beboots | Entries tagged with happiness

GUYS GUYS GUYS CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO: Peter Jackson Posts First Video from the Set of The Hobbit. It's ten minutes long... and I was smiling and and full of glee for that entire ten minutes. My face hurts I'm so happy. \o/

I mean, we've all been hearing rumours about the filming of The Hobbit, ever since Return of the King finally came out on DVD, you know? And I felt that we'd kind of been strung along, will they or won't they, and I know I'd heard that they were finally moving forward, but I happened to stumble across someone linking this in their twitter feed a little while ago and it just makes me so, SO happy.

I read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings when I was like ten. I was told I had to read the latter before dad would take me to see the Fellowship of the Ring. I did. I didn't understand all of it at that age (for the first three chapters or so I thought that "Merry" was "Mary" - a girl - and was disappointed when I found out s/he wasn't), but it still remains one of my favourite book series ever.

I have vague memories of my nine-year-old self reading The Hobbit to my younger brother in bed. It's an amazing story that I think will never grow old.

I'm definitely going to reread the ENTIRE series this summer, post haste, as soon as I finish exams. Perhaps I will even be doing so in Spain, if I can find a nice, small and compact paperback version (likely at a secondhand bookstore).

I'm also SUPER happy that Martin Freeman is going to be playing Bilbo Baggins. I think he will be absolutely perfect in the role, especially as he will be continually played off of the dwarves. Check out this video to see why he has the perfect facial expression for dealing with recalcitrant dwarves.

I suspect Martin Freeman will also have had plenty of practice as an actor dealing with other actors being eccentric to his practicality, as seen in the BBC's Sherlock, which is ALSO amazing.

Anyway, in conclusion... SUPER EXCITED, GUYS. You can bet I'm going to be waiting for these video blogs religiously. The Hobbit...! <3 <3 <3

Current Mood: jubilant
Current Music: Lord of the Rings OST

Today was a lovely day! ... Not the least of which was because I did next to no homework! (I may pay for it in stress later on, but man if it doesn't feel good right now. <3 )

The sun is shining! I feel that spring is on the way. After a long dark winter, the snow seems to be consistently melting. You get these lovely patches of crackly ice on the sidewalks that make a satisfying crunching noise as you walk over them in the morning just after the sun has risen. I've loved doing that ever since I was a child.

( Last class with my research supervisor. Feeling melancholy, but at least there were cookies. )

( Happy news about pretty dresses at Fort Edmonton! )

( Job interview for the Quebec program - definitely nailed it! )

Today was a really good day. I needed a day like this, after weeks (months, really) of stress about my future and about papers and research and such. The end of the semester is in sight! I'm feeling really positive at the moment. :) I hope that some of my good cheer spreads across to you, o reader! I'm thinking positive thoughts your way. :)

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: The True North Strong and Free

So I got a call this morning - I got the Fort Edmonton job! <3 <3 <3

I'm really, really happy about this. Again, I was 98% sure I had the job, but when they take weeks and weeks getting back to you and you hear about other people being hired for similar positions first... I feel self-doubt.

Now that's one less thing I have to be anxious about. I can focus on finishing my papers and studying for exams!

I mean, Fort Ed not the BEST paying job in the world - I could theoretically find better paid work in a warehouse somewhere - but that's not the point. Money is all well and good, but by working at the fort I get to actually enjoy my summer. I have fun, get fresh air, do historical research, wear pretty clothes and make pretty jewelry... I get paid to talk to people from all over the world or from right here in Alberta about the history of the region, and its awesome peculiarities. I get paid to talk about super-cool historical stuff.

Plus, the vast majority of the coworkers are absolutely amazing people.

I'm going to be in the Fort (1846) Era again, possibly in the same role as last year. :) I have a different supervisor, but I know him to be awesome, so this is great too. :) It's going to be an awesome season! :D

To end this post off (short, because I really should be doing homework right now >_> ), here is that gleeful photograph of myself in costume from last year, which effectively describes my mood at the moment:

(On a completely different note: so, uh, Russian cyberterrorists?)

