Dear Diary,

My obsession with Youtube began about a year ago – to be more accurate, during the summer of 2009. Every time I open up a web browser, I find myself quickly typing ‘youtube.com’ in the address bar at the top of the page. It has become a natural reaction as soon as I see Windows Internet Explorer. Previous to this, I would automatically type “Facebook.com” into the address bar. The other day, after I got my Youtube fix, I began contemplating what was more depressing

a) That as soon as a web browser appeared – I’d find is necessary to type Facebook.com into the address bar and read the latest status and wall posts

b) I have become attached to Youtube to an extent to which it is almost a religion to me

or c) That I have become so attached to websites and as a result it is a natural reaction to type something in the address bar before I even know what I am doing

To be honest, the school unblocking Youtube was not a good step in beating my Youtube addiction. And for those of you who do not know or cannot comprehend why one would be addicted to Youtube I will explain.

 When you make an account on Youtube, you have the option to subscribe to those who make videos. Those that make videos are categorized by means of the genre of their videos, how many subscribers they have and so on. For those of you who think that Youtube is a place only for music videos or scenes from TV shows are mistaken.  Among many others, some of the “top” Youtubers are Shane Dawson, Shay Carl, LisaNova and Kassam G. When the users you are subscribed to make new videos you are notified on your Youtube homepage.  Youtube users sometimes make up to five videos a day and if you are like me, you must watch all five on the day they come out. Before you make the assumption that I have too much spare time, the videos are often less than ten minutes and the ones that I like the most are shorter than five minutes.

In September I will begin grade eleven and enter into the International Baccalaureate program. The subjects I am taking are as follows: Higher English, Standard Spanish, Higher Economics, Higher Geography, Standard Math, Standard Biology and Theory of Knowledge.  I hope that my choices do not influence or determine my future to a large extent because I continue to have doubts and second thoughts about them.  

Grade ten almost went too quickly and preparations for Grade eleven seem premature. With grade 11 and the international baccalaureate looming over grade 10′s, closing ceremonies on the doorstep and report cards about to be sent, the carefree days of the summer vacation have not really begun.

Summer has snuck up on me this year. The last day of the school year is the most anticipated by more than a few students at the York School.  Maybe it is the rainy weather or the lack of BBQs that suggests that summer has not really arrived and prepared to stay. More than once, I’ve found myself reaching for sweatpants rather than a pair of shorts and sunglasses.

I am hopeful that next weekend after the closing ceremonies, the sun will make the commitment necessary for a hot summer. This blog entry will be similar to the Fall Comforts one I posted last year, in the way that I will list items that make summers the most memorable.

1. Huge sunglasses to hide behind whilst sipping a chilled drink

2. A morning home-made, fruit smoothie

3. A ‘girly’ novel and piles of fashion/gossip magazines

4. Leather Michael Kors flipflops

5. Bottles of sun screen

6. Late afternoon stroll with the dog

7. Lite Iced Café Mocha at Starbucks

8. BBQ’s and iced drinks

9. Cycle Rides to the Blue Mountain Village

10. A pretty summer dress and flats

In preparation for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, the red and white flags, shirts and banners were purchased last month. The anticipation is rising in my house as the England Vs United Sates game is fast approaching. Bunting, posters and flags line the interior and exterior of my house. Some might think it tacky, but for my family – it’s just another Fifa World Cup.

Winning nine out of ten games to qualify for this year’s world cup, England could be a threat.  Wayne Rooney, the ‘barrel-chested boy,’ is predicted to carry the scoring load for his team this year, with Emile Heskey acting as his foil.

We hope that this year, England will exceed their performance in Germany 2006. England was knocked out after a penalty shootout with Portugal in Round 16.

It is important to remember that we should not get carried away and set our hopes too high. Having said this, there is no doubt in my mind that we will reach the finals and emerge victorious.

The Personal Project is a project that every grade 10 student participating in the MYP program is required to complete. The project, in case you are unaware, starts in March of grade nine and finishes in December of grade 10. This project lasts for around nine to ten months. You are required to come up with a question and figure out a way to answer it. You can assume the depth we have to go into with the amount of time we are given to write it. As well as handing in the finished product or how you answered the question, you hand in process journals which consisted of a summary of what you are doing, what you have done and what you will do. Lastly, you hand in a four thousand word essay whereby you analyze every possible thing about every single decision you made.

It is December 17th 2009. It is the last day before the holidays and I have just finished, and handed in the final copy of my personal project.

If you have not participated in the project yourself, you can only imagine the relief and the utter joy that fills a student once they are finished. Throughout this project I have experienced the height of stress, the height of boredom, the height of frustration and finally the height of being totally, one hundred percent confused. I can also tell you that I have learnt the importance of not procrastinating and that I have not procrastinated since – but this would be a lie. I was to have posted five blogs on this website by the end of term and the term ends today -so being me I posted my last two within the last 48 hours.

Every year as the holidays begin, I start to compose a list of New Year’s Resolutions. Usually by New Years day I have forgotten every single resolution I have committed to and have already failed with keeping them. I doubt this year will be different but nonetheless I will make a list simply to get into the spirit.  Dissimilar to the list I made last year, and all the years before that, I will compose a list of things I would like to do this holiday season as a replacement for resolutions. I am yet to perfect my list but here are a few ideas: Skate at Nathan Philips Square, night ski whilst it is snowing and go tobogganing on a wooden, traditional toboggan.

