Legal 19!

A few days ago, I turned legally 19. And for those of you that don't know, the legal drinking age in Ontario is... 19! Gurl got turrrrrnnnnt (I'm kidding, I would never do that lmao) But, I wanted to do something, so I got together with a friend and we went to a rooftop bar/restaurant in the heart of downtown Toronto.

We mainly went there for the photos, though, seeing as everything there was expensive af. We were not disappointed, the view of the 6ix was great, and the food that we did order tasted great (no photos of the food, whoops!) Then after that, we went to get some real dinner at a nearby ramen place. The ramen was delicious, and my only complaint was that it was a bit too salty. All in all, a great night :)

It was so bright!!!!

Sipping beer like a 5 year old :D

Yes, it's the iconic "follow me around" picture

Thanks for reading,

--J

PS. The reason I keep delaying that DIY notebook post y'all want is because I'm waiting for a very specific back-to-school sale!!! In that sale, the notebooks I'll be using will cost 5 cents instead of the usual $1.10. Yes, call me a cheapo; I do not care. But the tutorial is coming, I promise!

Taking Long Walks ft. Pokémon GO

I really like walking. Now, that might sound really strange coming from a person who HATES exercise, it's actually true. I often take super long walks (I'm talking like 10km) for whatever reason (eg. the dogwood photo challenge, just cuz, and Pokémon GO) and sometimes I see cool things.


So, I thought I'd take this change to share some of those photos with you, and also to rant about the app that is Pokémon GO.

I love the above photo. It was taken during Nuit Blanche of 2015. This is an art piece showing how much garbage we make in a year.

These photos were taken from that day I went downtown to try and take a city-type photo in Chinatown.

Now, these last photos were taken during my first official adventure for the purpose of playing Pokémon GO. The last photo of the Don River is unedited.

Now, I just have a few things to say about Pokémon GO. Let me first just say that I know it hasn't been released in Canada at all yet, so I'm to expect problems with the official apk, but STILL.

The servers suck SO much. Like, the amount of times I've arrived at a Pokémon gym and found that the servers were down is so frustratingly high. Also... isn't there more you guys could do to make your app more battery saving???? Like why must the screen be on to load anything? If only the page could still be working while the screen was off, that would be SO much better.

All of this is just me being salty that it hasn't been officially released in Canada... And also the fact that I've run out of Poké balls. :(

With that being said, despite all the anger that this game has caused me, I actually still really like it.


Thanks for reading,
--J

Plastic-Free July!

In the green community on the Internet, July is a plastic-free month. Basically, it's a month where you try to avoid all the one-use plastics as much as humanly possible. Click here to join the challenge!

Why do we want to go plastic free? Plastic is not biodegradable, can release toxins when heated, and are really bad for aquatic life and aquatic birds. Even though plastic can be recycled, it takes a lot of energy to do so.

I know it can be really hard to completely shut out plastic out of your life so suddenly, but I've come up with several easy solutions we can all adopt to minimize as much plastic from our daily lives as possible. I've kind of touched on this subject before, so if you haven't read that post, here it is!

Such red!

1. Use renewable shopping bags!

In Toronto (and probably other cities as well), many grocery stores will charge 5 cents per plastic bag, so it would be a good idea anyways. The next time you go shopping, bring some reusable bags with you, and say "No thank you" to the ones offered!

Quite a lot of times, when I'm stopping by at the shops, I'm already carrying a school bag, so I just end up putting whatever I picked up in there. The reusable bags are also quite easy to come by, as I usually end up finding lots of them at promotional events. As you can see from the picture, I appears I have many red ones :)

2. Plastic-free food storage

Food storage can be done without plastic wrap. In my opinion, I think it's so wasteful to use that stuff. You use it for a day or two, then throw it away forever. Ugh! Instead of using plastic wrap, you can use glass jars or containers, stainless steel, and even paper! For more ideas on food storage, read this.

3. Plastic water bottles, WHY?!

Same idea as the plastic wrap, but EVEN WORSE. If infuriates me so much to see people carelessly buying cases upon cases of water being bought, and then people only half drinking it before just leaving it to rot (jokes, plastic doesn't rot). The sole reason of the entire bottle of water is to hold 2 cups of water, and then most likely never to be used again. Most of it isn't even recycled.