Current Mood: cheerful

I try to make mental lists of things that make me happy every so often, just in case I have a bad day.

( What am I anxious about? Jobs, papers, group projects... )

( Things to make me happy: visas, interviews, shopping wins, and free dinner & drinks. )

Current Mood: cheerful

Hey guys!

So I checked my e-mail this morning, and I found THIS in my inbox:
Hello,
Congratulation!
Your application for a position as a Teaching English Assistant in France for the year 2011/2012 has been approved.
Your application will be forwarded to the Academy (school board) of ROUEN for an high school level which is a 7 months contract.
Before giving you the next procedures regarding your visa, could you please confirm that you are accepting this position ?
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Regards,

Félicitation!
Votre candidature pour un poste d’assistant de langue anglaise en France a été retenue pour l’année 2011/2012.
Votre dossier sera proposé à l’académie de ROUEN pour une affectation au niveau secondaire d’une durée de 7 mois.
Avant de vous donner plus d'informations concernant les démarches à faire pour votre visa, je souhaiterais que vous me confirmiez que vous acceptez bien ce poste.
Dans l'attente de votre réponse,
Cordialement,[NAME OF THE WONDERFUL LADY AT THE FRENCH EMBASSY IN OTTAWA]

All of those tears and stress have finally paid off! I'm so happy I didn't just give up when I found out my application was late! <3 <3 <3 Now I have to apply for a working Visa, do research about the city, find a place to live... BUT I HAVE A JOB! It begins October 1st, so I'll probably leave for France in the first week or so of September... <3 <3 <3 I am super excited! :D

Current Mood: excited
Current Location: Canada... but not for long!

I'm not sure if I mentioned it anywhere yet - I'm sure if I did I didn't talk about it in detail - but on Wednesday I got to be a part of the short film they're making at Fort Edmonton. <3

For some information on the Capitol Theatre project, see here. Long story short: they're building a new theatre on 1920s street at the living history museum, right next to the Hotel Selkirk (which is a functioning hotel, by the way, with gorgeous rooms and delicious food). It's a super-exciting project! They'll be able to use it as a theatre space for dramatic productions, if they want, but during regular hours they'll be able to show 1920s silent films... plus some 1930s Talkies. :) (I put my vote in for "Freaks" and Bela Lugosi's "Dracula".)

They're also making an original film, entitled "Northern Light" or something like that, the plot of which essentially boils down to "10,000 years of Edmonton's history in 10 minutes". ( Cut for long-winded explanation of awesomeness, plus photographs. )

(Note: those things in the foreground aren't tombstones covered in snow. They are in fact ice walls built for the snowball fight competition being held there pretty soon. Can you think of a cooler setting for a snowball fight? :D )

Some of the beaded belts laid out on the table in Clerk's Quarters, ready to be chosen. Adele, the costumer, brought out our bag of "bling", as we call it: belts and chokers and so on so we could deck ourselves out. We laid them out quite nicely and several of us spent time photographing them. For more photographs of these belts (as well as more shots of the Fort in wintertime), see this album here.

Aaand... that's all she wrote!

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Lord of the Rings OST

(Edit: I feel that I need a more "jubilantly" happy icon as opposed to "mildly positive". Hmm... Suggestions?)

Huzzah! This doesn't mean I'm free, though, or that I even am finished all of my scholarly pursuits for the semester. Here is my to do list:

-apply for teaching assistant jobs abroad/in Quebec (I have three on my list)
-WORK ON THESIS. I have a bunch of books checked out, and they need readin'. Also, I should get some writing done.
-repair the tears in my favourite winter coat (along the seam of the pocket, the inside of the lining of the shoulder)
-RELAX AND ENJOY LIFE
-Also, bake cookies! Here is an amazing recipe that they use to bake cookies at Henderson house on 1905 street at Fort Edmonton, which they have been baking every night I've worked Christmas reflections (and were kind enough to give me a copy of the recipe):

Fort Edmonton Shortbread (from an Edwardian-era recipe)
(For best results, of course, use a cast-iron wood burning stove, but as this isn't an ideal world I've included modern temperatures)

Ingredients
-1/2 cup cornstarch
-1 1/2 cups flour
-1 cup butter
- 3/4 cup icing sugar.

