I have returned from the very far East! I flew back in from Vietnam two days ago, and after three weeks I am very glad to be back in Canada. I'm currently fighting some very interesting jet lag that tries to make me go to bed every night at about 8:00 pm, but I'm slowly getting used to being in Eastern Standard Time.
I went to Vietnam as part of an entomology study that my university was conducting, so I saw a lot of really neat bugs, and conducted a bit of original research of my own on ants. The best part of it was the forests though (it definitely wasn't the food...). There were huge neotropical jungles, island forests, and for a few days I was on top of a mountain in a cloud forest. The food was pretty terrible, several people (myself included) got food poisoning, and most of us just ate a lot of rice and steamed vegetables because we were afraid of the meat after that. Thank god for the stash of granola bars I packed.
Here's a little sample of some pictures I took over the course of the trip.
I even made a little video about how to cross a road in the capital city, Hanoi.
And finally a few life shots from just before my trip!
Cheers!
-Jess
Edit: Apparently SG changed the way that you view pictures while I was gone, and my computer is not agreeing with the new format at all... This is crummy...
I went to Vietnam as part of an entomology study that my university was conducting, so I saw a lot of really neat bugs, and conducted a bit of original research of my own on ants. The best part of it was the forests though (it definitely wasn't the food...). There were huge neotropical jungles, island forests, and for a few days I was on top of a mountain in a cloud forest. The food was pretty terrible, several people (myself included) got food poisoning, and most of us just ate a lot of rice and steamed vegetables because we were afraid of the meat after that. Thank god for the stash of granola bars I packed.
Here's a little sample of some pictures I took over the course of the trip.
I even made a little video about how to cross a road in the capital city, Hanoi.
And finally a few life shots from just before my trip!
Cheers!
-Jess
Edit: Apparently SG changed the way that you view pictures while I was gone, and my computer is not agreeing with the new format at all... This is crummy...
I'm off to Vietnam for the next few weeks! I'll be deep in the forests of some of the country's most biodiverse national parks as part of the work for my Master degree, so needless to say I will be without internet for some while. On the plus side, I plan on visiting the Turtle Conservation Centre, and the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre in Cuc Phuong National Park, so I should be able to get my fix of little shelled friends, and meet some slow lorises. I can't wait!
Here's my favourite little shelled buddy on our first adventure of the new spring!
And in case you aren't fortunate to have experienced just how cute slow lorises are, here's a little preview of what life has in store for me.
Be well all,
Jess
Here's my favourite little shelled buddy on our first adventure of the new spring!
And in case you aren't fortunate to have experienced just how cute slow lorises are, here's a little preview of what life has in store for me.
Be well all,
Jess
Hello friends!
When last we left off, it was just before Christmas. I hope everyone had wonderful holidays! Mine went very well, I got an iPhone 5, all of the original James Bond books by Ian Flemming, and a wooden watch.
On December 27th, I was fortunate enough to get to see Alexisonfire play at the Sound Academy in Toronto on one of the last dates of their farewell tour. It was a great show, but I'm sad to see them go. I got to spend a bit of time with them beforehand, and they're all really awesome guys. Dallas Green is something of a hero of mine, so it was really great to see them again.
Right after the Christmas holidays I returned to school after a nice two semester vacation after finishing my Bachelor of Science degree to start my Masters. Everything's going well so far, I have an office, I'm a teaching assistant to an undergraduate class, and best of all I got the scholarship I applied for! $50,000, which will more than cover my degree. I'm planning on buying my first car this summer with some of the leftover money and I'm really excited about it!
I also grew some interesting facial hair for a while.
And as always, life, and little tortoises - the best part of life.
Cheers all,
Jess
When last we left off, it was just before Christmas. I hope everyone had wonderful holidays! Mine went very well, I got an iPhone 5, all of the original James Bond books by Ian Flemming, and a wooden watch.
