My mid-terms are finally over! I actually did so much better than I expected. Of course, I don’t have my test results yet so this is just based on my feelings. The history test was SO much easier than I expected. I spent two whole days of non-stop studying for that test (I swear it was get up in the morning, make a cup of green tea then settle down with my notes until night fall) but it turned out to be a breeze! 

Walking into school was a bit of shock today though. We have a TV mounted in the breezeway for display of student work and today it was playing the commercial my group made in IT class for the English Arts Festival. It was a competition and the best commercials were going to played in public. Not to sound cocky or anything but I had a feeling our commercial would be one of the winners but I hadn’t expected them to be used so soon! Especially with all the close-ups of me in it. Kind of weird seeing your face moving on a screen in front of you. Not to mention, very embarrassing having classmates and teachers comment or ask you about it.

Anyway, although my exams are over, my busy to do list just keeps piling up. I have many exciting things in store for me next week but while I’m looking forward to them, I’m not looking forward to how they will most likely deprive me of sleep.

• Co-write a song for the No Pop Show (I am especially excited about this! I’ve always wanted to try my hand at song writing).
• Start applying to Australian universities (mid-semester applications have finally opened!).
• Interview my grandma about her time in the Korean War (we have to write a short story for English class about someone from another generation. 5 of the best essays are going to be published in a book! Apparently, my English teacher thinks I have a great chance of being of those 5. Wish me luck!).
• Practice for Taylor Swift audition (in Acting class, we have to audition as a celebrity and I chose Taylor because I already know so many of her songs and have performed them on stage before so it’ll greatly lessen my work load. I’m sneaky like that. Plus, I love her!).
• Practice Safe & Sound for No Pop.
• Memorize the last of my lines for Cinderella (we had our first off-book rehearsal this week and I was surprised by how much I had already memorized).

Next week, we have school on Saturday which I am not looking forward to at all. In acting class, we have also organized a flash-mob-meets-high-school-musical-meets-glee type project in the school cafeteria for Saturday. Wonder how that’ll go down…

I’m going to try and relax as much as possible this weekend before plunging into the chaos of the next. Hopefully see Titantic in IMAX (been waiting for this forever). Two more weeks until spring break! Let’s hope I can hold up until then…

P.S.- I am finally going to tackle my inbox! 

P.P.S.- Give me a like if you read all of this. You deserve a gold star.

• Goggled at photos of hot Nazis online (don’t ask).
• Filmed commercial for IT class (close-ups do not work for me…at all).
• Have hardly had one square meal.
• Had a discussion with my English teach about Hitler’s monorchism.
• Speaking of testicles…I had to (pretend to) kick my friend in the balls for a skit in Acting class.
• Gave my ex a home-made egg tart for his birthday.

Please bear with me-I will be answering messages on the weekends! As you can see, my week has been extremely busy and filled with um, “fun” and questionable events. I have my first midterm tomorrow which is writing an original composition for English. Wish me luck!

It officially feels like spring in my city! From the flowers that are in full bloom to the sunshine is casting a smile on everyone’s faces to the bipolar weather. The downpour was positively torrential last night but the sun is back up again today. All I want to do is relax, take a stroll in nature, snap photos and read a book. Instead I have a shipload of school work and midterms in a week. 

Plans for this weekend:

• Alternative History essay.
• Mandarin test review.
• Planning out a skit and writing two scripts for Acting.
• Writing an Action Plan for the English Arts Festival commercial.
• Memorizing Act 2 and 3 lines for Cinderella.
• Trying not to forget dance moves for Cinderella.

Every time I finish a task, I get two more. It’s like that mythical Greek beast that grows two heads for every one that is cut off. Since the second semester is shorter than the first, classes have to move a lot faster. For subjects like History, it really sucks. We just had a test on three chapters that we covered in a span of little more than one week. On top of that, the majority of last week was spent on filming our horror movie for Acting class. I am so thankful I have a friend who is going into film-making in university. Since my group members were no use at all (surprise, surprise), he has literally saved me by sacrificing his time to film, edit and add special effects for us. He even complimented my acting skills! Interesting fact: his dramatic make up teacher knows one of the make up artists on The Hunger Games movie set so he was fortunate enough to see unreleased film footage last year! I almost died of jealousy when he told me. For a high school student, he is really good at what he does. Hollywood, make way!

Hopefully things will slow down a bit after the midterms. I really need to start getting in shape for summer. I’m naturally thin but it would be nice to gain some muscle tone you know? Plus some exercise would be good for me because it’s so easy to get sick in spring (I just recovered from a cold last weekend and I’ve caught it again). 

Thank you all for the lovely messages about my new theme. I just wanted to say I really appreciate all of you taking the time to write them ♥.

