Surreality

There are certain moments in one's life that are memorable because of their symbolism, the physicality they bring to aging.

Getting your driver's license. Drinking your first beer (legally...). Moving out.

And now, signing the lease to your first apartment.

That last one just happened to me this past week, and I couldn't be more excited. I'm jumping in sight-unseen, aside from the photos provided by the current tenants, but I have zero anxiety. Only excitement. The place is basically everything I ever dreamed of: bright rooms, modern finishes, a touch of old Montreal flair, close to amenities, and in a gentrifying ethnic neighbourhood.

I could go on an on about this apartment despite having never set foot in it! And that lends a bit of surreality* to this whole thing. It's weird to think, and even more weird to say, that I have an apartment. "My apartment in Montreal." I've never even been to that city! How can I have a slice of real estate there?

Suffice to say, now that I have a place locked down, I'm no longer obsessively checking the "For Rent" sections of Kijiji and Craihslist. I've moved on to the IKEA website, furniture listings, and McGill's "Free and For Sale" page.

This could get dangerous.

*Yes, "surreality" is a word. It comes from the French surréalité. Which is fitting.

photo from the original apartment listing on Kijiji

Momentous Occasions are Momentous

I bring tidings of great joy, and I come bearing gifts! No, it's not Christmas all over again (although there's still snow on the ground in Banff), it's the return of my blog!

Well, sort of.

I won't promise on making regular posts again, but so much has happened in the last little while that an appearance became necessary. We're gonna do this in numbered format to make things more interesting and easy to follow, savvy?

1. I've been accepted to McGill University's Urban Planning programme for 2013! I'll be moving to Montreal at the end of August, where I'll be living for about two years. After that I want to head back to British Columbia, but two years ago I would have laughed at you had you told me I'd be living in Banff in the near future, so we'll see what happens.

2. I actually finished something accomplished a predetermined goal on Protagonize! Over the last few days I've posted both a new chapter and the epilogue to the rough draft of my story Red King Chronicles. It is by no means a finished story, though, hence I amended my above statement to say I reached a goal. Close to the beginning of the year I decided that I needed to do a complete rewrite of the story: new intro, new back story for Jason, new sequence of events, new a lot of things. However, I told myself that I wouldn't start the editing process until after I brought the current draft full circle to the prologue. I have now done that and am looking for critique. So, have at 'er!

3. After a year and a half of collection dust, there's finally a new chapter in Elsie! I had to reread the entire story myself before continuing on, but my the fires of my inspiration have been stoked. I drafted a chapter outline for the latest chapter and the following chapter, possibly two following chapters. I've got the conflict sorted out, so now I just need to figure out how to resolve said conflict and eventually bring the story to a close. I'm being optimistic about this one, for once.

4. Caramel Tim Tams were in stock at the grocery store so I'm doing Caramel Tim Tam Slams! Be excited for me.

5. I still feel that lists should contain multiples of five, so...

And that's all!

photo by me

Music Monday - Next Year

Well, another year has come and gone. As I have the last two years, I'll be posting a "Year in Review" within the next week. But first, Music Monday!

I've posted live Jamie Cullum videos before, and I'll likely continue that trend in the future. This time I've got "Next Year Baby," a fitting song for the final day of 2012. A lot has happened this past year: graduated from UBC, moved to Banff, picked up two internships. I didn't travel outside of Canada at all, but instead went back and forth between Kelowna and Victoria, drove out to Banff, went snowshoeing in Glacier National Park, and visited Calgary a few times.

And next year? Well, I'm off to Hawaii in just over a week, more National Park adventures are sure to happen, I might do some travel abroad in the summer, and - fingers crossed - I'll be moving to Vancouver or Montreal in the fall.

Can't promise anything about drinking less beer, though.

Enjoy Jamie's performance below, and have a happy new year!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Wow, it certainly has been a while since I wrote anything for the ol' blog, eh? Let me tell you what my days have been filled with the past few weeks.

Snow has fallen in Banff, and it's definitely winter here. That has brought a few changes to my routine. The biggest? I've traded by bike for hiking boots, spiffy looking North Face ones. I walk everywhere now, and even with the hiking boots I still have moments of arm-flailing terror occasionally.

The winter weather has also brought an increased dependence on hot beverages. Recently (alright, a couple hours ago) I discovered the blissful combination that is apple juice and tea. Seriously. Instead of water, boil a mixture of apple juice and water - I use an equal amount. Obviously this won't work well for every kind of tea, but I've tried it with lemon ginger, and am contemplating a chai trial next. I'll keep you posted!

