My name is katie and I am full-time unemployed

Just after I finished my exams I started to send my resumes and to apply to jobs like crazy because I really needed a job for the summer - because I am becoming poor. The more time I spend sending resumes, the more money I spend and the less income I get. I have possibly applied to at least 15 job postings, and only one got back to me asking for an interview, which I went but they sent me an email saying that they were not able to offer me a job at this time. Maybe I was not doing enough. Maybe I have been making a lot of common mistakes like not sending a personalized resume, sending a generic cover letter, not doing follow up, etc.

But now, I have decided to give up on job searching for the summer. Instead, I am not only going to enjoy my last chance of sleeping in and sleeping as much as I want, but I am also going to do lots of research, learning new skills and things, building up a great resume, learning about the advertising industry, setting up my own portfolio, etc. I am going to prepare myself for the outside war. I'm gonna put that saddle on that horse and get ready for the ride. Buckle my seatbelt, because it's going to be a bumpy ride.

This is how I am preparing for the summer:
- I am going to start getting a list of advertising companies that I would like to work for, and research them about what they do, who the people are, and maybe send emails and ask them questions about the company.

- Since I want to be a creative director or art director or copywriter, I need to research on people who are employed as such and ask about their jobs, learn skills they require when hiring, read online articles about their duties, their role in the company, etc. I am also going to learn InDesign, Dreamwaver, Illustrator, PHP, Flash, Quarkxpress, more than basics of HTML and CSS, etc. Time permits.

- I also wanna learn new hobbies. I want to get a bike so I can bike to downtown and get some work out. Plus it is enjoyable if I wanna get to nice places like the beaches.

- I bought this set of CD's to learn German. I have always wanted to learn German, and this is my chance to do it. If I have more time I would also like to learn Italian. I love learning new languages.

- I want to get out more, meet new people, talk to them and learn new things from them. Make new friendships and build relationships with them.

- I am going to the library and check out more books since they have so much material about things I wanna know

- I am going to take advantage of the job searching workshops that the Career Centre offers.

- I am also going to start a notebook where I write notes about getting jobs and job related stuff, like interviews, etc. articles I read from the Yahoo! HotJobs website, because I have been addicted to them lately. I am going to start recording the jobs I apply to and get some prints of my resumes.

So you see, this summer is going to be all about learning. I have such a thirst for knowledge and I really want to be prepared to what comes. And I know it is all going to be worth it in the end.

coolest ascii ever

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it's a hut!

Intelligence is beauty, knowledge is power

I was doing some random search on Google, when I came up with this great website on "15 ways to get smarter", which really gets my attention because I have always been looking to become smarter. You see, I like having conversations with people, but for some reason, I end up learning more stuff from them than they learn from me. Sometimes I wonder how people are so smart. When people talk about lots of things I don't know about, I feel like I am left out. When I go to a library or to a bookstore, I find so many things I wanna learn and so many interesting things. I have a thirst for knowledge. But there is a downside of this, that I don't like to read. Big paragraphs always scare me. Complicated words scare me. Yet, I like to write big paragraphs sometimes. Some people say I am smart because I know four languages, but I think other people are a lot smarter than I am because of the things they know. I guess sometimes people underestimate their intelligence. Like, I wish I knew a lot more. I like gaining knowledge and do things I have never done before. I would like to live more so I can tell my experiences. Life is just full of stuff!!

Anyways, here are 15 ways to get smarter (and wiser) I got it from this site:

1. Think outside the box – Have you ever got stuck trying to solve a problem? Well, you’re not alone. “For every problem, there is a solution” seem very far from truth when we found ourselves in this situation. I used to remember what my father told me, and this is probably the best advice he has ever given me. “When you are stuck trying to solve a problem, take a step back and look at it from different angles.” I don’t quite get it at first. “Take a step back… you mean literally? How does that help?” Soon I realized that what he actually meant was to look at the problem from an outsider point of view, without any assumptions made, that had me reached the dead end. In short? Think outside the box.

