Everything is done. Tickets have been booked. I'm leaving earlier than I thought. March 1st is my departure date, and therefore I arrive in the UK on March 2nd. My return ticket is booked for September 1st.

I'm sorry Sarah, I couldn't get a flight through Toronto. According to the guy who did my tickets the flights through Toronto are only seasonal, and didn't work with the times that I wanted. I'm going through Chicago instead. But if you're visiting me in the summer, it'll all even out. I'm trying to convince mom to come as well, so you two should come at the same time. We'll all go shopping in London, or something.

Right now I'm trying to concentrate on my second black belt testing. I have to break my boards. It's next Friday, February the 10th. It's hard to grasp that within two weeks I may have my black belt. I'm practicing my breaks like mad, and I still haven't accomplished two inches yet. But this Friday is my final practice, and I will do it.

Thursday is my last shift at Esprit. With everything combined, I can barely handle everything. I have so many reasons to be excited.

Wooo!

You know what's a good descriptor? Lethargic. That's what I feel late at night when I'm tired and killing time on the computer before going to bed. Like right now. It's the eloquent way of saying "meh".

Just so you know, that's how I'm feeling. How am I feeling, you ask? Lethargic, that's how. With maybe a bit of silliness tossed in there.

The Coldplay concert was fantastic. Even the songs from X&Y sounded great when played live. And I'm being serious here. Everything was great, I had so much fun.

I was extremely close to the stage. I've never been that close to the stage before. There were times that I was about ten feet away from Chris. And because I was on the side (which is on an angle), no tall people could block my way. I didn't take any pictures, though, due to lack of a camera - I knew that if I had brought one I would have lost it. Just knowing my luck.

I did, however, buy an expensive Coldplay t shirt. According to the t shirt sizes, I am a small man. So there you go.

The opening singer, Fiona Apple, was quite good. She sounded like a mix between Norah Jones and Fiest. But an angry one. All of her songs sounded soft and sultry, but I'm quite sure that most of the lyrics involved her getting back at an ex boyfriend.

Coldplay themselves were awesome. They played all of the songs I wanted to hear, including 'Yellow', 'The Scientist', 'Clocks', and 'Fix You'. When they did 'Yellow' a bunch of very large yellow balloons came down from the ceiling, and when they popped sparkly gold glitter came out. So what if I'm impressed by yellow balloons? Give me a break.

And a concert wouldn't be a concert without a guy annoyingly close to me smoking up. Or without me admiring the lead singer. Once he's done with Gwenyth, he's mine.

I've decided that tonight was my first step towards becoming independant. I went to the concert by myself, and found my way home by myself as well. This included finding the Skytrain station, getting on, getting off at the proper stop, finding a B-Line bus stop, and getting on it. To normal people that would be no problem. But to me, well, everything (especially directions) becomes a little more complicated. But the important thing was that I had fun and made it home in one piece.

And, on a different note, I take back the rude comment I said about a certain someone. He doesn't have his head up his ass, just in physics books.

Well, life after the election is starting up. Normal people are lucky - they just go back to their regular lives. Our regular lives revolved around the election, so we really have nothing to go back to.

Who knows what's going to happen. There are possibilities all over the map. Harper could offer dad a job in Ottawa or here. Or someone could offer him one completely unrelated to politics. Our people want dad to run again, something that we're not even bothering to think about right now. We've got at least a year, so we're taking our time recovering.

Dad is very, very connected. Right now people are just giving him some space and time to recover. His cold is going away, and he sounds a lot healthier. The campaign has proven to be a very good diet, though. He's lost 13 pounds due to lack of appetite.

So I predict that on Monday calls and offers will start coming in. He's already begun meeting with people for lunch.

So who knows what's going to happen, or where we're going to move. And as for me, I'm dealing with moving possibilities on an as-it-comes basis. I don't have to make a decision right now as to whether I should say out here or go back east. I'm scared I will, but I don't at this moment. I'll deal with the situations as they arrive.

