It's that time of the year. Yep, time to update blogs.
Oh wait, it's actually time to wrap Christmas presents and eat cookies and wonder if your loved ones will appreciate the gifts you've spent weeks trying to pick out for them. It seems to me like Christmas is always a bit of pressure. How can you quantify you feelings for somebody through some material object? "hey mom, thanks for spending the last 8000 days being a fully functioning parent and going out of your way to make sure that I'm safe and sound and fed and have a roof over my head, etc. So, yeah I'm really quite thankful, and to prove it, I present you with this lovely.. scarf? It even matches your jacket, which means I obviously appreciate you a great deal..." Well I guess what I'm trying to say is there's really no possible way to express gratitude through gifts. But I kind of feel like I have to.. there must be a word for this? catch 22? oh no, that's something to do with the war.
Christmastime last year, I was.. dancing all night at a nightclub called "Vagonka" in Kaliningrad. It was very non-christmas-like, but still so much fun. I gave one gift and I received one gift. Which was great.
Well, I've just discovered the Futureheads and they are SPLENDID. LIke Splenda, but sweeter with less brain cancer. Ok, not like Splenda, Like Bloc Party, but spelled correctly.
Anyways, I hope everybody has a gigantically fabulous holiday season, with plenty of desert wine, poultry, and awkward gifts you don't know what to do with.
And please don't tell my mom I got her a scarf.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Sunday, December 11, 2005
It's noon on Sunday and I've already been for breakfast with my dad, gotten groceries (and put them all away) and bought a birthday present/Christmas present... why do people have babies near Christmas?
Now, all I have left to do is study for my accounting final tomorrow. I've decided that accounting is not something for me. No matter how much I read about it and do practice questions, I'll never feel comfortable writing a test about it. Which I guess is a shame, cause I have to do that in about 24 hrs. Luckily, once I'm done one accounting class, I'll never have to take another one again. Unless I fail this one, which is (knock on wood) very unlikely. I talked to a faculty advisor and she told me that I really have to mess things up in order to get kicked out. I guess it's not as cut-throat as I thought.
This Christmas is much more Christmasy, seeing as I'm in a country that celebrates Christmas. Funny how that works. I'm looking forward to being done exams, though. I have some plans to go toboganning, go skating do some baking. Like some weird cookies from that massive book tessa stole from her work. And reading. Books. And watch tv. And watch the movies Jag recommended cause he made me this SWEET list of his favourite movies. And drink. I guess it's not cold out, so I can't say I want to drink to stay warm. I'm sure we'll have more cold weather eventually...
I can't belive how boring of a post that is. I talked about the weather! I think this blogging business (even though it's not a business) is really a great procrastination tool.
Now, all I have left to do is study for my accounting final tomorrow. I've decided that accounting is not something for me. No matter how much I read about it and do practice questions, I'll never feel comfortable writing a test about it. Which I guess is a shame, cause I have to do that in about 24 hrs. Luckily, once I'm done one accounting class, I'll never have to take another one again. Unless I fail this one, which is (knock on wood) very unlikely. I talked to a faculty advisor and she told me that I really have to mess things up in order to get kicked out. I guess it's not as cut-throat as I thought.
This Christmas is much more Christmasy, seeing as I'm in a country that celebrates Christmas. Funny how that works. I'm looking forward to being done exams, though. I have some plans to go toboganning, go skating do some baking. Like some weird cookies from that massive book tessa stole from her work. And reading. Books. And watch tv. And watch the movies Jag recommended cause he made me this SWEET list of his favourite movies. And drink. I guess it's not cold out, so I can't say I want to drink to stay warm. I'm sure we'll have more cold weather eventually...
I can't belive how boring of a post that is. I talked about the weather! I think this blogging business (even though it's not a business) is really a great procrastination tool.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
daniel vs. ocean part 3
I found this picture in my inbox from my little brother without any text to go with it. (I find this peculiar. Most people write stuff to go with the pictures) Granted it's pretty obvious. He's clearly surfing, and he's in an ocean somewhere.. hawaii, australia, like it matters.
Had this been anybody else, I would be happy for them. But because it's my brother, and he just sent the picture without any words.. so typical "i'm too busy to write anything cause I have to go back to the beach but I will find just enough time to send this lonely picture" I can't help but feel a wee bit jealous.
Ok, underneath it all, I'm truly happy for him. Not only is he doing what he wants, he's also doing it sans mom to take care of him and sans dad to pay for him. Way to go, little (bigger) bro!
Had this been anybody else, I would be happy for them. But because it's my brother, and he just sent the picture without any words.. so typical "i'm too busy to write anything cause I have to go back to the beach but I will find just enough time to send this lonely picture" I can't help but feel a wee bit jealous.
Ok, underneath it all, I'm truly happy for him. Not only is he doing what he wants, he's also doing it sans mom to take care of him and sans dad to pay for him. Way to go, little (bigger) bro!
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Hall and Oates vs. Al Green
Ahhh.. Girls and their blogs. I have been a bit lazy, I apologize.
I went to a funny thing called FESTIVUS on the weekend. It consisted of massive amounts of yummy food (we made Sushi.well I just ate the avocado slices while somebody else made it) and an intense game of trivial pursuit. I forgot how much fun board games can be. (they're not bored games!) I say there should be a game night of sorts.
Speaking of games, I found a lovely (by lovely i mean seedy) liquor store that's like one block from my house. I live 3 minutes from a 7-11 and a liquor store, it's amazing really!
On the academic side of things, I've met alot of meatheads in my classes. Group projects have the ability to bring out the best in people, and also the worst. I met some mark grabbing back-stabbing spineless twats for the first time in school, and it was quite upsetting. These people responsible are likely going to be very successful businessmen. My teacher ended up giving me the same mark as my group, despite their dissatisfaction with my overall performance. I think my teacher was just scared that I would have some type of human characteristics, ie be emotional.. he did warn us once before that if we are ever in our "glass cage of emotion" (he even showed us a clip from Anchorman to really get the point across) that we should stay out of his face. Or maybe he doesn't like my group member cause he wears just enough gel so that his hair has that sexy wet look all day long, which I know I find irritating, so I'd assume everybody else must too.
For school, all I really have to do is study for finals. I say it like it's no big deal, but it's kind of a big deal. I should probably "drop the hammer" as I my skating coach would have said. Ok Ok, as soon as I'm done this, I'll drop the hammer.
I went to a funny thing called FESTIVUS on the weekend. It consisted of massive amounts of yummy food (we made Sushi.well I just ate the avocado slices while somebody else made it) and an intense game of trivial pursuit. I forgot how much fun board games can be. (they're not bored games!) I say there should be a game night of sorts.
Speaking of games, I found a lovely (by lovely i mean seedy) liquor store that's like one block from my house. I live 3 minutes from a 7-11 and a liquor store, it's amazing really!
On the academic side of things, I've met alot of meatheads in my classes. Group projects have the ability to bring out the best in people, and also the worst. I met some mark grabbing back-stabbing spineless twats for the first time in school, and it was quite upsetting. These people responsible are likely going to be very successful businessmen. My teacher ended up giving me the same mark as my group, despite their dissatisfaction with my overall performance. I think my teacher was just scared that I would have some type of human characteristics, ie be emotional.. he did warn us once before that if we are ever in our "glass cage of emotion" (he even showed us a clip from Anchorman to really get the point across) that we should stay out of his face. Or maybe he doesn't like my group member cause he wears just enough gel so that his hair has that sexy wet look all day long, which I know I find irritating, so I'd assume everybody else must too.
For school, all I really have to do is study for finals. I say it like it's no big deal, but it's kind of a big deal. I should probably "drop the hammer" as I my skating coach would have said. Ok Ok, as soon as I'm done this, I'll drop the hammer.
Friday, October 28, 2005
s diem rojdenya
someone sent me a bunch of rules and 2 really hit home. I share.
New Rule 1: No more gift registries. You know, it used to be just for
Weddings Now it's for babies and new homes and graduations from rehab.
Picking up the stuff you want and having other people buy it for you
isn't gift giving, it's the white people version of looting.
New Rule 2: When I ask how old your toddler is, I don't need to know in
Months "27 Months." "He's two," will do just fine. He's not a cheese.
And I didn't care in the first place.
New Rule 1: No more gift registries. You know, it used to be just for
Weddings Now it's for babies and new homes and graduations from rehab.
Picking up the stuff you want and having other people buy it for you
isn't gift giving, it's the white people version of looting.
New Rule 2: When I ask how old your toddler is, I don't need to know in
Months "27 Months." "He's two," will do just fine. He's not a cheese.
And I didn't care in the first place.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Brought to you by the letter B
I'm sitting in the basement of the business building. i really just like saying basement of the business building because there just so many b's, you know? not like BEES bees but B's b's you know? like right after A? that would be funny if there were bee's in here. Probably we would get stung and run around and stuff. But hey, Free honey!
Did you know that google is hiring an average of ten new employees each business day? It's earned 7 billion dollars in the past year. I just thought everybody should know about this as you google your way through life..
The other day, a strange thing happened.. just let me tell you about it..
I was trying to use an expired bus ticket.
Normally what happens is usually one of the following:
1. bus drivers don't notice
2. bus drivers do notice and don't care
3. bus drivers do notice and care and then i pretend i didn't notice
This bus driver noticed. and cared. he waved me up to the front of the bus and started yelling at me about how much money people like me cost the city and how much ETS is subsidized by the blah blahs and the bling blings and people like me cause the problems of society.
