Jane Eyre

So I'm reading Jane Eyre for the first time. I feel like this is a long overdue read because I've seen almost every movie adaption of the book and love the story. I'm finding Jane a lot more interesting and strange than in the movies, as well as boring. Her character is so disconnected from its self I don't know what to make of her! She talks about herself like she's another person although she is narrating the story. I guess it is showing an example of human change which can be interesting, but since I haven't finished the book (not even close to it) I can't tell you how she changes.

One particular character trait I find very appealing in Jane is her restlessness and her romantic notions. This is very apparent when she meets Mr. Rochester for the first time. She has all these exciting ideas running through her head about who is approaching her on the trail, imagining that is a mythic creature. I Also found it very interesting that Mr. Rochester's character picks up on this when he 'officially' meets Jane. The entire scene of them meeting is lacking in emotion, besides interesting in Mr. Rochester simply because he is the first man she has seen in ages, Jane expresses little emotion. Mr. Rochester is simply gruff and rude. Jane and Mr. Rochester's character's seem to be mirrors or doubles of each other. Both expressing curiosity in each other, but without being able to comprehend each other. This incomprehension could reflect the separate social worlds of men and women of the Victorian era. The women being the 'angel of the house' and Mr. Rochester being a man of the world. This is reflected very well in the two character's role through this portion of the novel. Jane, being a governess is automatically his subordinate, but when he asks her to talk with him on equal terms with him he is really asking her to talk with him on terms of them being equal man and woman, not equal individuals. He says that' he can order her because he has more experience, is older and has travelled more. Jane points out that that shouldn't be the reason he orders her around.

Jane's character also has a very feminist edge, which I like because it is unusual for novels of that period, but maybe having a female author gives it this. She talks about how education should be equal for men and women and how women get bored with the small world men place them in, she also points out that men would get bored in that place as well. Jane also constantly holds her place in the household and acts with little emotion which makes her character seem almost flat in some instance. This is very unusual for the main character of a novel.

I think I love her, but I still haven't come to a conclusive decision, I'd like to see a little more emotion from her. Hopefully when she falls in love she'll be more interesting.

Anyway I'll write another post on my feelings on this chica cause I need to figure them out!

A sad story (or a happy one, depending on your point of view)

I've ever been very good with boys. I suck at talking to them, usually just the cute or appropriately aged ones. I tend to act stupid, silly, boring or shy. It sucks. I've recently been challenging myself to over come this because I realize how silly and insecure it is, but it is a challenge. Last night I had one of those challenges thrown at me. Albeit a small one, but still a challenge. My best friend and I went out to a bar to go dancing (Monday is a popular dancing night in Victoria) we waited in line for ever and just wanted to get in there to drink and dance! Finally we made it inside got some booze and started dancing. I found a cute, normal looking guy dance with relatively quickly. Unfortunately he wanted to do more than just dance. After dancing for a bit, he offered to buy me a drink, since I couldn't see my friend and had no excuse not to let him, we went to the bar. I knew at this point he was just trying to get me to go home with him, but I wasn't going to turn down a free drink so I had a shot and something with jager in it. I sat with him and his friends for a short time, until they said they were gonna go. This was good because I wanted to get rid of the guy at this point. I gave him a fake number (sends the message pretty well) and went back to dance more. I danced for a short time before I spied a guy that works at another club who I've always been attracted too. I'd seen him out dancing a couple of other times, but never had an opportunity to actually dance with him. I told my friend I wanted to dance with him. He disappeared a couple of times, but finally we were dancing near him! I felt shy and nervous because I wanted to dance with him so much, but I didn't think he would even notice me. He danced with another girl for a bit, but she quickly disappeared. My friend had been attempting to help me out by making eyes at the guy so he would come over. He did, but unfortunately thought she wanted to dance with him not me! Another guy came up and started to dancing with me. He was very grabby and just wanted to grind whereas I like to actually dance and move around. I was just about to bail because I was sick of watching my friend with the guy I wanted AND having to dance with a shitty dancer when my friend grabbed me and asked where I was going. Apparently she told the guy she was dancing with that I had wanted to dance with him not her. We danced until close to the end of the night, and I was sooooo happy we did because he is and was an amazing dancer! Knew his moves, actually danced, not just grinded or grabbed, it was so nice and refreshing. I think he was still more interested in my friend, but I kind of didn't care it's just nice to spend some time with someone your insanely attracted to, even though nothing comes of it.

And that's my story for the day. The reason I called it a sad story was because I felt like the dance was a pity dance that my friend got for me, not one based on this boy actually being attracted to me, but I could never say for sure cause I didn't and would never ask.

Feather earrings

I made feathers into earrings because I thought they would be like wings and come alive to fly me away. 

Then I realized that feathers unattached to their bird aren’t alive and I wasn’t going any where… at least I have a pretty pair of earrings. 

Why I like Punk music.