I know that there are some countries where tap water is literally so dirty that you cannot safely drink it. But, in my glorious country of Canada, as well as many other first world countries, we have the privilege of clean drinking water. Why don't we use that to our advantage?? (Also, would it help in some countries to boil the tap water? I don't know... That's what my mother used to do in China) For more info on bottled water, watch this.

So much energy is put into making the bottles, then shipping the bottles out to put on shelves, only to find that a majority of it comes from the tap anyways. What a waste! And let's not even begin on what happens to it after you're done with it.

The solution? So easy! Use reusable water bottles! It only takes max 30 seconds more out of your day to fill up a reusable water bottle, but will give you a lifetime of happiness, just knowing you didn't contribute carelessly to the destruction of the biosphere. (I am so cheesy, I apologize)

4. Travel mugs

This one is kind of like the water bottles. Cafés like Tim Horton's, Starbucks, McCafé (and probably 95% of all other cafés) all have cups with plastic lids, plastic lining, and sometimes even use plastic straws! So much plastic going towards a drink that you can finish in like 10 minutes! If you buy yourself a coffee 5 times a week, that'll be 20 lids, 20 cups, and maybe 20 coffee stirrers/straws each month! Why would you do that when there's such an easy solution?

Starbucks (and maybe other places) even encourages the use of reusable travel mugs. Every time you buy a drink with a travel mug, you get a 10 cent discount on your drink (that's 26 dollars a year, if you drink 1 coffee 5 times a week)

If you're looking for cute travel mugs, Starbucks themselves have some, and I also really like the ones by KeepCup.

5. Bar soap

As I was doing my readings for this blog post, this one surprised me a little at first. But it makes so much sense when you think about it. Every time you buy another bottle of hand soap, shampoo, shower gel etc, you're buying another bottle of one-use plastic. On the other hand, most soaps come in paper packaging. This one is actually going to be kind of hard for me, though, as I prefer liquid soap to bar soap. But, I would gladly make the change.

In the picture, I have the shea butter one from Dove, and while that's a good one, my FAVOURITE one by Dove is the green tea and cucumber one (sounds strange, but don't hate it till you sniff it). If heaven were a scent, it would smell like the Dove green tea and cucumber scent.

In regards to shampoo and body wash, Lush actually has shampoo bars and body soap that you can buy! I'd never even heard of solid shampoo before this, but apparently, they can last even longer than regular shampoo.

6. BYO Cutlery

Buy here

When I was at university in my first year, I carried around with me a spoon and fork so that I wouldn't have to continuously use new plastic ones every time. I would recommend you guys do this too, makes for a very guilt free meal :)

7. Biodegradable plastic 

Like I said before, usually, I would say use reusable cutlery, but, if you're throwing a big party and you don't have the muscle or time to wash 50+ sets of forks, spoons and knives, you can always spend a little more and go the biodegradable plastic route. (Or use the good ol' bamboo chopstick haha) This should be used as a last resort, though, even though some plastics are labeled as biodegradable, they are often not 100% safe for the environment.

ONE YEAR! and Canada Day

Oh gosh. Sorry for the hiatus, but holy crap, this blog is an entire year old hahaha.

Also, it's Canada day! Just so this post isn't an entire waste of a post, Here are some fun facts on Canada

• Canada is the second largest country
• Canada consumes more mac and cheese than any other country LOL
• License plates in North West Territories is shaped like a polar bear (adding to the stereotype)
• The coldest temperature ever was recorded in Canada (-64C)
• The maple leaf flag we know today only became the official flag of Canada in 1965, almost 100 years after Canada became a country (1867)
• The one dollar coin is actually called a loonie! It's called that because on the coin, is a picture of a loon (bird)

Also, go watch this video made by IISupwerwomanII where she throws shade at Americans (hehe)

The Q in LGBTQ+

The other day, I came across some Youtube videos about asexuality, and it got me thinking... (Video 1, 2, 3) And then I watched Tyler Oakley's most recent video about the events that happened in Orlando... I started wondering what the Q in LGBTQ+ really means, like, I know it stands for queer, but what does "queer" actually mean?

