Spring?

The weather is really confusing me now. Last week it was 15-18 degrees celcius and apparently it's supposed to snow again sometime soon. Sigh, Canadian weather.

Anyways, so it's been a while since I've updated this blog. I really need to get into the habit. Or maybe I need some people to actually read this, haha. OR maybe I should get a Twitter account? (Microblogging FTW?)

Quick update! Life is absolutely PACKED with every crazy thing imaginable. I am so swamped with work and my sleep schedule is officially messed up.

Last week UTM Rotaract Club held our last event of the year- Career Panel! This event was a HUGE success and I'm so happy at how our last minute marketing blitz worked! We basically handed out little quarter-page-sized version of our promo poster to every person on campus. It was kind of hard at first to approach people since the UTMSU campaigning was also happening at the same time, but luckily we were able to say "Don't be afraid! I'm not campaigning." which worked really well.



This semester I'm taking a class called "Expressive Writing" (WRI203 for those of you who are at UTM) and it is THE best (well, the ONLY) writing class I've taken! Maybe I'm just biased because I was asked to read to the class twice already (I'm so proud!) but it's really nice to have a creative outlet.

I also was able to make a poster and flyer for my piano studio's upcoming music festival. It's called FUNFEST 2010 and it should be amazing this year because it's at a NEW venue (York University music building!) and teachers don't have to do any work haha.





Lastly, CCIT Gala is coming up! I didn't really take as much part in it as I did last year (I was so busy with everything else) but I'm still looking forward to it. I'm trying to think of some crazy ways of marketing it, (such as class drops, etc) but for now I just need to get my school work back on track.

ALSO if anyone has any summer job openings, PLEASE let me know! I REALLY need a summer job!

Oops.. I did it again!

For a period of time before the Christmas holiday I actually was on track for my blogging. Then I guess I got lazy. I was supposed to finish uploading the final product of my students' performance at the Christmas concert, but my internet is slow at home so I guess I'll upload it when I get back to school on Monday.

I just downloaded this new Windows Gaget called "Blogger Buddy" which allows me to blog from my desktop. Here's a screenshot:


Overall it's pretty handy! This will probably be another form of procrastination for me though. I just don't like how I can't directly upload images here, I have to insert an image tag and upload on a different server like ImageShack. Also, I can't add tags or edit posts.

Anywho, I'm going to keep it short because I have a few projects I'm working on that I want upload and talk about but I'm not exactly done them yet.

Christmas Concert Piano Group Week 2

Today was our 2nd group practice and I was a bit confused why only 3 students showed up. Regardless, we went ahead and got the entire song hands together... ish. For the refrain (part where it goes "Glooo00000ooooo000000oooo0000ooo-ria" they decided to "negotiate" with me and split up the hands (so some people do right hand, some do left hand) which I was not happy with because I know they're just being lazy. I figured that I'll let them have it their way this week, but next week (the concert! eek!) I'll push harder and maybe bribe them with candy or something.

Update!

It has been a REALLY long time since I've updated stuff here. So here it goes...

UEC had 2 more events since the last time I posted here. Here are the posters!



Okay so I'll admit that I sorta cheated on the GMAT one I definitely could've made it WAY better but I was pressed for time.

I mentioned in my last post how I wanted to track the progress of my Christmas Concert group song. Here is a short clip of their last practice (near the end when they were able to actually play together.)



I'm really hoping that this week they'll have both pages hands together. I tried being tough on them but last week I had a horrible cough so my threatening voice probably sounded a bit pathetic. I have 6 girls in my group, all of them around the same age, 13-14 (except for one of mine who is only 11, but she is just EXCEPTIONAL). I can't wait to see the end product, I know that if they work hard it'll sound really good.

Today I volunteered at the Daily Bread Food Bank with the UEC and a few other helpers who came out.
It was my first time volunteering there and after this experience I'd definitely do it again (with a group of course, because it makes it that much more fun!) While we were waiting for the bus I got to see a few people and some families come in to the food bank and actually walk out with a few bags of groceries. It kind of hit me because these people all looked like normal, everyday people and I would never be able to pick them out of a crowd.

