine thanks. hahaha it was really nerve-racking to talk to him, because i was super shy, and he was really hot... just standing there.... ooohhh..... hahaha... shhhh.... but yeah... we just kept looking at each other and stuff. tee hee. oh, and i got hit on by an old Spaniard tourist while i was having drinks at the bar with my parents. it was fucking annoying. he kept talking to us, even though we didn't understand Spanish and he didn't know English. he kinda ignored him, but he persisted on making his point, so we left.

wednesday, my parents and i walked 20ish minutes to this plaza in Varadero called Plaza America. hehe... it was actually pretty cool. and then we got a horse and buggy ride further down Varadero where there are markets and little restaurants on the street. it was uber cool. we had lunch at this tiny restaurant near the ocean (sea?) that was family-owned, and had an amazing meal. it was basically a fun shopping day. that night, at dinner, i wrote my address and number down so i could give it to Alex so we could write to each other, but he wasn't working, so i gave it to one of the other guys who said he would give it to him the next day for me. i got excited, and glad that i went through with it (i was debating whether or not i should...because some people don't like girls who pursue guys like that.... ahem.... jay... ahem) yes...anyway....

thursday, we hung out at the hotel again, and i pretty much spent the day by myself. hung out by the pool, read my book again, you know... that sort of thing. i even had dinner by myself. my parents wanted to go to this other restaurant for dinner that night. it was in the hotel, but they required a reservation. and i really didn't want to go because 1) that place isn't as good as the buffet, and 2) i wanted to see if Alex got my piece of paper. anywhoo.... so during the day, i was chillin by myself, and the bellboy (who looked about 50) who was working that hit on me. ok, he followed me to my room, and then decided to strike up a conversation right outside my door. it was le freaky. then he asked if i had a boyfriend, and i said no, and he looked all surprised and asked why. and then he was like, "you're very pretty. i see you walking around a lot. can i have your address so i can write to you?" omg... i was scared. and i said no. then after a while, i think he got the message that i didn't want him there, and he left. i ate dinner at the buffet by myself that night and i got to talk to Alex, (and all the other awesome people who work there) and he wrote his address and number down for me, but it took him a long time because he kinda forgot the country code and area code for his country. ... it took him three times to do it. but yeah... then he asked me what i was doing later that night, and whether i wanted to hang out after his work. so of course i said yes, but i really didn't expect him to ask that. hehe... anyways, after that little convo, i went back to my table to eat, and my hand was literally shaking cuz i was so elated. (ok, you can stop laughing at me now). and when i finished and as i was leaving, i was chatting with this other guy who works there (i think he is like a manager or something, i dunno), and i had agreed earlier that week that i was gonna take a letter back to his friend in Scarbro for him, and so we were chatting and he was like "can i get you something? anything you want? it's my pleasure! what are u doing tonight?" like, he really wanted to hang out with me, i think. but i didn't really wanna. i get scared by being asked out by old(er) men. so i told him i already have plans, which was true. he looked upset, and was like "you do?" and i'm like yeah... with Alex... and he's like "who? Alex? he works here?! i don't know him..." and he actually sounded pissed off. i got scared... but i said yeah. and he's like "oh..." so i just said thanks for the offer anyway. and left. anyway... at 10:30, i went by the restaurant, and was waiting a long time for him to come out. but he didn't, and i got annoyed cuz i thought he was standing me up. but then Hanoi (the guy who's letter i was taking back to Scarbro) saw me, and was like "hey...what are you doing here?" so i was like "waiting for Alex"..haha... so then he told me to come in (the restaurant was closed at the time) and he went to find him for me... then Alex came and told me to wait a bit til he finished up. and Hanoi and I chatted about Toronto til he came out... so he came out, and we walked towards the trails/paths nestled in the trees and bushes of the resort. he didn't want anyone to see us, especially his bosses, because apparently, he's not allowed to have relationships with customers, or he could get fired. but the paths that night were unlit (which was really weird)... so we just sat down and talked there. it was really fun. we had a bit of trouble understanding each other becasue of the language barrier. he kept telling me to speak slowly. haha... oops. anyway, it was a really really great night, and it was too bad i had to end it early ( i knew my parents would be staying up and waiting til i get back)... so that was that. he wanted us to chill the next day, but i knew i wouldn't be able to, so he said he'll call me, and stuff. so...that was the end of that.

on friday, the last day, we checked out at noon, but the bus wasn't picking us up til 7:30pm, so we pretty much had nothing to do the entire day. read a bit.. soaked up a bit of sun, played cards, and wandered aimlessly. the last dinner there was yummy. and it was great that i got to say bye to all my cool restaurant workers. haha.. it's too bad Alex didn't work that day, otherwise i could've gotten to see him one more time. but such is life. the ride back to the airport was nothing spectacular. i started making conversation for the first time with this man who was on vacation with his wife and son who were at the same resort as us for the entire week. kinda weird.... he graduated from WLU too, so yeah, thats pretty much what we talked about. and then we were going around to the other hotels and picking other people up, and this other girl was wearing a WLU shirt. YEAH REPRESENT!! lol... anyway... we waited at the airport for 2 and a half hours before we got on the plane. it was super boring. and to make this a Mandy story, we got on the plane and flew home. hahaha.
well, we got back to TO at 2am...took forever to get our luggage. my brother picked us up, and we went home. and that's the end of my trip.

