StoryTime: THE Mall Elevator

          Hellooooo. I am back~
          I have to say though, that I'm not thrilled to write this post, but then again, I'm not thrilled about much, since I have school in 3 weeks -_____- (..dammit) However, now that I think about my topic, it is preetttttyyy interesting..well, more frightening for me at the time, but still. Let's get started~
         So, I was I think around 3 years old. I'm not quite sure but, you know how when you were in kindergarten or even younger, you, for some reason, remember this ONE moment in your life, out of allll the days in your life? Well, my "glimpses", if you will, occurred starting at age 3. Atleast, I think it did. (I'm kind of psyching myself out with the ages...) Anyways, I remember being at the mall.
        I was with my mom, my brother, my aunt and my two cousins. Once again, I'm not quite sure if we were ALL there, but that's how I remembered it. I think that because of this incident, I am and was soo clingy to my mother. Anyways...
       From what I remember, we may have either been going Christmas shopping, or, it was just a classic shopping day. I remember there was a stroller....probably for my younger cousin.
       I remember that we all went into an elevator(which is where my glimpse started), and were planning to go up a few floors. (From this, you can predict that it was a LARGE mall, which frightened me even more.) So, we get in and my aunt and my mom are talking about what floor to go to. Once they have decided, we proceeded to that floor.
      Once we arrived on the floor, my mom and my aunt thought about going up another floor or two on the elevator. On almost a split second decision, they decided to head out. And so, they exited the elevator, leaving me on it. (I think my mom expected me to follow her or something, because otherwise, she would've grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her, and she didn't. PLUS, I didn't react fast enough *cough..*)
      So, they exited and I'm left in the elevator, watching them right across from me, outside of the elevator, walking away from me. Once I realize this, I start to cry, kick, yell, jump and pretty much go berserk. As I attempt to leave the elevator, the doors close shut.  As I remember it, I think other people were still in the elevator with me.
      And then a miracle happened~
     The next second, the elevator doors opened back up on the same floor, and there was my mom right in front of me :DDDDDD (I can't help but smile at this, even while typing it, because she didn't leave me behind~ AND, she found out that I was missing pretty quickly, which means she cares about me :') ) Anyways, she grabs me, lifts me up onto her hip and wipes off my tears :D. Then we continued to shop~ LOL. (I wonder if I got a lollipop or something :P)
      I don't know if it is my fault for not listening and reacting to my mother and my aunt's call or, if it's my mom fault for not holding my hand.... HOWEVER, I'm SAFE. :D (I love how from the 2 StoryTime posts, that's how I end them off xDD) I should stop with getting into situations where I could be kidnapped, like this one: If the elevator had proceeded to escalate, they'd have to either wait for the elevator to come back down and pray that I stayed on the elevator & didn't get kidnapped, OR, the worst case scenario would be to have to go to each floor and attempt to find me, and possibly have to contact the mall security or wherever the mall keeps the lost children.
      I hope that you're enjoying this series, and I'll hopefully have another story for you soon~

Bloomed -> Blooming~
-Melanie

Why?: Our Lives

         Hey. I know that I haven't posted since Wednesday, but we all have to take a break sometimes right..? Anyways, today I will be talking about something that I've never spoken about before. Don't worry it isn't some crazy sad or disgusting incident or something -____- I just wanted to talk about something that I've been pondering and pondering, but can't and probably will never find out the answer to. It is OUR LIVES.
         I know that you're probably wondering if I've gone crazy or something, but no, seriously though. Think about it. We're mammals, Homo Sapiens, just like any other cow, sheep, horse, deer!
What the heck are we doing with our lives?
         Some of your guys may be saying things like, "EVOLUTION!" and all that but I just don't get it. The reason that I wanted to post this was because I didn't have anything else to talk about AND I can't get over this topic and wanted to share it with you guys and get some thinking going on.
         Look it, as my gym teacher would say, our goals, success and everything. What are they usually surrounded upon? Money? High Education? Great Jobs? Fame? Athletics? You name it. But how the heck do those things relate to a freakin mammal!?!? I mean, millions of people, including myself, enjoy watching the Olympics, yet it is completely useless to our survival, if you really think about it. 
        Shouldn't our focus be on our health, food and shelter? Why is it that Homo Sapien is the specie that strived and why have we become a society like this? Yes, we may have been the dominant specie, but how come our lives now feels so distant to the life of a squirrel or any other mammal? Their struggles are to get food every single day, and what do we do? Majority of us just go to a supermarket -.-
        Think about the characteristics that many of the Homo Sapiens had to have to strive. Intelligence, Strength, Sense of Direction, etc. Those tie into things like hunting, travelling, and protecting ourselves. Some of us humans, including myself, don't even have an ounce of the abilities that they had. Now it seems like every human being can pretty much live with the help of a thing called "money".
        Why is it that Homo Sapiens had to try so hard to gain a simple thing called survival, when we can pretty much do anything and get money for it nowadays? AND, why is it that now, many generations later, Humans get to experience this grateful life, without those struggles, when we, as in every individual person, haven't done anything to earn it?
         I guess basically what I'm trying to say is that Homo Sapiens and Humans feel like two completely different mammals, with different aspirations and struggles, that it doesn't even make sense anymore. Like we keep calling ourselves mammals and some people like to watch wrestling, yet, we seem to only care about what makes us money...sometimes even over family, health, and everything for that matter.
          I think what I'm really interested in is how Homo Sapiens have transitioned to Humans, like us? What was their journey and why has it taken the direction that it has taken?
        After writing this post, I don't even know what I am even getting at  because it seems like as I talk and think about it more and more, it makes me confused, due to how vague it is, and questions are endless :S Anyways, I hoped that I didn't confuse you tooooo much and check back on Tuesday for a StoryTime post from when I was a toddler xP LATESS.

