Birthday Countdown!

So, in case you weren't aware, my birthday is in just over a week (June 3rd) and I'm really really really excited!

Well, not just for the fact that I will be the legal drinking age (I still think alcohol tastes nasty), but because I get to go out a celebrate with my family at any restaurant I choose (we don't eat out that often). We went out to a nice local steak restaurant for my dad's birthday last week, so I'm thinking... maybe Italian? Any suggestions?

The big thing on my wishlist this year is a iPod Touch. For the most part, I've decided that I dislike Apple products, simply because I dislike having to use iTunes to sync my iPod every time I want to add new music/take off songs I don't want to listen to anymore. I like the simplicity of the old drag-n'-drop of the old MP3 players. However, it seems that Apple has taken over most of the music player market, and so if I want to upgrade from my old MP3 player (which I've had since elementary school), I'll have to get an iPod. And if I'm asking for an iPod, I may as well ask for the iPod Touch, right? :D

At any rate, the big thing for me is spending time with my family. I've been helping my parents with their landscaping project this year, and I would love love love to see my cousins again soon and have an all-night PS3 party. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this will be happening any time soon :(

What's on your wishlist?

WIND Mobile, ridiculous phone companies, etc.

This past November, I was a lucky winner of a new BlackBerry Bold 9700 from WIND Mobile. I loved my BlackBerry, especially the Festive Cheer plan I had with WIND - which gave me unlimited province-wide calling and unlimited texting for only $25 a month. Sweet deal, right? Well it was, until my BlackBerry broke around March this year.

It's not as if I dropped it and it's completely busted and the screen's cracked, etc. The only thing that's wrong with is is that the trackpad seems to be stuck down for some reason. So, essentially, without the trackpad, the entire phone is useless. I can't navigate the menu, it keeps on randomly selecting things, and it's really, really difficult to make a call or even send a text.

At any rate, a few days after I noticed that the trackpad was wonked, I went  up to the WIND store where I won my BlackBerry, and asked if there was anything that could be done. I relayed to the salesperson the entire story: I won this phone from this store, and now the trackpad seems to be malfunctioning. I was told to return on a later date to speak with the manager.

Not to be deterred, I returned to the WIND store approximately a week later and spoke with the manager. Once again, I told her what had happened: I won this phone from this store, and now the trackpad seems to be malfunctioning. I was put on the waiting list for a new phone, and was told that I would be called when they got a BlackBerry in stock.

A month later (or earlier this week), I called the WIND store and asked if they had my phone in stock. And, luckily, they did! So today, I went up to the store with everything packaged up, ready to receive a new, working BlackBerry - which would make me very, very happy. However, when I got there, I was told that since I won the phone, there was no warranty on it. Therefore, I was not eligible for an exchange.

I'm very, exceedingly, disappointed in WIND Mobile right now. I was led to believe - the whole entire time -  that my phone could be exchanged for a new one. However, it took me three trips - the last which included 3+ hours of travel time - for them to tell me I had no warranty. I've told each person I've spoken to that I won this phone in their contest, but not once was I told that my phone had no warranty on it. I was put on the waiting list for exchange for goodness's sake, and it was not until I came in, ready to exchange my phone was I told that actually, I can't exchange my phone for a new one.

I would have been nice if I was told this the first time I went into the store, instead of the third.

Scratch nice - it would have made things so much easier for everyone involved, as well as saved so much of my time from those utterly ridiculous run-arounds.

A Week in Review: Coming home, relaxation, and video games!

Image from The Kingdom Hearts Wiki

Well hello there! It's been a while since I've posted anything, hasn't it? And, really, that's due to a lot of things. Mostly because I've finally come home from school. While my school isn't so far away that's it's impossible for me to get home, it was still quite a hassle to get home just for the weekend. At any rate, I'm finally home, and I'm luxuriating in the the fact that (for once) I have absolutely nothing to do. Which is usually a bad thing for me - if I have nothing to do, I get antsy and start making trouble just for something to do (think "mad scientist in the kitchen with no adult supervision" levels of trouble). But this time, I filled up my time with all those things I wanted to do while I was in school but couldn't: reading (The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin), doodling (badly, on my sister's graphics tablet), baking (brownies and cookies and cakes - yum!), and most of all, hijacking my sister's PSP to play Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.

Birth by Sleep is actually the third (to my count) major game to be released in the Kingdom Hearts series, as well as a sort of prequel to the first two games. You see that pretty picture up at the top of this post? Notice any familiar characters? Like, for example... Cinderella? Snow White? Maleficent? Peter Pan & Tinkerbell? Stitch? Yep, it's Disney. Apparently, this series was though up when an employee from Square Enix met an employee from Disney in an elevator. I have no idea whether or not this is true, but any combination of Square Enix (who makes the best video games) and Disney (who owns my childhood) is bound to be awesome.