In other news, this month is going to be CRAZY busy for me again, but luckily I only have one exam. I'm going to try and finish up the posters for the AARC soon because I know those have been lagging. I'll put them up here once I'm done. I'm looking into a ROP (Research Opportunity Program) for next year and some volunteering opportunities in a hospital for next semester. I can't wait for the holidays :)

"Cumulus" Tag Cloud

This is just a short mini update since I've been absolutely SWAMPED in the past few months! I was browsing around and I found this really cool looking tag cloud on the Kiss 92.5 website so I decided to look into it. It was made by this guy named Roy Tanck. At first I was discouraged because it looked way too complicated for me to figure out how to use (he was using a different publishing site called Word Press) but eventually I a blogger-friendly version on Blogger Buster.

That's all the updates I have for now. I have so much stuff I want to post up on here (new posters, etc) PLUS I've decided to make a mini story line on getting my piano students ready for the upcoming Christmas Concert. I recorded part of the first group practice today (which went pretty well... at the expense of my voice).

P.S. I kept the original label cloud near the bottom for those who don't have Flash Player 9 installed on their computer. Also this wins me brownie points for usability too :)

DOES THIS MAKE YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE?

I'm actually in class right now, CCT204 Design, and the prof just brought up a point about writing in CAPS. I thought it would make a catchy title. IT CAPTURED YOUR ATTENTION RIGHT?

(The fact that I am writing a blog during this class probably gives you the idea that this class isn't the most amazing thing since sliced bread. To be honest I'd be snoozing if I wasn't on here.)

On the flip side, school is starting to get really busy now. This week I had my first big test (eek! 25% of my PSY290 marked flashed by my eyes) and it's been going a bit downhill from there. I'm not giving up yet, I'm trying to improve my study skills and sleep habits in hope of being a better student this year. (It's easier said that done.)

Rotaract Club has officially started marketing for the UN Conference Trip to New York. You'll see them all around UTM in their beautiful colours (Thank You Sahaj for this addition!) My original one had a plan black and white background and Sahaj added the red, yellow, green, orange and blue backgrounds. If you look carefully, I chose a pre-9/11 picture of the New York skyline so the old Twin Towers are still there. My bad. XD Also, this image is the first draft so it's missing all the stroke lines on the info text and the bottom e-mail address is screwed.



The pretty coloured ones have the edits of the clearer info text, the clarified e-mail address, etc.




Yay!

I also recently made a poster for UEC as well, promoting their upcoming "Meet the Profs and TA's" night.



I seemed to have gotten better feedback for the first green chalkboard one. I think it's because green is a more pleasant colour?

Anywho, I'm going to keep on posting my creations as they come! I hope I do well on the first CCT204 assignment and if it looks decent I will post it here as well. :)

Swine Flu? H1N1?

Over the past 2 weeks it seems that many people have been mysteriously been getting sick. There is definitely something floating around in the air. I personally have had this lingering cough that just REFUSES to go away! At one point the name "frosh flu" was being passed around, but I'm starting to see that it's not just UTM frosh leaders who are being affected.

I'm pretty sure I don't have Swine Flu/H1N1 Virus... but just to make sure I looked up on Google what possible symptoms to look out for.

(haha, nice to see what people are searching for nowadays.)

I visited this site: http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/qa.htm

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), symptoms are fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Basically the same symptoms as a seasonal flu. How are we supposed to distinguish whether or not it's a normal flu or H1N1? They didn't really give much detail. The only significant difference between H1N1 and the normal flu (besides the fact that a number of people have died recently) is that people aged 25 and YOUNGER (a.k.a.. ME! yikes!) are more susceptible to death/serious complications.

Another kinda interesting question was if the CDC recommends "Swine Flu Parties." A Swine Flu Party is exactly what the name pertains. It's basically a "party" that is held for people who WANT to become infected by someone who is currently infected with a mild case in hopes of building up some sort of immunity. The CDC obviously states that this is NOT recommended because not everyone has the same immune system, so a mild infection for one person may be fatal for another. (duh?)

I got an e-mail from UTM the other day saying that if we are feeling sick and showing signs of H1N1 to stay and home and fill out a "Flu Absense Declaration" form on ROSI. That means we don't even have to leave the house and get a doctor's note! It's funny because at the end of the message, it stated not to take advantage of this even though they clearly have given students a free ticket out of class. It'll be funny to see how many students try to get away with it. Although it would be pretty bad if karma got them back and they did get sick!