The third change has been in music. I try to make a new playlist each month, and October's list was very acoustic. This is usually the case. When the weather turns cold, I'm drawn to a different sort of music than in the summer: I want jazz, acoustics, vocals. Suffice to say, I've been listening to a lot of KT Tunstall, Amy Winehouse, the Delgados, Jamie Cullum, Feist, and all the other autumn standbys. Soon I'll be breaking out the Christmas jazz, I guess.

Until next time!

Photo (cc) me

Past, Present, Future

I'm still not quite accustomed to the fact I live in Banff. The other day I said the words, "Here in British Columbia." Nope, this ain't BC. I'm an Alberta boy now.

If you told me a year ago I would be living in Banff, doing what I'm doing, I wouldn't have believed you. I probably would have laughed. A year before that, the idea of living in Singapore would have brought forth the same reaction.

But here I am, living in the Rocky Mountains, working as a manager at the Gap, volunteering as an intern with planning and development in Banff.

Oh, right, I don't think I've mentioned that. I volunteer for the town of Banff! Basically I'm an assistant in the planning department. A few days ago I finished up some policy research, now I'll be compiling said research into various "best practices" case studies, and then the next step is to present this to the stakeholders and engage in constructive discussion. Our timeline ends in November, when the policy is presented to council for approval. Hey, look, I'm involved in the planning world!

All these recent developments make me chuckle when remembering posts like "Done Done Done," in which I mused the abysmal future Canada's number-crunched had forecast, and "Angsty Unemployment Cycle," where I ranted about my lack of gainful employment and workplace challenges. Well, I've got both in plenty, now!

I couldn't be happier with the way things have turned out. Moving was a gamble, and an impulsive decision at that, but I've been dealt a good hand. The social life could be improved, but now that I'm in the groove of my two jobs I'll have some time to dedicate to social pursuits. And it's only been the first month of twelve! Count me excited for the future.

photo (cc) me

a First Time for Everything

This may come as a surprise, but before today I had never had a library card. I had never borrowed a book from a library that wasn't on campus, and never a non-academic book at that. I never counted down the days I had left to finish a novel, never owed late fees on a book lost in a messy room. Nope, that was never me.

That's right: me, the Advanced Placement Literature student, Cultural Studies major, Star Wars book nerd, and longtime Protagonizer, has never had a library card. Until now!

Today I picked up my first ever library card for the Banff Public Library, with which I promptly borrowed Edgar Rice Burroughs' first volume of "The Collected John Carter of Mars." I now have a growing list of films to borrow from the library, and have yet to even look at the CD collection. If there's anything in the jazz family, you can be sure I'll borrow that, too. Hopefully this won't turn me into some sort of book hermit, the literary equivalent of a crazy cat lady.

That's all I have to say. It's reading time!

photo (cc) Ozyman

Music Monday - Hare Ram in the Rockies

Well, I've made it safely to my new home in Banff. It's still a little surreal, walking to work and seeing the giant Rocky Mountains all around and the most emerald water in the Bow River running under the bridge. I'm not sure whether I'll ever be fully accustomed to it, really.

So I wrote something. Those of you on Protagonize might have caught a little something called Rocky Mountain Sūrya Namaskāra the other night. It's not as exotic as it sounds, but it's full of foreign words that even I have trouble reading. If you practice Hatha yoga, you might recognize some of the phrases. And if you do, then you'll actually know exactly what's going on!

The soundtrack and inspiration for this particular piece is Krisha Das' "Hare Rame (God is Real)." I was introduced to the song by an instructor at the Hot Box yoga studio back in Kelowna, where I quickly fell in love with both the practice of hot yoga and the diverse soundtracks selected by the various instructors. Some stuck to more "traditional" yogi music: forest sounds, Hindu chants, wind chimes. Sometimes I heard Florence + the Machine, or Sia, or Passion Pit. I loved the variety, but this one song stands out.

Take a listen below, or pop over to Protagonize to listen to it while reading my short scene.
 

photo (cc) Claude Robillard

I be Moving, Again!

Big news! Sometime next month I'll be moving to Banff, Alberta for an unknown period of time. I announced it on my Facebook and on Twitter earlier, but here's a bit more info.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Banff, it's a resort town located within Banff National Park in Canada's Rocky Mountains. The service population is largely transient, like other resort towns in Canada, with a large number of Aussies and Kiwis on work visas.