He told me that my actions were so horifying that he was going to call SECURITY! (What the hell is bus security? Would they take me to bus jail? Would they black-bus-list me? If anybody knows more details of bus security, please feel free to fill me in)
In case you were wondering if this is a good way to start your day, it isn't. the bus had a bunch of people on it already, who I'm sure enjoyed his Spiel attacking me on a very personal level for my mistake. He asked me if my wrongdoings were some kind of "sick joke." I want to make it clear tht it wasn't some kind of sick joke. If I wanted to play a sick joke on anybody, I hope to God that it wouldn't be something as pathetic ripping off the city of Edmonton $1.60. There are sicker things to do.
I won't get into details, though. I think the motivation behind truly "sick jokes" are much harder to comprehend than a net financial gain of $1.60.
Meanwhile, while he was "teaching me a lesson" I tried to scrounge up the stupid bus fare. I only had $1.25, which for anybody who doesn't know, IS NOT ENOUGH MONEY TO TAKE THE BUS. So, I said "I only have $1.25 so I'll just walk." My eyes filled with tears and I ran home and got my bike. I rode to school (in a mini-skirt..which was really the only reason I wanted to take the bus in the first place, so everybody wouldn't be offended/distracted by my uncovered legs)
I thought maybe there was a memo about cracking down on idiots like me .. so all bus-drivers were going to collaborate and save the fricking world by making sure everybody PAYS. Except the same day, my roomate was let onto the bus for free, just for smiling at the bus driver. That bus driver must have missed the memo.
Just for the record, my bike ride to school was delightful. I rode on the SIDEWALKS with NO HELMET and I have NO BELL. I went out of my way to inconvenience PEOPLE WITH CARS and ASSHOLE BUS DRIVERS who are, for the most part, what makes society ILL.
No offense to people with cars.
Did you know that google is hiring an average of ten new employees each business day? It's earned 7 billion dollars in the past year. I just thought everybody should know about this as you google your way through life..
The other day, a strange thing happened.. just let me tell you about it..
I was trying to use an expired bus ticket.
Normally what happens is usually one of the following:
1. bus drivers don't notice
2. bus drivers do notice and don't care
3. bus drivers do notice and care and then i pretend i didn't notice
This bus driver noticed. and cared. he waved me up to the front of the bus and started yelling at me about how much money people like me cost the city and how much ETS is subsidized by the blah blahs and the bling blings and people like me cause the problems of society.
He told me that my actions were so horifying that he was going to call SECURITY! (What the hell is bus security? Would they take me to bus jail? Would they black-bus-list me? If anybody knows more details of bus security, please feel free to fill me in)
In case you were wondering if this is a good way to start your day, it isn't. the bus had a bunch of people on it already, who I'm sure enjoyed his Spiel attacking me on a very personal level for my mistake. He asked me if my wrongdoings were some kind of "sick joke." I want to make it clear tht it wasn't some kind of sick joke. If I wanted to play a sick joke on anybody, I hope to God that it wouldn't be something as pathetic ripping off the city of Edmonton $1.60. There are sicker things to do.
I won't get into details, though. I think the motivation behind truly "sick jokes" are much harder to comprehend than a net financial gain of $1.60.
Meanwhile, while he was "teaching me a lesson" I tried to scrounge up the stupid bus fare. I only had $1.25, which for anybody who doesn't know, IS NOT ENOUGH MONEY TO TAKE THE BUS. So, I said "I only have $1.25 so I'll just walk." My eyes filled with tears and I ran home and got my bike. I rode to school (in a mini-skirt..which was really the only reason I wanted to take the bus in the first place, so everybody wouldn't be offended/distracted by my uncovered legs)
I thought maybe there was a memo about cracking down on idiots like me .. so all bus-drivers were going to collaborate and save the fricking world by making sure everybody PAYS. Except the same day, my roomate was let onto the bus for free, just for smiling at the bus driver. That bus driver must have missed the memo.
Just for the record, my bike ride to school was delightful. I rode on the SIDEWALKS with NO HELMET and I have NO BELL. I went out of my way to inconvenience PEOPLE WITH CARS and ASSHOLE BUS DRIVERS who are, for the most part, what makes society ILL.
No offense to people with cars.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Dedicated to all Swedes stuck in Russian exclaves
What has the mirro's dent in society been lately? Pretty sure it's been nothing, actually. Well I only say this because it's such a huge dent that I can't even remember it. I had a lovely weekend, which was already 3 days ago. I learned how to bake bread, learned the secret ingredient in hummus, ate a pickled egg at the Strat, and I learned that honesty will get me further than all the pickled eggs you could fit in your backpack.
Speaking of honesty, I'd like to talk about my education now. Business School. It seems like in every class, they either emphasize that money should be a top priority in everybody's lives and/or make fun of hippies. Yeah yeah hippy's are funny. Especially the dirty ones. Or better yet the hippies-turned accountants living in Kitsilano. But they did alot of cool stuff, I mean they wanted some kind of restructuring of our society, and went about via drugs and free love (I wasn't born then, I don't really remember.)
So far the people i've met who use hippies as the scapegoat for all societies ills have probably never eaten/smoked/snorted any drugs or loved freely (feel FREEEEE to define love however you want, I don't think it matters) so really, can I trust somebody who is afraid to live to teach me what I should value in my life? How do you spell "amy is skeptical"?
How do the miserable people who will have more money than they could ever spend fit into this equation? Is their an equation for this? If you value something, and then you fill your life with it, shouldn't it all come together?
Not to mention people who make money by exploiting people (dangerous working conditions, low-pay, etc) and the environment (dirty air and water for example) .. and then they donate (ie write-off/put a happy notch in the public relations belt) a bunch of cash (CASH IS KING- I learned that today) to some charity, which supports underfed deformed asthmatic children of single mom's whose dads died in industrial accidents.. How selfless..
I'm also frightened of those who have copious amounts of dough who have no fashion sense whatsoever. I may or may not be referring to my teacher.
I'd like to conclude by saying that I am greedy too, and I pollute several times a day at least (maybe more). I also have no fashion sense. But at least I'm honest.
Speaking of honesty, I'd like to talk about my education now. Business School. It seems like in every class, they either emphasize that money should be a top priority in everybody's lives and/or make fun of hippies. Yeah yeah hippy's are funny. Especially the dirty ones. Or better yet the hippies-turned accountants living in Kitsilano. But they did alot of cool stuff, I mean they wanted some kind of restructuring of our society, and went about via drugs and free love (I wasn't born then, I don't really remember.)
So far the people i've met who use hippies as the scapegoat for all societies ills have probably never eaten/smoked/snorted any drugs or loved freely (feel FREEEEE to define love however you want, I don't think it matters) so really, can I trust somebody who is afraid to live to teach me what I should value in my life? How do you spell "amy is skeptical"?
How do the miserable people who will have more money than they could ever spend fit into this equation? Is their an equation for this? If you value something, and then you fill your life with it, shouldn't it all come together?
Not to mention people who make money by exploiting people (dangerous working conditions, low-pay, etc) and the environment (dirty air and water for example) .. and then they donate (ie write-off/put a happy notch in the public relations belt) a bunch of cash (CASH IS KING- I learned that today) to some charity, which supports underfed deformed asthmatic children of single mom's whose dads died in industrial accidents.. How selfless..
I'm also frightened of those who have copious amounts of dough who have no fashion sense whatsoever. I may or may not be referring to my teacher.
I'd like to conclude by saying that I am greedy too, and I pollute several times a day at least (maybe more). I also have no fashion sense. But at least I'm honest.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Friends n' roomies in IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, it's that time of the year again. Time to get a sweater.
Or is it? Or would I? O. R. THEY? O.R. scrubs that is.
Well, in the last month or so, I don't really remember what has been going on.
But I know I've been pretty lucky. No rabbit feet, or Irish people. I haven't even been eating lucky charms. Mostly cause they're grose. So this luck must be.. .. .. I should really shut up about my luck. Maybe even "knock on wood". Cause this luck is free to expire at any given moment..
Our apartment is starting to feel like a "home", and I'm excited about my roomate and I as a unit again, and how we're gonna find our balance for the upcoming months.. or years.. who knows really? NOt me! Her health is normal today, which is quite refreshing.
I'm in school again too! I took two years away from the official studies to pursue other endeavors, like making money by sitting in front of a computer and bumming around other parts of the planet. I figure the majority of the world doesn't have the opportunity to learn to read, never mind go to such a prestigious Univeristy (HA HA AHAHAHAHA)
And if you consider the women who have this chance, the numbers are even smaller. So I'm lucky to be supported by my family, society and my government to pursue "higher education," Even if I don't give a rip about accounting or business statistics. Being in school means no working full-time. All I have to say about that is this:
"sign me up"
I realized once again that I have wonderful parents, who are supportive of my decisions concerning the colour of our bathroom. My mom is painting it as we speak. Overall, I'm excited about this, except the smell is making me want to wak wak. (wak wak is nepalese for barf) should have opted for the no VOC paint.
Also, Elliot Smith is amazing, in case anybody was like "Is Elliot Smith amazing" Yes. Yes he is. Maybe even cooler than Winston Churchill. Or Jackie Onassis. Not sure though. I suspect one of these wore more Chanel. And tweed. .. .. .. ..
Or is it? Or would I? O. R. THEY? O.R. scrubs that is.