***

yeah, that was a novel, i know... i applaude whoever read the entire thing. it was pretty much more for myself than you, since i forgot to bring a journal there. i usually do when i go places. but anyway...

christmas was boring, boxing day sucked, and today i went downtown with kamla. and i mailed a letter to Alex, cuz he never called me up. i think there was something wrong with the phone. cuz i tried calling him the next day, and it didn't work for me either. so i wrote instead. :)

alright... this entry is WAY too long. i'm gonna stop. and when i go back to Loo, i'll post pictures from the trip. toodles!

posting backwards in time.

wow, i am already sick of some of the mus. history's listening stuff. bahhhh... gotta admit though, i really like some of the pieces we have to know. i mean, other than the two beethoven symphonies i've played. Schubert's Erlking is pretty awesome. anyway... enough about that.

the recital hall end-of-term party at morty's was pretty fun tonight. John bought us all wings, they were awesome. good time playing pool with Angela too. yay!

what is wrong with me? techno is starting to grow on me. i have one techno song in my playlist. this is blasphemy. it makes me think of sexy raves and glowsticks. thanks Andrea* (bartender girl at the Rude).

last night's party at James' was hoppin'! haha him and Pete have a really nice place, and if ihad a car, i'd want to live there. i only stayed for a bit though because i wanted a ride home, so i left whenever lucas left. and lucas left kind of early. oh well, it's all good. i had eggnog. i haven't had eggnog in years!! just cuz last time i had it, i remember i didn't like it. anywhoo..

the last mus. ed class was awesome! i seriously loved that class. June is the best damn teacher in the country! hehe june countryman. :) gotta love that woman. she bought like 10 boxes of pizza, so we all got to stuff our faces while we had this debate thing about problems that can arise in music education. it was fun. then we got our essays back, and i got an A-. i seriously didn't expect it, cuz writing that thing was like torture. it was almost all BS. but then i went up to June and told her that i didn't think i did well, and she said, no i did okay. i compared it alright. so...okay! not complaining about A-. haha.

the two orchestra/choir concerts were AMAZING. but i will post my review on a separate entry another day. it's gonna be too long. but it was seriously like the most high experience i've ever had. (not the stravinsky though. but the Bernstein and Jasmina's piece for sure!!)

anywhoo, i need to sleep, so i can wake up tomorrow and study more.



* no thanks

today's choir rehersal was INTENSE!!! when Dan, our counter-tenor soloist sang... i almost cried, it was so beautiful. i could feel the tear forming in my eye. haha. i don't usually like tenors as much as baritones and basses, but Dan's voice was so pure, it was intoxicating. i am now excited more than ever about tomorrow's concerts. it's kind of a shame that so many people can't make it to the 8pm show. *shakes head* undedicated bastairds! *shakes fist* hehe...

anyway, last night at the Rude was pretty fucking intense as well. since i was closing with Andrea, it wasn't surprising that i clocked out at 1:30am. but Andrea offered to drive me home, so okay. at first i didn't really want to. i'd rather take a cab and get home early than wait around til she closes the entire restaurant. buuuuut a bunch of staff were drinking and hanging out, and i seriously haven't hung out on a friday night in soooo long. and they're a crazy bunch of people. so i stayed. it was pretty fun, actually. once it was pretty much all staff (and nate's gf and other friend) we got free drinks and stuff, it was awesome. Cam, the new dude, made me a crispy crunch, but it was kinda gross cuz it was too sweet. but before that, he made me this apple-y drink. that was good. Rory and i chatted about Nepal and Tibet, and Alex and i had some weird convos. hahaha... it was all good though. Alex called for a cab probably like 10 times, and none of them ever came, so Andrea drove both of us home. i got home at 3:30. oh, good times!

**

I realized that after seeing GoF, i still haven't posted a review. okay, so here goes.

1. Ron was actually pretty cute in this. I especially enjoyed seeing him dance with McGonagall. and his scenes at the Yule Ball were done quite well.

2. i must disagree with Mar... EMMA WATSON flaws, not Hermione. sorry, i think you all know by now my hatred for her. what was UP with that curtain scene, seriously? it was so lame. "oh Harry be careful! oh!" please.

3. (as a comment to Mar's post) i think that it would be incredible if the HP collection became a TV show.... so they would be able to do EVERYTHING in the book. and yes.... a Hermione with more depth is welcome. and maybe Harry too.

4. Cedric actually looked pretty cute in GoF... i didn't think he was when i first saw his photos. but his acting was good. he made a good Cedric. he could've been blonder though.

5. .... but then again, Fleur could've been REALLY blonder.

6. Katie Leung was also not as bad as I thought. i digged her accent.

7. the 3rd task was AMAZING, didn't you think? i think it was one of my favourite scences. and Ralph Fiennes did a good job of Voldemort.

8. i'm really glad this move didn't have the terrible terrible ending like PoA... remember... Harry flying towards us.... and it ends.

9. some parts of it were really kinda boring... and i was super disappointed about the lack of Quiddich World Cup in the movie.

10. i really really liked how Mike Newell decided to put in the first chapter of the book. it was a really good way of starting the movie. a lot different than the other 3. i could tell right away it was a much darker movie, just from that scene. and the cinematography was WAAAYYYY better in this movie as well.

11. Dan Radcliff needs to work out. that bathtub scene did not impress me.

12. ...neither did Moody. baaaaad casting. that's all i have to say.

13. no Charlie Weasley? no Bill Weasley? i am sad.

aaaand, i'm spent.