"Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting tingling too...."

Come on it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you!

Ummmm? So, I've already pulled out the Christmas music. Can't help it, it's catchy!

I blame it on the weather. It's actually starting to get cold here (yes, it gets cold here). Not snowing cold (though it does just a bit further south), but thick jacket-cold. And since back home cold weather means Christmas is coming...yeah, you see the connection.

I recommend Relient K -- Sleigh Ride, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and I Celebrate the Day. And if you find yourself singing along while you're trying to study, I'd recommend A Charlie Brown Christmas. Vince Guaraldi is a genius.

What else...I've been keeping up with American Idol. I haven't watched a season regularly since the Kelly Clarkson days (can you believe there's already been 8 years of American Idol?!?)...and I've actually really enjoyed this season. From the beginning I thought Danny was gonna win - during group week when his group did "Somebody to Love" he stood out. Allison was definitely a favorite. I think her best performances were "Someone to Watch Over Me" (although she sang it very Christina-ish) and "Papa was a Rolling Stone." She's super young, 16 (?), but I think if she came on when she was 19 or 20 she'd probably have won. At any rate I think she will be successful despite not winning. So will Kris Allen. To me he seems a mix between Nick Lachey and Ryan Cabrera, but, much better. He has the type of voice that you can record straight away, where you don't have to add smoke and mirrors for it to sounds good. Then there's Adam. He's gonna win -- as Paula (or was it Kara?) said, he's gonna be "iconic." Agreed. I don't think I'd buy his album, but I'm sure he'd sell out stadiums. For all those people who hate on American Idol -- chill out! I love music. I love singing. I love seeing talent. It inspires me.

Anneke and Bettina informed me that there was a New Zealand Idol, but it was only one season. Or was it two? At any rate, it wasn't that popular, and there probably couldn't be too many seasons of it. New Zealand...population 4 million. Part of it is that a lot of times here a famous person is a friend of a friend...so you don't really have that whole distance thing that keeps you starstruck.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures for this post. Been so caught up in school work (for the past week or so I've been going to bed past 3am, tonight is no exception). It's nice that I don't have to worry about my grades here affecting my GPA, but at the same time, the classes that I'm taking are so interesting that I really do want to do my best.

It's late. 4:12am. It's also cold.....brrrr!!

This cold is making me homesick. Or just sick? Haha. I am feeling a bit homesick though. Homesick/Rochestersick. If you're reading this, chances are I miss you.

Sooo what have I done in the past few weeks? I've seen two movies (yay for $10 movies on Tuesdays!), Wolverine and Angels and Demons. Been to a few concerts, including a couple rock gigs and absolute amazing classical concert. It was the annual Graduation Gala concerto competition where 3 people compete. I actually hadn't been to a classical concert in quite some time. Also had Korean BBQ for the first time ever (and saw two people get slapped in the face with fish!) Actually, been eating a lot of Korean food, ever since we were introduced to a nice Korean place on Queen Street which has dishes for $9/$10! Went to Spookers, a haunted house/cornfield place which was a lot of fun.

Special shout out to Ate Weng. Thanks for reading. :)