Now for an update on my week: all I can say it, I cannot wait to graduate and leave this hellhole of a city. List of things I have suffered this week from this city:

• Pungent tap water due to the city’s attempt at decontaminating the very polluted water.
• Falling flat on my knees on a busy street because my heel got caught in the hoop of my laces on my oxfords because I was trying to sidestep an illegally parked scooter-taxi.
• Being sandwiched in a dangerously overcrowded bus that smelled like onions.

All the above makes moving back to Australia so much more attractive than ever before, especially after hearing two people rave about Melbourne, the city I am hoping to move to. June cannot arrive fast enough.

We also did a read-through for the musical this week and I have to say, we have a pretty good cast assembled. The girl playing my fairy godmother was away getting her passport so my English teacher from last year filled in for her. I always laughed until my stomach seized up in his classes so you can imagine the comical value of his performance. All I can say is the girl with the part has a lot of pressure riding on her now.

I’m really glad I patched things up with my ex. Life seems more carefree without a messy break up on  my conscience and it is so much easier seeing him in the hallways and homeroom. In fact, the first week of school, I actually gave me a couple of packets of instant cappuccino which I thought was a very sweet gesture of reconciliation. This Friday, he asked me if I wanted some more since he bought them online. Finally, my life seems to be falling back into place, and for once, it is completely void of unnecessary drama. I recently learned that a friend (well, sort of friend. We were never that close) bad-mouthed me in front of one of my best friends in art class no less. Oddly, I hardly care. She was always the attention-seeking type who felt just a step above everyone else. I just don’t need that sort of negativity in my life. If she dislikes me then so be it. Every negative element I disperse from my life just makes it more worth living. 

With that out my system, I’m going to watch the Oscars, moon over the celebrities’ dresses and fantasize about being there someday (yeah, I’m a big dreamer). Oh and munch on some strawberries while I’m at that.

I don’t usually drink tea (unless it’s milk tea) but I decided to start my day with some green tea (and good music) this morning to prepare for the busy day ahead of me. It’s officially the last week before school begins and I still have so much to get through. In usual Lily fashion, I’ve left everything to the last minute (despite making a resolution not to procrastinate this year. Here’s what I need to get done:

• ☑ Complete new theme (just need to tweak it a bit! Will be released in March- I’m so excited for you guys to see it! It’s very different from my previous themes).
• ☑ Edit this theme for public release (also happening this coming March).
• ☐ Create resources page (to be released in March).
• ☑ Sync new songs, photos and ebooks onto my iPod and iPad.
• ☐ Book report.
• ☑ Mark items of clothing that need altering.
• ☑ Organize downloads folder.
• ☑ Manicure.
• ☑ Organize photo blog.

I swear I will get through all of this today. As long as I don’t become sidetracked by any movies or TV shows…

Last night, I began this quest for organization by organizing all the TV shows and movies I have on my laptop into folders by genre and seasons. I took me about one hour but was definitely worth it! I also went through my archive and transferred many of my impersonal reblogs to my photo blog. At the same time, I back-read some of my posts and realize how the quality of writing in my posts have diminished over time. I have not had a lot of time to blog recently, resulting in half-hearted updates on my mundane life but hopefully, that is going to change. Quality over quantity shall be my new motto. 

While back-reading, I experienced a plethora of different emotions and memories brought on by my previous posts. I don’t think I could ever do the delete/private-all-my-posts-to-start-fresh thing. Having a personal blog is a way to document the spur-of-the-moment fancies, uncontrollable emotions and priceless memories in your life. Why would you want to delete it all? I’ve never really understood concept. 

Anyway, time to get started on my list. 

I‘ve been slacking off quite a bit since the holidays, lacking motivation and such. But since resolving things with my ex (more or less), I’m feeling a sudden surge of energy. Today has definitely not been productive (all I’ve done is blog, watch Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, catch up on TV shows and do my nails) but I hope that will not be so for the entire week. A couple of relatives are coming over from Sichuan province later this week and I know that will involve a lot of sight seeing and shopping so I need to get quite a bit done before that.

A couple of goals for this week:

• Find out when school starts and plan my time.
• Finish at least half of The Great Gatsby.
• Begin another university application.

Blog related

• New theme!
• Privated all my messages. 
• Published messages from now on will go on private after a while to keep my blog organized.
• deleted many irrelevant posts. 
• working on a new public theme!

Messages

Thank you so much to those who commented on my new theme and also those who wished me luck for the performance! Now I will finally get on to replying to my messages/fan mail and write a few of my own!