Now, I went to trusty Google with this question, and some of the results that I found confused me. Some websites said it was basically a modern word for gay, lesbian, transgender etc, while others said that it was a word for politics (this is the part that I don't understand). But, after reading multiple websites, Ive come to the conclusion that at least in the acronym LGBTQ+, the Q is basically an umbrella term for everything else, an "other" section.

This "other" section doesn't get talked about very often, does it? The videos mentioned above on asexuality certainly doesn't get much attention. In fact, I've seen many people in Facebook comments, and other comments online saying that it doesn't even exist.

But it does!

Even less talked about is the term "demi-sexual." While I was looking for the definition of "queer" I came across some lists of "common LGBTQ terms" and their definitions (1, 2, 3). Only one of those mention that term.

Okay, so what is demi-sexual? Lemme tell you a thing... For many people, sexual orientation is just one thing; if he's gay, he's just gay, and if she's straight, she's just straight. But really, sexual orientation is a spectrum. It's okay if you feel like you can't be entirely defined by any of the terms that are currently out there, because everyone is different.

I feel like before I explain demi-sexuality, I should probably define asexuality. An asexual person is a person who does not feel sexual attraction towards other people. That is not to say they can't have sex, it's just that they don't want to, and don't feel the need to do it. Like I said before, sexual orientation is a spectrum, so different people can feel asexuality in different degrees. Some may have sex and be impartial to it, and others may never have sex because that's just not for them. A great analogy is presented in this video (the cake analogy is honestly the best thing ever).

Now, enter demi-sexuality, as I'm sure many of you can derive, demi-sexual people are kind of the "in-between" of sexual and asexual people. Demi-sexual: a sexual orientation in which the person will not feel any sort of sexual attraction with another person, unless there is a strong emotional bond, usually in a relationship (I'm sorry it took me so long to get to my main point :s)

For my entire life, I never understood why I didn't feel the same feelings that other people felt. I hated it when people put their arm around me, used me as an arm rest, put their head on my shoulders, gave me long hugs, held hands etc etc. But all the other people felt okay with it.

And even more than that, I didn't understand how friends with benefits worked, like it's mind-boggling to me how someone could have sex with someone else and not be in love with them. That just doesn't make sense to me, the same way it doesn't make sense to a straight person when they think about having sex with someone of their same gender.

For me, there are very few people that can stand very close to me/touch me without making me feel uncomfortable (the same way you'd feel weird if a stranger started invading your private space), and there are even less people in which I would feel comfortable having sex with. I felt very alone, in the world of "omg let's hookup" or "everybody's having sex, let's do it!"

Then, one day, I was scrolling on Tumblr (as you do), and I came across a text post that talked about demi-sexuality. Obviously, I don't have the link to the original post, as this was a long time ago, but as soon as I read it, it was like everything suddenly made sense. There are other people that feel the same way as I do!

Since then, I have been put in several situations in which I felt the need to explain my sexual orientation, and the usual response is just, "what's that?" or "you haven't tried hard enough." Like WTF, I think I know how I feel, thank you very much.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it kinda sucks to feel so alone in this. I don't even know another person who feels the same way I do. And it really doesn't help when the people I do try to explain it to don't even believe me.

I don't think I'm ever going to "come out" and make a Facebook post, or whatever, because that would just be too much explaining, so here I am, writing this post, so that I can link the individuals to it in the future, when I find myself in those situations again. (props to me being so lazy)


If you can relate with me, PLEASE tell me, oh my god, it would be such a relief to be able to actually talk to a real human being that is like me. As always, thanks for reading.
--J

PS. in no way am I trying to say that my life is so hard, so horrible, so difficult, or that I suffer more than anyone else, please don't think that. I know that other people have it much much worse, but I just want to tell a story that doesn't get heard often.

Instagram Diary: Dogwood 52 Challenge

In the beginning of 2016, I started a photography challenge called the Dogwood 52 Challenge. It's basically a year long challenge where you take a photo every week that is inspired by a given prompt. I thought I'd go through some of my past photos and explain a few of them to you guys (so this entire post is basically a huge self-promo session hehe). All of these posts can be found on my Instagram.

