Oh Shite

I'm starting night school Calculus and night school Physics in February. And I still haven't finished my Independent online course.

I am so screwed.

So my schedule from February to June will be:

1. Get up at 6,
2. Go to work,
3. Finish at 2,
4. Go straight to my night school location,
5. Finish the homework in the two hours I have to spare,
6. Go to night school,
7. Finish at 10 pm,
8. Go home and sleep.
9. Rinse and repeat.

And, the funny thing is, I have Fridays and the weekend off for both work and night school. So four out of seven days a week, it'll be really hectic. And the three rest days will need to be used for my Independent learning course.
I'll either have an excellent established work ethic in June, or I'll crash and burn. And, considering my work history, I don't want to think about which is more likely.

But, hey, if I somehow manage to do well this semester, I'll probably be accepted at Waterloo for Chemical Engineering. And then I'll be able to move and live on campus, and party like crazy. While studying, of course.

On another topic, my birthday (my real one, not my legal one) is coming up soon. Yeah, you can tell from all the Valentine's Day displays shops and restaurants are putting up.
I'm so angry. I'll be nineteen in age, but not legally, so I still won't be able to go clubbing until November! I asked my mom if her relatives in our home country can send my real birth certificate here, but apparently everyone over there is just in it for themselves, and they don't do favours for nothing. The only thing I can do now is get a good fake ID, because there's no way in hell that I'm waiting another seven months until I'm able to go out, drink alcohol legally, and have fun with my friends (all the while being safe, of course).

So all I need to do is finish my Independent Learning course as soon as possible, get at least 90% on all my night school courses, not get fired from my day job, and figure out a way to get the most legit-looking fake ID. Easy-peasy.

Interviews Are Bullshit

The title says it all. Seriously.

Okay, so what happened was that about two weeks ago, I was applying for jobs on Kijiji (the fastest online method—at least you're not waiting two weeks wondering if they're going to call you), and I got a call right away after I applied to this food service ad (since I have experience from wonderland). So I answered and went to the interview the day after.
Honestly, I just bullshitted the entire thing. The manager was like, "So tell me about yourself." And I just said, "Well, I love to cook bullshit and experiment, and talking to people bullshit." And that's how the entire interview went. It was seriously so easy and I got the job right afterwords.
So that's the lesson for today, folks. Just exaggerate a bit (don't outright lie about your experience) while staying relevant to the position, and you'll get hired.
And, honestly, having a job is like the best thing EVAAARR. Well, not the actual job part of it, but the payday. I recently got around $200 for last week's work (yeah, I get paid weekly—isn't that awesome?), and I bought a metropass for next month. My very own first metropass! Finally, I don't have to borrow my brother's metropass, or ask my mom for tokens again! I also went out to an amazing restaurant that was cheap as shit, had a great atmosphere, was open 24 hours, and they filled the plate like crazy. Thank you, dine.to, for the recommendation. Then the next day, I just went to La Senza for their clearance sale and got some new bras. Man, I LOVE not having to rely on my mom to give me money, or go out shopping with her.
The independance, and confidence a job can give you is just awesome. Before working at Wonderland, I really wouldn't have been able to go up to a complete stranger and start up a conversation. But now I can, and it's really easy. I can now understand why most employers are hesitant to hire someone who's never had a job before, even if they're really qualified for it with volunteer experience and all that jazz.
The job part, though, that's a whole different topic. I've only been working for around two weeks (9-2, four days a week), so I'm still getting the hang of everything. And it's seriously too much work for minimum wage. They expect me to be a waitress, kitchen helper, cook helper, and cashier, all at once. The only other person there other than the manager (who usually never even shows up) is the cook, and I have to listen to her blather on and on about how she was doing it all herself before I came, and how I really should step up my game. Seriously? I'm doing the best I can, for minimum wage, so you can shove it.
Whatever. I don't care. I'm leaving in June (around the same time she is, actually—she's taking culinary night school and is going to work in a real restaurant soon), and working for Wonderland full-time in the summer. I hear they give you hours like crazy, and it's really easy. There's only three menu items in each booth that you need to serve. And everyone who works there is really young, since it's a seasonal job. So everyone's around my age (my supervisor's actually really hot, and he's sooo nice).
I can't wait to go back to Wonderland, and leave this crappy cafeteria. And then, after Wonderland, I think I'll move up and become a waitress. I don't know why people think being a waitress is like earning minimum wage. I would love to be one. I could meet hot guys, and be able to make so many tips, it'll be awesome.