On December 27th, I was fortunate enough to get to see Alexisonfire play at the Sound Academy in Toronto on one of the last dates of their farewell tour. It was a great show, but I'm sad to see them go. I got to spend a bit of time with them beforehand, and they're all really awesome guys. Dallas Green is something of a hero of mine, so it was really great to see them again.
Right after the Christmas holidays I returned to school after a nice two semester vacation after finishing my Bachelor of Science degree to start my Masters. Everything's going well so far, I have an office, I'm a teaching assistant to an undergraduate class, and best of all I got the scholarship I applied for! $50,000, which will more than cover my degree. I'm planning on buying my first car this summer with some of the leftover money and I'm really excited about it!
I also grew some interesting facial hair for a while.
And as always, life, and little tortoises - the best part of life.
Cheers all,
Jess
The time has come again to write an update about my life. It's been a pretty eventful month and a half, I went to Peterborough for my girlfriend'd work party. It was a bit of a stuffy party, we were some of the youngest people there by about 25 years, but we did take the opportunity to also go to the local zoo, where they had some neat animals, and a couple of turtles, which instantly sold me on the place.
We also visited a really beautiful conservation area about half an hour outside of town. We missed most of the autumn colours by about a week, but it was still a ton of fun to walk through the woods and climb the rocks.
I got in my first car accident. It was a pretty brutal crash, I was changing lanes and then the steering column locked and I spun 180 degrees and hit a concrete wall going about 60 km/h. I didn't get hurt other than pulling some pretty uncomfortable G-force, but the truck I was driving was completely wrecked. The licence plate looks like it was attacked with a shotgun.
Then of course there was Halloween. I carved pumpkins with my mother, and of course, I made mine a turtle. I'm not a big fan of dressing up, so I did something simple and went as Waldo. I even got to wear my real glasses, so it was a pretty effortless costume. I went to a few bars with some friends, and danced with some zombies and some mimes.
The biggest news for the past little while was that I was accepted to grad school at the university where I did my bachelor degree. My project will be to determine whether or not the local oak savannah forests of Ontario have recovered enough in the past decade after years of mismanagement to a point where they're capable of sustaining a butterfly species that used to live here, but went locally extinct. I think the most exciting part is the scholarship I'm getting form an organization that really wants to see this butterfly back in Canada.
This past weekend I went to see Metric play in Toronto. It was a really fantastic show, I've never seen them play before. Emily Haines is such a beauty, and the music was really phenomenal. I took a couple of videos as well, and uploaded them to my youtube channel where I'm in the process of posting all of my concert videos.
And as always, life.
Cheers friends,
Jess
We also visited a really beautiful conservation area about half an hour outside of town. We missed most of the autumn colours by about a week, but it was still a ton of fun to walk through the woods and climb the rocks.
I got in my first car accident. It was a pretty brutal crash, I was changing lanes and then the steering column locked and I spun 180 degrees and hit a concrete wall going about 60 km/h. I didn't get hurt other than pulling some pretty uncomfortable G-force, but the truck I was driving was completely wrecked. The licence plate looks like it was attacked with a shotgun.
Then of course there was Halloween. I carved pumpkins with my mother, and of course, I made mine a turtle. I'm not a big fan of dressing up, so I did something simple and went as Waldo. I even got to wear my real glasses, so it was a pretty effortless costume. I went to a few bars with some friends, and danced with some zombies and some mimes.
The biggest news for the past little while was that I was accepted to grad school at the university where I did my bachelor degree. My project will be to determine whether or not the local oak savannah forests of Ontario have recovered enough in the past decade after years of mismanagement to a point where they're capable of sustaining a butterfly species that used to live here, but went locally extinct. I think the most exciting part is the scholarship I'm getting form an organization that really wants to see this butterfly back in Canada.
This past weekend I went to see Metric play in Toronto. It was a really fantastic show, I've never seen them play before. Emily Haines is such a beauty, and the music was really phenomenal. I took a couple of videos as well, and uploaded them to my youtube channel where I'm in the process of posting all of my concert videos.