1) Mix butter with icing sugar
2) To the above mixture, mix in corn starch and flour to make a soft dough
3) Roll out the dough, and punch out your cookie shapes
4)Using a moderate heat (300F) bake for 8 minutes

Then let cool, of course (they stick the entire pan out the side door to sit on the snow for a few minutes), and OMNOMNOM. No regrets!

Current Mood: jubilant

Time to squee like a history dork over my second summer job! (I swear that it will be of interest!)

As I think I've mentioned before, I've begun working as a costumed historical interpreter at Fort Edmonton Park. I work at the actual fort, a representation of Fort Edmonton (or Edmonton House), a Hudson's Bay Company fur trading post that was in operation in the Edmonton city area from about 1795 through to the late 1880s (although the final fort wasn't torn down until 1915), as it stood in 1846, during its heydey. It was the first true "settlement" in this region, as the local Cree and Blackfoot tribes were nomadic.

Also, it's a fort, which makes it look THAT much more cool.

I'm not in a lovely poofy dress with ruffles and bustles, or wearing lovely feathered hats like on 1905 street and 1885 street, but I am still immensely pleased with my character and my costume. I represent a young Métis country wife (that is, my mother was one of the local Cree women who married a French-Canadian fur trader) named Anne-Marie.

Here is a photograph taken of me in costume!

( Let me tell you about my fort husband and my bling... )

Current Location: The year 2010

Okay, so it's all-but confirmed.

And it's completely different from what I just said!

After having phoned up to confirm with the Antique Photo Parlour people and setting up the date for my first training shift, I got back from grocery shopping with my father to find an e-mail sitting in my inbox: I have the research assistant position, should I want it.

And my parents and many of my university friends convinced me that I should. I think that I'd have super fun at the Antique Photo Parlour, but at the end of the day it's over $6/hour less than the research assistant position, and wouldn't look as good on a resume, especially if I wanted to apply to grad school, for an internship, or for a teaching assistant position (all distinct possibilities).

There was also no way of doing both - the first three weeks of research would be the most intense, because I'm going away right afterwards, and a chunk of it needed to be DONE by the time that I leave, and that's just at the time when I would have to do like half a dozen full-day training shifts. So it's a no-go for both of them.

SO I called up the Antique Photo Parlour people to ask about the possibility of part time work. Fay is the one who answered, and she was super-nice, and just made me want to work for her more because she was so ridiculously understanding. Part-time is a no-go as well, but I expected that. BUT she surprised me because she actually anticipated what I was going to say: she suggested that she keep my resume on file, and I could call them up AFTER my trip, because they may not have a full slate of workers. Essentially, when the research gets less intense, I could perhaps get a second job with them... perhaps, even if summer doesn't work, I could have a job for the rest of the school year.

Fay said that she totally understands that working for her is a fun part-time job to make money and friends, not a career, and she congratulated me on getting such an awesome research assistant position. She told me that she really respects my decision to do something for the good of my degree and future career. She said not to be a stranger, and that she'd love for me to call her back sometime. ;_; She was so understanding it was beautiful.

SO I may still be able to work for them! Just... later!

I e-mailed my professor back, but that was ten minutes ago, so I'm not surprised that I haven't gotten a message back. But it's looking hopeful! :) Wow, that's a weight off of my chest... I'm glad that I took care of this tonight and not tomorrow, or I'd have been anxious all night and unable to sleep.

I have a summer schedule! This is great!