Well, in the last month or so, I don't really remember what has been going on.
But I know I've been pretty lucky. No rabbit feet, or Irish people. I haven't even been eating lucky charms. Mostly cause they're grose. So this luck must be.. .. .. I should really shut up about my luck. Maybe even "knock on wood". Cause this luck is free to expire at any given moment..
Our apartment is starting to feel like a "home", and I'm excited about my roomate and I as a unit again, and how we're gonna find our balance for the upcoming months.. or years.. who knows really? NOt me! Her health is normal today, which is quite refreshing.
I'm in school again too! I took two years away from the official studies to pursue other endeavors, like making money by sitting in front of a computer and bumming around other parts of the planet. I figure the majority of the world doesn't have the opportunity to learn to read, never mind go to such a prestigious Univeristy (HA HA AHAHAHAHA)
And if you consider the women who have this chance, the numbers are even smaller. So I'm lucky to be supported by my family, society and my government to pursue "higher education," Even if I don't give a rip about accounting or business statistics. Being in school means no working full-time. All I have to say about that is this:
"sign me up"
I realized once again that I have wonderful parents, who are supportive of my decisions concerning the colour of our bathroom. My mom is painting it as we speak. Overall, I'm excited about this, except the smell is making me want to wak wak. (wak wak is nepalese for barf) should have opted for the no VOC paint.
Also, Elliot Smith is amazing, in case anybody was like "Is Elliot Smith amazing" Yes. Yes he is. Maybe even cooler than Winston Churchill. Or Jackie Onassis. Not sure though. I suspect one of these wore more Chanel. And tweed. .. .. .. ..
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Church wins? (Church recently)
Here's the same church in Kaliningrad (under construction).. it's looking pretty good. Lenin has been replaced by some fancy concrete and pretty lights. Kaliningrad recently celebrated it's 750 yr. anniversary.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
down with the grey area
i've been trying to figure out what to write on this thing, but honestly i can't think of anything. ANYTHING. Okay, I thought of that sentence I just wrote.
There's even alot of stuff going on.. and all kinds of stuff. I mean, summer is saying goodbye to us. Alot of stuff's been changing. Like the weather (Yah FALL, AHH winter) , the price of petrol (who would have thought? It's gone up? good thing my bike doesn't need gas, or i'd be upset), the colour of my hair (who the hell cares?), my roomate situation ( I went from having no roomate to having a super cool one), New Orleans (is sinking now, I don't wanna swim), and speaking of swimming in New Orleans.. or Narleens as they say on tv, the way I exercise has also changed. My pool is closed. Yes, I owned a swimming pool. No, I don't, silly. I just went there. To Swim. Hard to believe, I know. They're doing "maintenance" whatever that means. Sounds fishy to me.. well, there's no fish in this pool, but there do seem to be alot of russians, and they do their whole russian banter. I could understand when they were swearing. I knew I went to Russia for a reason! Eavesdropping (holy cow, how do you even spell that?) on russian swearing chit chat.. I'm also almost done my job. a few more days..then i'm a student. wowza bowza. 2 years off and now I get my butt back on campus.. But then again, I am a student at the University of Life. And, rock bottom IS a college education, right? like I would know anything anyways, cause i didn't graduate! HA!
There's even alot of stuff going on.. and all kinds of stuff. I mean, summer is saying goodbye to us. Alot of stuff's been changing. Like the weather (Yah FALL, AHH winter) , the price of petrol (who would have thought? It's gone up? good thing my bike doesn't need gas, or i'd be upset), the colour of my hair (who the hell cares?), my roomate situation ( I went from having no roomate to having a super cool one), New Orleans (is sinking now, I don't wanna swim), and speaking of swimming in New Orleans.. or Narleens as they say on tv, the way I exercise has also changed. My pool is closed. Yes, I owned a swimming pool. No, I don't, silly. I just went there. To Swim. Hard to believe, I know. They're doing "maintenance" whatever that means. Sounds fishy to me.. well, there's no fish in this pool, but there do seem to be alot of russians, and they do their whole russian banter. I could understand when they were swearing. I knew I went to Russia for a reason! Eavesdropping (holy cow, how do you even spell that?) on russian swearing chit chat.. I'm also almost done my job. a few more days..then i'm a student. wowza bowza. 2 years off and now I get my butt back on campus.. But then again, I am a student at the University of Life. And, rock bottom IS a college education, right? like I would know anything anyways, cause i didn't graduate! HA!
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Aphrodite: goddess of love (not that kind of love) or Whiterock has the most sun per capita or..
well, shambhala was a fun time. i wore an fluorescent orange bathing suit, got to visit my grandparents on the way there, which is always a nice, relaxing time. My grandma provided us with enough food for pretty much the entire journey, along with sunscreen, washclothes, socks and gatorade (which is btw the best hangover cure ever, not that I would need that)) Thanks granny!
I got to see my cousin, who, during the 43 minutes we were in the same room, managed to call me a bad word based on one of the shirts I own, and make fun of my favourite beer, using a derogatory racial slur. He really doesn't waste any time, that boy. My grandpa reassured me that you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family! If I could pick my family, I'd probably pick my grandparents though..
I got spend time with some buds, and learn about British Columbian geography. Most importantly, I learned that I am able to put an entire package of gum in my mouth, and chew it, and talk!
It's a fun time, (the pack of gum in your mouth) if anybody is interested in fun. It can be pretty painful.. especially when you're doing this with pepper-mint gum. Kind of a burning in your mouth. But that's just the price you gotta pay for fun I guess. Probably better than cinnamon. I think bubble gum would be impossible, though. Just too big, ya know?
I met some weirdo from Whiterock BC who told me that Whiterock has the most sun per capita. Do you think per capita sun really means anything? It's not like you get less sun when you're around more people, right? Mexico city is probably pretty sunny, but if you take into consideration that they have 20 milion people, one might be pretty confused by the numbers.. like is "hey, is this northern Finland?" NO! just Mex. city.
Now I'd like to bring everybody's attention to Scottish people..
So, I always felt bad for men cause they could never experience the purest bliss known to humankind, ie wearing a skirt. They were stuck with those silly gender specific clothing choices.. like pants. and shorts. only women could take part in such wondrous experiences.. this is what ignorant old me thought.. until I met Scottish men! THey wear kilts! they know what's going on, up, down, ya know. All the others, I'm not so sure.
Also, the second greatest experience known to human kind: carrying a purse. Guys have to use pockets! what a shame. Except the scotsmen once again rise above the heap. They have purses attached to their kilt belt thingys.! GEnIUS! they can now carry around lipstick and cigarettes, even if they don't wear lipstick or smoke, that's really not the point at all, is it?
Good thing I got that Scottish bit off my chest.
Lately I've been a little stressed, for a variety of reasons, most of which are too boring, etc to write about. Most of them are things that are out of my control (as most things are, what a coincidence) and all I can do is be patient, which I am terrible at doing. Although I am learning....
One thing I'm excited about is my roomate is moving in soon, I'm done my job soon, and looking outside, it'll be winter soon. This is exciting cause I get to pull out my scarf collection!!!
I got to see my cousin, who, during the 43 minutes we were in the same room, managed to call me a bad word based on one of the shirts I own, and make fun of my favourite beer, using a derogatory racial slur. He really doesn't waste any time, that boy. My grandpa reassured me that you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family! If I could pick my family, I'd probably pick my grandparents though..
I got spend time with some buds, and learn about British Columbian geography. Most importantly, I learned that I am able to put an entire package of gum in my mouth, and chew it, and talk!
It's a fun time, (the pack of gum in your mouth) if anybody is interested in fun. It can be pretty painful.. especially when you're doing this with pepper-mint gum. Kind of a burning in your mouth. But that's just the price you gotta pay for fun I guess. Probably better than cinnamon. I think bubble gum would be impossible, though. Just too big, ya know?
I met some weirdo from Whiterock BC who told me that Whiterock has the most sun per capita. Do you think per capita sun really means anything? It's not like you get less sun when you're around more people, right? Mexico city is probably pretty sunny, but if you take into consideration that they have 20 milion people, one might be pretty confused by the numbers.. like is "hey, is this northern Finland?" NO! just Mex. city.
Now I'd like to bring everybody's attention to Scottish people..
So, I always felt bad for men cause they could never experience the purest bliss known to humankind, ie wearing a skirt. They were stuck with those silly gender specific clothing choices.. like pants. and shorts. only women could take part in such wondrous experiences.. this is what ignorant old me thought.. until I met Scottish men! THey wear kilts! they know what's going on, up, down, ya know. All the others, I'm not so sure.
Also, the second greatest experience known to human kind: carrying a purse. Guys have to use pockets! what a shame. Except the scotsmen once again rise above the heap. They have purses attached to their kilt belt thingys.! GEnIUS! they can now carry around lipstick and cigarettes, even if they don't wear lipstick or smoke, that's really not the point at all, is it?
Good thing I got that Scottish bit off my chest.
Lately I've been a little stressed, for a variety of reasons, most of which are too boring, etc to write about. Most of them are things that are out of my control (as most things are, what a coincidence) and all I can do is be patient, which I am terrible at doing. Although I am learning....
One thing I'm excited about is my roomate is moving in soon, I'm done my job soon, and looking outside, it'll be winter soon. This is exciting cause I get to pull out my scarf collection!!!
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Thursday, August 04, 2005
I can't see why that would matter.