And as always, life.
Cheers friends,
Jess
Hello hello! Once again, it has been a while since I last posted. I thought I should wait for a few interesting things to happen in my life so I'd have something to talk about. I hope all of my fellow Canucks had a wonderful thanksgiving full of good friends and good food! I had some people over to my house this year because I absolutely love cooking, and I take any excuse to cook a whole turkey just so I can make soup with the leftovers. Also, with the return of autumn comes the return of pumpkin-flavored things at Starbucks!
I was fortunate enough to get the last two tickets to see Jane Goodall during her recent speaking tour. I've idolized her for a long time because of her passion about the environment and animal rights. It was really amazing to get to see one of my heroes up close and hear her talk about eco-friendly projects and hear stories about her life growing up and working with chimpanzees in Africa.
One of my very good friends from university worked at a zoo this summer called African Lion Safari here in Ontario, and she snuck me in to come visit her. I've been there a number of times growing up, but I hadn't been in a couple of years, and it's always fun to see the animals. She was a tour guide, so I sat in on one of her tours and watched her do her thing.
It's getting cold out now here in Ontairo, and I can't take my tortoise Sherlock out for walks anymore until the spring. So now I need to handle him regularly to keep him stimulated. My girlfriend's cat also had a litter of kittens, which are really fun to play with even though I am by no means a cat person.
This past weekend, Ivor Wynne Stadium, the home of the Hamilton Tiger Cats held their first concert since 1978, when Pink Floyd played there. It was also the last concert, as the stadium is slated for demolition to build something more modern for the football team. Sam Roberts and The Tragically Hip played the farewell show, and I went with my whole family. I'm a huge fan of both bands, and they're just awesome Canadian artists. Seeing them together was really great. I took the video at the bottom as well.
And here's just a couple of random ones from my life!
Until next time my friends!
Cheers,
- Jess
I was fortunate enough to get the last two tickets to see Jane Goodall during her recent speaking tour. I've idolized her for a long time because of her passion about the environment and animal rights. It was really amazing to get to see one of my heroes up close and hear her talk about eco-friendly projects and hear stories about her life growing up and working with chimpanzees in Africa.
One of my very good friends from university worked at a zoo this summer called African Lion Safari here in Ontario, and she snuck me in to come visit her. I've been there a number of times growing up, but I hadn't been in a couple of years, and it's always fun to see the animals. She was a tour guide, so I sat in on one of her tours and watched her do her thing.
It's getting cold out now here in Ontairo, and I can't take my tortoise Sherlock out for walks anymore until the spring. So now I need to handle him regularly to keep him stimulated. My girlfriend's cat also had a litter of kittens, which are really fun to play with even though I am by no means a cat person.
This past weekend, Ivor Wynne Stadium, the home of the Hamilton Tiger Cats held their first concert since 1978, when Pink Floyd played there. It was also the last concert, as the stadium is slated for demolition to build something more modern for the football team. Sam Roberts and The Tragically Hip played the farewell show, and I went with my whole family. I'm a huge fan of both bands, and they're just awesome Canadian artists. Seeing them together was really great. I took the video at the bottom as well.
And here's just a couple of random ones from my life!
Until next time my friends!
Cheers,
- Jess
After a long absence, I have returned to the charming world of SG. My lack of activity here can be attributed to a combination of a profound laziness on my part, as well as a lack of a computer for the past several weeks and an unwillingness to blog through the mobile site on my phone - Apple takes an unfortunately long time to perform simple maintenance. But now I have my computer again and all is well. My summer has flown by as always, and though I'm not returning to school (at least not immediately in the fall) now that I have my bachelor degree, I'm finding myself dreading the next coming months as my current job with swimming pools is seasonal, and once the ground freezes, I'll essentially be out of a job. I've also been all alone for the last two weeks, and will be for two more as my girlfriend is very far up north helping with a research project for her work. All that empty room in bed is a double-edged sword haha.