(And one of the best things about the research assistant position is the flexible hours - I have days off when I want them, mostly. So I can do the camping trips and attend the conventions that I want to! <3 )

Current Mood: refreshed

An update on the job situation, everyone! I've done the typical Canadian thing, when faced with a difficult choice - compromise.

(I should mention that the Hotel Selkirk interview was a bust - very short, because they can't acommodate my vacation schedule. But I anticipated that, and I hadn't gotten my hopes up. BUT I send my sister their way, so they may hire her instead! So yay, silver lining?)

I have yet to hear back from Professor Muir re: the research assistant position. I still needed to get back really fast re: the Antique Photo Parlour, or I would perhaps face the possibility of having NO job over the summer.

It came down to: the Antique Photo Parlour is a sure thing. I will enjoy my summer with them. I will learn new skills (portrait-taking), and I will have job security (AKA I can have a job over the school year as well, and won't be jobless and anxious like this past year).

THEN I thought: well, what's stopping me from holding down both jobs? Answer: the week-long archival research trip. Which is only a possibility - it may not even be necessary, what with the huge numbers of digitized documents and the fact that the University of Alberta is plugged into one of the largest library networks in North America. Plus, our own archives aren't too shabby either. Coupled with the fact that the research assistant position has extremely flexible hours... I could theoretically work both. Like, not working 9am-5pm shifts in the library, but four hours here, six hours there, and more time on my "days off" from the Antique Photo Parlour.

And that's IF I get the research assistant position, which isn't a surety.

So I went with the safe (and fun!) option: the Antique Photo Parlour (while keeping my options open for the other position).

I just wanted to thank everyone for all of your advice. I'm not going to lie: this was a really difficult decision to make. I think that you all made very good points... nd I myself was torn, a bit, because someone would convince me very nicely, and then I'd read the next person's comment only to be completely convinced of the OPPOSITE opinion. ;) Still, it's what I needed.

So... yeah. Bottom line is I have a summer job! Maybe two! We'll see how this pans out. :) Than you once again, guys!

(Man, do I feel so much better after having made an actual DECISION... That's a weight off of my chest. Maybe now I can actually enjoy my summer?)

Current Mood: chipper

One of my favourite pieces of fanart ever:

John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes by `spacecoyote on deviant ART
Few historians know of the heartwarming friendship between French Reformation theologian John Calvin and English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes, the latter of whom may or may not have been real, considering he was not even born yet.

I thought that I would let you guys know what's going on with my life, just to make sure that I don't have that negative post from last week lingering on in your minds.

I just wanted to say, first, that I really do appreciate all of the kind words and kind thoughts you had for me last week. I really was going through a tough time, and I think that having good friends and a supportive family have helped me become the person I am today. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

( Cut for info on job interviews and other happiness )

Current Mood: pensive
Current Music: Alice In Wonderland OST

Fallen Bloom by ~Beboots on deviant ART
Depressing stuff first:

( Also, notes on an upcoming family trip, minus Beboots. )
All right, that's enough of that. On to happy stuff!

Not A Tree by ~Beboots on deviant ART

Happy Dominion Day! :D

( Or to the rest of the world who doesn't live in 1926 any longer: Happy Canada Day! :D )

Current Mood: indescribable
Current Location: Probably not Maui, not this year.

Okay, so I'm officially a lol!fan of the Dragonball series. For serious.

Now before you lose all respect for me, I have to say that I was initially kind of sort of coerced into seeing the new "Dragonball: Evolution" movie. Okay, that's a lie. A friend asked me, and I said yes. I watched it for the lulz, okay?

( And what lulz there were. )
And oh yeah - studying. Right. I'll get right on that. *shifty eyes*

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Location: Not the movie theatre
Current Music: Watchmen OST

-Bill Bryson, The Mother Tongue: English and how it got that way.

Okay, I just had a phonecall that made my DAY. No, weekend. No, LIFE.