Oh yes - Lorne Gunter suggests that there is not a rural/urban divide in Canada. Interesting stuff.

In other news, the Coldplay concert is tomorrow. And on Friday our family is going up to Whistler to ski for the weekend. Next week is my last week of work, and my passport came today.

And I'm not emailing a certain someone until he gets his head out of his ass and starts emailing me.

Well, we lost by about a thousand votes.

To make matters worse, they insulted dad in the commentary of The National, saying that he was "so far to the Christian right" that there was no way he would ever be elected.

Now, I'm not going to bother with that inaccurate and most frusterating remark, which was said on national tv (that was being watched by thousands of people). It did, however, remind me of the propaganda poster that I took down off the street yesterday "VOTE NO 2 REID - NO EXTREME RIGHT WINGERS!".

This has been a hard campaign. There has been horrible propaganda that I've read about my father, mixed with tv commentators and Vancouver Sun articles. I absolutely hate it, I'm very glad it's done. Knowing the trash that the Liberal Party spews makes me furious, and the fact that it actually worked makes me even more so.

This is very hard for me to deal with. I respect and love my dad so much. The hard thing is that I know what kind of a person Raymond Chan is based on the way that he's treated us. And I don't want a person like that representing me in Ottowa.

All that aside, I can not tell you how proud I am of my father. Dad has amazing courage and intelligence. I cannot think of a harder (or scarier) thing to do than to stand up to an entire city, putting your opinions out there for all to see, and fighting for them.

Through this campaign I have met some truly amazing people. This has shown me that there are genuinely good people in the world. Many people put their heart and soul into this, and all for a person that they only met a few months ago. And it does seem like a bit of a waste. All this effort for nothing. But I'm trying to avoid thinking like that. At least we gave Chan a damn good run for his money.

I don't know what's going to happen now. But I know that we will be taken care of. God's will was done tonight. And it was a huge shock. But this all happened for a reason that we don't know - and we have to trust God with the results.

""...let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus...so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

- Hebrews 12:1,2,3

Last night we went to a huge political rally - the last one before the election. Stephen Harper spoke (very well, I might add), and people clapped and cheered. I was surprised by the number of people my age that were there, and just as passionate as I was.

Tonight is election night. I'm excited, but at the same time I just want to go to bed and find out what happens in the morning. This campaign has torn me in two: one part of me wants to be loud and passionate and dedicated, and the other part wants dad not to be known and hide off in the corner where politics don't matter. I think I've been somewhere in the middle.

I don't like my friends, coworkers, and acquaintances reading bad things about my father. It bothers me that thousands of people make judgments on him without knowing anything (any truth, at least) about him. But I do my best not to care. And I more or less succeed.

So yes. I may be going to sleep the daughter of an MP tonight. Results will come soon.

For some reason, tonight was the first time I realized that I'm sad about not going to Australia.

God closed that door for me, and is appearing to open up another one. I've got something to do, or learn, or expirience, in the UK. Whatever that may be.

I shouldn't be sad for all the people I'm not going to meet. Because, well, I'm going to be meeting tonnes in England as well. And having fun. Or so I hope.

I still want to go to Australia.

Talk about delayed reactions.

Lorne Gunter reminds us that the only Prime Minister to put soldiers on the streets of Canada (Montreal specifically) in peace time was Trudeau. Not even Bush has done that. What was it that he said? Ah, yes.

"There are a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don't like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is, go on and bleed, but it is more important to keep law and order in the society than to be worried about weak-kneed people."

—Pierre Elliot Trudeau, October 13, 1970

That's what makes the ad so deliciously ironic. Not to mention that it offended the entire military.

This last week should prove interesting.

From Don Martin's column.

Little Susie Smith, a seven year-old girl in Brampton, Ontario, has her bicycle stolen. A pink bicycle. With little streamers on the handlebars. And who just happened to be campaigning in Brampton that day? Stephen Harper. That's who. We're not making this up. Choose your Canada.

