Author - Stephanie Pellett
Well it’s Wednesday morning and I already have much on the agenda. In truth, I don’t have much to blog about so I’m just going to make a list of the books I plan to bring with me to University and why. Enjoy?
Also check out my Shelfari account for a (more) complete list of the books I’ve read or loved.
Hopefully that link works..very strange.
Okay so here we go. Books are extremely important to me, so it’s important that I bring at least some with me when I go away to school.
1. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen. No matter that I can already practically quote the entire book, so much so that I no longer really need to read it, it remains one of my favourite books.
2. The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. What turned me into a vegetarian. I think it’ll be important to have around in University perhaps to re-read when my stamina is low?
3. This Is Your Brain On Music by Daniel Levitin. This guy is my psychology teacher! Not to mention the fact that I’ve wanted to read it for a while, but never did. Now that he’ll be my professor, I think it would be a good idea to read it. :)
4. Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill. Set in Montreal, award winning, recommended by a good friend, Miss Claudia Catalina, who has impeccable taste. Check her out here.
5. 1000 Places to Go Before You Die by Patricia Schultz. To help me plan my next vacation/semester abroad/grand gap year while stuck in a tiny, freezing cold dorm room. But this dorm room will be in Montreal, which is beautiful in itself. So that’s okay then.
6. Blink & The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. These books are incredible. They changed the way I see the world and I’m sure I will re-read them multiple times throughout my University career.
Now for a few I haven’t yet read, but own:
7. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.
8. Netherland by Joseph O’Neill.
9. The World Without Us by Mark Weisman.
10. Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss.
11. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee.
12. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.
13. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov.
14. No Logo by Naomi Klein.
15. Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut.
16. Bloodletting and the Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam.
17. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.
And the book I’m currently reading:
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz.
So there we are. That’s quite a few books. I may have to edit down this list, otherwise I’ll be running out of room in my room before I get there. :)
Plans for today include Ikea, Forever 21, possibly MEC and Big Al’s aquarium. Yay!
xoxo, S.
Today was rather melancholy. It consisted mainly of solitude: sad, weepy solitude, and pensiveness. Like Dumbledore. Oh, forget it.
I spent the day not doing a lot: woke up late, watched some Rich Bride Poor Bride. Cool fact! The episode I watched was of a wedding held at the same venue as my cousins’ wedding! I was there people! I had no idea it was a Canadian show but maybe that entire channel is Canadian and I am just oblivious. I emptied the dishwasher and vacuumed the front hall (Jasper is shedding like mad) and sprayed that poor puppy’s hotspots with some menthol spray that I actually don’t mind the smell of. Updated my iPod and set up my hard drive, whose name is Lacie.
Then I commenced what is possibly one of the saddest things I have ever done. I started cleaning and unpacking my desk/plastic sets of drawers, which of course were full of letters and notes and memories. There was music playing in the background and every song had a meaning for me, every song had a memory. I was getting overwhelmed at the thought of leaving my bedroom, my home, my family to start a brand new life, bringing only certain items with me. I started of course also getting hysterical, wondering about my future, what to bring, what to leave behind, what to throw out, did I do high school right, am I a bad friend, will I make the right sort of friends next year?????? All that funky jazz. It was exhausting to say the least, and I was in and out of periods of weepiness.
I spoke with my best friend Omar a couple times throughout the day, and he was feeling much the same way, not wanting to uproot himself once again after already making two big moves in his life: once from India and another time from Cairo. We were both upset.
I set up a new printer today that my mom got me; it also prints pictures (not well) and functions as a scanner, yippee! It’s white and cute. I am still trying to think of its name, so let me know if you have any ideas. We had dinner, chicken a la king but instead of chicken it was tilapia a la king. It was absolutely delicious.
After dinner, me and my mother had a breakdown together, she more than I this time. She’s really upset that I’m leaving.
I went to pick up Omar, and we came back to my house and (among other things) checked out apps for his phone, drank, and watched Planet Earth with my mom and sister.
All in all, it was a day. I gathered many necessary items together and put them in our spare room, so it gives me some sort of feeling of accomplishment. Which is actually nice, because I am constantly feeling like I’m forgetting something important. Here’s a little pic of my collection thus far: (!!!)