2. Don’t make assumptions – We all seem to have a tendency to make assumptions (and yes, I do realize this is an assumption as well… ). It seems to be in our blood to relate everything based to our experiences and opinions. Don’t. Discounting ideas or solutions just because you find it ridiculous doesn’t mean it really is. Assumptions are the one that had us stuck inside the box. In order to think outside the box, we need to consider every possible explanation. But that can only be done once we get rid of our assumptions that hinder fresh insights.

3. Ask questions – In my opinion, this is the best way to gain knowledge. Ask questions. You can ask others or to yourself. I often use this method to come up with topics to write. If you put your brain into work by asking questions and actually try to solve it, I promise that you’ll be surprise of what you are actually capable of. Well, if you haven’t already. And this is exactly what every bright mind has in common. They ask tons of questions. Scientist, writer, entrepreneur and investor are just some of them. The 6ws (why, what, who, when, where and how) makes a great companion if you know when to use it.

4. Ask the right question – But you can’t just ask any questions… Asking the right question gives us the answer we seek. Ask the wrong question however, and you’ll end up wasting your time. I find “why” and “how” very relevant to my work so I use it as often as I could. It might be the same for you, or it might not.

5. Dare to differ in opinion – We all have this herd mentality in us. Sure, they work to protect us. But there’s something you need to understand. The opinion of the majority doesn’t mean that they are right, it only means that they are popular, and nothing more. But Karlil, surely they have good reasons to have the same opinion.Fair enough. But you need to understand that, us men, are easy to be manipulated by statistical numbers, the authority (government, the mainstream media and the likes) and words like “the majority…”, “most people…”, etc. Sound familiar don’t you think. These days, I only believe what make sense to me. For everything else, I don’t bother.

6. Understanding the motive – For every action, there’s a motive behind it. Most are good, and cause no harm, and then there are some that are not. An example would be the time you’re helping your mother out with the dishes. Your motive would be for her to do less and make her happy. While it’s not important to pay attention to every motive behind an action, especially when it comes to people we can trust. After all, you don’t want to be a calculative person. However, it is still important to be aware of it. Just make sure you remember, that when things look fishy, always run the opposite direction.

7. Read books – Books are a great resource for knowledge. For the average price of a book, the things that we can actually learn from them are far more valuable. Besides, reading is always a good habit to instill, plus it’s convenient.

8. Know you are – We cannot escape from confident now can we? Even when it comes to being smart, you must first acknowledge that you are. It’s not about being overconfident or conceited for that matter. But in order to have the courage to differ in opinions, you must first have the confident to believe that yours are right.

9. Free of emotion – A good decision making is one which is free of bias and emotions. I think it’s safe to say that we all have acted on impulse at least once or twice up till now. It’s just like gambling. Sometimes, you got lucky and you hit the jackpot. Most of the time however, things don’t turn out pretty. Which is why, going through rational thinking process in making the final decision is always the best bet we can make. At the very least, everything is taken into consideration, unlike following our gut feeling.

10. Mix with people smarter than you – When it comes learning, nothing beats observing and getting the knowledge from our friends. A good example, if you often mix with people who have good sense of humor, you would, sooner or later turn into someone who also has good sense of humor. This is exactly what happened to me, not that I’m saying I have good sense of humor…. So, do try to spend some time with the people who have good knowledge in things you are interested in immersing, and you would bound to be knowledgeable in the area of your interest.

11. Learn from other people’s mistake – The best way to avoid mistakes is to learn from the mistakes of others. Be constantly aware of what and why things went wrong. This way, you won’t have to pay for the cost of ignorance to the order of how things usually work.

12. Find your mistakes – I have always tried to find new methods that can enhance my many skills. Recently however, I have come to learned that it is so much easier to find mistakes and improve them than to look for ways of doing things right.

13. Don’t put the blame on others – Usually, when we put the blame on others, we would be blind of our own mistakes. And if we don’t acknowledge or learn from our own mistakes, chances are high that we are going to repeat it. Therefore, it is always wiser to blame ourselves before finding the mistakes of others.