I'll be there a little more long term, at least a full year. I've decided to take a gap year and work at the Gap (HAH), which has hired me on as the new logistics manager. Basically that means I'll be in charge of receiving shipments, keeping a clean and organized stockroom, and getting new merchandise onto the sales floor. Behind the scenes stuff.

Suffice to say, I'm stoked!

Banff will be an interesting change of pace for me, as it's a much smaller town than Victoria or Kelowna. I'm talking less than 8000 people. That, and it's located inside the national park. I have to get special permission from the federal government to live there. It's serious business.

Anyway, just wanted to keep people updated!

photos by MarilynJane, afagen, and letsgoeverywhere

Music Monday: This Circle of Life

On July 23rd, 2011, I did a lot of sitting. I sat in cars, I sat on the ferry between Victoria and Vancouver, I sat in the international departures terminal at Vancouver International Airport, and I sat in a China Eastern flight to Singapore.

It's hard to believe I've now come full circle.

A lot has happened in those 365 days. I've moved to and from Singapore, visited seven different countries, finished my undergraduate degree, moved out of home a little more permanently, and met many, many new people.

There's not really too much I want to say right now, or even have to say, so I'll just skip to the music.

Disney's The Lion King was probably the first film I ever saw in theatres. I loved it then, and love it to this day. The song it made famous came on randomly today, and it pulled on something inside me. I thought it only fitting to choose "The Circle of Life" as my Music Monday track.

Chillin' with the Ogopogo

It's summer! And, oddly enough, summer always tends to be a busy time of year for me. True, I do have plenty of time to fall asleep on the beach and become sunburnt, but I never fail to fill my schedule with other things. This time around? Work, beach volleyball league, blogging for the Grid, scoping out jobs for the fall and winter, and then whatever it is I do over on Protagonize. That will include the Summer Poetry Tournament, and then if I can get the Prose Competition off the ground that will be yet another hat to wear.

Definitely not complaining, though. I enjoy being busy, and being busy with work means the bills will get paid. Whoo! This whole "being an adult" thing isn't too different than what I was doing before, really. The only major difference I can identify so far is that I can't claim student benefits on anything. No student bus pass, no student price rate, no student bank account, no student internships. I'm just a regular person now. Whoo?

One thing will never change, though: I'll still ride any noble steeds I come across in my travels. Such as my buddy the Ogopogo up there. We talk on Twitter sometimes, we're cool like that.

Birthday Blog

Sorry about the lack of posts in the last while (Music Mondays aside). I've been on the busy side, researching for my blog posts on the Grid, working lots, and then travelling to Vancouver and Victoria. It's been a busy couple of weeks.

Victoria has been rad, suffice to say. Brought a friend over who had never been to the Island before, so I got to play the part of tour guide for a day or two. Went to a Janelle Monae concert (again), and she was simply astounding (again)! Covered "You Only Live Twice" and "Goldfinger," among others. And then it was my birthday, so I went to see the peacocks and we chased ladies together. I'll have picture later, I promise.

Now I'm taking a quiet day off, sitting at my laptop and writing one of those aforementioned Grid blog posts. One down, one to go: due date is tomorrow! After that comes a week for reviews and edits, then it'll go live... uhm... July 11th, I believe. I'll have that link here on my personal blog, don't you worry.

So with that, I better get going! Tomorrow is Canada Day, so I already know I won't get anything done at all. Cheers!

Photo by Will Clayton

Professional Blogger

Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook may have noticed that I've been posting links to a website called Global Site Plans, a branding consultancy for environmental design, civil engineering, and urban planning firms. For those who read my last post on graduating, you might remember me saying I had more good news to share, but that it deserved a post of its own.

Well, this is that post.

On the day of my grad, I was offered an (unpaid) internship position as a writer for Global Site Plans' blog, the Grid. I've been doing the paperwork and preliminary write-ups (one paragraph autobios are tough!) over the weekend, and soon I'll receive a crash course in WordPress and professional blogging. My internship is set at six months, but I can extend that if I choose. Over those months I'll be contributing 12 posts/articles to the Grid, which may not seem like a lot, but keep in mind that these will need to be researched and revised, not just spur of the moment postings.

So, uhm, that's about it! I'll still be posting on here, and you'll probably see links to my posts for the Grid when they're available. Cheers!

photos by photosteve101 and Global Site Plans

Officially Official

That angsty blog post has been sitting at the top of the page for too long, so here's a bit of good news to replace it.