Attempting to do a 52 week photography challenge.. Not sure how it'll go, as some of the challenges seem quite impossible for me WEEK I: Start things off right with a selfie! #dogwood52

The first prompt for 2016 was to begin things off with a selfie. But me being me, I can't take selfies to save my life. However, it was the beginning of the year and I wanted to complete the challenge badly so I settled with a picture that included as little of me as possible.

Some people were born to be photographed. The swag is strong in this one. Week IV: Headshot. Ugh the lighting was so crappy that I couldn't properly focus on my subject. #dogwood52 #dogwoodweek4

Week 4's prompt was a headshot. The picture is one of my friend Neesh on a day where he was basically showing me around the UofT St. George campus. In the photo, the lighting is pretty shitty and that's why it looks kinda blurry, but Neesh made it up by being an awesome model :)

Toronto. (Pronounced "tuh-raw-no" by its inhabitants) My favourite city. I love how the only bits of real colour are the word "Toronto" and the Canadian flag in the back. So much nationalism. I'll admit, not the sharpest photo... But this is what happens when you take a picture when it's pissing rain and the wind is blowing you away. WEEK VIII: Panorama #dogwoodweek8 #dogwood52 #toronto

Week 8 consisted of the big ol' panorama. Taken on the gloomiest day ever (thanks Canada). It was raining, super windy, and freezing, so I didn't even bother to check if the photo was a good one, or to take more than one. Thank god it turned out okay (or I would have been photoless for a week)

\\on the inside, I'm still just a kid \\ This is me, sitting on a bench, in front of my old elementary school. So many good memories are in this park. The motto of the school is "we all belong" and honestly, it was the first place where I felt that I belonged *insert cheesy music* WEEK XIII: Highkey portrait #dogwood52 #dogwoodweek13

I didn't even know what highkey meant in the photography world before this, lol. This photo was actually taken when I tagged along with my friend during his shoot of the week. While we were walking home, we came across my old elementary school. Feeling very nostalgic, I asked to stop by and take pics. Trying to get even more of a schoolgirl vibe, I posed on the bench in the typical picture day pose— knees together and hands in lap.

I love wandering in Chinatown in the middle of the day, I look so out of place, like I should be at school or something haha. WEEK XVII: city landscape #dogwood52 #dogwoodweek17

This photo was taken after my first trip to downtown Toronto alone for the sole purpose of wandering around. I was hoping to get a picture of Chinatown (as I haven't been there very many times). I went in not knowing what to expect, and came out with lots of photos and bubble tea.

There are some other pictures that I took that day and didn't use for Dogwood:

2 bananas in one! How cool!!

Pastel houses are the best.

First attempt at a light trail type of photo. Not the best, but I mean... not the worst either right? WEEK XX: Night owl #dogwoodweek20 #dogwood52

This picture was taken on a night when I went to visit my old cadet squadron, and is my first attempt at a light trail type of photo. It was taken over a highway, but sadly there weren't as many cars as I hoped there would be.

Toronto the beautiful WEEK XXIII Weather #dogwoodweek23 #dogwood52 #torontoskyline

 This was taken just a few days ago on a yacht called Obsession III at a dinner party that was hosted by my dad's work place for their 25th anniversary. The boat toured the GTA waters and I got to see this beautiful skyline in the day and night.

There are some other pictures:

I'm just gonna hope at least one of you found this interesting LOL, thanks for reading,

--J

8 Shows You HAVE TO See

Gosh, sometimes it astonishes me how much great content there is in this world. And, I, like most other people, love snuggling up in bed to watch a good TV show, so I thought I'd share some of the ones I like the most with you :)

1. Sherlock

To me, Sherlock isn't really a TV show but more more of a series of movies, as every episode is 1.5h long. I love Benedict Cumberbatch in this show, I love how he can string together long lines at an amazing speed and not mess up. I also love Sherlock's relationship with his partner-in-crime, John Watson. BBC does a very accurate modern interpretation of Conan Doyle's books. If you haven't seen the series, you must.

Avatar

By Avatar, I'm talking about both The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra. The first thing that I really noticed with these two shows is the different art styles. Legend of Korra seems to have a very comic book art style, while Last Airbender looks more like an anime. 