I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory yesterday and it was great!! I loved Johnny Depp. I think he's pretty much the same character in Fear and Loathing in las Vegas, Pirates of the Carribean and this movie, just different time and place.... just that pause before he reacts and/or says anything.... like he's always in his own magical little world, (world of infinate drugs, treasure or candy, depending on the movie)
I loved all the dancing, too. It reminded me of synchronized skating. And the chocolate waterfall!? Like the chocolate fountain that Galya and I found in Toronto. It was at a going away party for this priest who we didn't know.. but it was in the same building we were staying in.. and Lena and Paul (who lived in the building) assured us that nobody could tell we weren't catholic (although I thought we stood out... my constant cursing and Galya and her Orthodox accent.., but whatever..), and we could stand by the fountain all night in awe. Chocolate is the best supper ever.
I didn't look at my watch once throughout, which is very strange for me. Normally I don't have enough patience to sit in the same spot for 2 hrs.. Plus I had a free pass to get in, so really, it was perfect.
Somebody has been reassuring me lately that I'm seriously flawed, because I've never once done the following things:
- watched/read Harry Potter..
- watched any of the Star Wars movies.. apparantly there's like 6?
- watched pornography of any kind.
He claims the problems stemming from my inadequate cultural experiences include not getting all the related jokes. "Amy, you're missing out!" Well, it's true, I am missing out. I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but we're all missing out on something.....what are you missing out on, huh???
I loved all the dancing, too. It reminded me of synchronized skating. And the chocolate waterfall!? Like the chocolate fountain that Galya and I found in Toronto. It was at a going away party for this priest who we didn't know.. but it was in the same building we were staying in.. and Lena and Paul (who lived in the building) assured us that nobody could tell we weren't catholic (although I thought we stood out... my constant cursing and Galya and her Orthodox accent.., but whatever..), and we could stand by the fountain all night in awe. Chocolate is the best supper ever.
I didn't look at my watch once throughout, which is very strange for me. Normally I don't have enough patience to sit in the same spot for 2 hrs.. Plus I had a free pass to get in, so really, it was perfect.
Somebody has been reassuring me lately that I'm seriously flawed, because I've never once done the following things:
- watched/read Harry Potter..
- watched any of the Star Wars movies.. apparantly there's like 6?
- watched pornography of any kind.
He claims the problems stemming from my inadequate cultural experiences include not getting all the related jokes. "Amy, you're missing out!" Well, it's true, I am missing out. I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but we're all missing out on something.....what are you missing out on, huh???
Monday, August 01, 2005
Do Make Say Think
Monday, August 1, 2005. Civic Holiday for everybody. Not for us, though. I looked it up in the company policies.. and this day is not a holiday. To make it up to us, our boss will take us all swimming at lunch. I guess that's acceptable..
This morning, I decided to do something completely crazy, and eat breakfast! I went to pull out some jam from the fridge (seemed like a realistic goal at the time) and while grabbing the jam, I managed to knock out 2 beer bottles and a bottle of salad dressing. So, if you ever need to throw up in the future, I recommend mixing very garlicky salad dressing with 2 bottles of Corona. Add some glass in there so you can get little cuts and you're ready for anything. So now my house reeks like this concoction I just described. . . i ignored the mess for awhile hoping it would disappear, but.. eventually i had to clean it up. I opened all my windows to hopefully help with the smell.. so probably when i get home all my stuff will be gone.. when i say "all my stuff" i mean a stereo and a blender.. my most expensive posessions..
I had my work computer with me on the weekend, and I thought I should take the bus cause my computer's kinda heavy for my bike. Plus I had my swimming stuff... so I go out to wait for the bus.. and soon realized that today's a holiday!!!!!! there were no busses.. well not my bus anyways.. and there were even very few cars. So I hauled my butt back home, re-packed my stuff and headed out again, on my bike. (my mom gave me her bike btw, as mine is officially missing) I made it to work, and all the parking lots around here are empty. Cause nobody is working, man! It's a holiday? Did I mention that? I wanna go swimming right now!
(Even the light in the fish tank is out which means even the office fish have a holiday!)
I went canoeing yesterday with my parents and one of my brothers. We started in Devon, and went all the way to Emily Murphy Park. It was really cool to see Edmonton, as if I was part of the river. (how post-modern.. tee hee)
anyways I saw the big bridge on 23rd Ave.. which has no roads leading to it yet, and I discovered that there's a pedestrian bridge between Hawrlak park (spelling?) and Laurier Park (I think) This could be useful for the future. My brother and I pretended that we were coureurs de bois and we tried to scare all the seagulls (or rivergulls as I like to call them)
I got a weird sun-burn. Pretty much half of my lower arm is bright red, and the rest is.. well the normal colour of my skin.
I'm really upset (well, i'm exagerrated.. kind of upset.. maybe not even upset..more like slightly disappointed) that I missed Fred Everything. He played at Y, and I wasn't up for an all nighter before coming to work.. although I probably would have been just as effective on 0 hrs. of sleep as I am now. I hear he's coming to Calgary on Labour Day weekend. Only 300km away. I could ride my bike!
This morning, I decided to do something completely crazy, and eat breakfast! I went to pull out some jam from the fridge (seemed like a realistic goal at the time) and while grabbing the jam, I managed to knock out 2 beer bottles and a bottle of salad dressing. So, if you ever need to throw up in the future, I recommend mixing very garlicky salad dressing with 2 bottles of Corona. Add some glass in there so you can get little cuts and you're ready for anything. So now my house reeks like this concoction I just described. . . i ignored the mess for awhile hoping it would disappear, but.. eventually i had to clean it up. I opened all my windows to hopefully help with the smell.. so probably when i get home all my stuff will be gone.. when i say "all my stuff" i mean a stereo and a blender.. my most expensive posessions..
I had my work computer with me on the weekend, and I thought I should take the bus cause my computer's kinda heavy for my bike. Plus I had my swimming stuff... so I go out to wait for the bus.. and soon realized that today's a holiday!!!!!! there were no busses.. well not my bus anyways.. and there were even very few cars. So I hauled my butt back home, re-packed my stuff and headed out again, on my bike. (my mom gave me her bike btw, as mine is officially missing) I made it to work, and all the parking lots around here are empty. Cause nobody is working, man! It's a holiday? Did I mention that? I wanna go swimming right now!
(Even the light in the fish tank is out which means even the office fish have a holiday!)
I went canoeing yesterday with my parents and one of my brothers. We started in Devon, and went all the way to Emily Murphy Park. It was really cool to see Edmonton, as if I was part of the river. (how post-modern.. tee hee)
anyways I saw the big bridge on 23rd Ave.. which has no roads leading to it yet, and I discovered that there's a pedestrian bridge between Hawrlak park (spelling?) and Laurier Park (I think) This could be useful for the future. My brother and I pretended that we were coureurs de bois and we tried to scare all the seagulls (or rivergulls as I like to call them)
I got a weird sun-burn. Pretty much half of my lower arm is bright red, and the rest is.. well the normal colour of my skin.
I'm really upset (well, i'm exagerrated.. kind of upset.. maybe not even upset..more like slightly disappointed) that I missed Fred Everything. He played at Y, and I wasn't up for an all nighter before coming to work.. although I probably would have been just as effective on 0 hrs. of sleep as I am now. I hear he's coming to Calgary on Labour Day weekend. Only 300km away. I could ride my bike!
Monday, July 25, 2005
LIES! LIES! (coming to edmonton Oct. 4) (THI) trust in humanity index
I had a nice weekend. Friday night, I went out to Jenn's cabin, along with some other crazy kids. BOoze and Balderdash.. the 2 B's of fun, let me tell ya. My favourite was Jenn's definition of the word stallko:
"stallko, as in Elvis Stallko, world figure skating champion, sorry about my speech impediment."
I'm very intruiged/frightened/entertained by a movie that's coming out called "the devil's rejects." I have no idea what it's about, but I want to see it just cause I'm curious. What could you possibly do that would earn you a the rejection stamp from the devil? You'd think that as the severity of your cruel deeds increases, so would the devil's admiration of you.
Rob Zombie will have to teach me a thing or two. The music mastermind already taught me about digging through ditches, and burn through witches. did he change his last name to zombie or is that just one of those weird coincidences that adds texture and meaning to our lives?
in other boring news,
some jerk stole my bike last week, my Trust in humanity index is declining steadily.
i went to the tortoise concert yesterday, and it was loud and entertaining. the music's not really my "sound" but the band was entertaining to watch. I've never seen a drummer sweat so much. drugs? enthusiiam? lack of oxygen of stage? not sure, but he was into it.
I hung out with my dad a bit this weekend which I enjoyed. He took me for breakfast, and I wasn't even hung over so I could have a conversation with him!
I discovered somthing very fun at Jenn's cabin -- swimming in a lake in the dark when it's raining. along with seadoing in the dark in a lake when it's raining. except the rain hurts your face. I guess that's the price you have to pay..
and one last thing!!!- Broken Social Scene---CHECK THIS OUT IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.. or something..
"stallko, as in Elvis Stallko, world figure skating champion, sorry about my speech impediment."
I'm very intruiged/frightened/entertained by a movie that's coming out called "the devil's rejects." I have no idea what it's about, but I want to see it just cause I'm curious. What could you possibly do that would earn you a the rejection stamp from the devil? You'd think that as the severity of your cruel deeds increases, so would the devil's admiration of you.