14. Free of prejudice – Prejudice makes us dumb. It put thoughts in our head. Thoughts that shouldn’t exist, and blind us from truth. It’s like shopping for a book. You can’t just pick up a book with a pretty cover and head to the counter can you? And then, there’ s title, author, reviews and excerpt to consider, which is why it’s always better to avoid judging based on first impression, whenever possible.

15. Have common sense – I think this goes without saying.

Gemini Bunny Loses Her Twin

Today, my best friend left the house to go back home in Terrace Bay. I always saw my friend as my gemini twin because we are so alike, though not as much since I got into a relationship.

Her and I were very free-willed people, taking life easy and enjoy it as much as we can. Loving life as it is. Enjoy being ourselves. Smiling every chance we get. We both had similar ideals about life in general. We also like to stay away from drama as much as possible.

I have enjoyed my time this year living with her. During the summer we used to sit outside the house, get some sun and looking at people passing by. We also walked to the fountain on campus, talk, and look at people passing by. We shared lots of gossips together. Sometimes we go into each other's room just to talk. I went to her room because I find myself being bored or needing to get some social life. I go to her because I feel like I can talk to her about anything and we always have something to talk about. we have a good trust on each other because I would tell her things I would not tell anyone, or she will tell me things she won't tell anyone. She always came to me and hug me - and sometimes she jokingly try to snap my bra or have unappropriate lesbian jokes- We planned couple events together, like Hoops Night.

When she left today, I felt like a piece of me is leaving me. Who am i going to sit outside with? Who am I going to complain about people to? Whose singing will I hear? Who am I going to tell gossips to? Who am i going to do the volcaaaanooooo high five? Who do I giggle with? Who is going to high five me about evil things? There are certainly people I can do this with, and still some other friends who are still here, but it's not going to be the same.

With the surprise party another friend threw her and how she was crying when she left, I suddenly realized how much her friendship means to her, and how valuable friendships are. When she cried she made us all cry. Some people are amazing friends. Sometimes I wish I had more friends like them. It makes me wonder if I have friends like that, who would throw me a surprise good-bye party and be sad when I leave. But this is usually not the case because I am always the one that stays the last. It is like when I was in residence and I had to see everyone leave and I had to stay until the very last date.

Times like this makes me think that I need to take friendship more seriously, not that I don't, but I need to build stronger bonds with people and make really good friends. Because I really don't wanna end up like my mother who barely has any friends and spends the entire time in the house with my dad. I really wants friends I can rely on. Good friends I feel comfortable talking about things. Like I saw on television on a show called Boss in disguise or something, "build relationships, then do business". I need to build relationships with people. Because it is just going to benefit me, in every single way.

It is indeed really sad to see people move away. Today two of my friends moved out of the house, the two I get along the best with. But even more than that, a whole bunch of people I know are moving on with their lives. Lots of them are graduating and going on separate ways in life. My best friend is going home and pursuit her career in theatre. Couple friends are moving to downtown to live. Some are going back home after graduation. Others are going to college or graduate school. It is like high school again, when all your friends are leaving to do different things and going to different schools. No wonder it is so hard to keep a friendship. Once bonds are made, it's meant to be broken. Because honestly, when people move, they change. People might stayn in touch with you for the first couple months, but it is just going to die away slowly and then you don't get in touch with them. Been there, done that. That is probably why I don't take friendships so seriously. Because I don't wanna get hurt when they leave me. But I guess that's part of life.

Losing friendships means you gain new ones, but not forgetting old ones. The best thing to do is do my best to create great bonds with people, at least temporary, but they are going to be strong bonds.

Secure obscured

I have been tired of hearing a lot about sexual assaults, robberies, violent assaults, vandalism incidents on campus. It is ridiculous to attend such a great university, yet I feel very insecure about stepping out of my house to go out for a walk around the block.