I'm officially graduated now! Just had my convocation ceremony yesterday afternoon, complete with gown and mortarboard, at UBC's Okanagan campus. Walked the stage, got my photos, and accepted a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies, Minor in Geography. In total, there were six of us graduating from the Cultural Studies programme, but I was joined by 436ish Arts and Fine Arts graduates who attended the ceremony. Biggest grad class so far at UBCO, I believe, in all faculties. Guess I'm an alumni, eh?

There's a second piece of good news, but you gotta wait a bit for that tidbit. Sorry!

photo by the University of British Columbia

Angsty Unemployment Cycle

Permission to rant? Thanks.

This whole job search thing is terrible. Apparently someone forgot to tell me back in 2nd year that I should really look hard for unpaid summer internships. 'Cause guess what? You can't have 'em once you graduate!

Seriously. I'm pretty much unemployable because of my degree. If I wasn't finished, ie: still a student, I could have all the jobs. Or at least one of the many jobs I have wanted to apply for, locally and elsewhere. The problem? As a graduate, I don't qualify for the federal youth employment program thing. Not unless I can prove enrolment in full time studies for the fall. Which I can't, 'cause, y'know, I've graduated. I have a degree. In the field I want to apply to work in. But can't. Because I'm not a student. And here we are back at square one.

I hate this.

Don't get me wrong, I am happy to be employed, am content working at the Gap, and enjoy the freedoms and challenges that my position affords. I am simply frustrated that I can't improve the quality of my grad school applications through job experience. Maybe I'm just impatient, maybe I'm being too particular in my endeavours.

But something at least remotely relevant to my choice of career path would be nice, y'know? Lesighe.

photo by Lisa

Becoming a Book Worm, Again

Books were a constant companion growing up, and I read a lot throughout grade school. As I grew in age my books grew in length, and soon I was lugging 500 page behemoths to bed. I also did a lot of re-reading, to the point where said 500 page behemoths have been pored over three or four times now, and some of my favourites have been read cover to cover more than five times. A little excessive, but what'd you expect?

Once university hit, though, things changed. Big time.

Reading transformed quite suddenly from a pass time to a chore, from leisure to studies. If I was to read five or six academic articles a week - in addition to textbook readings - then there was no way on this good Earth you'd catch me spending my free time reading for pleasure. There's only so much the eyes can take.

Now that I'm finished, I've started to read for the sheer enjoyment of it once more. And this time 'round I'm testing new waters: eBooks.

My phone has an eReader built in, Chapter/Indigo's Kobo platform. I was skeptical of the reading environment at first, as the touch screen of a phone isn't nearly as large as a page in a paperback, but I've been pleasantly surprised. The convenience of the eReader is also a huge boon. I can squeeze in ten minutes on the bus. Fifteen minutes during breaks at work. A few more minutes at the cafe waiting for a friend to arrive. And then an hour or more ticks by sitting at home or outside. Rad.

I just finished up reading the second book of Kameron Hurley's Bel Dame Apocrypha, a trilogy of books set in the fictional world of Umeyama. It's of the genre I like to call Sci-Fantasy - technology is at a relatively contemporary level, although space travel has been achieved. However, this is bolstered by the presence of magicians, shape-shifters, and mutant strains of insects often fused with technology for human use. I'll leave the explanation at that, and let you check it out.

With the second book behind me, I'm eagerly awaiting the final piece of the series, "Rapture," out in the fall. There are just so many things I love about the style or Kameron's writing and the world that she has crafted. She takes significant influence from Islamic countries in the creation of Umeyama, which is very much refreshing from the Judeo-Christian basis of most Western fantasy. That's not to say Judeo-Christian influence is absent (in fact, I've established that the Ras Tiegan refugees might be descendants of French Catholics), but the incorporation of Islam, even if not explicit, is something I've never seen done and renders the entire series so much more novel. Then add in themes of national identity, gender roles, otherness, and personhood to make the Cultural Studies major inside of me do a little dance. There's just too much to love.

Music Monday: Everybody Come Down

So after my last blog post I went ahead and contacted some of my old friends. Caught up with one of them, exchanged a couple messages with another, and have had total radio silence from a few more. One of the people I really want to reconnect with has deleted herself from the internet, apparently, and so I have absolutely no way of contacting her. Sad panda. But I'm happy to be speaking with some people from my past.

The job front isn't going any better. If I don't stumble across something soon, or get a call back, I have some insider information that Starbucks is desperate for male employees. Sigh.