Rob Zombie will have to teach me a thing or two. The music mastermind already taught me about digging through ditches, and burn through witches. did he change his last name to zombie or is that just one of those weird coincidences that adds texture and meaning to our lives?
in other boring news,
some jerk stole my bike last week, my Trust in humanity index is declining steadily.
i went to the tortoise concert yesterday, and it was loud and entertaining. the music's not really my "sound" but the band was entertaining to watch. I've never seen a drummer sweat so much. drugs? enthusiiam? lack of oxygen of stage? not sure, but he was into it.
I hung out with my dad a bit this weekend which I enjoyed. He took me for breakfast, and I wasn't even hung over so I could have a conversation with him!
I discovered somthing very fun at Jenn's cabin -- swimming in a lake in the dark when it's raining. along with seadoing in the dark in a lake when it's raining. except the rain hurts your face. I guess that's the price you have to pay..
and one last thing!!!- Broken Social Scene---CHECK THIS OUT IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.. or something..
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Ryan, aka intergalactic tracksuitman
one of the dudes passing by. does anybody know where I could get a tracksuit like that? he says it even makes him run faster!
Poor Little Rich Boy
So, it's wednesday, that day in the middle of the week.. you all know what I'm talking about. We just had a staff meeting, so my fun-quota has been reached for this week.. possibly month..
I am a pretty happy camper (although i'm not camping) today because I received an awesome package in the mail with a shirt that says: "In Soviet Russia, shirt wears you" which i think is very appropriate for a shirt. It came from this really cool girl named Tessa ( I think) But I'm a bit confused about how the package came from Toronto and she lives in Vancouver. How'd she do that?
On the topic of the Soviet Russia, this guy I know named Fox recommended Regina Spektor's album Soviet Kitsch, and it is pretty good. I've been listening to it today. Along with Roisin Murphy, who is the singer from Moloko. And how does this relate to the Soviet Union? Well, Moloko is the Russian word for milk. And I bought the Moloko album while I was in Russia.. see how this is all connected?
Now let's jump past Soviet Russia and onto modern Russia. Apparantly (so I hear) all boys there have to go to the army for 2 years! like 720 days! The only way to get out is if you pay a doctor to get a note (it's a pretty expensive note) or somebody else that knows somebody else who can scratch your name off the list or you go to a University that offers military courses.. which somehow replace military duty.. or if you don't have a penis.. you're automatically disqualified.
Sorry to state the obvious here, but this is not fair. If you don't have money, you are under-fed, under-sexed, under-payed and physically abused for 2 years. And by the time you're out, you can't get into school cause you're too old, and you need to recover from the 2 years of physical emotional and alcohol abuse. Women don't have to do this, cause they gotta make babies who will grow up and join the army ... see how this is all connected? me neither.
and.. to leave this post on a happy note.. I will put up a picture.
I am a pretty happy camper (although i'm not camping) today because I received an awesome package in the mail with a shirt that says: "In Soviet Russia, shirt wears you" which i think is very appropriate for a shirt. It came from this really cool girl named Tessa ( I think) But I'm a bit confused about how the package came from Toronto and she lives in Vancouver. How'd she do that?
On the topic of the Soviet Russia, this guy I know named Fox recommended Regina Spektor's album Soviet Kitsch, and it is pretty good. I've been listening to it today. Along with Roisin Murphy, who is the singer from Moloko. And how does this relate to the Soviet Union? Well, Moloko is the Russian word for milk. And I bought the Moloko album while I was in Russia.. see how this is all connected?
Now let's jump past Soviet Russia and onto modern Russia. Apparantly (so I hear) all boys there have to go to the army for 2 years! like 720 days! The only way to get out is if you pay a doctor to get a note (it's a pretty expensive note) or somebody else that knows somebody else who can scratch your name off the list or you go to a University that offers military courses.. which somehow replace military duty.. or if you don't have a penis.. you're automatically disqualified.
Sorry to state the obvious here, but this is not fair. If you don't have money, you are under-fed, under-sexed, under-payed and physically abused for 2 years. And by the time you're out, you can't get into school cause you're too old, and you need to recover from the 2 years of physical emotional and alcohol abuse. Women don't have to do this, cause they gotta make babies who will grow up and join the army ... see how this is all connected? me neither.
and.. to leave this post on a happy note.. I will put up a picture.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
all it takes is the flaxmachine...
Thank you to the wacky folks at motion notion, and of course the flaxmachine for letting me have as much fun as I did.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Real time vs. Night time
A few weeks ago, I was looking at the free postcards/advertisements that are available at a local pub while I was sipping my beer. And some dude approached me and said.. "that postcard you're looking at? I was involved in the photo shoot," and I was like (sarcastically) "oh wow cool" and my drinking partner was like "we should send you one of these postcards" and then he wrote his adress on it.. and I wrote a little beer influenced scribble and put a stamp on it.
Then his friend came over, and I thought it was only fair if he got one too. So, another scribble on that one. Throw a stamp on it. Pretty simple. Innocent fun.. the kind I like best.
Then the next week, same place, same time, they were like "we got out postcards in the mail, thanks so much, we thought you were joking! It's so strange that people do something in "real time" that they say they're going to do in "drinking time" "who does that?" They introduced me to one of their friends as "the nice girl who sent them postcards", and after talking to this friend for awhile, after the 2 dudes left, he leans over and say: "do I get a postcard?" How could I say no? So he got a postcard too.
Basically, I just really like postcards. It's like a picture, and a letter combined into one. I have a bit of a collection of postcards.. I didn't think there could be any negative consequences as a result of my postcard writing.
Then last night, i met the 2 original postcard receivers.. and they started warning people about me. They had talked to their friend, and found out that I send him a postcard too. (he told the story as if I was just dying to send him a postard..) Here they thought they were special, then they came to the conclusion that I'd send out these postcards to everybody and their dog. (if dogs could read, i would send them postards too but that's besides the point)
So, now for the sad part.. I have been dubbed the post-card slut...
You try to be honest and do something nice, and before you can say (or spell) missasauga, you're a postcard slut.
what a world..
sincerely,
amy, the postcard slut
PS If you want a postcard, just give me your address (preferably whisper it in my ear or write it on a used coaster) (with postal code) and I'll do what I do best..
Then his friend came over, and I thought it was only fair if he got one too. So, another scribble on that one. Throw a stamp on it. Pretty simple. Innocent fun.. the kind I like best.
Then the next week, same place, same time, they were like "we got out postcards in the mail, thanks so much, we thought you were joking! It's so strange that people do something in "real time" that they say they're going to do in "drinking time" "who does that?" They introduced me to one of their friends as "the nice girl who sent them postcards", and after talking to this friend for awhile, after the 2 dudes left, he leans over and say: "do I get a postcard?" How could I say no? So he got a postcard too.
Basically, I just really like postcards. It's like a picture, and a letter combined into one. I have a bit of a collection of postcards.. I didn't think there could be any negative consequences as a result of my postcard writing.
Then last night, i met the 2 original postcard receivers.. and they started warning people about me. They had talked to their friend, and found out that I send him a postcard too. (he told the story as if I was just dying to send him a postard..) Here they thought they were special, then they came to the conclusion that I'd send out these postcards to everybody and their dog. (if dogs could read, i would send them postards too but that's besides the point)
So, now for the sad part.. I have been dubbed the post-card slut...
You try to be honest and do something nice, and before you can say (or spell) missasauga, you're a postcard slut.
what a world..
sincerely,
amy, the postcard slut
PS If you want a postcard, just give me your address (preferably whisper it in my ear or write it on a used coaster) (with postal code) and I'll do what I do best..
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM THE TRUTH CAUSE THE TRUTH IS ALL THERE IS
HMMMMM MMMM mmmmm
wanna know what's a bad idea? eating a chocolate bar for lunch. Learn from my experience of today. Don't do it..
I'm a bit jittery.. and sick. bad combination.
yesterday i went for a bikeride in the rain with my good pal Cyborg the hydrobeast. Oh wait, that's a lie Cyborg didn't make it out... let me try again. Yesterday I went for a bikeride with Jenn. It started raining, which made it seem like we were riding through a sprinkler. it was so surreal.. and stuff..
Then, the most amazing thing happened. I've finally found the yoghurt of my dreams. I was considering immigrating to Germany because they have the best yoghurt ever. We don't have anything close.. or so I thought.. until it spoke to me in all it's glory from the yoghurt fridge... it's pear flavored.. and each bite tastes like western european subsidized dairy farmer creamy goodness..(even though it probably isn't) so looks like immigration plans are on the back burner. ja ja vielleicht später, aber wenn Anna hier bleibt, was soll ich dann in Deutschland tun?
What happened before that? I had an nice weekend I think. I got a great sunburn, hung out with some "good people" (whatever that means..) some R-blading and I tried S-boarding and fell off the skateboard and it's a good thing i didn't try rollerblading and skateboarding at the same time. I heard it's hard. Maybe even impossible, i'll get back to you on that.