When future students and parents ask me about York Security system I feel like lieing to them. Yes, it is true that we count with services like GoSafe that goes around campus to pick and drop-off people, CCTV's, blue light emergency phones, indoor safety phones, foot patrols and escorts, etc. Yet, there is at least one report of harrassment, sexual assault or theft every week. Are security staff doing enough?

On facebook I was invited to a group called "We Want A Safer York", started by students who are rallying and making petitions to reinforce the security system at York. Big part of the concern was that there are not many security staff patroling the Village area, a private non-property of York. Whereas the Village mostly encompases students living there, there are also women and children who inhabitat in these residences that are equally put in danger.

In my experience, I have barely seen any security staff around the Village at York. I aknowledge the presence of security bodies wandering around campus, but definetly not beyond the university boundaries. And it is in the Village where most sexual assaults and robberies occur. Yeah, there are plenty of cop cars and (well take a guess) parking enforcement police. But when it gets dark at night, it is mostly students walking on the quiet dark and lonely streets of the Village. Some women are careless enough to walk by themselves late at night. I don't even want to imagine what happens on every thursday that is Pub Night, where some girls get drunk and some guys get a little frisky.

I don't know about the GoSafe operations, but in my experience, it is a very poor security service offering to students on campus. First of all, this year they changed the type of transportation. Last year they were couple vans going around campus. This year they changed those vans into a SINGLE mini bus that comes by every half an hour. This is what I find ridiculous! If anything they should ADD on more vans or mini buses, not pack couple vans and compact it into one mini bus. There should be dropping off people to wherever they need, not picking up a few spots for pick up. And hours of operation should be EXTENDED, not diminished. A lot could happen on 30 minutes waiting for the mini bus to come. This reminds me of the time I called the service to pick me up by Winters College because I needed to get to the other side of the campus, Calumet College. I called, and I waited all by myself at like 10pm for like 45 minutes and they never came. I was so frustrated for waiting so i walked by myself. This is not the only case. Most of the times I have called them, it always took them a while to get me. There was one time, when I was at my friend's apartment, a little bit over the Village. I called them at 1.40am, and they said they stopped their service already, when on the website it clearly states that their working hours is until 2am. They also told me that they could not do anything beyond the York Boundaries. But I Need To Get To My Residence On Campus!!! Can't they even like, wait for me in one spot so that they can walk me back to res? ugh. And aparently I am not the only one with bad experiences. heard from a friend, who was trying to help a drunked friend to get back to residence, that the GoSafe people told them that they wouldn't take that person because they don't want any puking in the van. If anything, they are the ones who really need the van. There was also this time when couple friends wanted to get a ride to the Village from campus. They said they could take the ladies, but not the guys. Hmm...as if guys were in less danger of getting an assault than girls. I was also reading on the facebook group, and someone commented that even the mini bus driver was being mean.

I know the GoSafe can't be that bad, can it? I can't totally bash about it because a good friend of mine used to work for it. I mean, I know they try what they can do. They make sure to follow the good instructions they received, but sometimes you gotta look further, thinking about helping out somebody with their safeness, rather than thinking it is 'just' a job.

Although I still think that York security system should be reinforced. Also, people should stop walk by themselves at night, leave their expensive belongings alone, dress provocatively, listen to ipod and stop paying attention to their surroundings, be mischief. People should stop being stupid.

Spam is Scam

I ran across this video on Yahoo from abc news about internet spam. They were trying to figure out if you could actually win something from these spams and pop-up messages. It was very interesting. As a surprise, people can actally win stuff. haha who would have thought? They talked to this Wendy lady who said that she has won a trip to somewhere, a truck and even a tuxedo that his son wore for his formal. How crazy is that. But I wonder how many contests she has entered in order to get all that. Probably hundred of thousands. maybe it's just luck. Maybe she became pro at it. Whereas the reporter she made up few fake email accounts and even bought a pre-paid phone for this experiment. She got lots of spamming messages into her inbox, lots of phone calls offering her stuff and text messages that would have lead her to pay more money. But still no prize. Except for maybe a spam sandwich.