I HAVE THE FORT EDMONTON JOB!!!! :D

I was really worried that I wasn't going to get it, because two of my other friends (both history dorks) had job interviews for the same job within a day of me, and they both got calls back earlier this week with job offers... but I got nothing. I got a call yesterday, actually - apparently the Fort Edmonton lady had been playing telephone tag with my previous supervisor at Superstore, and so I needed to chase down another reference... I actually drove right down to Superstore and managed to find the Assistant Store Manager, Barb, who agreed to be a reference, thank goodness... and apparently she was a good one, because I got the job offer today! :D

GLEE! :DDD

Fort Edmonton, for the uninitiated, is a historical re-enactment park. Here is its website: http://www.fortedmontonpark.ca/pages/FortEdmonton/default.aspx It is a relatively large park, right along the river valley, which tells the history of the city of Edmonton, from an actual Hudson's Bay trading fort, to the settlement era, to... well, the 1920s, where I'll be working. There are general stores, penny arcades, early 20th century playgrounds, photography studios, farms (with horses, ponies, pigs, chickens, turkeys...), churches, a mosque, a tom thumb golf course (AKA minigolf), gorgeous scenery.... :D

I'll be in the Midway, a 1920s carnival. :3 I get to run the merry-go-round. And/or Ferris Wheel. <3 I am so PUMPED for this job... :D

I get fitted out for a costume in two weeks. I'm so excited! :D I'm just so full of GLEE right now... Just thought you guys should know. :D

Also, that means that I can give in my two week's notice tomorrow, at Superstore. I'll be getting out, after nearly four and a half YEARS. <3

I need more happy faces in this post.

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Location: Soon-to-be Fort Edmonton
Current Music: Bach

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia."
~ Charles Schultz

Sunlight Through Leaves by ~Beboots on deviant ART

Sometimes I think that I'm anti-depressed, if that's possible. I try to see things that interest me and make me happy in boring, everyday events.

Things that make me happy, every day:

1) Clever puns that I've never heard before (and sometimes puns that I have)

2) Sitting in the back of the bus on the way to university when the vehicle goes over a sizeable bump - and all of us back there leave our seats for a brief moment. :3 It doesn't happen everyday, but that makes it something novel. I'm not sure why, but I smile everytime it happens.

3) Sun shining on water, or through water.

4) Seeing birds fly upwards. Half of the time when they land, they look realy ungraceful. It doesn't make me smile as much, or, at least, not in the same way. Watch a duck land on water - it's pretty comical, sometimes. ;)

4) Listening to foreign language music and suddenly understanding a line with no translation. Like, listening to "Gaudete" and suddenly realizing the meaning of "Gaudete Christus est natus ex Maria virginae gaudete", or sitting in a Chinese restaurant and suddenly realizing that the lantern right above your head has the character for gold (金) on it.

5) Seeing someone play a harp or other string instrument really, really well. You can't just produce good music - you must have beautifully graceful hands as well.

6) Seeing a couple hold hands or walk arm-in-arm in public. But not more than that. I hate it when people grope each other or make out in a public place. Platonic = love, sometimes. :)

7) Having one of those rabbits that run around campus come up really, really close to you, and not get scared of the crazy human.

8) A genuine smile and hug from someone you know.

9) Having someone call you by name when you didn't realize they even knew who you were. (example: professors in a really big class randomly recognizing you from your paper or questions you've asked in e-mails) I like knowing that people put a name to my face.

10) Learning something completely new yet makes complete sense.
(Edit: IRONY snap)

(Also, this: http://t-lyrical.livejournal.com/83289.html?thread=172889 :DDD Thanks again!)

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: in front of my history 261 class in Humanities

(Joseph II to Leopold II - um, yeah, these two "enlightened" austrian rulers weren't all that enlightened, but I like the sentiment)

Okay, so I'm probably unrealistically optimistic, but I've been feeling really positive these last few days. :D Let me share with you what I did yesterday.

