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Midterm season is upon us and thank goodness for an extra day of the year! As promised, the March 2016 calendars are now available for print in two sizes:
small calendar
8.5 x 11″ big calendar
Enjoy and good luck with your studies. Stay tuned for the April 2016 calendar!
How do you get to know a person? You talk to them, right? Hi. What’s your name? What do you do for a living? Where are you from? Most relationships start with small talk, but there’s an intimacy to being strangers to someone that can’t be described with a single word or phrase. Because of clashing schedules and busy lives, many of us have spent at least one moment or another alone, whether it be studying in the library during a break, grabbing a quick bite or even commuting to school. When I’m not zoning out looking through a window or burying my nose in a textbook, I like to think about the endless possibilities to be had with strangers. As Alice Munro put it, it’s like “looking into an open secret, something not startling until you think of trying to tell it.”
Just the other day, I was waiting in line to order at Subway. I wasn’t sure what to order, so I decided to listen to the guy in front of me and copy his exact words. “One six-inch sub of the day on honey oat bread, please.” I noticed a slight tremble to his voice. Was he nervous to order? Was he, also like me, unsure of what to order? Or maybe he was just so hungry he couldn’t think properly. I wondered what it was.
Walking towards the 510 Spadina streetcar from the northbound subway, I trailed down the path where street musicians often play for small change. I happened to be right behind a girl who seemed to be my age. I figured we’d both walk by casually but then she reached into her purse and tossed in some loose change. Did she always participate in this random act of kindness? Or was the music especially deserving today? Was this something her parents or guardian had taught her to do? I wondered what it was.
I didn’t think much of these thoughts until we discussed Alice Munro’s Open Secrets in English Class (ENG215 if anybody is wondering). Through the few observations the narrator makes on a couple, she begins to wonder about the possibilities behind them and this startled her. We can see so much without even saying a word. We can choose what to say and what decisions to make, but at the end of the day, it’s the little things we do that reveal our open secrets.
Introducing the February 2016 calendar! The January calendar was a hit, so I’ll be continuing this line of printable calendars until April!
The calendar is available in two different sizes (click for a dropbox link)
a smaller one
and
a larger, full 8.5 ” x 11 ” one.
I tried to keep this calendar as universal as possible, but I just couldn’t waft away the aroma of Valentine’s Day! Whether you’re single or in a romantic relationship, Valentine’s Day is a day of love and care. You may go with a simple card from your local craft store for your friends, a box of chocolates for your family, or even a bouquet of roses for your special someone. Why not go with something handmade like an origami rose (this one will last you a lifetime!) Check out the pdf here for instructions.
Happy February!
Muji is a “Minimalist Japanese retailer with a wide range of generic products, including apparel and home goods” (from Google). For this blog post, I’ll be reviewing a small selection from their stationery section.
Muji pens are my favourite product they offer. For a decent price, you can choose from a range of pen sizes: 0.3 mm to 0.7 mm. The 0.3 mm pens are a bit too thin, so I prefer the 0.4 mm. Their pens are quite inky: they don’t spill onto the next page but they do run out of ink fast! It’s been hardly a month into school and I’ve already burned through quite a few (this being my second haul this semester).
To save space, I went with the tri-pen (is this even the right word for it?) Basically, it’s an empty pen capsule that lets you put in three pen inks, which you buy separately. Pen inks range from 0.3 mm to 0.4 mm and there are three basic colours to choose from: red, blue and black. Blue and black are my go-to colours.
Instead of having to haul three different pens in my pencil case, I can play it clean and simple with a tri-pen (I’m sure this is a word I’ve made up by now). Once the tri-pen’s inks run out, you can easily buy another refill and keep on writing. (I hoard a handful for convenience’s sake).
There are also a wide range of normal coloured pens to choose from:
This is actually my first time purchasing Muji notebooks so I can’t say for certain how well they’ll fit my tastes, but they are a bit thin and I’d probably burn through them in a month as well. The biggest incentive to buying these notebooks is the decoration area they have set up right next to the cash register. After you’ve purchased your plain notebooks you can head on over to the deco-area and stamp them up with different designs (yes, the notebooks in the photo above used to be blank)! Here’s a picture of the stamp table from Google:
So if you’re into cute, simple stationery supplies, Muji is definitely the place for you! Visit their website for more information, products, and prices . Cheers!
Happy new year!
With a new year comes a new semester and a fresh start. To set things off, I’ll be kicking it old school with a printed January 2016 calendar. I have calendar apps on my phone, tablet, and computer, but nothing beats paper and pen. With digital apps comes reminders, but I seem to always to swipe them away with a flick of a finger. With a printed calendar, I’ll have it taped on my desk, staring me smack in the face, a continuous reminder of things to finish and deadlines to meet.
The January 2016 calendar shown above is available for download and print right here at blogUT.ca. It was designed by yours truly. Two sizes are available: a full letter sized calendar and a smaller one as pictured. Personally, I prefer the smaller calendar since my desk is pretty small, but if you’re a busybody with more things to add, the full 8.5 ” x 11 ” is definitely the one for you.
