March 31 2015

First day back with the students! Fortunately, the cold I've been suffering through over the past week has subsided quite a bit; I wasn't wheezing nor coughing all over thhe schohol.

It's hard to believe that March is over! That also means spring is around the corner (with the nice weather we've been having recently) and my 26th birthday as well...

Advance aging = more issues. =/

Hmm... what else should I mention... I finished watching Doctor X-3 yesterday. It had a good variety of surgical cases, though the ending was a bit bizarre.

Hoping for a season 4 though!

Credits: http://asianwiki.com/images/f/f1/Doctor-X_(Season_3)-p1.jpg

I have to say that her hair style is the best here, in comparison to the previous two seasons.

Last day of break.

For the last day of break, I ventured to Mount Royal University to give moral support to the students from my school that were competing in the Marh Kangaroo Contest. 

During the contest, I had the chance to venture among the familiar halls, for I once was a student of their Conservatory program. I guess I'm still feeling affects from Your Lie in April (Shigatsu wa kimi no uso) [if I remembered my Japanese correctly], for it was a bitter sweet experience walking down the storied halls. 

The wing I went down often for Speech and Piano lessons. 

Day 5 and 6 - Your Lie in April

Meant to post yesterday, but got too lazy. Essentially, I spent yesterday relaxing. I played a bunch of MH4U and watched a lot of an anime I started on Monday.

Back in... around middle of October, I noticed a series on Crunchyroll labelled as "Your Lie in April". Due to my birthday being in April, I was intrigued by the title, thus clicking on it. I read in a review that it's really similar to Pet Girl of Sakurasou Hall, which happened to be one of my favorite "slice of life" animes. Knowing that, I knew that I had to watch the series...

Only when it finished.

Over the past 5 months, it left my mind until I clicked on it on Monday.

And I was glad that I did.

Without spoiling anything... it was simply one of the most amazing anime series I have seen in a long time. It touches on an emotional level unlike many series now a days (very akin to Pet Girl). I was entranced by the story line, in that each of the characters had their stories flushed out, with as of course, more emphasis on the main male and female character.

It was an emotional ride throughout, though a slightly predictable outcome. With similaries to Pet Girl and the J-dorama: Orange Days, I had an idea of what was going to happen throughout the story line. I had an idea of what the characters will go through, and how they will grow. Nonetheless, I had to see it all the way through.

The last episode was simply breathtaking, yet realistic. I inevitable knew the ending once I saw the expression on the main male protagonist, Arima Kousei. It was an ending that exceeds a lot of endings.

And now the wait till the OVA comes out in May. I have no idea what the plot is going to be like; an epilogue would give the series, in my opinion, a more "complete" closing.

I guess another reason why I enjoyed the show so much was that I can see some parallels with my own life. Sure, I was never a piano prodigy, nor was I pushed in that direction, but I could relate to aspects of Kousei's life and when he lost his touch with the piano.

As always, I can never do a review justice. Just know that I only talk about series that I really like! ^_^

Another, "as always", I recommend this series to anyone who feels lost in life, enjoys classical music and a simple, yet intricate story.

Credits to: https://reallifeanime.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/your-lie-in-april-episode-22-farewell-duet.png

For the amazing screen cap.

Day 4: A shopping day

Woke up earlier than yesterday, but a lot later than I would like. After breakfast and an episode of the current anime I'm watching (Your Lie in April), I got ready to go out and shop. 

First off, we went to Chinook. I needed a new pair of dress shoes for work since my old ones were tearing at the heels. I had some gift cards, thus I headed to Rockport. 

I found a pair that I liked and noticed that it was on sale for 25% off! It was an extremely good purchase in my books. =)

After Chinook, it was off to scope for some equipment for my options class. And off too home after our short shopping excursion. 

I managed to finish all my marking today (after lunch), thus putting me on schedule for break! ^_^

Day 3 of Spring Break 2015

Meant to post on Sunday and earlier yesterday!

Sunday was a typical day. Karate, volunteering and income taxes (which was the different part of my Sunday). 

Today was a productive day. I managed to finish marking all my exams! Just the worksheets left to do! After marking, I managed to get a workout in (almost at 2 plate squat) and planning for the summer!

I ought to be planning for the rest of the school year... Which makes tomorrow a good day to do so if I don't end up going out in the morning!

First day of spring break 2015!

Off to work, dropped off my brother for work, went to go work out, got some chores done and played some MH4U. 

A good start indeed to break. 

Spork or Foon. So cool. 

Meant to post earlier...

Switched back to Fido since I was having troubles with reception in downtown...

Other than that, my weekend was pretty normal. It was nice to have it "off" and not worry about report cards or parent teacher interviews. 

Last week before spring break! Looking forward to a week off to get work done and for the near future! =)

Loooooooong Day

After a couple months of planning and staying late the past couple of days, we finally had our career day.

I always heard that it was a lot of work, but I didn't expect it to be THAT much work. I was fortunate enough to have help from a couple of my colleagues, thus making my work easier. Personally, the hardest part was planning the sessions. Making the schedule for the classes took the most amount of time for me.

I was quite anxious today, since it's the first time that I was in charge with such a large scale event. After a few minor hiccups, everything proceeded quite smoothly. I ran down many halls today, making sure that things went smoothly... but I guess I didn't really have to in the long run!

All in all, it was a humbling experience to have set up the Career Day at my school. I now realize the amount of work that planners have to do to organize an event. I was able to learn from today's experience, and if I ever had to do something like this again, I hope it'll turn out better than today!

Right after career day (well 2 hours after) was parent teacher interviews. Since the weather was quite pleasant, it was somewhat busy. I think I saw 16 families today.

Just one more Parent Teacher Inteview day to go!

Busy Day

Taught piano, went to the doctors, went to school to mark and then to go shop for Career Day. It's been quite a busy but productive day! 

To slow it down a bit, my dad and I were looking at the stars at night. The sky was quite clear, making it a lot easier to view the stripes on Juipter. 

Definitely a good way to slow down the last day before putting our clocks an hour forward. (Good thing I napped a bit too!)

Flowers for Algernon

Such a magnificent work.

I don't recall exactly how I found out about this novel, but I'm glad I did. I think it has something to do with a volunteering shift I had at PLC in which I was discussing novels with my Take Ten partner.

Either way, I obtained a copy of the novel on Saturday and finished reading it a couple minutes ago. It was a tantalizing read that I was unable to put it down the past couple of days. All in all, I wasn't able to fully understand all of the effort and hints that the author put down to display the development of the main character. I did gleam upon the rapidly increased intelligence, and the anxious-yet-knew-it-would-come regression of his retardation. It had a really large impact on me, especially when he started to lose his intelligence. It's a fear that I have as I grow old; the slow degeneration of mental capacities.

In a sense, and like always, I cannot do this book justice. Perhaps it's my limit, or, hopefully, my laziness that prevents me from writing down a rawer, more descriptive analysis of literary works that I enjoy. It's a book that I highly recommend to any individual; to experience what it could be possibly like to have a rapid increase and just as equally rapid degeneration of intelligence.

And for a while till the "euphoria" of discovering such a work, I will metaphorically lay flowers for Algernon.