For Music Monday I've got "Everybody Come Down" by the Delgados. They were one of my favourite bands in high school, and I've just started listening to them again. I swear this must be a phase of some sort.

on Graduations

Something about my "Downtempo" playlist gets me all emotional and nostalgic every time. This time 'round, I'm reminiscing on the long lost days of high school, which I was also considering back in Singapore. I'm not just missing some of those old friendships (and wishing I had done a better job at maintaining them), but the lifestyle high school offered. Carefree certainty. You always knew what to expect, always knew what you would be doing a year from now.

Life was simple: do well, get the grades, next year you'll move up a number.

Come to think of it, university has been somewhat the same. You go through much the same motions, moving from year to year until BAM. You've graduated. And then what?

It's been odd, though. "Real life" hasn't hit me the way that I expected it would. Maybe it's because my degree is still pending, maybe it's because I only finished up on Tuesday... maybe the truck full of bricks needs some time to arrive.

But back to high school and that other graduation. I really screwed up there, and I've learned a lot since then. I coasted through my first year at UVic as if it were grade thirteen, but slowly started cutting off the ties to my high school friends. Upon moving to Kelowna and UBCO I cut nearly all connections to my hometown, and have been continually pruning my list of friends with each passing year. It's at the point where every time I go home to the Island I can visit pretty much every friend I still have, even when I'm only back for a few days. It's convenient for sure, but a little disheartening at the same time.

Maybe it's time to pull at some threads and see what unravels.

Photo by me

Twenty-eleven, in Review

Another year has passed by, so it's time for another annual review! Here's a look back at what I've done over the last twelve months, or rather where I've travelled to, 'cause I've spent a lot of time up in the air since January 1st, 2011!

January was rather uneventful, but I managed to finish up my most recent tattoo. Soon after I blogged about a sort of realization I came to, about my self esteem and self perception. Not really heavy stuff, but personal stuff. Suffice to say I'm at a much better place now than I was a year or two back.

February marked the beginning of my worldly travels for the year, with a quick jaunt down to Mexico for reading week with a few friends. We may have only been down there a scant three days, but we stretched those hours to the maximum extent and had an absolute blast. Some people thought we were foolish for spending so much on so short a trip, but I can't say I have any regrets about going - even the unscheduled stay in Texas! I can still remember those buffalo hot wings. Mmmm.

A few weeks into March I participated in the Cut for the Cure, a UBCO fundraising initiative (started by some friends of mine a few years back) for the purpose of cancer research. This time around I actually shaved my head, which wasn't as terrible as I imagined it would be. In fact, I think I managed to pull off the look and since my fear of having an odd-shaped skull didn't materialize. Huzzah! I may or may not shave the ol' noggin again this year.

Nothing happened in April, apparently. No blog posts, no trips: only one exam and a few papers.

After moving back to Victoria in May, I barely had enough time to unpack before jumping a plane to Turkey. I was there for two weeks with my family, and had an absolutely amazing time. I still miss Turkish food (especially Turkish breakfast, those Mediterraneans know what's what) and long to go back one day.

June was my only full month at home for the summer, and for the most part it was fairly laid back. I met up with lots of friends for coffee, put in some time at the Gap, and celebrated a very low-key 22nd birthday.

However, I also went to Vancouver for a big concert, Janelle Monáe and Bruno Mars. Mars was good, but I was there for Janelle. Boy, did she deliver! Easily one of the highlights of my concert-going experiences.
 
July took me and two bags across the Pacific Ocean to Singapore, my new home for the next five-ish months. I had been to the city state ten years earlier, but I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Nevertheless, I fell in love with the city almost immediately, and count the journey as one of the most important parts of my university education. 

I met a tonne of rad people out in the tropics, some of whom I hope to see again soon. Despite being so far away from home, I still managed to fall in with a Vancouver crowd (figures), so I know I'll be seeing them again in the near future.

In August I did the first bit of my Southeast Asia travelling, a short ferry from Singapore to Indonesia. It's one of those trips that, while it was difficult to enjoy it at the time, will always be remembered with much laughing and inside jokes. Like, "We are just so cool."

The month also marked the beginning of my classes at NUS, my first Singaporean club experience, National Day celebrations, and a music festival. Not bad, eh?

September took me to the island of Borneo, to Sarawk province and Brunei Darussalam. Although I went alone, I joined up with some other backpackers to see the various sights in Miri, Mulu, and Bandar Seri Begawan. The jungles and mountains were a welcome change from urban Singapore (even though the meaning of "urban" in Singapore is a whole lot more green than in North America). 

When I came back from Borneo I attended the F1 Grand Prix and saw Linkin Park in concert. Another full month.