For the past four years of my life I have spent New Year’s at a ski resort somewhere in Quebec. This year, my family has invited the Turners, family friends of ours that we usually ski with, to visit our ski chalet in Collingwood. Like most years we have spent New Year’s day skiing and as a result we find ourselves exhausted. This is not because we are lazy and skiing is too much physical excursion for us. The Turners stay in Canada for one week and in case you are unaware, England, which is where they live, almost never experiences snowfall. They only have one opportunity a year to ski and that opportunity is one week between December and January. We make sure that every year we make the most of every hour we have skiing together. So back to my initial point of how we find ourselves exhausted, in case you have not yet made the necessary connections – we often start skiing at ridiculous hours such as 8 am and continuing until the first person falls and gives up or the lifts close at 4pm. This year, as the tradition is taking place at my chalet in Collingwood we have taken into account the rule at Blue Mountain that you can night ski until 10pm. So, to end this long and tedious blog post I am telling you that this year I will have the chance to have fun on New Year’s night without being exhausted because we will not need to wake up and ski at ridiculous hours such as 8am.

Sadly, this post is not going to be a recipie about chocolate or any other sweet treat. I have not posted a blog in a while as each time I logged on to start writing a new entry - I couldn’t think of anything to write about but food.

In Toronto, fall can be miserable time of year; September brings school, October brings rain and wind, November takes the leaves from the trees and December brings frost.  I constantly have to remind myself that Christmas is on its way and with Christmas comes the Christmas break. Somehow this thought just about compensates for the crisp air in mornings and the dark, gloomy nights. I have put together a small list of things, items and activities that too, comfort me during fall.

1. Sweatpants,  a hoodie and UGG boots
2. Disney Channel shows, Glee or Gossip Girl and a thick, warm throw
3. After school visits to the movie theatre and large, buttery popcorns
4. Chocolate chip cookies dipped in a scalding cup of coffee
5. Caramel Brule Late at Starbucks to be drank with warm, woolen mittens
6. Neutral Chapstick and an intensive, moisturizing hand cream
7. A good book or piles of fashion/gossip magazines
8. A warm pair of faux fur slipper s and a fluffy ‘Granny’ bathrobe
9. Listening to a happy playlist while browsing through old summer photos
10. Long, hot showers or baths with spice scented shower cream

I apologize in advance, I am not really obsessed with chocolate, I just had to share this with you. I was in the Blue Mountain Village this weekend when it started to snow for the first time this winter, I quickly ran into this shop called “Jinger” and when browsing found this book with recipes for smoothies and fruits juices. I flipped through and opened the page where I found Chocolate Mocha Smoothie. My face lit up and I pulled out my phone to write down the recipe, luckily it was really simple. I excitedly began flipping through the book again and found recipes for De-tox Smoothie, Clarifying Juice and Weight Loss Smoothie. I was too overwhelmed and eager to write them down so I have decided that I will make the Mocha Smoothie and see whether it is worth buying the whole book.

I am starting to make the smoothie now. This is the recipe I am following:

1 banana quartered, 1 tbsp of cocoa, I tbsp of espresso (or shot), a cup of milk (hot or cold)

Combine all ingredients in a` blender and blend until smooth.  

I don’t have a blender at my cottage so I used a potato masher and then put it through a sieve. This didn’t work as well as I blender as it turned out to be a bit of a disaster. I am still going to buy the recipe book because I think that it would of worked if I’d of had a blender.

So yesterday evening, which was Monday, I was having a particularly stressful day. I had a colossal amount work to do plus, my favorite show Gossip Girl was on at seven and it was a special episode that I just couldn’t miss with guest stars Hillary Duff and Tyra Banks. On top of it all I was having a craving for chocolate and we had absolutely none in my house. I was so desperate I debated running to the convenience store at the end of my road to grab some. I decided against the trip to the convince store when my Mom presented to me this chocolate cake recipe that you could make in a mug in five minutes. I am no cook or baker and I avoid cooking as much as I can and quite honestly I would rather go without eating than cook a meal. I figured out that if this cake did in fact take five minutes to make I would have just enough time to make it, let it cool down for two minutes and then eat it while watching Gossip Girl.

I abandoned my homework and began to combine the ingredients in the mug as the recipe instructed me to. I didn’t get off to a great start because the mug started to overflow within the first two minutes of my cooking career. After ten minutes, I had finally finished making my five minute chocolate cake. It turned out to be a lot larger than I had expected and could have fed four. I sat down to watch gossip girl at five minutes past eight and it was the best cake I have ever had unfortunately I can’t say the same about the episode of Gossip Girl.

I strongly recommend this five minute chocolate cake, there are many videos on Youtube that you can watch instructing you through the process but this is the written recipe I used.

 Five Minute Chocolate Cake in a Mug (do not use a mug – use a bowl and serves four)

4 tbsp of flour, 4tbsp of sugar, 2tbsp of coco powder, 3tbsp of chocolate chips, 1/2teasp of baking powder

1 egg, 3tbsp of oil, splash of vanilla extract, 3tbsp of milk

Combine all dry ingredients in mug, mix well

Add wet ingredients, mix thoroughly

Put into microwave on high for 3 minutes

Let cool down for 2 minutes and ENJOY!

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