I love punk music. The entire genre. If you asked me any time before last night I probably couldn't tell you why, but I was thinking about it during a bout of insomnia and I realized why I love it so much. The idea (whether spoken or unspoken, agreed or not) behind punk is to be anti-establishment. To be against authority and to be radical. I am not any of these things. This sounds confusing, but I'll explain the appeal for me. It draws the listeners attention to something that might be against their ideals or beliefs, but it also creates debate and interest in the subject. Punk songs tend to focus on chaotic situations and sometimes destructions, they also point out things in society that we take for granted, but could be considered completely ridiculous. I revel in the ridiculous so this was what first drew me to the genre. The music it's self is raw and chaotic which also appeals to me. It isn't about being polished or pretty, it's about the message and it's about jumping around and acting crazy.

Some punk music today leans a lot more towards pop, such as Green Day, but they still manage to capture the essence of the genre. Green Day wrote American Idiot in one night after loosing there other album. I think this is pretty awesome, maybe untrue, but the idea still captures what punk is about. It's just about music and a message, not about being perfect or beautiful. Music doesn't always have to be pretty, this is a very current idea, especially with the over use of auto tuning. I think that music needs to be raw. I'm not saying i'm gonna start rejecting top 40's or auto tuned songs, there are some great ones out there that I love, but I do support music that is just music and I feel like punk is about being music with no bullshit. It's about throwing preconceived ideas about society back into the listeners face to make them realize that there are alternatives. Yeah, it can be in-your-face, angry and messy, but some times that is the best way to stand out and make people listen.

Anyway that is just a little about my favourite genre of music, what are some of yours? 

Cool stuff to do in Victoria in the Summer Part I: traditional summer activities.

I believe I promised this list of cool things to do in Victoria and since it's summer I'ma add that in there. This is just some things that I really enjoy doing. I think I'll make it numbered for fun, but don't take the numbers as any sort of rating system because they aren't.

1. Beaching/sun bathting/swimming etc. There are some amazing place to spend your beach days at in Victoria so I'ma make a mini sublist here of my favourites!

A) Fossil or Muir Creek Beach. This is a popular one with Sookies like me! Mostly because it is waaaay out on West Coast road. Since I live out there it's not to bad for me, but somebody in town probably isn't gonna visit it very often. It's a great beach because it's super long so you can easily find a location without anyone else around, but you can see all the down the beach so you can see people coming. It's not so great for swimming because the water is really cold and rough, but it's great for sunbathing and it does have some awesome tidal pools at low tides you can wade in. This is the beach my family always went to when I was a kid because it was close by and it wasn't as busy as the more popular beaches. 

B) Thetis Lake. This is a super popular swimming/beaching location. It's great if you wanna go out to be seen and see. I like to check out the cute boys :P. It some times does get swimmers itch or whatever, so that's not cool, but I've honestly always enjoyed by experience there. 

C) Willows Beach. This is right in Victoria, unlike the previous three beaches. It's in Oak Bay which is sometimes considered a ritzier neighbourhood. This beach contains a lot of sand and cute boys. It always is decent for swimming since the dropoff isn't very steep. Very popular beach for the locals. I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of time there this summer because my bestfriends all live down town. 

D) Witty's Lagoon. This beach has a nude beach section. Enough said. I know a lot of people don't really like that sort of thing, but I sorta enjoy sunbathing topless sometimes so it's nice to have a nude beach. You just have to be okay with old men ogling you and seeing them nude. Not so pretty. This beach is also great for swimming and has a lot of sand. I really like it because it's in Metchison so it's outside Sooke, but not quite Langford, i.e. it's busier than Sooke Beaches, but not as busy as Thetis. It is also another large beach, although not as large as Muir Creek. And if your worried about taking the kids there because of the whole nudist thing, don't sweat it that section is around a corner and down the beach, Witty's Lagoon is very popular with school trips and parents. 

E) The Sooke Potholes. This is basically a Sooke Staple because you can't really go swimming in the ocean around Sooke (too cold/wind/dropped off) people had to find alternatives and this is one. The other being Kemp Lake, which is a little to gross to swim in and since I drink the water from that lake I don't wanna swim in it as much. Anyway the potholes are very popular in the summer, but the good thing about them is you can always move to a less popular pothole! You can also take a nice little bike trip up to Leach Town and swim there. It's great if you wanna be around people or want privacy, although I wouldn't recommend going nude here, you never know who's watching! 

2. Dancing. Now I know this isn't for everyone and some people might want to call me a barstar or barwhore, but I honestly just like to dance, drink and be surrounded by cute boys, is there something so wrong with that? I don't think so! Anyway there are some decent clubs in victoria my friends and I frequent. My favourite is Touch because they have like three rooms and the staff is a lot friendlier than at other bars (the bouncers know me!). 9one9 is the most popular and they have a lot of neat shows there which I never seem to have money to go too :(. If your looking for live music then Lucky Bar is definitely good for that, I usually just go to 90's night (90210 night, every monday!) because it's fun to hear the 90's tunes and the dancing is good, although it's usually packed which sucks. If your looking for a bit of an older crowd Upstairs is good for that, it's really spiffy looking inside, lots of wood. Boutique is better if your looking for a younger crowd, Thursday's are the night for that, because it's Ladies night and cheap drinks (i.e. no cover for girls!).

