Well it’s official. I’m stuck in this weird sleep cycle where I wake myself up after only 5 hours of sleep.. I’m sure it comes from sleeping at midnight, and having to wake up at 5AM to work. But last night I slept really early – 10AM – I was really really sleepy. Well, what that meant of course, was that I woke myself up at 3AM. Then it was really hard to get back to sleep. In fact, I don’t think I got more than 30 minutes of straight sleep between 3AM and 6:30 when I finally did have to get up to work…

Anyway, I’m gonna have to take a nap later becaue of this. Which’ll disrupt my studying for my exam tomorrow of course. Bleh.

I’m really hating this not having a camera thing. Even though I didn’t really use it that often – or should I say, I didn’t take alot of pictures with it, but I did use it often to put up random pictures on this blog (especially now that I have so much space to spare).

Anyway, I’ve decided that with my first paycheque this summer (if it’s big enough), I shall buy a new camera. This is what I was thinking of…

I love these Canon PowerShot SD… This was of course the same make as our old one, except our old model was the SD300 I think… Oohh. I’m excited. I think I might even buy an extra SD Card (The SD card that got lost with the old camera was my brother’s 1gig SD haha). SD Cards are so cheap now anyway, I might even get 2 gigs.

Hmph. What’s next… Oh yes my work. This Thursday, I have orientation at my work for the summer – Cruise Toronto. I get to finally see the ship, Obsession III, and meet the rest of the team.

Sweet.. I’m really looking forward to a summer at the harbour. I think I’m gonna have a good summer break… good enough that I think I’m not even gonna bother with summer school… yay.

Wow. Ohmy… I can’t believe it. I pulled off another A… and in a critical course too… HIS106, Making the Americas…

I got an A- in the final paper, which means that to get a B- in the class, all I need to do is pass the exam. I might even get higher than expected because I’m mostly expecting the worse (for example in my participation mark). If I somehow (really really doubtful) pull off a 70 on the exam. Or if I get 75% on my participation mark, and 65% on the exam (a more realistic estimate of my exam mark), I might even make B.

That means if I keep getting these pleasant surprises for my other 2 History Courses, I might even be able to make it over 3.0 CGPA this year (earlier than expected). I might even be able to graduate with a CGPA over 3.2 (who knows, maybe even a 3.5 if I somehow ace a few 3rd of 4th year courses)…. This is significant because 3.0 is about the average required to get in to a Masters Program, while the 3.2-3.5 range is virtual acceptance .

Phew. I’m feeling better and better about school. But is is motivation to study? LOL I still have 2 exams left.. Oh I got my Smart Serve card and pin today too… So more pluses. Haha. Whatever… off to play so NDS.

Holy crap. I got a 76% in American Politics – a B, and 3.0 GPA. It’s a complete shock cause as I mentioned in the post below, “Spirits Lifted“, it would have been a struggle just to get in the B- range, most likely I would get a C+.

So what this means is either I got perfect on the last test (getting 100% on that test would have meant my average would be 75.88%… or 76%), or I grossly miscalculated one of my other test scores… I always knew that my score in Test 2 seemed pretty low (I thought I got 60.75, cause the TA who marked it had marks all over the place, and I couldn’t tell which score was my final score… So I just took the highest mark, and considered it what I got). What this could mean is that I actually didn’t calculate in the score from Part A of the Test, which means I probably got something like 68 or something on that Test. But that would mean that I got like a 95 on this last test… Still highly unlikely. LOL. It’s not that I don’t have alot of faith in myself. Its just that I am quite certain in my abilities, and my preparation for the exam, and what that should really translate to in terms of marks. At most, I got an A- in that last test, maybe even an A. Which makes my highest grade possible an 89. So that means I actually got a 72 or something on Test 2.

Hmph. Well, whatever it is, I’m pretty sure I aced that last test. Which is pretty sweet… count it… 4 “As” this school year. LOL. Honestly, that’s pretty good for UofT where the average is a C.