Some "good people" gave me a questionable tattoo on my leg (don't worry grandpa, it was on a felt pen tattoo) .. i call it: Giant stick man and his Funky Monkey meets.. Pakman....? by the way, Funky Monkey is the best show in the universe! (i think I would know..)
so now it's time to .. "work" WHAT? mm. i better keep writing. crap.. i need something to write about.. hmmm..
oh yeah, this relates to 2 prior topics i dont' even need a seguay! .. Yoghurt and Sunburns. 2 very clever women informed me that yoghurt is one of the best moisturizrs..and you should put it on sunburns.. so i did just that. I wandered around my apartment in a partial bathing suit .. covered in plain 3.5% fat yoghurt. It was awesome. This is why living alone has serious perks (although cool roomies probably wouldn't have minded my weird behaviour) I could hear my neighbors whispering.. "did you see the tenant covering herself in yoghurt? oh yeah, you mean the who stacks up lawn chairs and tries to climbs through he window at 3am? fersure.. yeah, with a she's got a pornographic pakman tattoo, yeah we should... keep her away from our babies?!.."
I THINK I WANT TO WAK WAK . Wak wak means throw up in Nepali, in case anybody was wondering how to say throw up in Nepali. and by throw up, I mean vomit, not like throw a ball up into the sky..
wanna know what's a bad idea? eating a chocolate bar for lunch. Learn from my experience of today. Don't do it..
I'm a bit jittery.. and sick. bad combination.
yesterday i went for a bikeride in the rain with my good pal Cyborg the hydrobeast. Oh wait, that's a lie Cyborg didn't make it out... let me try again. Yesterday I went for a bikeride with Jenn. It started raining, which made it seem like we were riding through a sprinkler. it was so surreal.. and stuff..
Then, the most amazing thing happened. I've finally found the yoghurt of my dreams. I was considering immigrating to Germany because they have the best yoghurt ever. We don't have anything close.. or so I thought.. until it spoke to me in all it's glory from the yoghurt fridge... it's pear flavored.. and each bite tastes like western european subsidized dairy farmer creamy goodness..(even though it probably isn't) so looks like immigration plans are on the back burner. ja ja vielleicht später, aber wenn Anna hier bleibt, was soll ich dann in Deutschland tun?
What happened before that? I had an nice weekend I think. I got a great sunburn, hung out with some "good people" (whatever that means..) some R-blading and I tried S-boarding and fell off the skateboard and it's a good thing i didn't try rollerblading and skateboarding at the same time. I heard it's hard. Maybe even impossible, i'll get back to you on that.
Some "good people" gave me a questionable tattoo on my leg (don't worry grandpa, it was on a felt pen tattoo) .. i call it: Giant stick man and his Funky Monkey meets.. Pakman....? by the way, Funky Monkey is the best show in the universe! (i think I would know..)
so now it's time to .. "work" WHAT? mm. i better keep writing. crap.. i need something to write about.. hmmm..
oh yeah, this relates to 2 prior topics i dont' even need a seguay! .. Yoghurt and Sunburns. 2 very clever women informed me that yoghurt is one of the best moisturizrs..and you should put it on sunburns.. so i did just that. I wandered around my apartment in a partial bathing suit .. covered in plain 3.5% fat yoghurt. It was awesome. This is why living alone has serious perks (although cool roomies probably wouldn't have minded my weird behaviour) I could hear my neighbors whispering.. "did you see the tenant covering herself in yoghurt? oh yeah, you mean the who stacks up lawn chairs and tries to climbs through he window at 3am? fersure.. yeah, with a she's got a pornographic pakman tattoo, yeah we should... keep her away from our babies?!.."
I THINK I WANT TO WAK WAK . Wak wak means throw up in Nepali, in case anybody was wondering how to say throw up in Nepali. and by throw up, I mean vomit, not like throw a ball up into the sky..
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
the day between sunday and tuesday
well i feel i should tell a story about that day in the past.. some call it the day between sunday and tuesday, but i just call it monday, it's much easier.
so i was riding my bike to work. it's a new thing for me. (take the commuter's challenge!! WHOO) and.. well. half way there, there's this giant piece of glass that conveniently wedged itself into my tire and I hear this sound.. like a deflating tire.. and then i realize that my tire is flat. I tried to ignore this small obstacle and keep going, but people passing in cars pointed at me and laughed..
and then pedestrians are like "you're tire is a little low!" and I was like "a little low? there's absolutely no air in it! don't talk to me anymore unless you have something helpful to contribute." I took the glass out and kept it. Maybe I'll make it into a necklace.
Then I went to work and that 8 hrs. was a bit of a blur. I'm sure lots of exciting things happened, i just can't remember.
Then I took the bus home (my bike is out of order as of that morning) to find Tessa who made corn on the cob, which is the best summer meal ever! and we ate outside on the balcony and watched weirdo's. Then we strolled across the bridge to have an enjoyable evening at the Black Dog, where I bumped into a girl from high school i hadn't seen forever.. who has a recent tattoo across her chest that says "be true to yourself" or something along those lines. This is a tattoo i approve us. totally original, totally meaningful, and in an uncommon spot. Then I saw Peter, who a few days ago I was thinking about.. something like.. "I wonder if Peter died.. he should be back from Sweden by now." and sure enough, he's alive and well, so no need to keep worrying about that.
And then, we returned home .. to realize that neither of us had a key to get in. My roomate moved out 3 days ago, and not once while he was sleeping inside had I forgot a key. But once he left! Time to lock the keys inside. So Tessa did some constructive panicking, I did some unconsructive laughing.. we tried to wake up several people who could have helped.. to no avail. I tried to climb in the window.. but I'm too short.. if I were spiderman, I wouldn't have had any trouble. Eventually, we woke up the building manager and he came with a ladder.. and I climed up and jumped in headfirst.. it was kinda fun. Except the bruises. Luckily there was a bed there to soften the landing. We made it inside. Alive and well. All's well that end's well, right?
so i was riding my bike to work. it's a new thing for me. (take the commuter's challenge!! WHOO) and.. well. half way there, there's this giant piece of glass that conveniently wedged itself into my tire and I hear this sound.. like a deflating tire.. and then i realize that my tire is flat. I tried to ignore this small obstacle and keep going, but people passing in cars pointed at me and laughed..
and then pedestrians are like "you're tire is a little low!" and I was like "a little low? there's absolutely no air in it! don't talk to me anymore unless you have something helpful to contribute." I took the glass out and kept it. Maybe I'll make it into a necklace.
Then I went to work and that 8 hrs. was a bit of a blur. I'm sure lots of exciting things happened, i just can't remember.
Then I took the bus home (my bike is out of order as of that morning) to find Tessa who made corn on the cob, which is the best summer meal ever! and we ate outside on the balcony and watched weirdo's. Then we strolled across the bridge to have an enjoyable evening at the Black Dog, where I bumped into a girl from high school i hadn't seen forever.. who has a recent tattoo across her chest that says "be true to yourself" or something along those lines. This is a tattoo i approve us. totally original, totally meaningful, and in an uncommon spot. Then I saw Peter, who a few days ago I was thinking about.. something like.. "I wonder if Peter died.. he should be back from Sweden by now." and sure enough, he's alive and well, so no need to keep worrying about that.
And then, we returned home .. to realize that neither of us had a key to get in. My roomate moved out 3 days ago, and not once while he was sleeping inside had I forgot a key. But once he left! Time to lock the keys inside. So Tessa did some constructive panicking, I did some unconsructive laughing.. we tried to wake up several people who could have helped.. to no avail. I tried to climb in the window.. but I'm too short.. if I were spiderman, I wouldn't have had any trouble. Eventually, we woke up the building manager and he came with a ladder.. and I climed up and jumped in headfirst.. it was kinda fun. Except the bruises. Luckily there was a bed there to soften the landing. We made it inside. Alive and well. All's well that end's well, right?
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
I had a great visit with Tessa, and I love the Schwarze Hund, perro negro, chien noir, chiorny piez, etc.
it seems somebody has some intereting perspectives (sarcasm font) on the whole living forever thing that I mentioned before.. the one the nice Jehova's Witness brought up..
Question: If you could live forever, would you and why?
Answer: “ I would not live forever! , because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever”.
Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest.
Ah, it gets better.. let's play a game called "name what's wrong with our society" I'll start.. with the help of some famous people..
“We’ve got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?”
Lee Iaccocca
“We don’t necessarily discriminate. WE simply exclude certain types of people.”
Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor
“Smoking kills. If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.”
Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign.
(wow, that was profound, I think I'll quit smoking now (sarcasm font))
"So yeah.. do not attribute to malice what can merely be explained by stupidity". Sometimes I wish there were more smart malicious people around.
Question: If you could live forever, would you and why?
Answer: “ I would not live forever! , because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever”.
Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest.
Ah, it gets better.. let's play a game called "name what's wrong with our society" I'll start.. with the help of some famous people..
“We’ve got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?”
Lee Iaccocca
“We don’t necessarily discriminate. WE simply exclude certain types of people.”
Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor
“Smoking kills. If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.”
Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign.
(wow, that was profound, I think I'll quit smoking now (sarcasm font))
"So yeah.. do not attribute to malice what can merely be explained by stupidity". Sometimes I wish there were more smart malicious people around.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
It's all Gone Pete Tong
I went to It's All Gone Pete Tong yesterday.. It was really good. Good enough to write about it here.
It's set in Ibiza, which is a beautiful party island, i gotta say i enjoy the international locales for movies and otherwise..
There was dance music everywhere!!
There were some austrian dudes who spoke german! (whether or not there's some german that I actually understand somehow incorporated into the movie usually makes it or breaks it for me.. and they interviewed Paul Van Dyk briefly, who is um basically awesome and he's from germany.. but he was speaking english, with a german accent..so that counts for something i think)
It's about a very famous very popular very rich very drug addicted dj who eventually ends up completely losing his hearing.. it shows him making it big, then going deaf and denying it, the wife leaving him problem, the nobody wanting to talk to him cause he was suddenly useless problem, then some (aka a huge amount) of trouble coping with it.. and then his come-back.. which I didn't actually expect, I mean I kind of assumed he wouldn't ever have a come-back.. a deaf dj? give me a break.