3. Hiking. I really like to hike. The hikes I tend to do are a bit more advanced, you could say (bush wacking anyone?) but there are some awesome hikes in and around Victoria. Mostly in my neighbourhood actually... East Sooke Park has some great ones, which I've done a few times. It's a good place to start because there is something for everyone. There are easier and more challenging hikes, shorter and longer too. If your looking for a more easy hike (walk) there is always the Galloping Goose Trail which is kinda dull in my opinion, but can be a good bike ride. 

List needed.

Flirting

Iced coffee/ice capps

Austra

book shopping

people watching dt

Feathers

Bows

Blond hair

Hobbies

Sausage rolls

Bed.

Getting lost in the bush

Making jewelry

Anticipation

Tans

Long conversations

Buying books because they are related to music you like!

Epic Hike

Today I went hiking with my mom and aunt. It was intense and awesome because it ended up being this long bush wacking session. Basically we got the top of this hill on one trail and couldn't figure out how to get down. We had already walked to the other end of the ridge so we didn't want to go back to find the trail we had come up on. We ended up clambering down the back of the ridge using deer trails which was pretty interesting. By the time we got to the bottom we had no clue where we were, but by using maps and our GPS's we figured out there was a trail near by.

We started walking south-ish thinking that we would hit the trail soon. We didn't and we some how ended up beside a swamp with the trail we needed on the other side! First we attempted to walk down the swamp to find the end and get to the trail. We quickly realized that it was gonna be to tough because the underbrush was so thick and we were in a valley so the only other place to go was up, also the swamp was just not ending! We ended up turning around and going back along the difficult deer trail we had just came down. It was intense, we weren't sure if we were going the right way or if the trail was even on the other side of the swamp. It would have been completely impossible to go back up the hill we had come down because it was already the middle of the afternoon and it was a steep climb back up.

This is when things became confusing and annoying. It wasn't as if we thought we wouldn't get out, my aunt and mom are both very experienced hikers, especially in Sooke, but we were all getting tired, running out of food and water and just wanting to be out of the woods! Finally we had to go to the other end of the swamp and found the trail we were looking for immediately. There was a small emotional moment for us, which resulted in a fight (the norm for my family). Anyway we eventually made it out alive.

We literally zoomed down the trail because it felt like really easy walking compared with all the intense bush wacking we'd been doing. By the time we got to the road we were all exhausted and I wasn't sure whether I'd make it back to the car since the walk back was along the highway for 2k and basically sucks because everyone just whips past you and your watching cars drive by while you have to walk. It sucked. I can safely say that was the only part of the hike I didn't like. Everything else was pretty amazing and awesome. Could write about the rest, but it was pretty much your generic hike and I don't have pictures so it makes it a little boring if you don't know what I'm going on about. I took my camera to take pics,  but then realized I forgot to empty it first!

Anyway that is the epic hike I had. It made my day and now I'm sitting here goofing around on the computer and drinking my chocolate porter (so yummy), basically another awesome day, if only my team hadn't lost 8-1 to Boston in the playoff's it would have been perfect! :(

What I've been up to.

Dancing and drinking.

Making daisy chains in the park while dancing and drinking. 

Working. 

Stalking the coffee boy.

Reading Interesting Times (Terry Pratchett) and Jane Eyre. 

Beaching (i.e. laying on the beach with a book in my bikini, I consider this the most productive thing I've done so far). 

Getting boys numbers who never call, or only call once and never again. 

Not sleeping. 

Shopping (thrifiting)

 

Buying random shit, just for the sake of buy random shit. 

Apartment hunting. 

Eating delicious cooking by my sister and mom <3!

Watching the Food network, Sex and the City and TLC.

Watching Misfits and the Republic of Boyle (online).

Going to the movies. 

Attending poetry slams. 

Sleeping (little).

Job hunting. 

Writing blog posts. 

Being broke. 

Messaging the same going on Okcupid, despite the fact he lives in washington and there is no foreseeable future. 

Wow! I sound busy, that's cool. I like to seem busy, even though I'm feeling pretty lame. I had such a shit day at work I just felt like cry for the first half hour of my shift. I got there and immediately got a headache, not cool, then I started to think about how Ariana and I will never work together again, or hang out almost every morning at school. :'(. That's when I almost cried. I hate losing amazing friends. I know it's stupid, and I know I'll see her again, probably soon. I mean my sister and I are already planning to head to Van for see the Surrealist art show, hello, as if we could miss that!!! 

Yeah, just been a gloomy day. I want something or someone to do, badly. Summer can be sooooo boring. Some days are amazing. I had an amazing weekend with some awesome people, mainly one of my BFF's Kayla, but it was also stressful. I went and looked at an apartment with my friend and it was sooo tiny and uncomfortable. I don't want to tell her, but I cannot live with her. I know this for sure now. I don't even want to be friends with her right now, she irritates me to much and at the same time I love her to death. I can just see that combination being dangerous. Anyway as you can see from that list I have been truly busy, truly! I will write that list about shit to do in Victoria soon! I promise it's coming!!! 

That's really all I've got for now, the list above (just to clarify) isn't a happy things list, it's just a list of what I've been doing. Trust me, working would not make it onto my happy things list. Peace and good night ya'll.