So anyway, yet another thing to be happy about as I prepare for what is probably gonna be my hardest exam of the year (HIS106.. Making the Americas). Yippeee.

Getting my R4DS yesterday was only one thing that really lifted my spirits – I was so excited about it, it kinda over shadowed the other one, but I had a chance to look at the other one again just now and I was reminded.

The other one was the Canadian History term paper that I got back yesterday (before I went on my spending spree with the R4DS). It really lifted my spirits because at this time when everything seems to be dark and going wrong (what with exams and all… lol) seeing an A- was quite helpful in bringing me up.

Yes A-’s are nice.. Not an A, or an A+, but it’s still an A. Sadly it’s only like my 3rd A in the year… And most like it will be my last one (unless I somehow pull it together for these freaking exams). But whatever. I’m on target… I think. With Goal 3, I think (Goal 1 is to raise my GPA above 3.0… That’s not working out. Goal 2, is to get it higher, anything higher than my current. And Goal 3 is not to allow it to go below my current… 2.7 that is). And yes of course, the A- helps alot. It means that I only need to get a 70 to make a B in the course (3.0 GPA), 75 to get a B+ (3.3). But I need at least a 90 to raise my grade in the course to A-, which is a 3.7GPA.

The rest of my courses aren’t so bad. It’s looking like a string of Bs (though sadly, I might even end up with a C+ in American Government, which ironically was my favourite course). I need a 75 in that last test to get a B-. A 90 to get a B. But even getting perfect won’t put me in the B+ range. I’m really sad about that.

But oh yes. Don’t forget, my spirits are still lifted. Off to do some more studying…

I would take a picture of my newest gadget like I normally do when I post about them. But it seems my brother, or my dad (no one wants to admit to it) left the camera in New York. So I must just do my best to describe it.

It’s called R4DS, or “Revolution for DS” which basically turns my Nintendo DS into an Mp3 and Video Player, Picture Viewer, and best of all, lets me play ROMs on it. It’s for the Slot-1 on the DS, which is the regular DS Game slot (as opposed to the GameBoy Advance slot, which is Slot-2, duh). Which means it’s really small, and nothing protrudes out of my pretty little DS Lite.

Anyway, I’m not gonna go through all those details, cause it can easilly be acced on the R4DS Site… So yes, here’s my thoughts. First of all, I was a little pissed cause I bought a Mini SD cause I thought that’s what it took. But I was wrong. It’s Micro DS, which meant I had to run back to Future Shop again after I went home. But that was ok, cause Future Shop had a sale on a brand of Micro SDs which meant I got 2gb, for just $20 more than a 1gb card.

On that note, if someone was planning to buy R4DS for their DS, I would definately suggest the 2gb card. A little bit more expensive yah, but honestly, it’s always better to have left over space than to run out of space… Also, take note that the R4DS site has some specific brands that they know for sure are compatible. There was actually a 4gb card on sale as well for $100 (down from $180). But it wasn’t on the approved list of cards, so I was too scared of buying it and it not working (also because they would have to order it in).

Also beware that there’s some installation to be done, which actually confused me at first. Also, the software included in the CD was out of date. But the update was available online (not actually an update, you pretty much just had to replace the old one altogether). My problem with that was their decision to archive the files in .RAR format, which meant that I had to download another program to unzip it. I would have prefered if they just suck with .ZIP. Also, the installation was actually pretty complicated (the install is actually just copy and pasting files into the root directory of the MicroSD card). Cause they go through it kind of file by file (well, they said to do one file. Then a directory. Then another directory… They should have just said copy everything inside thise folder into the root directory. I don’t understand why they had to go through it in “steps”).

I haven’t had the chance to play with the skins and stuff yet. It looks a little complicated at first glance, but I’m sure it’s not. I’m just amused by the skins that they have on it already (it seems like it’s by calendar months. So they match the picture with the theme number- theme 4 is April, so the picture is of flowers). Figuring out how to skin it will definately be my first order of business once my exams are over.