Stephen Harper has a dog. You know who else had a dog? Hitler. Adolf Hitler. That's who. Did Stephen Harper train his dog to attack racial minorities on command? We don't know. He's not saying. Choose your Canada.

Stephen Harper ate at a Tex-Mex place once. You know what the "Tex" in Tex-Mex stands for? Texas. George W. Bush's home state. And you know who else would have liked Tex-Mex food if he were alive today? Adolf Hitler. We're not making this up. Choose your Canada.

New Liberal ads have hit the television waves.

I don't know if you have seen these ads, but they are more personal attacks on Harper than anything else. Not to mention a blatant misrepresentation of facts. But, on the other hand, what else would you expect from the Liberals?

What I love about that CBC article is the end. "The Conservatives have produced their own ads that also don't give all the facts. For example, when they mention the Gomery inquiry in their ads, they don't mention that the inquiry actually exonerated Liberal Leader Paul Martin."

The difference here is that the Conservative ad that they're talking about doesn't misrepresent anything. It doesn't take an attack on Paul Martin, it attacks the party as being corrupt. It took direct quotes from the Gomery report, and a direct quote from Martin. For heavens sake, the Liberal Party is under it's second criminal investigation (for a potential leak in Ralph Goodale's office). The Liberal ads are implying things that they have no basis for, and attacking Harper himself, not the party line.

Desperate attempts from a desperate party.

It's odd to talk to someone who acts like me.

Today was the year end tae kwon do potluck. Although since the year has ended, it was actually the year beginning potluck. But it was the same party. It's the time when most of the club gets together and year end awards are handed out.

Every year I have won an award for something or other, right from my first year. I've won the awards for self control, indomitable spirit, discipline, most improved, student leader of the year, and as of today, student of the year.

Yes, I won student of the year. I was the only one in the entire club, out of all 170 students who won. Sometimes he breaks it up for the Ladner and New West club, but I guess this year he decided not to. And once he finds a nice looking frame, he's going to frame the award for me along with a few others. The student of the year award, along with the black belt of the year, are the two most important awards that can be given.

I feel great. Earlier today I was a little more mellow, but as of now I am extremely proud. This award means a lot to me. Even though I've not yet recieved my black belt, all my efforts and strides to improve both myself and my technique have been noticed. Out of all the students, apparently.

So I had a piece of pie to celebrate and am going to be going to bed happy. I earned this award without even consciously working towards it - but now that I've recieved it, I realize that every stride I've made this year has been towards it. This is one thing that I can say that I truly deserved.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

...and then I found this.

I'm suffering from a bout of insomnia. I haven't had this problem since high school - normally I'm falling asleep by the time I get home from work (or tae kwon do, which also counts as work). Last night I woke up three separate times, and did not wake up rested in the least.

Tonight I've been kept up by A&E. I watched two biographies of people that I don't really care about and a Sex and the City marathon, (a show that I've never watched before tonight, btw...I think I'm a little too innocent to handle it on a regular basis).

I think I'm stressed about my passport, visas, money, and work. Oh yes, and my tae kwon do re-test. It's not a full testing - I really only have to break my wood again - but Mr. Hanger informed me tonight that I still need to know everything (including my memorization) because "you never know what I'll ask you to do".

I barely ate the week before my first attempt. Now I have to start memorizing everything again and stressing about the forms I can't do properly. Not to mention my stupid passport and the election coming up. I tell you, I'm going insane.

Traffic is down at work. My hours have been cut down to 16. That's three shifts, in case you can't tell. And only one eight hour. Which means I may have to work an extra week. And I really, really don't want to.

I don't want to think about this. But I guess I don't have anything better to do. I think I'll go brush my teeth and try to sleep.

Oh yes, I just remembered. I need to call SDSS and get my transcripts sent to UBC. And I also need to fill out another application form.

Lisa is not happy.