Thought Train to Pusan

After meeting me, it's only a matter of time until you find out that I am quite a big fan of figure skating (particularly men's figure skating), though this interest is something that ebbs and flows depending on the time: however the Sochi Olympics just refuelled that fire, and I am once again completely in love with the sport. Because of my rekindled affection for figure skating, I've decided to periodically post videos of some of my favourite skating performances, starting now. But first, some explanation: Figure skating requires an intense amount of athleticism, which I think some people often forget, as it is technically a "glamour sport". But behind the shiny veneer and effortlessness that is presented, I'd hazard to say that any skater is not a world-class athlete. How many people do you know that can dead-lift a muscular girl while speeding across ice on two blades, only to hold her with a single arm, or throw her up in the air and put her back down...

I find that in a lot of romantic comedies these days, there is always that scene where the female is discussing her past relationships, only to at one point mention her “experimental college phase” that included a relationship or sexual experience with another woman. “Hahaha! Everyone does it! Look how uncomfortable or surprised the man she is currently dating looks right now!” But then I think, is that kind of experience really that common? Do girls always find that one, really intense friendship that leads to them experimenting romantically or sexually? Is it always just a “phase”? For some, obviously it is not. We know that. So why are these experiences so often played up for laughs? Annie On My Mind deals with two young girls in their last year of high school, discovering a new sort of kinship in each other, that eventually leads to romantic love. It is serious and confusing for them, and in all honesty, it feels real: like a real situation that might happen between two fri...

Last year, I struggled to name them all, but somehow came up with a ranked list of every movie I saw that was released in 2011. This year, I decided to do that with every book I read (not including textbooks, obviously, though some novels I did read for English courses). At the start of the year, I made a goal for myself to read 20 books this year. And somehow, some way, even with all the school work I had to do, I managed to read 30 in all! I know, I'm surprised too... I definitely enjoyed certain books more than others, thus, my idea to rank all 30 from what I thought was the worst/least enjoyable, to the best/my favourite. Yes, this is definitely going to be quite subjective to my personal tastes, so feel free to disagree if you enjoyed something more or less than myself. If I have learnt anything from my pop-culture class this past semester, it's that sometimes people just can't find a connection to something in any way, and if you can't find that connecting po...