Birthdays

Happy fake birthday to me!
My parents were immigrants, so they thought that it was a great idea to fake a birth certificate to make us a few months younger than we were (apparently, in their country, it's the younger people who get the better jobs). So, today, I'm legally 18. Even though I've been 18 since February 14. God, I seriously need to get my real birth certificate delivered here.
Yeah, I'm being bombarded with facebook messages of every "friend-of-a-friend" wishing me a happy birthday.
Unfortunately, I'm not getting an 18th birthday party. Isn't that just sad? For my real birthday, in February, it was because there was no time or money for a cake and present, let alone a party. My 17th birthday present was my party. Well, parties are expensive, so I can't blame anyone. I think I'm just going on a self-pity rampage today.
To think, that since I actually got a job (a temporary one, though, that ended in October) I could pay for a party myself. But no, I got bedbugs. And now I can't invite anyone over for at least three months after pest control comes over and exterminates the fuckers. Not to mention I have to vacuum and steam my clothes, bedsheets, and mattress everyday now (well, I actually do it once a week, but I'm the lazy one in the family).
Sigh. That's my rant for today.

Anyway, how about you, nonexistent reader? Read any good books lately? Please, please tell me good books to read. I'm bored out of my fucking mind here. I just dropped out of high school (not a big deal since I already graduated and was just repeating a year for marks) and now I'm stuck. At. Home. All. Day. With my family. I feel like tearing my hair out and running for the hills. Instead of getting a birthday present, I'm more likely to be kicked out if I don't have a full-time job two weeks from now, paying for my cell phone plan, and enrolled in an independent course to upgrade my pathetic marks. The latter isn't a problem. The first two are, since no one's fucking hiring! It's all part-time and seasonal temporary bullshit. I think I'm going to have to go for McDonald's. At least they'll give me hours. And I won't have to stay at home with my family. You have no idea how much of a plus that is. Just when I think living with them isn't so bad, I realize that I haven't actually been living with them, since their work schedules were so opposite my school schedule, we barely saw each other (except, of course, for my sister--but we ignored each other whenever we could). But now, I just want to fucking get out. God, I hope that when I get hired, my work schedule will be opposite theirs, 'cause I really don't want to see their faces when I come home from work.
And that's family for you.

I can't believe I'm saying it...

... but I miss school.
Well, technically not really school, but lunch. Hanging out with my friends everyday—and I took it for granted.
I don't know what's bothering me this past week. I've survived summers before with barely seeing my friends. But now I'm just like... pining, or something. I don't know. It's just very embarrassing. I'm known for liking my alone-time, and here I am, wishing for company.
I think part of the reason is that I'm bored—and that I'm just not up-to-date on what's going on with everyone. I'm curious, and it feels weird to be out of the loop.
I know what you're thinking: Just pick up the phone and call. But what if they're busy or something? I can't just call. I need a reason—don't I? I'm very introverted that way—I usually don't like to start a conversation, but I'll join in something that's already started.
And my usual habit of avoiding and ignoring anything that makes me uncomfortable isn't working... again. It usually works so well, though. Usually, I just avoid and ignore until I deliberately forget about it—and then I'm fine. It didn't really work all that well in school, but, with emotions? Hell, yeah—it worked like a boss. :D

Admittedly, I've become a little less reserved than I used to be (once I learned that being quiet wouldn't get me anywhere)—but it was really difficult. Like having to present an assignment, and butterflies are dancing in your stomach—because you know that if you fuck up even a little bit, you're screwed. Having to go up to people and talk to them isn't my forte. In fact, I'd prefer not doing it at all. But where would that get me? In this society, it's all about connections and making a good first impression.

This leads me to my next point: An upcoming party. A former (WAY former) friend of mine invited me and about 60 other people to her 18th beach birthday bash. When I first saw the facebook invite, I was just like, what do I do? Let me give you some background info.
We were tight—like extremely tight—best friends in elementary school for six years (all the way from grade one to grade six).
I'll just call her S. She was my best friend and I was hers. We exchanged bracelets and necklaces and all that shit. The thing was, I didn't really like her all that much. But she always hung out with me, so I was like, why not? It's not like I had anyone else (I was pretty much a loner back then). There were a ton of things she said that I disagreed with, but she was fun to hang out with.
And then, in grade three, another girl came along (I'll call her M), and we became a trio. Well, it was more like me stuck in the middle of those two (who didn't really talk to each other in the beginning—but they got closer). I'm not saying I was popular. It was just basic school drama. Admittedly, I like M a lot better than S. But, two years later, M moved away, and S and I became close again.
After elementary school, though, we separated into different middle schools, and I deliberately began to slowly shut all ties with her (horrible, I know, but, at the time, I rationalized it away by thinking that part of my life was over now—and also avoiding and ignoring, as usual).
Anyway, M is also coming to the beach party, so I'm just like wondering how awkward it can get. Apparently, they still talk to each other, while I haven't talked to either of them in years.

But, you know what, I need to man up and start to face things, and this is the perfect time to do it (not to mention that it's a beach party). I'm just glad some of my current friends are coming, too. Otherwise it would probably alternate with me awkwardly trying to talk to M and S, or awkwardly trying to talk to a bunch of strangers.

God help me.