I was a little annoyed that it doesn’t play WMVs, cause about 98% of my music library is WMVs. But it’s ok. I recently bought a software set, which included an Mp3 encoder. This made it really easy for my to convert some of my WMVs to Mp3s. So I wasn’t that annoyed. What did test my patience a little more was the conversion of video files into the DGP file that was required. The included converter (dgpenc) sucked, and kept freezing on me. So I had to download a new one, which actually turned out really good (which is why I say it only “tested” my patience a little). Once I figured that out, it was actually pretty easy converting my movie files into DGP.

As for quality of the audio and video, the Video was amazing. I put the newest cut of our Biyahe Tayo video in, and it was really good. I’m also about to watch The Unit on it (it’s been converting while I’m typing). I’m a little concerned about the sound, because I had it set to the highest setting already, and using my Sony Noise In-Ear Phones, I could still bear the loudness. Which means that most likely when I’m in a subway, it won’t be able to overpower the noise from the outside. We’ll see exactly how it is.. But not for a little while cause I don’t know at the moment when the next time I’m in a subway is.

The games were also amazing. The quality was really really good. It’s basically like playing a regular game. I got Pokemon Diamond already, and a few other titles that were hard to find around here. I figured I’ll try them out, and buy the ones that I really like.

Hmph. Well I think that’s about it. Overall, I’m really glad I bought the R4DS. I had been considering replacing my Mp3 player for a while already. And for the same price (actually, maybe a little less). I was to get an Mp3 player, Video player, and more. Sweet deal.

There’s something to be said about going to the bathroom with the door wide open. I won’t say exactly what I was doing in the bathroom at the time (though I’m sure that’s indication enough already of what it was). But to me, what it represents is complete and utter freedom… being on my own. Obviously when my family is home I won’t be able to do that. But alas, I have the house all to myself as they (Mom, Dad, and James) are in New York. The same goes with my bedroom door, which I keep closed often too. I’m in my own little sphere of privacy, but of course that’s not exactly complete. All it takes is for my mom to come in with some laundry, or just to randomly bug me, to break the privacy.

So what this really is.. that is my situation right now, being home alone. And well, what I’d like to achieve in general, is an extension of that zone of privacy. Right now, and for the next 3 days, my zone of privacy has been extended throughout the whole house. No one can come in unless I let them in (my bedroom door does have a lock, but it’s not really a lock, cause it can be opened from the outside without a key…).

Anyway, let’s tie this whole thing in to something that is happening in my life right now. That is… Yes, the bartending job I just got. This is what is so inherently awesome about me getting this job, is that it brings me ever closer to realizing this zone of privacy that I so want…

Let me just take an aside here really quickly to explain why I want privacy so much. Donald Miller in Blue Like Jazz actually wrote that community living really is the best kind. Living with a, or multiple, roommates is supposed to be good for you. And I do agree. But then again, I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten my share of community living at Capernwray… 6 guys in a cabin that’s about the size of my living room. You can’t get more community than that. And on top of that, of course I look forward to community living for the rest of my life… by which I mean a wife and kids, of course.

But yes, I am quite a private person. I enjoy privacy. And I decided a while ago… I think it was while I was trying to sleep in my cabin with 5 other guys in the room snoring, that I would really really like to have a place of my own. No roommates. Just me. Even if it’s just a small little apartment. Preferably downtown. Or at least within walking distance to a subway station. Yes, that’s exactly what I’d like. At least for a year. Which is where the bartending gig comes in.

Let me just lay the math out here… Working an average of 40 hours a week, for approximately 16 weeks (actually it’s most likely going to be more like… 20 hours a week for 4 weeks. Then 40-50 hours a week for 10 weeks. Then back down to 20 hours a week for another 4-8 weeks.. or something like that), should net me something like $6000. Then let’s just say a minimum of… another $5 in tips for every hour I work. Keeping in mind that that is ridiculously small.. That’s like serving 10 regular drinks (typically 5-7 bucks) in that one hour.. once every 6 minutes. So this is bare minimum. Well that nets me another $3k. More realistically (I hope) is like $10 for every hour I work. Which basically just doubles my pay. So that would be $12,000 I stand to earn for the summer. That’s pretty amazing. That’s more than 3 times what I normally make in a summer with the city.