Anyways, besides wasting my time all day, I have been out a few times to look for some jobs, but no luck yet. Any tips for finding a summer job?

A Week in Review: Happy Easter!

Image from ~ Maria ~

So most of you college and university students are done school for the year or are almost done. Hooray! I myself fall into the "almost done" category - I have a physics exam this Tuesday. Boo :(

But that's beside the point - I've moved home (I can't believe how much stuff I had packed into my tiny room at residence!), the weather is actually quite nice, and it's Easter! Yay! Which actually doesn't mean all that much in my family. Easter is just a long weekend. We never really celebrated it. So, no Easter chocolates or the like in my family. It's quite upsetting, actually.

Since I've moved home, we've had dinner with my neighbours, one of which has just returned from the hospital is is well on the way to recovery, and the other is a prospective McMaster University student next year. Which I hope she does - because I'll have a friend to nerd out with again. But, of course, she should pick the university that's right for her. Which may or may not be Mac.

I went job hunting the other day, but then I kind of got depressed. I wanted to work in or near the mall, seeing as how it's close to home, but most of the stores are clothing stores. Which wouldn't good fit for me at all, seeing as how I never really dress nicely, nor do I put on makeup (uh, never really learned how to do the last one. Oops?).

Anyways, I hope you have a lovely Easter, and enjoy the time home with your friends and family :)

Playlist: Favourites & Studying

Most people would prefer to study without music, due to it being distracting or whatnot. I'm one of the strange people who can't study without music. So, without further ado, here's the playlist that I listen to when I study (which also happens to be most of my favourite songs)!

1. Glee Cast - Telephone
2. Daft Punk - One More Time
3. Glee Cast - Dog Days Are Over
4. Mayday Parade - Miserable At Best
5. Lifehouse - First Time
6. Rufus Wainwright - Hallelujah
7. Taylor Swift - Love Story
8. Farewell Fighters - Anthem West
9. Sara Bareilles - King of Anything
10. Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten
11. Sam Tsui (ft. Christina Grimmie) - Just a Dream
12. Darren Criss - Not Alone
13. Shrek 2 - Funkytown
14. Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart
15. Glee Cast - Sing
16. Hikaru Utada - Beautiful World (PLANiTb Acoustica Mix)
17. Glee Cast - Blackbird
18. Glee Cast - Loser Like Me
19. Gyakutan Meets Orchestra 2008 - Ace Attorney 4 Courtroom Suite
20. Farewell Fighters - Have Spacesuit Will Travel
21. Gyakutan Meets Orchestra 2008 - Apollo Justice ~ a New Trial is in Session!
22. Shrek 2 - Accidentally in Love
23. Rob Thomas - Mockingbird
24. Enrique Iglesias (ft. Pitbull) - I Like It
25. Flo Rida (ft. David Guetta) - Club Can't Handle Me
26. Sid - Rain
27. Farewell Fighters - The Winning Team
28. Mercy Mercedes - The Perfect Scene
29. Ryan Star - Breathe
30. Glee Cast - Hey, Soul Sister
31. B.o.B (ft. Hayley Williams) - Airplanes
32. Brandon Flowers - Only the Young
33. DJ Tiesto (ft. Tegan and Sara) - Feel It In My Bones
34. Glee Cast - Teenage Dream
35. Gyakutan Meets Orchestra 2008 - Phoenix Wright ~ Objection!
36. Colbie Caillat - You Got Me
37. Sam Tsui - Explosion Medley
38. Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again
39. Glee Cast - Thriller/Heads Will Roll
40. Enrique Iglesias (ft. Ludacris & DJ Frank E) - Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)
41. A Very Potter Musical - Get Back to Hogwards
42. L'Arc~en~Ciel - Niji
43. Glee Cast - Landslide
44. A-ha - Analogue (All I Want)
45. Katy Perry - Firework
46. Eddie Murphy - I'm a Believer (Reprise)
47. Sara Bareilles - Love Song
48. O.A.R. - Shattered
49. Glee Cast - Raise Your Glass
50. Gyakutan Meets Orchestra 2008 - Ace Attorney 1~3 Courtroom Suite
51. Shrek 2 - Livin' La Vida Loca
52. Fefe Dobson - Stuttering
53. Glee Cast - Misery
54. Shrek 2 - Holding Out For a Hero
55. P!nk - God is a DJ
56. Glee Cast - Candles
57. Goo Goo Dolls - Iris
58. Charice (ft. IYAZ) - Pyramid
59. Eva Avila - I Owe It All To You
60. Hikaru Utada - Sanctuary ~After the Battle~
61. Natasha Bedingfield - Pocketful of Sunshine
62. Hiroshi Watanabe (aka Quadra) - Get It By Your Hands
63. Lifehouse - All In
64. ATC - Around THe World (La La La La La)
65. Fefe Dobson - Ghost
66. Rob Thomas - This Is How a Heart Breaks
67. Boys Like Girls (ft. Taylor Swift) - Two is Better Than One

All things considered, it's not too bad.