On the Bright Side...

On the bright side, Ghost Story is coming out soon! :D I can't wait!!
I feel much more cheerful now that I've vented everything.

And... now I'm going to try to sleep.
G'night, folks! :D

Why Would You DO THAT???

In my weary research for a good new urban fantasy series to read, I recently found one that was actually written pretty well. The protagonist wasn't a complete idiot, bumbling into things until the powerful alpha male had to come and rescue her all the time (which I had to torture myself into reading in my search for a good urban fantasy series)—although it was a bit cliché—newly turned vampire and the master of the house of vamps, incidentally also her sire. Then again, which paranormal series doesn't at least have a cliché or two? The trick, with good authors, is in making that cliché interesting enough to readers who have already read it.

Called the Chicagoland Vampires, it was a bit slow in the mystery department as the main protagonist also dealt with her newly changing life, and the side characters that involved themselves into her life. I really loved how Chloe Neill wrote them—they had dimension, depth, and their own interesting little side-stories (that were sometimes, to me, more interesting than the protagonist's—but that's just because I'm mainly a matchmaker at heart).

Predictably, I consumed the entire five books that were in the series (as of present) within a span of three days. Sometimes, when a series gets really interesting, I'm unable to do anything—eat, sleep, or work—until I finish it. Yes, I have an addictive personality. Yes, I'm working on fixing it. But I digress. This was one of the few series that actually consumed me so. And, God, it's been such a long time since I've found an interesting series that didn't become too much of the same thing (the only others I've found to be so are the Dresden Files, Kate Daniels, Cassandra Palmer and Dorina Bhasarab, Night Huntress, the Mercedes Thompson and Alpha & Omega series, the Fever series, and—usually, as I'm not much of a fan of Blaze of Memory—Psy/Changeling and Guild Hunter). Sherrilyn Kenyon disappointed me. Gena Showalter disappointed me. Jacquelyn Frank started to bore me. Christine Feehan—God, I don't even want to talk about her. I liked the Drake sisters... until it got progressively worse with each book. I even gave the Carpathians a chance. But the rape scene in one book was too much for me. I could've handled it if the antagonist, or the villain had done it. But it was the hero. Just because he couldn't help himself. The fact that she was condoning rape... No. Just no.
And... I've gotten off-track again. I seem to do that a lot when I rant.

Anyway, while reading this series, I was really rooting for the canon couple. Sure they seemed to have the typical clichéd tension-ridden breakup-up-and-back-together-again cycle of a relationship, but, you know what, the protagonist actually had some serious concerns over the realtionship—which made it serious. It wasn't simply the fact that she was stubborn and refused to commit over a stupid reason (which is surprisingly common in many novels—of all genres).

Yesterday—well, tonight, actually—I had nearly reached the ending of the fifth book when a twist just stopped my mind. I kept going over the words again and again while my thoughts screamed out a verbal, "NOOoooooo!!!" I just... I'm in shock. All I'm thinking is, "WHY?" I mean, this was completely unexpected because you can't just... do that! It's, like, taboo for authors. And it's just so random. It's like going up to a complete stranger and punching him/her in the face. Yes, Chloe Neill has just metaphorically punched her readers in the face.

Now I'm frustrated and confused, just in time for my summer school test this morning. And I'll probably stay frustrated and confused (and, dammit, still slightly hopeful that what I read actually didn't happen) until November, which is when the next book in the series will come out.

I fucking hate cliffhangers.

Weird Shit Part 2

God, there are some really creepy weirdos out there.

But, you know what, I wanted to record these encounters for the sake of the hilarity, so here they are.

Just a few weeks ago, I was walking to Dollarama to pick up a few things, when this guy drove out of the gas station nearby, saw me, and called out, "Excuse me. Are you from [insert my home country]." I looked at him over my shoulder, and replied that I was. He looked like he was from the same place.
Then he got really creepy and asked for my name. I just looked at him, rolled my eyes, and walked away. Apparently, men from the country I lived in for less than three years of my life think it's alright to go up to a strange girl and ask for her personal info.
Honestly, how stupid do you think I am?

Then, the same day, I was walking in the outdoor mall near my school, when this guy wearing a turban walking the opposite way saw me, came up to me, and said, "You look troubled, sister," in a solemn tone.
I probably just looked at him with a "what the fuck?" expression.
And then he said something like, "You smile at the world, but not deep inside. You think of the many problems you have when you are unable to solve them. What is your name, sister?"
Stunned, I told him.
"Do not worry, Arlia. You have many burdens, but rejoice that you are here to worry for them." And then he nodded at me and walked away.
I think he also said a bunch of other stuff, but, for the life of me, I can't remember.
When I look back at this encounter, I laugh. It was just that weird.

But, anyway, that's it for now. One more encounter with dudes in cars and this weird, religious guy. Hm. Maybe it's the blue colors and jeans. Who knows?