That would certainly be enough money to get me started on this dream of living on my own… even for just one year. Ahhh… I think I just might try it. Move in downtown, maybe get a private dorm room on campus or something. Gotta convince my parents to let me though… lol. Bah, whatever, let’s see how this job goes first. Yipeee..

Alrighty… So I wasn’t actually able to post anything for the past few weeks, cause I went over my limit in disk space. Even after deleting some uneeded pics, I still didn’t have enough for what I really wanted to post up… pictures of MY NEW WIII!!!

But anyway, this prompted me to first try to upgrade my hosting plan, but then I realized I might as well try to look for a new plan. I found one with Zarutech, which is nice cause it’s a Canadian place, and it has a gig of space for me for about the same price as I was paying with Protagonist. But the problem is, it doesn’t have cPanel, which I’m not used to (I have to install WordPress by myself), and it only has 1 domain instead of 3 with Protagonist…

But overall, I think I made a good move… Not bad at all… For now I’m putting the site on a little bit of a hiatus.. about time I took a break from Blogging anyway (coming up on 4 years in August, amazingly). I have exams to do. Plus I’m finally working on the Biyahe Tayo Video… And yes of course, I’d like to finally learn PHP and CSS well enough to make my own sites…

Or wait, actually what I meant to say was… There’s no Nintendo Wiis here… I don’t even think there’s any in the entire city of Toronto… at least any that were on sale. Trust me, James and I drove around town trying to find one.

Eh. We’ll try again tomorrow. And the next. And whatever… we’ll keep trying until we find one. But the one thing I won’t do, which is what he wants to do, is pay 60 bucks for the convenience of getting it… ie, those nab people who line up when a shipment comes in just so they can sell it for a profit. The only people more nab than them are the ones who actually pay the 25-50% markup just cause they can’t wait.

All the better, cause I actually really can’t afford it. LOL. If we don’t find it tomorrow, I’m gonna put my foot down and tell James just to wait. It’ll be better then too cause then we can actually afford to buy games too…

Phew… Long day at church today. One that started at 6AM. I think I mentioned that before. Now I’m procrastinating from studying for my American Government exam tomorrow… typical. Eh. I’ll get to it soon enough.

Anyway, just a quick little rant here, regarding my title: “Prussian Blue”. I dunno what else could be Prussian Blue out there, but the one I’m refering to, and I’m sure some people will have heard of them, are the sisters Lynx and Lamb who make up the band. Called the “Olsen Twins” of White Supremacy. Enough said about that… I think it’s clear what they’re about.

So yes, I was just surfing YouTube, and had the brilliant idea to look them up – I’ve recently taken to looking up Christian songs on YouTube in hopes of finding acoustic versions of songs that I like. But anyway, I looked them up and voila a few of their videos showed up. Now I can understand of course, people’s complaint about what these two girls sing about… So I’m not even going to bother reiterating them. I’m going to make a complaint of my own…

They just… Suck. As in, can’t sing, can’t play the guitar, can’t play the violin suck. I couldn’t even listen to the lyrics, cause I was cringing at their wrong notes and off key voices. LOL. Honestly, I don’t see their appeal… oh yes of course, except for them being oh so cute… Hence the reference to the Olsen Twins.

LOL… Ahh I love these rants. I just noticed, while I was doing some clean up in my “My Documents” folder that I had some “reviews” files that I’m not sure if I posted or not. I remember the time when I vowed I would write a review for every movie I watch. Didn’t work out. Haha, I guess I’m just not diligent enough to do that kind of stuff. But yes of when it comes to rants and raves, that I can handle…