Compared to other months, October was a little more quiet. I took a relaxing vacation to the tropical island of Tioman in Malaysia, where I took full advantage of the sun to get my tan on. Long story short I fell asleep near the equator and got a sunburn. Surprise, surprise.

I also checked off one of the big Singapore Bucket List items: swimming in the Marina Bay Sands infinity pool. It was rad. Mad rad, even. 

By the time November rolled around I still wasn't tired of flying around the world, so I went to Macau and Hong Kong. Macau exceeded my expectations, Hong Kong didn't live up to them. I ate lots of food, sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes downright strange; went to a few theme parks; toured each city by foot to a point that I forgot what exhaustion was; and took far too many pictures in Disneyland.
 
Well, by December I really was tired of all the travel, but I still needed to see so much. Somehow I managed to fit a week in the Philippines, two days in Siem Reap, an afternoon in Kuala Lumpur, a day in Singapore, and countless hours in airports and airplanes into the sixteen days before I went back to Canada. It was quite the whirlwind, and I'm still not quite sure how I survived it. A fine end to a great year, I must say.


photos by: vcateyesv, me, me, kanikey, Janelle Monáe, me, me, me, me, Ed Coyle, Ezyan Y.

Music Monday: Home at last, right?

After a hectic week and a confusing travel day (arriving before I leave? Sure, I guess that's cool) I'm finally back in Victoria. I'm home. Or at least that's what it's supposed to feel like.

Yesterday night I caught myself referring to Singapore as home, as if my time in Vic is just a quick vacation before I head back to my dorm in the tropics. And it is just a quick vacation; in two weeks I'll be packed up and ready to move to Kelowna. Really, I'm not sure where "home" is right now. Part of the confusion of being in a in-between period, I guess.

There are plenty of other Kings of Convenience songs that I would feature before this one, but "Homesick" resonates with me at the moment. Listening to the Kings has been a part of my efforts to acquaint myself with autumn before arriving home. It didn't work. The fall weather, the short days, the Christmas saturation... it was all very overwhelming. But oh well.

I don't really have the time, or the frame of mind, to say much more, so here's a video of the boys performing live. It's a funny coincidence that the performance is from Singapore, eh? Anyway, enjoy! I promise to have some travel photos up before Christmas.

to Retire

those of you who follow me on twitter or have me as a friend on facebook might have noticed my recent computer woes. those of you who don't might have just noticed that nothing in the body of this post is capitalized. i know. there's a reason for that.

the keys running along the left column have decided to go to a better place, some lofty keyboard in the sky. so i no longer have use of the ctrl, shift, caps lock, tab, tilde, or escape keys. i can still use the ctrl and shift keys on the right, but have you ever tried? it's amazingly awkward when you also want to capitalize a letter with your right hand. it just doesn't work well. so i'm just foregoing the shift key altogether.

before there are cries of, 'why don't you send lappy for repairs?,' i'll have you know that this laptop has been serving me faithfully for almost five years. sure, i've had to replace the cd-drive, the hard-disk drive, and the ram, but those were easy fixes to do myself and, in the later two cases, were actually upgrades from the previous hardware.

anyway, suffice to say i'm now procrastinating [i'm supposed to be studying for exams. and circular brackets take too much awkward effort] by looking at laptops. currently i have my eyes on the recent dell xps 15z. it has the look of a macbook, but with windows 7 inside. of course, i'd be installing ubuntu as a dual boot, which is the part that has me worried. according to the dell and ubuntu forums, the graphics card in the 15z isn't well supported under ubuntu. apparently it works fine with 10.04, though, so i should be fine if i do choose to pick this one up.

i'm more than a little disappointed that it's my laptop that has chosen to start falling apart, 'cause i've already decided upon a replacement for my netbook when that decides to go the way of the dodo. for those interested, i'd love to have an asus eee transformer. i'm in love with it.

any other laptop suggestions? i've only really looked at dell and asus, since those are the two brands that i have used before. i know that sony usually has some good machines, and probably samsung as well. any advice would be great!

ultimately, i want a performance laptop, not a casual one. i need to be able to do photo editing, move around really large batches of files quickly, and run graphics intensive programs like google sketchup. a studio laptop won't cut it. i need me some power, 'aight?

update: the dell has all but taken the back seat to the toshiba satellite e305 and the asus u46e-bal5 (someone seriously needs to introduce them to product naming). they might not be as pretty as the dell, or quite as thin, but they both manage to pack in a tonne of features. i hate making decisions.

photo by bigpresh, acrugnola, and gillyberlin