Bloomed -> Blooming~
- Melanie 

StoryTime: Same Car Type..Wrong License Plate :S

          Helloooo curious readers. I'll be starting my new series today :D To be honest, I'm not "thrilled" to write a blog post. It is more-so a chore than an interest atm. But hopefully, these posts will change my mood. Also, I just wanted to say how grateful I am for you, my viewers. From looking at my stats in these past 2 weeks, I've noticed that I got a significant amount of viewers...or so I think. My biggest accomplishment so far is reaching 50 views in the matter of 4 days! It may not seem a lot to you, but 12.5 views per day is pretty good, if you ask me. And...hopefully, you viewers are trolling me by refreshing the page, because that means that my fan base is not as big as I think D;
         Anyways, onto the story~
         *Okay, for the record, this happened when I was in either grades 3 or 4. I can't exactly remember, but it doesn't make too much of a difference. The only reason why I'm telling you guys this is because once the story is over, you'd know why it happened: because I was young. :P
        Lets begin:
        I think the day may have been Tuesday, but I'm not quite sure. All I know is that it was my dad's day off from work. Since I live a good 6 blocks away from the school, he normally drives my brother and I home on the days that he is available. Our car at the time, was nothing special. It was a Toyota Corolla, I believe.
        So, I'm at school and we do work, go out for recess, blah, blah. Next thing we know, it is the end of the school day! Hurray! As I head outside, my first instinct is to look for my dad's car because it is his day off. I'm walking next to the fence to identify the car type and then the license plate. I'm browsing all of the cars, when, BAM. There it is...or so I think.
           So, I obediently head towards the car. I open the door, take a seat and then shut the door. I think I was also about to put on my seatbelt, when at this time, the driver turns around. At this moment, I'm expecting to see my dad, but, noooooooooo. This Asian man, about the same age as my dad, turns around and stares at me, smiling.
         (LOL. I feel like I just described some pedophile xP. But no, he wasn't actually that creepy. He was just your average, smiley man.)
         Anyways, I'm not sure if he said anything, but after he turned around, all I remember doing was possibly murmuring a, "sorry...", and proceeded to heading out of the car. To this day, I still remember it very precisely o.o I even know who the man's daughter is because she was in the same class and grade as me. I don't think he ever told his daughter because he doesn't know me and I don't think I ever told my parents either, because then my brother would've known, which he doesn't because I just told him recently and he sounded surprised and called me a retard -________- (...I'll try to stop rambling now.)
        IN MY DEFENSE, I was like 8 or 9, OKAY? We all make mistakes and my mistake was that I didn't check the license plate careful enough. I SWEAR I saw my dad's license plate on that car!
        Anyways, I'm glad that that only happened once and it didn't occur with an ACTUAL pedophile, because for all I know, the driver could have drove off to who knows where D; Also, as a side note, I don't actually remember if my dad came that day to pick us up....o.o
        However, I am safe and that is good :D I think that after this story, I will probably be sharing some of my "retarded - mistakes", as my brother would most likely put it. Anyways, I hope that my storytelling wasn't too horrible and that you followed along quite smoothly. As for now, I'll talk to you soon..? :P
Bye.