But for someone who is very alone and becomes really good at entering sweeptakes (and not get into identity theft or any sort of trouble) then why not try it. It would be nice to win a thing or two. But in all it is just a waste of time. I wouldn't take my chances. Internet is a very dangerous place.

Here's the link to the video I saw, in case you wanna watch.

what's that egg smell?

I came back home yesterday from Jacob's aunt's cottage. The cottage is AMAZING! its beautiful and its located in the middle of nowhere. And you literally have to drive for like half an hour to get services like supermarket, pharmacy, convenience store, little restaurants, stores, etc. So far away. Part of me really likes living in the country side, y'know, living with nature, have big spaces, breathing fresh air, get out of the city noises and pollution, get away from the crowds...Sounds really nice. But once you get there, you realize how difficult it is, to be away from civilization. having to rive half an hour just to get bread. Drive for half an hour to get cold medicine. If you die suddenly no one else will know. Not having neighbours to say hi to. Driving and walking in the dark can get very scary. I almost pissed in my pants when Jacob was driving in the middle of the woods with no lights. My imagination doesn't stop me from thinking about black bears coming out of nowhere and attac us, or zombies that appear from the bushes saying "braiiiiins...gimme some braiiiins". Of course they are not real, but it is kinda creative you gotta admit. But I am so glad I am back to civilization, big city lights and people around. I am a big city girl. Although, it is always nice an escape from the city, and having a 'relation and engagement with nature' every now and then.

This is the cottage and Jacob


And this is the view from the back


It was really relaxing, looking at the lake, hearing sounds of nature, looking at the stars at night...so romantic. One of the best moments I have had with Jacob where I felt so connected with him.

Everything was perfect, except for the water that smelled like eggs, haha! I don't really hate hate it, but let's say I didn't trust that water to brush my teeth. The problem was, i researched, hydrogen sulfide, which is kinda the gas that gets produced when animals and plants die and decay. Apparently it can be caused by several factors, according to this website:

• If the smell is only from the hot water tap, the source is most likely your water heater.
• If the smell is from both hot and cold taps, but only from water treated by a water softener, you may have sulfur-reducing bacteria in your water softener.
• If the smell is from both taps and diminishes after the water runs, you may have sulfur-reducing bacteria in your well or piping.
• If the smell is from both taps and is persistent, you may have hydrogen sulfide gas in your groundwater

It is good to know this. So what people do is just to run down bleach or chlorine on the water well and let it sit overnight, buy filters or change to alumminium heater.

Yes, Google is awesome =]

The cup

Couple weeks ago, during a networking event, I got to talk - well more like hear- to a guy from Ogilvy One, Rex. He was giving a lot of advices to get into the advertising industry, how to get started, and what the industry is like. What I liked about him was that he was giving actual useful information, unlike another guy talking about hunting sharks. Don't get me wrong, I love to hear about everything, even shark hunting, but networking events is more for getting useful information. But anyways, he kinda gave me a homework. He told me that to be successful you have to be able to sell yourself, give reasons why you are good, do research, sell him the cup that was sitting on the table.

It's been a while since, because I have so much school work to do and I did not get to actually do what he told me until recently when I am done with all school work. So I got my hands on that little homework. He probably does not expect me to actually do it, but let's surprise him, shall we? ;)

Now, most of you do not know the miracle of the existance of a tall glass cup. Most of you have probably seen people drinking from it: water, juice, cocktails, wine, etc.

But you can alsways be a little bit more creative than that and use the cup to store other things. And, if you are a money saver like me, you could use anything as a storage. Do you ever have huge amounts of pennies, dimes, and change like I do? You are the kind who like to pay with bills and big changes like loonies and toonies, maybe quarters. Right, what if I told you that you can use the cup to store change? so that your wallet doesnt get so fat.

Still not impressed? How about your little cousin who just got a new fish and doesnt know where to put it? The bag it comes from is probably not as stable after all. Why not put it in a cup? so it can swim happily and your little cousin can still watch him swim?