Anyways. I had a mostly good day. Here’s hoping that tomorow will be less stressful, and I’ll be gtd. Once again, I must continue working on my 101/1001 list, because I need it to be ready for when I leave. G’day folks!
xoxo S.
As on What Not To Wear (one of my all time fave shows..!) we have broken down my back to school shopping into days. It will probably take around three days, just like the show, so isn’t that spectacular! :) Today began around 10:30 AM for me. I woke up, had strawberries and orange juice, and a chocolate instant breakfast, how terrible. Here’s what I accomplished today:
- Drove to the Ministry of Health Office to change my OHIP information (basically to put a glorified note on my file, saying that I’ll be out of province). Unfortunately, apparently everyone needs to get something relating to health cards/OHIP changed every single day, so it is always busy there. At peak hours, you have about an hour wait time. So I took a number and got out of there.
- Walked over to the photography store where they have a printing kiosk. I printed fifteen pictures of my friends, family and I to put up in my room. Yay!
- Drove to the bank, applied for my very first credit card (!) and notified the bank I’ll be operating out of Montreal for the next four years (or the majority of them). The lady helping me out with my credit card was just that, very helpful. I am really excited to get it in the mail, and start using that baby!
- Drove back to the Health office, waited for about ten minutes, was out of there quite quickly.
- Drove over to HMV, spent quite a while there debating the various deals..can anyone that works at HMV tell me..do you guys purposely only put a couple good movies in each price point so that nobody can really find a good deal of two good movies? I’d have one movie I’d want that was a 2/20, and one that was a 2/25. It was terrible! The selection within the price points was so stressful. Eventually I just gave up trying. I bought the Michael Jackson Number Ones and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I was pleased and I had seven dollars on a gift card which was a pleasant surprise. Yay!
- Drove to Laura’s, had a snack of some peach juice, chips and grapes, said hi to her mom, we headed out for our favourite bookstore. I had a $40 credit note, for selling some books to him, and got quite a few books for that 40. I got my own copy of The Glass Castle, The Poisonwood Bible, Against the Day, Eats Shoots and Leaves and The World Without Us.
- Drove back, borrowed two of Laura’s movies to attempt to burn via Handbrake (sex in the City and She’s The Man
- Came home, tried to work on my 101/1001 list
- Mom came home, we decided not to go to Ikea tonight.
- Went to Costco instead, buying (among other things) cashews, popcorn, hot chocolate, yoga pants, razor blades.
- Went home, had sashimi and avocado on crackers as a snack, got changed
- Went to Zellers for toiletries, bought (among other things) shampoo, conditioner, body wash, a loofah, a blush brush, exfoliant, polysporin, bandaids, bobby pins, toothpaste, blah blah blah. Got a lovely and unexpected call from my dearest Mike, who is living currently just outside of Timmins. Working as a nature guide. For children. We talked for a couple minutes before I had to go. I had just written him a letter yesterday and mailed in (along with my lease) this morning. So it felt like I had just spoken with him.
- Went to Paradiso restaurant for dinner. I had a gift voucher I won in a raffle for two entrees, under $20. I didn’t realize we would be, but we were hardpressed to find an entree under 20. It is expensive there! We each had a glass of sangria and split a cheesy bruschetta with pesto. I had chevre-stuffed ravioli with crab meat and a cream sauce, and Mom had a Moroccan chicken supreme with roasted potatoes and wilted spinach. Both were excellent. Then we had the trio of creme brulees..a lemon, a lime and an orange. Orange was not the greatest but I really enjoyed the lime. Also for this meal we were literally right across from the kitchen and could see everything that was going on, which was pretty cool. We talked about me going to school, the fundraiser my mom is helping to plan, our family, my friends, everything really. It was very nice.
- Came home and took Jasper for a quick walk, which he seemed to really enjoy.
- Came upstairs, turned on the computer..there was some weird battery glitch, my power bar must have turned off while we were out because my computer was dead. Ah well..
So that was the day. Remarkably productive. I also managed to squeeze in booking a doctor’s appointment as well without being put on hold. Wonderful! Now if only I had as much to do tomorrow. I don’t, but almost. Which is good. I like to be kept busy. Now I’m going to go keep working on my 101/1001 list, which I plan to start the day I leave for University. New chapter of my life, new goals.
xoxo S.