Bloomed -> Blooming~
-Melanie
       

Random Facts

           hello.....yeah, so today I'm really lazy. I slept for 8 hours and then took a nap for 3 hours, so I'm quite drowsy right now. After that, I remembered that I had to post a blog post.
          Because I planned out some ideas beforehand, I realized that today's post would be about my random facts. It cheered me up instantly (like this - :D) because that means that I don't have to try too hard xDDD
          Before we start, some of these facts are really general and may be quite random. I'll be explaining them a bit thoroughly, if needed.

• I am 5 foot 8 inches tall (well....almost xD)

• I have dry and sensitive skin. <- I clearly got the short-end of the stick for this one because it sucks. Like sometimes my face will peel, or when I apply moisturizer on my face, it burns. -.-

• I brush twice a day and floss every night. <- The weird thing is that I brush my teeth before eating breakfast, when it makes kind of more sense to brush after >.< But, that's how I was taught. So be it. Oh, and the flossing. That actually came about when I went to the dentist in 8th grade and I had to get some fillings for my adult teeth and then get my teeth washed(which hurt, btw). Then after that,  I realized that I needed to take better care of my teeth. I've actually thought about getting mouthwash too, which I'll probably get someday xDD 

• I have a lot of anxiety....enough said.

• I am horrified at the sight of snakes in books and horror movies. <- I realized that I was scared of snakes, or thought I was scared, when I got this Urban Dictionary for Kids. It had pictures to go with the labels. Snakes was one of them. I couldn't even stare at the page without being frightened. But then, like a few years ago, I walked by a classroom when I went to the washroom and saw some sort of snake presentation and wasn't frightened what-so-ever. -.- ...never liked that book. As for the horror movies, I just get nightmares when I watch one. Probably due to anxiety.

• I can't snap. <- I don't get why I can't do it. It sounds fine when I snap with wet fingers, but if not, it'll sound really dull.

• I used to crack my toes all the time. <- This habit actually came from my grandpa, when he was taking care of my brother and I when we were younger. He always did it, so we asked him how to do it and then we started cracking our toes pretty much daily. I don't do it as much now, but occasionally~

• My hands can meet around the middle of my back. <- This doesn't seem too difficult for someone to do, but it's kind of like if you're double-jointed: You either are, or you aren't. I think it is the same with this.  I learned that I could do this when I was stretching my biceps and triceps. So, basically, you stretch one arm down your back and one arm up your back. If you're fingers connect, then you can do this. However, some people can only do it with their right or left arm going down. I can do it with both :3

• I prefer TV shows with real, live people rather than animated characters or cartoons. <- I have watched SpongeBob Sqaurepants and what-not, but I prefer watching something like iCarly or Victorious. I think it's because it is more realistic o.o

• I use a reusable water bottle solely because I don't want to use plastic water bottles. <- This actually ties into a lot of things. I'm one of those people that chase you around if you don't turn off a light (HA, I almost said "shut a light" xD), or a tap, when you aren't using it. Same with this: Reusable > Plastic.

• I cut my own hair. <- Normally my mom would cut it, but because in the past, I've gotten hair up to my ears and many haircuts that turn out to be shorter than I prefer, I decided to take it into my own hands. I actually have a lot of fun with it, although it takes a lot more time -____-. I normally just trim my hair every 3 months and cut more layers every 6 months. I'm trying to get my hair to grow longer, so this schedule may get altered.

• I've experimented with make-up before. <- This may not be too much of a surprise, but I don't wear make-up. (SHOCKER xD) No, but really, I tried to wear it occasionally in 8th grade but that faded away and so now I'm kind of left in a, "Do I? Or do I not?" phase. Plus, it looks really foreign when you first put on make-up as opposed to seeing someone who has worn it daily.

         Here it is. Yes, it is a little lame, but it was one of the easier posts for me to write ^.^ (My knuckles are itchy >.<) I guess I will talk to you on Wednesday, if I'm not dead lazy, like I sort of am today. BYEEEE

Bloomed -> Blooming~
-Melanie

15th Birthday~

          It's the weekend ^.^.....with only a month till school starts -___________- Anyways, this blog post is dedicated to my birthday!...which was on July 13th. I know I'm late but mehhh.
          Okay, well I already told you guys about my shopping and movie trip on July 13th, but I didn't talk about my celebration with my extended family, which was okay, I guess.
          So, normally, my aunts and uncles,cousins and grandparents come over every Sunday, since everyone is free on that day. Well, since my birthday was on a Friday, we celebrated the Sunday before.
          Normally, all the adults play Mahjong, a chinese puzzle game with blocks, for like 5 hours -.- every Sunday. And this proved to be a Sunday no different. ( I don't know how they do it though because after playing it for an hour with my cousins, we get bored o.o)
          Anyways, so we go swimming for about an hour, which was part of our routine then but not so much now, and came back home to shower. Shortly after, we had dinner. We had lobster, clams, vegetables and stuff like that. It was pretty good ^.^ (Thanks mommm :P )
           And then we had cake. We usually have cake at around 10pm or later, depending on when we ate dinner. So, at around 10:30pm,  my cousin and I headed downstairs to take out the cake, as we will be celebrating soon. And so this is how it looked like:

I actually edited this photo to make it look brighter xD

          And so, we waited for my mom to come. But she didn't. None of the parents did. So, pretty much it was just my cousins and I, waiting for something to start. (I swear I was going to cry from anxiety because it was kind of like a nightmare that has come true because my fears coming in were: "Omg. What if no one sings for me?DD;") So, I tried to distract myself by bringing the plates, forks, candles and lighter to the table. 

          Then, since my dad was home, he started yelling at my mom, which made me feel somewhat better :P. He was saying things like, Give our daughter some respect. <-- Not an exact translation, but something about giving her some confidence to face people, or something :S

          Finally, my mom stopped the game and everyone from the mahjong table came to the table. I actually got this on tape, thanks to my cousin xDD. I shouted, "Yay! I disrupted!" :P It felt soo good to be important for once. And so they sang pretty loudly and yeah. Now that I think about it, I forgot what I wished for -.- #FAIL

          And that was my birthday celebration -clapclap-

          Since this is a pretty short post, I'll talk about what I've been doing recently. Well, first, I want to inform you guys that my arms are not itchy anymore! It actually stopped for like 2 days and then came back..-.-..but now it's gone! YAYAYAYA.

          As well, I haven't been slacking on my blog posts. I've been trying to brainstorm about what I want to write about and then setting a date on when I'm going to publish it, which is normally every other day, as you have probably figured out xD 

          So far, I have a post about my backyard vegetable garden that my mom mostly works on (I help too!) and about the drought-looking grass or flora in general, random facts and/or confessions (trying to come up with a list atm. Got about 10-15 things), my favourite YouTube channels to watch (Lame, I know. Probably will be short though) and I'm thinking about starting a StoryTime series that is similar to my rants. Its just where I share my past interesting, funny, or scary stories with you guyss. I have atleast 1 in mind right now :D

          OH. And the Olympics. I'm really sad that it is already day 8 and there are only 9 more days left DDD; AND, most of the swimming and gymnastics competitions are over, leaving track and cycling, which to be honest, is not that appealing for me to watch o.o I'll probably end up watching some of the races though. Oh. And I almost forgot: Canada got its first gold medal on the trampoline today! We also got 2 silver medals - one from the Men's 1500m freestyle swim and one from the Women's cycling team (not exactly sure which group though)

          Anyways, this weekend will be my brother's and my cousin's birthday celebration. I'm looking forward to it xP....kind of. Well, Have a great weekend~

Bloomed -> Blooming~

-Melanie

Jobs

            Helloooooo. It's Thursday! Time for another blog post. I am actually trying to finish this post in 35 minutes because at 2:30pm, I'm watching swimming events that include Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte :DDDD. I've realized from watching the Olympics that I'm mostly interested in watching gymnastics (Kohei Uchimura!) and swimming. Anyways, onto the post: I will be talking about Jobs, in general.
           So, for me, I've never had any job experience, which is ironic because I'm trying to inform my viewers on jobs....-looks down-. However, I do know a few things about job applications, résumés, and cover letters because of my Careers class (which was boring). I will also be sharing my experiences with job searching (:
          Okay, so Job Applications. These can usually be found in stores (either through asking an employee or within the store grounds) or online. I haven't actually asked or witnessed someone take an application form from a store, but I have seen a open job slot at a local grocery store where they had the applications at the cashiers though. I didn't get one, fyi. That was probably like 2 years ago. o.o
          As for online applications, they are usually found on the site of the company. Through  my experience with this, I have found that some companies prefer you to just submit a résumé and they'll take a look at it and fill you in at the store(s) of your choice, if successful, OR they will have current job openings at specific stores and have you fill in an application, submit a résumé and covering letter, accordingly. Therefore, if you're looking for a job, check on the companies website first to see how they  hire their employees. (*25 minutes to go~)
          As for résumés, I go with the format that my teacher gave us:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name

Address, City, Province/State, Postal/Zip Code

Contact phone number. Email.