1. I’m really hyperactive at night and once you get me laughing, I can go on for five minutes. Literally.
2. I’m a perfectionist but I procrastinate like no tomorrow. Not a good combination. It just makes for a whole lot of all nighters.
3. I have freakishly tiny feet so I cannot wear ballet flats or pumps. They just slide right off. I swear my ancestors were feet wrappers (in ancient China, women wrapped their feet to make them small because it was considered attractive).
4. Every time I see a guitar, I get this intense urge to pick it up and start strumming country tunes despite the fact I cannot play the instrument. 
5. My biggest pet peeve is when people yell into their cell phones.
6. I am 100% anti-smoking.
7. I like whiskey with ice tea.
8. Somewhere in 2011, I decided not to care about the future and just live life by each day and see where I end up.
9. I have really weird eyelids that swell up during the night so I stick tape on them when I sleep to avoid mono-lids in the morning.
10. I ♥ poutine.

Edit: I tag anyone who reads this!

Last post of 2011! Set the time of this post to 11:59 pm. My new years will be spent in the warm comforts of my bedroom with Tumblr open on my browser and homework at hand. So crazy partying for this girl.

I guess some obligatory resolutions are in order. I do so badly with resolutions though so I shall call them goals instead and make them very general ones. Just some things I need to change/improve on.

2012 Goals

• Less procrastination.
• Less perfectionism.
• Exercise.
• More family time.
• Become more extroverted.
• Take art and/or vocal lessons.
• Less time on internet.
• Read more books.
• Journal writing.
• Meet new people.
• Take chances.
• Increase self-confidence.
• Live with no regrets.
• First New Year’s kiss (hehe just had to throw this one in)

Furthermore, some changes will be made to my blog! It has become a little disorganized over time so I’m going to take this chance to give my blog a little face lift. However, most of these changes will not take place until a few weeks later when I am on my winter break. As of now, I am busy doing last minute projects and cramming for midterms. 

Blog changes

• Will private all messages.
• Private/delete many irrelevant posts.
• Simpler theme.
• More public themes.
• Project 2012

Happy New Year to all my followers! 2012 is our year.

I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by! The first term of senior year is almost over and before I know it, I will be graduating high school and on my own to make my my in the world. Let’s just hope the world wont come to and end next year- it would be a shame if four years of high school only led up to a few months of university…

Thinking back, it is amazing and exhilarating how much I have been through this year. Here are some of the highlights and my accomplishments from this year:

• I endured my first breakup.
• I participated in 2 vocal competitions.
• I participated in a choreographed dance and was complimented on it.
• I won an iPad from singing.
• I improved my range.
• I landed the lead role in my school’s musical.
• I am the editor-in-chief of my school’s newspaper.
• I currently have an A in maths, my worst subject.
• I took the SATs.
• I took a summer internship at a magazine.
• I flew on a plane about 10 times this year alone which is probably more than the past 3 years put together.
• I got my second set of ear piercings.
• I permed my hair.
• I read so many wonderful books.
• I watched my first Audrey Hepburn movies.
• I made my first gingerbread house.
• I discovered new music artists/bands.
• I visited Shanghai for the first time.
• Climbed the Great Wall of China!
• I improved my web designing skills.
• I improved my writing skills.
• I improved my photography skills despite only have a crappy point-and-shoot :P.
• I finally learned the breast stroke (I have horrible arm/leg coordination so I usually stick with freestyle).
• I learned to accept myself more (not completely there yet, but I’m still learning!).
• I learned to take every chance thrown my way.
• I learned to appreciate life more.
• I met so many wonderful bloggers on Tumblr <3

 
  ☼ Weather: Sunny
  ♫ Listening to: Santa Baby
  ♕ Feeling: Calm
  ✎ Summary: School, Christmas
 

Did anyone see the Gemini meter shower this week? I only found out about it after which is shame because I am a Gemini. Not that I could have seen it at school due to all the air pollution from all the construction work that has been going on for three years. This will just be a quick post about my week before I plunge into my still unfinished Marc Antony essay and also my non-existent article about the singing competition I need for the school magazine.

Tumblr has been somewhat depressing recently due to all the posts about end of exams and winter holidays. Since I go to school in China and despite it being international, our winter holidays begin in the middle of January. Since Christmas falls on the weekends this year, we don’t even get a day off! Needless to say, I will be dragging my butt out of my warm bedsheets after 2 hours of sleep on Boxing Day for school.

Hopefully, I get most of my college applications done before the weekends next week (deadlines are January 1st!) because I will be so busy by then.

23rd

• Christmas shopping (I always do everything last minute like a boss).
• Hang out with a friend and her friend who just returned for Australia! On request, he was supposed to bring Uncle Toby’s Fruit Roll-ups. Excited!
• Pick up a few cosmetics and maybe some more vintage movie posters.

24th

• Laser gun/paint ball with around 20 friends. Apparently, in China, the two are combined…
• Possibly dinner then KTV with said 20 friends.
• Sleep over at my house with my best friend.

25th

• Cook/bake the entire day.
• Christmas dinner with the family.
• Present opening! 