So, in the end (sorry to ruin it) you kind of get the feeling that this guy is actually better off having gone deaf. And I'll admit that I have a soft spot for stories where something completely horifying happens and something good arises from it.. (at least that's how they made it seem in the movie... and the movie must be the truth.. cause it was based on the truth, right?)
JA JA DAS IST GUT!!
It's set in Ibiza, which is a beautiful party island, i gotta say i enjoy the international locales for movies and otherwise..
There was dance music everywhere!!
There were some austrian dudes who spoke german! (whether or not there's some german that I actually understand somehow incorporated into the movie usually makes it or breaks it for me.. and they interviewed Paul Van Dyk briefly, who is um basically awesome and he's from germany.. but he was speaking english, with a german accent..so that counts for something i think)
It's about a very famous very popular very rich very drug addicted dj who eventually ends up completely losing his hearing.. it shows him making it big, then going deaf and denying it, the wife leaving him problem, the nobody wanting to talk to him cause he was suddenly useless problem, then some (aka a huge amount) of trouble coping with it.. and then his come-back.. which I didn't actually expect, I mean I kind of assumed he wouldn't ever have a come-back.. a deaf dj? give me a break.
So, in the end (sorry to ruin it) you kind of get the feeling that this guy is actually better off having gone deaf. And I'll admit that I have a soft spot for stories where something completely horifying happens and something good arises from it.. (at least that's how they made it seem in the movie... and the movie must be the truth.. cause it was based on the truth, right?)
JA JA DAS IST GUT!!
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
It's all Gone Pete Tong
Yesterday i didn't have to come to work, because I was at Multicultural Day sitting at a table for Canada World Youth watching the zombies without any fashion sense scurry through on their coffee breaks.. I had to talk about how great Canada World Youth is, and how everybody should do it, and sing! and dance! And I even met some guy who went to Charlottetown, and we had a good chat about the advanced recycling system and the McLobsters and island directions.. (turn right at Doctor McLeod's house.. and hang a left on the corner where Billy's dog died.. .. but there's no sign on the doctor's house.. oh it's cause Dr. McLeod died 36 years ago....basically if you haven't lived there for the past 154 yrs, you have no way of understanding directions. Luckily the island is only 7 km across and has 1 set of lights.._)
Anyways, Tuesday nights.. the night to win a bike at the perro negro. It's harder than it looks.
Last week, I met this dude (he assured me he wasn't a deadbeat and he was VERY sincere.. so all I really know about him is that he is a deadbeat and he's insincere) well anyways this dude was walking down Whyte ave a few weeks ago and the next thing he remembers was being in a hospital. He apparantly passed out and doesn't remember anything between.. and some guy came up to him at the pero negro and was like "oh man! you were the guy passed out on the sidewalks for a LONG time and NOBODY helped you! Nobody.. not one person.. eventually a bus driver called an ambulance.. but you were there for quite awhile." and then this insincere deabeat was like "what? a long time? nobody helped? why didn' t you help? you obviously saw the whole thing happen!".. he was pretty distraught. He says he didn't look homeless that day, and he could have died you know? and nobody would have cared enough to go and see if he was okay.. it's quite alarming really.. I like to think I would have helped him, but deep down I know I probably wouldn't have cared either..
In non-people being dead on the inside news, TEssa is coming to town! Like Santa, but less beard, and no song.. although I guess we could make one. I haven't seen her in 11 months.. and it seems like yesterday. This is all very exciting.
What's a seg weigh? ten pounds.
Okay, more people being dead on the inside news.. THE Edmonton Sun--what's up? there's a box near my house, and I always read the headlines. I've come to the conclusion that they ALWAYS have one of the following words in them:
KILL, RAPE, DEAD, DEATH, MURDER, SEX, RAPE, ASSAULT, SEXUAL ASSAULT, HOCKEY, KILLED, BURNT ALIVE, ACCIDENT, RAPED AND BURNT ALIVE AT A HOCKEY GAME
Okay, I'm exagerrrating a bit.. there was actually one day where none of these words appeared, but there were 2 girls on top of eachother. In what looked like a rugby game. It's nice to see them acknowleding local hardworking athletes.
So, I guess that's the news.. but if that's the news, I don't care about the news. If I were to spend 10 minutes of my day reading about what's happening in the world, I wouldn't want it to be that some girl living in an apartment down the street from me was robbed and beaten and had her arms cut off..(that didn't actually happen.. well, actually I don't know, cause I haven't been reading the paper) I mean knowing this won't change anything. It's terrible, for sure. But if you start acknowledging everything terrible that happens, then.. you'd be pretty busy.. and depressed.
And, if something like this happend to me, I'm not sure if I'd want everybody and their dog to be reading about the gory details of my trauma as they drink coffee and eat Lucky Charms..
well, i have a feeling tonight will be the night to win a bike. I have "blowing in the wind" in my head.. Actually, I'm not sure if that's what the song is called, but the words go something like "the answer is blowing in the wind." and well.. I always imagine "answers" flying around and knocking people out.. like the answer is really just some random debris.. I wonder if tht's what Bob Dylan thought when he was writing the song..
Anyways, Tuesday nights.. the night to win a bike at the perro negro. It's harder than it looks.
Last week, I met this dude (he assured me he wasn't a deadbeat and he was VERY sincere.. so all I really know about him is that he is a deadbeat and he's insincere) well anyways this dude was walking down Whyte ave a few weeks ago and the next thing he remembers was being in a hospital. He apparantly passed out and doesn't remember anything between.. and some guy came up to him at the pero negro and was like "oh man! you were the guy passed out on the sidewalks for a LONG time and NOBODY helped you! Nobody.. not one person.. eventually a bus driver called an ambulance.. but you were there for quite awhile." and then this insincere deabeat was like "what? a long time? nobody helped? why didn' t you help? you obviously saw the whole thing happen!".. he was pretty distraught. He says he didn't look homeless that day, and he could have died you know? and nobody would have cared enough to go and see if he was okay.. it's quite alarming really.. I like to think I would have helped him, but deep down I know I probably wouldn't have cared either..
In non-people being dead on the inside news, TEssa is coming to town! Like Santa, but less beard, and no song.. although I guess we could make one. I haven't seen her in 11 months.. and it seems like yesterday. This is all very exciting.
What's a seg weigh? ten pounds.
Okay, more people being dead on the inside news.. THE Edmonton Sun--what's up? there's a box near my house, and I always read the headlines. I've come to the conclusion that they ALWAYS have one of the following words in them:
KILL, RAPE, DEAD, DEATH, MURDER, SEX, RAPE, ASSAULT, SEXUAL ASSAULT, HOCKEY, KILLED, BURNT ALIVE, ACCIDENT, RAPED AND BURNT ALIVE AT A HOCKEY GAME
Okay, I'm exagerrrating a bit.. there was actually one day where none of these words appeared, but there were 2 girls on top of eachother. In what looked like a rugby game. It's nice to see them acknowleding local hardworking athletes.
So, I guess that's the news.. but if that's the news, I don't care about the news. If I were to spend 10 minutes of my day reading about what's happening in the world, I wouldn't want it to be that some girl living in an apartment down the street from me was robbed and beaten and had her arms cut off..(that didn't actually happen.. well, actually I don't know, cause I haven't been reading the paper) I mean knowing this won't change anything. It's terrible, for sure. But if you start acknowledging everything terrible that happens, then.. you'd be pretty busy.. and depressed.
And, if something like this happend to me, I'm not sure if I'd want everybody and their dog to be reading about the gory details of my trauma as they drink coffee and eat Lucky Charms..
well, i have a feeling tonight will be the night to win a bike. I have "blowing in the wind" in my head.. Actually, I'm not sure if that's what the song is called, but the words go something like "the answer is blowing in the wind." and well.. I always imagine "answers" flying around and knocking people out.. like the answer is really just some random debris.. I wonder if tht's what Bob Dylan thought when he was writing the song..
Monday, June 20, 2005
unofficial unfinished unedited unsensical underpriveledged Love it, remix it!
today i'm having a bad hair day. Even after I put it into a pony tail, it still sticks straight out. people spend hours and hours trying to get their hair this wacky. all i have to do is .. nothing!
A jehovah's witness came to read some passages from the bible to me while I was waiting for the bus. The passage he chose was something to do with "wouldn't it be amazing to live in peace?" and "wouldn't it be amazing to live forever?" He wasn't as cute as the mormons that accosted me last time, but I still listened to his spiel. I thought about what he said.. seemed a bit rhetorical..do you like peace? of course I like peace. but i can't go around promoting peace or telling people they should just be peaceful.. i've never lived anywhere where there's been some type of conflict. Nobody ever stole my land, killed my mom, blew up my puppy, etc. So I can't really be too self-righteous about how everybody should be peaceful.. All I know is that I don't even get along with my brother. I'm thinking until I achieve peace within my own family, I can't tell anybody about "peace".