Skills:

·        Ex. Fluent in English

·        Ex. Stand for long periods of time

Volunteer

Experience:

·        Coached and ran various drills for sports teams, such as Badminton, Basketball, and Volleyball.

Start – End period

Work

Experience:

·        Company Name

Duties

Work starting period – Work ending period

Education:

      Grade. School. City, Province.

      School Year

Achievements:

·        Ex. French Award

      Year

Activities

and Interests:

·       Ex. Badminton Team, Running, Sports, Swimming

·      Ex. Reading, Blogging, Volunteering

References:

                                    Available upon request

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

               This may not be the most effective way, but this is what I use. Of course, you could use a different format, but there are similar information that you must provide, like your contact information, education, experiences, etc.

              Onto a cover letter. I have actually written 2, one that was submitted to the teacher(was actually planning to submit it for a seasonal job this year as well but missed the deadline -.-) and one that I actually submitted for a part-time job. As for the format, this is what I use:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name

Address

City, Province/State. Postal/Zip Code

Date

Addressee (if not applicable, skip.)

Addressee’s position (if not applicable, skip.)

Company name

Address

City, Province/State. Postal/Zip Code

Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms./Miss ___________, (If not applicable, use: To whom it may concern)

State position that you are applying for and for what company or location.

State where you found out about this position.

Talk about the skills or experience that you possess that fit the requirements of the jobs or fit with who they’re looking for.

Conclude it by telling them that you’re interested, sent in a résumé and inform them of your phone number and email.

Yours truly,

Signature (if applicable)

Name (typed)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

           Again, this is just what I use. It gives you an example of what one may look like. (*Failed to finish in the 35 minutes, btw D; Back from watching the Olympics~)
           Okay, so, I'm sure many of you may be confused as to the difference between a résumé and a cover letter. Well, a résumé is submitted with all of your job applications and does not have to be altered unless something new has happened like you volunteered somewhere or you completed a grade. However, with a cover letter, you must write a new one for every different position that you apply for because each job position has different requirements and skills that need to be fulfilled.
           I don't want to get to much into the technicalities of applying but rather go into my own experiences.
          Well, personally, I have wanted a seasonal job since around seventh grade. I've always been one of those people who enjoy being productive. My daily fulfillment works like this: By the end of the day, I want to be able to fall back on one useful thing that I did like, reading, or watering the garden. So, you'd see why I'd want a job: you get money.
          I've actually fantasied about how much I would earn each week and each month. Then I think, what am I going to do with this money? I think that when I finally get a job, I will probably save around 60% of it for university. (fingers crossed) But not only that: I want to be able to pay for my own phone bill and even give some extra spending money to my parents, to be honest. Then finally, have some spending money for meeeeeee :3 But then again, I don't know how hard it will be for me to earn my money and so I may be more-so hesitant to spend it. Not certain yet though.
           Next, my job applications.I have actually looked into many company websites like Tim Hortons, Baskin Robbins, McDonalds, etc. These retail stores ask for a résumé or they require you to go in store. I personally, wouldn't mind working at a fast-food restaurant, but is it my first choice? Noo. Sooo, I started browsing on other sites and didn't find much. I ended up on like Workopolis, kijiji, etc. (Those are sketchy and difficult sites to browse through, btw)
          Then, as I was looking up movie showtimes at a Cineplex theatre, (I was probably in my job searching mode or something) I clicked on the Careers section and came across job openings for "Cast Members". Those are the workers you see at a theatre. So I'm like, Cool. And so I looked for an opening near where I live and started the application. After like the first page, I realized that my parents may not allow me to do this and so I left the page.
           The next day, after I got their cosensus, I logged back onto my account to apply and it said that I had already applied -____-. Turns out, when I left the application, it submitted itself. -sigh- .
           Sooo, about a week later, I noticed another opening at a theatre in my city, but a little more farther away. This time I finished the application and now waiting for an interview.....-cough- or not.
           It's been about 6 days since I submitted my application and the job opening is still open -.- (I see how it is! >:( ) I probably won't get it though because then they would have contacted me already, right?
          I'm kind of satisfied with this because I'm worried that if I did get the job, that it would interfere with my homework during the school year, since it's part-time. Yet at the same time, I'm disappointed because a little extra income would've been good.
          Well, that's what I know about job applications, résumés and cover letters. I hope you liked hearing about my job searching experience, which turned out to be lengthier than I expected. Actually, the whole post itself is lengthy o.o I thought that this would be a short post and now I know its not.xD
           Nonetheless, I'll talk to you on Saturday!

Bloomed -> Blooming~
-Melanie