Even though these two shows are meant for children, it still has a very gripping storyline, one that I would say is better than some of the adult TV shows I've seen. While I was watching these series, I found myself wishing that magic like this existed, that I, too, could be a bender. It's the perfect mixture of serious action and comic relief. If you want to watch this show (which you really should), I recommend clearing up your schedule, because you will not be able to stop at just one episode.

Scandal

Yes, yes, I know this is not the most recent show, but I started about a week ago and I must say, I'm hooked. I'm not even done the series yet, and I already know that it's one of my favourites. I love how many powerful, smart, and cunning women there are in this series, I love how the main character is a strong independent black woman. This show has a way of conveniently leaving out crucial information that the plot needs and ends every single episode on a cliffhanger, which only makes me want to see the next episode even more, and thus the reason to my binge-watching behaviour for the past week.

As a person who is a sucker for corny endings, the love triangle I found myself in was perfect to keep my eyes peeled to the screen. I can't properly review this one, as I haven't finished it, but there is something truly amazing about this show, and if you were to watch even one episode, I think you'd see what I mean.

Gossip Girl

Another oldie, but another goodie. The story starts when the super rich and super popular Serena Van Der Woodsen arrives back in the Upper East Side of NYC. There, we meet her best friend, Blair Waldorf. Blair, who is by far my favourite character is so sassy and cunning; her remarks make my entire life.

As we watch, we get entangled in the drama of the Upper East Side, watching as an anonymous blogger, Gossip Girl, leaks everyone's secrets. If, like me, you've dreamed about living lavishly, with more money in your bank that you could imagine, this show is for you. Side note: this show contains one of my favourite ships everrr XD

The Vampire Diaries

Don't judge till you've seen it, okay? I know the vampire fad died out a long time ago, after Twilight, but, this show is nothing like the die-hard romance you find in many other vampire series. Even though this show is mainly following Elena Gilbert and her love interests, it's so much more than that. Through The Vampire Diaries, a whole new world is created, a world whose history seems to all surround in Mystic Falls. While I ship Blair and Chuck so hard, they have nothing on Delena. Delena forever!!

InuYasha

I have no shame in admitting that I am in love with this children's series. Honestly, I don't even understand how this was meant for children, the storyline is so bloody and gruesome sometimes that I would rate it PG 13 at least. If you're going to watch this, I recommend watching it in Japanese with subtitles. That way you can really see the exact words of each character and their intended tone.

From the beginning, you can tell Kagome and InuYasha were destined to be with each other, but, for 99.9% of the story, they remain only friends, and I love that about the story. There love for each other is completely emotional and not tinted by physical attractiveness at all and that hits me right in the feels. Not ashamed to say that they're my OTP <3 <3 (insert crazy fangirl noises here)

Suits

Canadians represent!!!! I feel so proud of the fact that I can recognize some of the sets in Suits because it was shot in Toronto, even though the story itself takes place in New York. Suits is about an illegitimate lawyer who is a super-genious-mastermind and the lawyer that hired him. As their relationship grows, and drama surfaces, we learn that they would go to any lengths possible for the people they love, especially each other. This is another binge watching worthy show, so set aside a lot of time for this one, folks!

Once Upon A Time

Why don't I hear people talking about this more often!?!? This show is golden! I can't be the only one who still loves a good fairytale... This show starts when Emma is taken to Storybrooke by Henry, a son she had and gave up for adoption. Henry tries to convince Emma that she is the daughter of Snow White and that all the fairytale characters were stuck without their happy endings. Emma is the Saviour, she is the one that will bring back all the happy endings. But, being the normal, sane adult Emma is, she doesn't believe Henry. 

This show is so friggen good. Unlike Disney, where everything is super duper happy and everyone is fine and dandy, Once Upon A Time tells these fairytales in such a real and heart-wrenching way. The producers almost make you believe that this could have indeed happened, in a far away land, in another reality. This show is the perfect mix of magic and the real world. If you really like princesses, and fairies, magic, and adventure, this show is the one for you!

---

Yeah, when I started to write this post, I didn't realize it would end up just being a massive fangirl session for me. So, sorry if I don't make sense at some points; it's only because I am so so so excited and passionate about these shows. They honestly are the best ever. 

If you have any shows that you think should have made this list, please comment below, because binge watching shows is one of my all time favourite activities ;)

--J