Downloads (click for direct link to Dropbox):
Small calendar
Full letter sized (8.5 ” x 11 “) calendar
If you’re interested in a February 2016 calendar as well, comment down below and I’ll definitely whip something up!
Cheers.
Back in high school, our English classes gave particular attention to credibility: how to be a credible writer and how to find credible sources. I never really thought much of it. It’s a lesson, it’s homework, it’s an assignment. Once done, it’s over. I probably won’t look back on it again. But here I am, with the sudden ringing of my high school teacher’s voice telling me to be skeptical of what I hear, see, and read.
Friday night was when word on Paris being attacked was plastered all over news outlets and social media. I immediately felt sorrow for Paris, and even shared a couple of grieving photos and statuses myself. The next morning, Facebook installed that new “Paris Profile Picture” update. I didn’t do it. Not because I had anything against Paris, but because I forgot about the other countries in the world experiencing the same hardships that were in many ways worse than Paris. A couple days later, there were some posts on my newsfeed about #PrayForTheWorld. It included Japan and their earthquake, Beirut and their suicide bombings. But what about Syria? What about Palestine?
I’m not one to delve myself into politics and world issues, but the pressing matter is the credibility of our journalists and news outlets. We’re clearly missing half the story, maybe even three quarters of it. What about the rest of the world? And even if they do report on it, chances are, what they say is skewered. I’ve seen the comments and even the petitions going on in an attempt to stop Syrian refugees from coming to Canada. Why haven’t they reported a positive light on Syrian Refugees? Does the world truly believe Syria is full of terrorists? What about Palestine? What about Palestine?
Many people (I’ll narrow it down to North Americans for the time being) are unaware of the real situation in Palestine. That has to do with our search engines, with Google. When I tried to Google what was going on in Palestine, I got a whole load of propaganda videos. It took me awhile to actually find the real stuff, with big help to my very educated peers of course. But the entire Google fiasco made me think to myself, why is the truth hidden in a bed of lies? Google isn’t as free as we think it is (we actually had a discussion about this in ENG287). It’s an American company you should be skeptical of. Extremely skeptical of, if I may reiterate. Unless you try really hard, you won’t be able to find the credible sources you’re looking for. Below is a video Banksy filmed on the situation in Palestine:
It’s crazy if you think about it. Banksy’s creation and video of Dismaland was covered by a variety of news outlets and social medias, so why hasn’t this video received the views it should be?
When I was riding on the subway this morning, I felt a surge of fear. I wondered, “what if this subway blows up? what if this subway gets hijacked? I’m underground. I can’t send any text messages. No one will know what happened to me.” And it was at that precise moment that I realized, I was succumbing to the war on terror. I let the news instill a fear in me that I was going to die by the hands of a terrorist. How could I let the news do this to me?
I’m not sure where I’m going with this post now. All I can do is ask you to be skeptical for the right reasons. Read the news, but be skeptical. We only see, hear and read what they want us to see, hear and read. Use the intelligence and knowledge you were given to make the right conclusions. Don’t let others make a conclusion for you. Don’t be a follower of social trends.
What is iBento?
iBento is a small family run restaurant located on 235A College Street; right across the UofT Bookstore. They serve Korean as well as Japanese dishes ranging from bulgogi to sushi bento boxes. Although this place is mostly grab-and-go there are a few individual seats, about five in the style of counter-seats. They’ve got a nice radio station and bento boxes come with a free bowl of warm, hearty miso soup. Green tea is also sold for a dollar a cup.
Taste: 8.3/10
Compared to the other Asian dishes served on UofT campus such as Spring Rolls on the Go, iBento beats it by far. So far I’ve tried the bulgogi bento box (pictured above) and the spicy chicken rice plate (S2 combo). Both meat portions had a fresh aroma and there was a limited amount of oils/fats. One of the biggest meal-breakers for me is saltiness. When I taste excess salt, I can’t help but think of the possibility that they prepared their meals with MSG (monosodium glutamate- look this up if you don’t know what it is!). iBento’s meals are flavourful in it’s own unique style.
Although it’s prepared quickly, it’s taste is nowhere near that of fast food. After consuming fast food, I feel groggy and to be honest, less efficient than I usually am. When it comes to iBento I feel fueled and ready to get going!
Price: 7.4/10
For it’s quality taste, iBento’s prices are extremely reasonable. The bulgogi bento box was around 12 dollars while the spicy chicken rice meal was about 6 dollars. The portions, however, are a bit smaller than average. I have a small appetite when it comes to lunch but I’m able to finish these entire meals. Not only am I able to have a tasty, hearty meal for lunch, I’m also able to go on the rest of my day without feeling the guilt of trashing my leftovers.
Convenience: 8.1/10
Right around the corner of College and Huron, iBento is a convenient place for those with classes situated near College St. So if you’ve got class in Con Hall (like me!) or the engineering buildings, Galbraith or Bahen this is definitely a go to place! Continue reading “blogUT Eats: iBento Review”