This is where I currently sit in the banquet hall of life.

Guys. Guys. I CAN MAKE FRIED RICE. I'm serious. It's so easy. First, cook some rice. Easy. Next, or possibly during, chop up some veggies. Toss them in a pan with some oil. Shove that shit around until it feels right. Toss in the rice. Continue to shove. Add eggs. Pat yourself on the back- at this point, you're balling. Finish it off with some soy sauce and when your starving stomach can't take the smell any longer, dump it onto a plate. Cram it into your face hole. Fried rice. I'm serious. At this point I'm basically Wonder Chef.

And I realize that I haven't blogged in a while. I wanted to, but nothing was really happening. This semester hasn't been very easy, and I've also been doing a lot of extra stuff that's making time management sort of insane. To give a general overview of the semester thus far, there's been the usual barrage of assignments, readings, midterms, events, and planning, but also conferences, some interviews for jobs (real life jobs! Sort of. ), first aid qualifications and that's all that I can think of off the top of my head. I am busy. But I don't mean to complain. Being busy is just another way of saying that I've had a lot of really cool opportunities this year. And kudos to me, I have not let them pass me by!

For the interviews, which I feel I should mention, I'm playing the awkward waiting game. Or it would be awkward if I weren't so busy with other stuff that I've mostly been forgetting that I'm still waiting to hear back from them. I don't typically worry over the future. I'm really good at focusing on what's happening now, for the most part. I dream about the future, but it doesn't stress me out. I trust that the future will turn out swell. I don't mean that in terms of fate or destiny, but I trust that no matter what happens I'll be able to deal with it and make the best. As John Connor so wisely put it," there's no fate but what we make for ourselves".  In conclusion, I might be employed soon!

So cross your fingers, internet!

How to Spend All of New Years Day on the Computer

I have a weird New Years tradition that I thought I'd share with you all! 

Every year since 2009, I've done a kind of year-reflection to keep track of how my life is going, specifically how it's changed, and my goals for the future. I do this reflection using a serious of questions that I answer each year. I keep the questions in a onenote notebook (because back in 2009, I used onenote), and I don't look at any of the questions or any of the answers at all during the year, except at New Years. This makes it so that I don't remember any of the questions or any of the answers I gave before it's time to fill it all out again. 

There are four categories of questions, and I add at least one question to each category each year, which is part of the reason why I have no idea how many questions there are and part of the reason why answering them all takes me a very long time - we're talking hours. Though to be fair I do tend to be a bit long-winded in my answers.

The four categories are:

Life, or General - These have to do with the current state of things. Age. Currently reading. That sort of thing.

Favorites - Self explanatory. Favorite books, video games, youtubers, etc.

Dreams - My hopes and dreams regarding university, love, life, etc. This is also a place to reflect on my literal dreaming, and try desperately to remember some of the dreams I've had that year.

Questions - These are specific questions I want my future self to answer every year, next year, in twenty years, etc. Did I ever post that fanfic? Are people still going on about 2012? Did you get into University? Did The Hobbit come out like it's supposed to, how was it, how did you see it, what was it like? Ordinary stuff.

There's also a section for what playthrough of Tales of Symphonia I'm currently on. When I started in 2009 I was at 3. I'm now at 6. Balling.

After I fill everything out and make new questions, I go back and read over the previous years. I love reading how I've changed over the years, with what I thought was important and what I wanted in my life. I always find it's a really great way to start a year, because you have to look back on your whole life (since 2009, anyway) and that inevitably gets you thinking about the future, and the changes and opportunities that await. I also really like seeing things come to fruition through this. In 2009 a lot of my focus was on what university would be like, because it was still just a dream. Now it's a reality! You can see your dreams come true or change as time goes by. Since 2010 I started asking frantic questions about The Hobbit movies and last year I finally got to answer them. This reflection reminds me that the things I'm excited for now will happen one day, and that anything can happen. One day I'll be using this to reflect on graduate school, getting a job, and starting a family. The future is bright!