I've done a lot in the last few weeks to share with you though, and a picture says a thousand words...
I visited the Royal Ontario Museum, where my girlfriend was fortunate enough to get a position for the summer in the ornithology department, and I got to take a tour of some pretty interesting behind-the-scenes action.
I finally got a chance to see Coldplay in concert, which was extremely exciting for me. I've been a fan for more than a decade, but have always lacked the finances to see them on their rare jaunts to Ontario.
I took in a Toronto Blue Jays game with my roommate from university, during which I think we spent more than twice the amount of money on beer as we did on the tickets themselves. (Seriously? $10 for one beer?)
I traveled to FanExpo for my fourth time, and was fortunate enough to meet the stunningly beautiful Vana and Tita, as well as see some great costumes.
And then there's just life.
I'd just like to finish by congratulating Danette who's newest set will FINALLY be on the front page this September! Better late than never!
Until next time my friends,
Jess
I've done a lot in the last few weeks to share with you though, and a picture says a thousand words...
I visited the Royal Ontario Museum, where my girlfriend was fortunate enough to get a position for the summer in the ornithology department, and I got to take a tour of some pretty interesting behind-the-scenes action.
I finally got a chance to see Coldplay in concert, which was extremely exciting for me. I've been a fan for more than a decade, but have always lacked the finances to see them on their rare jaunts to Ontario.
I took in a Toronto Blue Jays game with my roommate from university, during which I think we spent more than twice the amount of money on beer as we did on the tickets themselves. (Seriously? $10 for one beer?)
I traveled to FanExpo for my fourth time, and was fortunate enough to meet the stunningly beautiful Vana and Tita, as well as see some great costumes.
And then there's just life.
I'd just like to finish by congratulating Danette who's newest set will FINALLY be on the front page this September! Better late than never!
Until next time my friends,
Jess
Holyyy hell. We've got one evil heat wave slowly roasting us here in Southern Ontario. When I've been lucky enough to get away from my job of teaching people how to use their new swimming pool equipment, I've been speeding that free time in a pool myself.
I hope my fellow Canucks have been enjoying our holiday weekend! I spent some time with my family, and some time just having adventures around town and in the kitchen.
That's pretty much it, I just had a lot of pictures I wanted to share. Also though, I got tickets to go see Metric in November at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. It's going to be fantastic seeing Emily Haines perform, I love a girl who can sing.
Have a great week, all!
-Jess
I've finally officially graduated from university! I had the ceremony this past week, it thankfully took place when the weather was still relatively mild. I don't think I'd have survived an hour and a half wearing my gown and hood if it was as hot then as the 40 ish degree weather we're getting now. Here's a picture of me looking like an absolute goon, shaking hands with the president of the university:
The ceremony itself was mercifully short, I think everything was finished within an hour and a half of us graduates being paraded down the aisle to start things off. And now, after four years of work, I have an extremely pretty piece of paper hanging on my wall commemorating my time at the University of Guelph.
There was a music festival in my city this past weekend, called the Sound Of Music. I remember being so excited for it when I was younger, but in the last few years the bands that have headlined have been pretty disappointing. So I was really glad this year, because Wintersleep, a great Canadian indie rock band from Nova Scotia was there. I spent a good hour and a half sitting by the lake, people-watching (one of my favourite pastimes) with some friends and listening to the great music.
In other musical news, my birthday has just passed (thank you OH SO much to my lovely friends who gave me good wishes), and the birthday present I bought for myself arrived a few days ago. I got Metric's new album Synthetica on vinyl. It's so exciting, I adore Emily Haines, another great Canadian talent, and you just can't beat the sound of a needle gently scratching when you lower it onto an album.
Anyways, here are a few recent photos from my life!
Cheers all,
Jess
P.S. How is it even possible that Danette's set "En la orilla" hasn't been on the front page yet? This girl is beyond adorable, and how could you say no to this face?