Yesterday, I took the bus from University to West Ed (that's the largest mall in the world - yes, the world - for those of you who don't live in Edmonton), which crosses the river valley at one point. The weather was gorgeous and sunny and not all that cold... I think that it was maybe -2C at the lowest.

... And I just felt really happy. Little things that I don't normally notice stood out and were incredibly beautiful to me. There was a crane in a construction zone that we passed by, in which the giant hook on the end of that giant cord thing, was attached by a long band to the base of the machine (probably so it wouldn't swing around in the wind)... and the angles of the thing just looked awesome. I wished I'd had my camera (but then again, I was on a bus, so it wouldn't have turned out anyway).

As we went along that construction site, there was a fence with a black tarp set up to break the wind for the construction workers. As the bus went by, it moved in a rippling motion that was inordinately beautiful to me. I'd never be able to capture that in a still shot - it's like smoke or mist. It doesn't look the same, static.

Previously, as we crossed the bridge across the river, a flock of what must have been forty or fifty pidgeons suddenly flew out from beneath the bridge. They were sillouetted against the blue sky and white snow, and they kind of curved around, like they were of one mind... and it took my breath away.

I'm not sure that anybody else in the bus was looking out the window on these occasions. But oh well - they existed. I saw them. I'll remember them.

What are the most beautiful things that you guys have seen in the last week?

Current Mood: peaceful
Current Location: St. Albert, no longer buried in snow
Current Music: Pirates of the Caribbean OST

You'd be amazed at what they can do when they divert that baby-hatching energy into some other enterprise."
-Tom Robbins

I feel like rather the competant homemaker today. ^_^ (just for context, I am a seventeen year old girl, in grade eleven, who has a job stocking shelves and still stays with her parents and two siblings).
Last week, I learnt from my Italian Bio teacher (er, the teacher is Italian, the course is taught in English) how to make lasagna (as was taught to my teacher by her mother in Italy). This was for a school thing, BTW, not part of course material. ("Okay, make sure you finish up your brochetta and put it on the crackers before cleaning off the table for the pig fetus disection!") Anyway, I made it all on my own this evening, from scratch. I even went and biked down to Save On Foods to buy the ingredients for it because mom forgot to last night. I made it, including the cream sauce (which smells so... good...), which makes the tomatoe sauce taste more creamy than tomatoe-bitter. Mum, Dad and Danielle really liked it, so... mission successful. ^_^

In addition, I also learnt how to crochet last week (I can already knit scarves and socks - turning the heel is murder!). I had gotten fed up with turning the heel on this sock (it would be the third time I had to redo it if I had continued), so I opted for something new... and so my sister taught me to crochet. It's damn addicting. :P I'll perhaps post pictures of my first on the round project - I just started to make a circle, and ended up with a blue thing that looks creepily similar to a poufy chef's hat. ^_^ I'm trying to make a larger floppy version of it, delibrately this time... sorta like a (red) newsboy hat.

Oh, and I saved the best for last - I had a really nice date last Thursday. :) His name is Daniel (which is creepily similar to my sister's name, but whatever), and he's just finished his first year of art school (post secondary). We went to go see "V for Vendetta", and we were both analyzing it the whole time. It's an awesome movie, by the way. Daniel was really sweet, too... We both agreed to go out again sometime. :D

I feel awesome, and competant. I survived a series of huge tests last week (hopefully relatively unscathed), I've been offered a great-paying summer job, learned how to do some cool and useful domestic stuff, and went on a nice date. Life's looking up. :)

However, here's a depressing thought... "There is no greater sorrow than to recall in misery the time when you were happy". Yeah, I hope I'm not reading this a few decades down the line thinking "what a load of crock". :P

Erm, yeah... so... bunnies and rainbows and sugar and beautiful crocheted red hats! :D

Current Mood: creative
Current Music: UNDO by COOL JOKE (ie, second FMA opening theme)