I hope everybody stays safe and happy holidays!

All I want for Christmas is:

• My family to be safe.
• Less stress.
• Forgiveness.
• To move on.
• Hope.
• Snow.

Gotten a new piercing.
Dyed my hair.
Ended a relationship.
Started a new relationship.
Been on a long car/bus journey.
Passed an exam.
Met someone who’s now an important part of my life.
Cried on someone’s shoulder.
Had a massive fight with a boy/girl.
Received flowers.
Had a Valentine.
Written a letter using pen & paper.
Gone to see a therapist.
Been prescribed medication by a doctor.
Read a really good book.
Gone to the zoo.
Spent too much money on unnecessary things.
Travelled by train.
Cried over a member of the opposite sex.
Spent the day out in the sun getting a tan.
Slammed a door out of frustration.
Had an anxiety attack.
Babysat for a friend’s child.
Had a BBQ.
Gone to the fair.
Gone bowling.
Seen a film at the cinema in 3D.
Gone on a date.
Been the only sober one on a night out.
Helped someone home after they had been drinking.
Stayed up all night.
Talked on the phone for over two hours.
Supported someone who’d received bad news.
Watched some kind of live sporting event.
Read an entire book in one day.
Bought a DVD the day it was released.
Eaten McDonald’s more than four times in a single week.
Cried as a result of exam stress.
Met some incredible new people.
Gone to great parties.
Fallen backwards off a chair
Broken my glasses.
Worn a watch for the first time in years.
Cried over someone in the past.
Spent hours aimlessly browsing the internet.
Thrown up.
Cried over a film.
Gone out of my way to avoid an ex-boy/girlfriend.
Fought with someone in public.
Been in a relationship for a year or longer.
Cried in front of someone I adore.
Lost one of my closest friends.

Once again, it is time for my monthly goals. I don’t know why I bother really since I never really keep them. But it is always good to hope :)

My goals for December 2011~

• Get more sleep!
• Limit my junk food consumption.
• Yoga and workouts on the weekends and whenever possible.
• Finish my applications to American universities.
• Keep a creative journal to steer clear of revisiting the horrible writer’s block I am experiencing.
• Spend more time with my family.
• Don’t date.
• Maintain my grade average.
• Raise my English grade from 93% to 95%.
• Score above 90% on the English provincials.
• Improve my physical health.
• Change blog theme (so long overdue).

A review of last month’s goals ~

To do

• University applications/portfolios.
• Grad-trans homework.
• Write “letter from the editor” for magazine.
• Motivate magazine staff!
• Get out at least one issue and begin on another.
• Book reviews.
• Get a VPN.

Personal Goals

• Exercise: mini weekday workouts, yoga and jogging on the weekends.
  
• Put an end to my procrastination once and for all.
• Eat healthier.
• Limit TV show consumption to 0-2 episodes a week.
• Spend more time with my family.
• Spend a day out with my mother.
• Make time for reading.
• Maintain my grades.

Guess I didn’t do too well last month. I hope I achieve more of my December goals!

I don’t really want anything for Christmas this year. If I am to go to USA for university, it is already going to cost my family a small fortune, not to mention the Macbook they promised me as a graduation present. In order to make up for that a fraction, I’ll skip out on a gift this year. My family is not made of money and since I cannot contribute financially to my future education, I’m going to do everything I can to make up for it. But it’s really not as bad as it sounds. I don’t have anything I can’t do without anyway. I plan on spending Christmas cooking with my mother the entire day and enjoying our feast with the people I love the most. After all, isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

The weather seems to be in sync with my emotions as warm sunshine is glittering upon the lake outside my dorm and has washed away the traces of the biting chill which dominated our campus the night before. A symbolic way to mark the end of my midterms and a fresh new beginning. For me, being the organized freak that I am, finishing a set of exams means I can forget about the procrastination I piled up in the previous term and focus on changing without baggage. It never seems to work out the way I would like but at least it is motivation right? Since I never had time for my November goals, now seems like the perfect time to do so!

To do

• University applications/portfolios.
• Grad-trans homework.
• Write “letter from the editor” for magazine.
• Motivate magazine staff!
• Get out at least one issue and begin on another.
• Book reviews.
• Get a VPN.

Personal Goals

• Exercise: mini weekday workouts, yoga and jogging on the weekends.
  
• Put an end to my procrastination once and for all.
• Eat healthier.
• Limit TV show consumption to 0-2 episodes a week.
• Spend more time with my family.
• Spend a day out with my mother.
• Make time for reading.
• Maintain my grades.

Usually, I never seems to commit to my monthly goals but it is good to have a list for reference tucked away somewhere.

I am probably going to drift off into unconsciousness any minute now since I stayed up past 3:30 am last night, cramming. Will now go and invest the next 3-4 hours on a nap.