The ceremony itself was mercifully short, I think everything was finished within an hour and a half of us graduates being paraded down the aisle to start things off. And now, after four years of work, I have an extremely pretty piece of paper hanging on my wall commemorating my time at the University of Guelph.
There was a music festival in my city this past weekend, called the Sound Of Music. I remember being so excited for it when I was younger, but in the last few years the bands that have headlined have been pretty disappointing. So I was really glad this year, because Wintersleep, a great Canadian indie rock band from Nova Scotia was there. I spent a good hour and a half sitting by the lake, people-watching (one of my favourite pastimes) with some friends and listening to the great music.
In other musical news, my birthday has just passed (thank you OH SO much to my lovely friends who gave me good wishes), and the birthday present I bought for myself arrived a few days ago. I got Metric's new album Synthetica on vinyl. It's so exciting, I adore Emily Haines, another great Canadian talent, and you just can't beat the sound of a needle gently scratching when you lower it onto an album.
Anyways, here are a few recent photos from my life!
Cheers all,
Jess
P.S. How is it even possible that Danette's set "En la orilla" hasn't been on the front page yet? This girl is beyond adorable, and how could you say no to this face?
I'm apparently very bad at maintaining a blog, I haven't made a post in over a month. Most of my time in the last thirty or so days has been spent working, I'm back working with my parents' swimming pool company for the summer since I didn't get any of the jobs that I applied for with my shiny new university degree. It's alright though, the work with the swimming pools is a hell of a lot more fun than being a stock guy at some retail store, and I get to see a lot of really cool pools and landscaping. Also, I have discovered that Instagram is a lot of fun, and will now bombard you with pictures, dear reader.
I'm currently in the running for a $30,000 research grant, that will completely fund a masters project if I get it. Which would mean five more semesters of school, but this time my school would be more like this:
I'm currently in the running for a $30,000 research grant, that will completely fund a masters project if I get it. Which would mean five more semesters of school, but this time my school would be more like this:
I also went shopping for some cool new plants at one of my favourite nurseries around here
My family and some friends went to Medieval Times in Toronto this past weekend for my younger brother's birthday, and it was a lot more entertaining than I was expecting it to be
And earlier today I went to the Toronto Reptile Expo to make some new shelled friends
Finally, here are just a few neat things around my house
The weather forecast is calling for a temperature of 35+ degrees tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be in one of those pools rather than just working at one.
Cheers,
Jess
P.S. If you haven't already done so, you should check out Marlene's set "In The Cold Light Of Morning". Not only does she put up with my clumsy and inarticulate French, she is one of the most beautiful and sweetest girls ever, and I am so smitten with her.
Happy Record Store Day to all!
Incase you live under a rock, or maybe just outside of North America, today is Record Store Day! It's a day when artists release super limited edition versions of their albums, demos, or unreleased music on vinyl. I scoured all over my city to get my hands on some music from my favourite artists.
I ended up with a deluxe edition of El Camino by The Black Keys, Tegan and Sara's newest live album Get Along, Alexisonfire's Math Sheet Demos, and some previously unreleased songs by Coldplay. I think I'm most excited about the Alexisonfire demos, since there were only 1,000 of the 10" albums printed, and since the band isn't together anymore, it's kind of a collector's item.
All in all, a very successful day of music!
Cheers!
Incase you live under a rock, or maybe just outside of North America, today is Record Store Day! It's a day when artists release super limited edition versions of their albums, demos, or unreleased music on vinyl. I scoured all over my city to get my hands on some music from my favourite artists.
I ended up with a deluxe edition of El Camino by The Black Keys, Tegan and Sara's newest live album Get Along, Alexisonfire's Math Sheet Demos, and some previously unreleased songs by Coldplay. I think I'm most excited about the Alexisonfire demos, since there were only 1,000 of the 10" albums printed, and since the band isn't together anymore, it's kind of a collector's item.
All in all, a very successful day of music!
Cheers!