Well, maybe the cup is not roomy enough for a big fish, and it is not good enough to keep your little cousin happy. How about making a musical instrument out of it and make noise to distract him from crying? let's call this music instrument - a maraca! It's so easy to make: 1) put some rice in it 2) put a plastic cover on top 3) put a lid around it to seal it 4) shake it like a polaroid picture!

A cup not only makes little kids happy, but also adults. Believe it or not, it is a great quick tool for architects, designers, mathematicians, artists, etc. Why not? it is a quick tool if you need to draw circles. Who havent had that need, ever?

It is also great for moms, especially if they have pots, flowers, or gardens.

Oooooor....if you like mom's home-made cookies, let her know about this great tool. I am sure you will both appreciate it.

You are a guy? No problem! This cup can fix all your problems in the house! leaking fixed = no water on the floor = no accidents = no yelling = no problems.


And since they are no problems in the house, you can grab a beer with couple of your friends, hang out, watch some tv, play some beer pong....Excellent way to have a good time.

After this, I don't know what you would do without this cup. What can you NOT do with this cup? This cup is basically always there when you need it the most. Easy use for everybody. Get your cup, live an easier life. All your problems will be solved with just a cling on the cup!

Meet the parents day

FINALLY I am done with all my school work. It was about time! Sorry Blogger, I had you abandoned because I had gazillion assignments to do all due last week. But since I am done, I will be dedicating you more time.

Also, finally, both of my parents came visit me in Toronto. It is usually my dad who comes, and mom stays watching the house. But this time both of them wanted to come to look for a place for me and my sister Sonia.

Today was the day that my parents met my boyfriend Jacob. jacob not only had to be put in an awkward position with my parents, but my aunt and uncle were also there. Poor boy. But anyways, he was pretty nervous before meeting them, his feet kept tapping the floor. Then they came. It was an akward 'hello', since none of my parents and relatives are the hugging type of people. What happens when white boy meets chinese adults? Cultural shock. The whiteness of Jacob came when he was eating fries, fried rice, and noodles. Of course mother wanted him to try new things, but I understand why Jacob would be so afraid to try. And I don't think that was a place for him to start trying new things. I didn't want to push him to try Chinese food, like the 'asian-ess' of my mother came out when she kept insisting him on eating more. "Eat some meat!" "Try the BBQ ribs!" "Eat some of these fruits!" "Here, have some more!" drink this, eat that, etc. etc. Whereas for me, it's all about "Stop eating this" "Stop eating that" "you look fat" "what's that piece of meat you have on your side". You see, she is the kind of person that likes to critisize people, especially labelling people as either 'skinny' or 'fat' since she is a health freak after all. My dad says nothing, all he does is sit there and nod (and eat cuz eating is important to him). My aunt just tells me about my little cousin Adam. My uncle....haha...my uncle is such a character.... He is the kind of person that talks, talks, talks, and talks. It's almost like his mind is processing words more rapidly than he can utter them out. If you never want an awkward silence, have a talk with my uncle, or more like listen to my uncle. Because whenever you wanna get into the conversation, express an opinion, agree with him, disagree with him, etc. he will cut you off and start talking even faster. That is why I can never ride a car with him driving, because the whole time is him talking, sometimes I feel like I wanna fall asleep. You can just nod to him, like my dad.

But the good thing about the awkward lunch was that it seems like they approved Jacob. I am really glad, since I have never brought a guy and introduce him to my parents. Jacob is definetly the type of guy I want my parents to meet. They said he was very polite, very good to comprimise (according to wikie it means "a concept of finding agreement through communication, through a mutual acceptance of terms"), very easy going and a good gentleman. Jacob thought my parents were kind, and although they did not talk much, they seem to be good looking people, even though they look younger than their actual age. I am happy that no blood was spilled - in other words, I am glad that they were good to each other. Let's keep it that way, shall we?

I love my Jacob, he is so good with parents, and very refined and polite. Plus very good looking. I am very happy with him and I would not change him for anyone else.