The result of approximately four all-nighters this week. My resolution to always have at least 8 hours of sleep each nigh has flown out the window. It was much worse two nights ago when I was studying for my biology final - that mess was just paper everywhere (not that this one isn't). Which I just shoved into a box and washed my hands of because I really don't want to think about it. Right now the mess is mostly just laundry. Which I don't want to spend half an hour folding. It's just... monotonous. I just want finals to be over. I still have three exams to go. I feel like turtle crawling through peanut butter. Or honey. Or molasses.

I have an entire week between my second-last and last exams, so hopefully I can move out of residence on the 20th (which means I have clean this mess up before my dad sees it) and I can stay at home a relax for a bit before my last exam on the 26th.

Probably should have made this a "Week in Review" post, but really, it wouldn't have been too interesting. Study, exam, study, study, exam, study. Bleaaarrrgh.

Tutorial: HTML

I've been doing some tweaking on my tumblr layout, so I thought that this would be something neat to post. Please keep in mind that I don't know everything about HTML, but I have been playing around in the sandbox for a few years.

HTML is a language. In fact, it's a particularly picky language, so double-check all your spelling and 'grammar'. In fact, most of the time (like in the English language), the errors are in the 'grammar' of your HTML. That being said, learning the 'grammar' isn't all that difficult.

To begin with, in HTML, we use these things called 'tags'. Essentially, we have a start tag and a closing tag. Usually, it looks something like this:

<tag></tag>

In this case, <tag> is our start tag, and </tag> is our closing tag. Note that the closing tag is identical to an opening tag, except the closing tag has a forward slash.

Now, there are many, many, many types of tags. What if you wanted to use a bunch of different tags to make, say, a paragraph with some of the text bolded and have an image that links elsewhere? Well, you'd have to use a tag to bake the text bold, and image tag, a link tag, and maybe even a paragraph tag! But in what order would you open and close the tags? The answer - close the tags in the reverse order that they were opened.

What?

To clarify this, I'd like to make an analogy. Opening and closing tags in HTML is like a simple sandwich. Let's think about the sandwich in layers. If you stick a toothpick through your sandwich from top to bottom, the layers the toothpick in order are the top slice of bread, the butter that was spread on the top slice of bread, meat, butter spread on the bottom slice of bread, and the slice of bread on the bottom. Okay, so what does this have to do with anything?

<top bread>     |  <tag1>
<top butter>    |  <tag2>
   meat         |   text
<bottom butter> |  </tag2>
<bottom bread>  |  </tag1>

In this example, we opened tag1, then tag2. We then closed the tags in the order of tag2, tag1. Get it?

Let's look at an example with three tags, say some text that is bolded, italicized, and stricken through (if you're using strikethrough in your blog posts in Blogger, use the <s></s> tag instead of <del></del>).

<b><i><del>Some text</del></i></b>

This would look like...

Some text

So to return to my original example of a paragraph with bolded text, an image, and a link, the code might look something like this...

<p>Some text <b>here</b>. Oh, here's a picture!
<a href="http://www.google.ca><img src="http://something.com/pictureurlhere.jpg"/></a></p>

The result would look like this...

Some text here. Oh, here's a picture!

I know, it's clear as mud, isn't it? First we opened the paragraph tag, which means we have to close it last. Next we opened the bold tag. Now, between where we opened the bold tag and where we want to close the bold tag, we have no other tags which are open. Which means that we can just go ahead and close the bold tag after the word "here". We then opened the link tag, then the image tag (the image tag does not require a closing tag). Currently, the only tags we have open are the paragraph tag and the link tag. So we need to close them in reverse order — the paragraph tag was opened first, so it needs to be closed last, and the link tag was opened last, so it should be closed first.

If you'll notice, the link tag in my last example looks a little different to the other tags I've shown you.

<a href="http://www.google.ca">Link text here</a>

This is an example of a tag with an attribute. The basic tag is <a></a>, that additional bit inside the first tag is called an 'attribute' There are a bunch of attributes you can give to tags, and each attribute has a set of values. The value is always surrounded by double quotation marks. You can only have one value per attribute, and each attribute can only be used once in each tag. My favourite attribute would have to be the style attribute. You can use this attribute to add CSS to a tag to do some neat things, like changing colours and fonts, or even move things around, which I'll talk about in a later post.


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Well, there you have it. Hopefully it wasn't too confusing. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave me a question in the comments, or go check out W3Schools' HTML Tutorial for a little more clarification :)