And the second part of his spiel.. "do you want to live forever?". I thought about it, and had my bus not come, I would have told him that I didn't want to live forever. Forever is a long time. And why should I get to live forever when everybody else only got to live like .. less than forever. And doesn't life mean something because we know it'll end? (some might argue about this) If I knew I was gonna live forever, I wouldn't DO ANYTHING! Procrastination to the max, let me tell ya. I could do that tomorrow, or next week, or next year or next decade or next century.. so it would be the opposite of the profound "what would you do if you knew you were to die tomorrow?" THAT 24hrs. is meant to be very efficient.
wait a minute, I guess this would all depend on the details of this "living forever" would I be healthy? Will my body just freeze at a certain age? Will I just look 21 forever? That could be interesting. I could seriously be transient and travel around wtih multiple lives.. but it would be depressing.. cause you'd have to relocate few years, after your friends get old and realize that you're NOT getting old. Weird. weird. weird. I could devote tons of time to mastering all languages, maybe even english. I would be seriously creepy though. Definately give off some bad vibes.
Okay, there's a dude out the window who is standing in the middle of the street. He might be waiting for the bus, but you'd think he should use a bus stop for that. He kind of steps back only if a car comes.. it's a bit creepy actually. maybe somebody told him he's gonna live forever..??
oh yeah, thank you misstress barbara. i'm not sure if i like her cause I know she's a girl or if her being a girl so that makes me enjoy her mixes more.. like i can sense her gender in each track.. (??????) the only reason she's successful is cause she mixes as flawlessly as a guy, so that can't be it. germans have an expression "die bewegt mich" which means "it moves me" and not in a physical way either.. althought that too, cause I could dance to this. I think this expression applies. Und es ist auch ein Ohrwurm VIEL Spass noch!
and postsecret.blogspot.com is pretty entertaining (the word entertaining is very ambiguous), i recommend it..
A jehovah's witness came to read some passages from the bible to me while I was waiting for the bus. The passage he chose was something to do with "wouldn't it be amazing to live in peace?" and "wouldn't it be amazing to live forever?" He wasn't as cute as the mormons that accosted me last time, but I still listened to his spiel. I thought about what he said.. seemed a bit rhetorical..do you like peace? of course I like peace. but i can't go around promoting peace or telling people they should just be peaceful.. i've never lived anywhere where there's been some type of conflict. Nobody ever stole my land, killed my mom, blew up my puppy, etc. So I can't really be too self-righteous about how everybody should be peaceful.. All I know is that I don't even get along with my brother. I'm thinking until I achieve peace within my own family, I can't tell anybody about "peace".
And the second part of his spiel.. "do you want to live forever?". I thought about it, and had my bus not come, I would have told him that I didn't want to live forever. Forever is a long time. And why should I get to live forever when everybody else only got to live like .. less than forever. And doesn't life mean something because we know it'll end? (some might argue about this) If I knew I was gonna live forever, I wouldn't DO ANYTHING! Procrastination to the max, let me tell ya. I could do that tomorrow, or next week, or next year or next decade or next century.. so it would be the opposite of the profound "what would you do if you knew you were to die tomorrow?" THAT 24hrs. is meant to be very efficient.
wait a minute, I guess this would all depend on the details of this "living forever" would I be healthy? Will my body just freeze at a certain age? Will I just look 21 forever? That could be interesting. I could seriously be transient and travel around wtih multiple lives.. but it would be depressing.. cause you'd have to relocate few years, after your friends get old and realize that you're NOT getting old. Weird. weird. weird. I could devote tons of time to mastering all languages, maybe even english. I would be seriously creepy though. Definately give off some bad vibes.
Okay, there's a dude out the window who is standing in the middle of the street. He might be waiting for the bus, but you'd think he should use a bus stop for that. He kind of steps back only if a car comes.. it's a bit creepy actually. maybe somebody told him he's gonna live forever..??
oh yeah, thank you misstress barbara. i'm not sure if i like her cause I know she's a girl or if her being a girl so that makes me enjoy her mixes more.. like i can sense her gender in each track.. (??????) the only reason she's successful is cause she mixes as flawlessly as a guy, so that can't be it. germans have an expression "die bewegt mich" which means "it moves me" and not in a physical way either.. althought that too, cause I could dance to this. I think this expression applies. Und es ist auch ein Ohrwurm VIEL Spass noch!
and postsecret.blogspot.com is pretty entertaining (the word entertaining is very ambiguous), i recommend it..
Monday, June 13, 2005
Reality is for people who can't face drugs
David Letterman's top ten numbers between 1 and 10
10.............seven
9.............. eight point five
8............... three
7............... four
6. ..............eight
5. ..............one
4............... ten
3................ two
2. ...............nine
and the number one number between one and ten is.. 6 and 5 (it's a tie)
I'm not sure if it's actually funny or not, but for some reason I can't stop laughing about this.
I had a decent weekend. Nothing too crazy went on, but I'm still not especially eager to focus devoted attention to my job for the next 70% of my awake hours for the next 5 days.. I wonder if there's any type of weekend that I could have that would make me want to go to work. Maybe if my apartment flooded, I'd be happy to go to work, cause it would be dry. Or maybe if my apartment burned down, i'd be happy to go cause it wouldn't be charcoaly and stinky. or maybe I should just stop bitching, shower and go to sleep.. that's one of my pet peeves.. (thus making me a huge hypocrite).. when people work for the majority of the day and then spend the rest of the day complaing about their job. It's sad that the free time is spent complaing about how the non-free time wasn't free time.
Now that I'm onto the topic of pet peeves, I might as well share more of my ignorant opinions. I don't want to offend anybody here!! (or do I?)
- LOW FAT BUTTER! almost as ridiculous as NO FAT BUTTER. Butter IS fat! I think butter is hebrew for fat! (oh wait, no) Either eat it and love it or find something else to eat. like oysters. or pancakes. or margarine.
- U of A sweatshirts worn by U of A students.. (same goes for all other universities and college "gear")
"so, what do you DO WITH YOU LIFE?" .. go to school?????are you a full-time student or what?!! what school, huh? Dalhousie? Brock? buy expensive ugly sweatshirts much? put your fashion sense and/or creativity into the paper shredder lately???" That's what I thought. It's like they think they're better than everybody because they go to the U of A.. and they have to share this with the world, as if the world cares..
I hate to break it to you, but there is no prestige in the U of A.. ever since they let me in.. well that's all the things that have bugged me a bit over the past few hours. MORe to come, i'm sure. WHEEEEE!!!!
SLEEP tight and remember boys and girls to dream while you're awake and complain while you're sleeping.
10.............seven
9.............. eight point five
8............... three
7............... four
6. ..............eight
5. ..............one
4............... ten
3................ two
2. ...............nine
and the number one number between one and ten is.. 6 and 5 (it's a tie)
I'm not sure if it's actually funny or not, but for some reason I can't stop laughing about this.
I had a decent weekend. Nothing too crazy went on, but I'm still not especially eager to focus devoted attention to my job for the next 70% of my awake hours for the next 5 days.. I wonder if there's any type of weekend that I could have that would make me want to go to work. Maybe if my apartment flooded, I'd be happy to go to work, cause it would be dry. Or maybe if my apartment burned down, i'd be happy to go cause it wouldn't be charcoaly and stinky. or maybe I should just stop bitching, shower and go to sleep.. that's one of my pet peeves.. (thus making me a huge hypocrite).. when people work for the majority of the day and then spend the rest of the day complaing about their job. It's sad that the free time is spent complaing about how the non-free time wasn't free time.
Now that I'm onto the topic of pet peeves, I might as well share more of my ignorant opinions. I don't want to offend anybody here!! (or do I?)
- LOW FAT BUTTER! almost as ridiculous as NO FAT BUTTER. Butter IS fat! I think butter is hebrew for fat! (oh wait, no) Either eat it and love it or find something else to eat. like oysters. or pancakes. or margarine.
- U of A sweatshirts worn by U of A students.. (same goes for all other universities and college "gear")
"so, what do you DO WITH YOU LIFE?" .. go to school?????are you a full-time student or what?!! what school, huh? Dalhousie? Brock? buy expensive ugly sweatshirts much? put your fashion sense and/or creativity into the paper shredder lately???" That's what I thought. It's like they think they're better than everybody because they go to the U of A.. and they have to share this with the world, as if the world cares..
I hate to break it to you, but there is no prestige in the U of A.. ever since they let me in.. well that's all the things that have bugged me a bit over the past few hours. MORe to come, i'm sure. WHEEEEE!!!!
SLEEP tight and remember boys and girls to dream while you're awake and complain while you're sleeping.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Monday, June 06, 2005
Armand Van Helden is one of the cooler americans..
MOnday morning. I got to work 15 minutes early. It's actually very peaceful here so early. Nobody else has arrived, and I haven't had the opportunity to mess up my desk yet, so I can enjoy looking at my empty desk.. it's actually a really pretty wood, I never really noticed before cause of my messiness problem..
Well the weekend was pretty good I think. I don't really remember.. I saw an awesome movie called Up and Down (I think) and it was from the Czech Republic, and it totally reminded me of Russia. My host mom in Russia was alot like the mom in this movie. They both wear wigs cause they want to look pretty, but their wigs are actually uglier than their natural hair. I could even follow what was going on for the entire time, even though it wasn't in english, which is pretty exciting cause I often have a hard time following english movies.
I was walking past Jenn's apartment last night and I wanted to go up to visit her.. and sure enough.. King Ralph was getting back too .. and we rode the elevator together. The reason this was memorable was because he was eating a hamburger and fries.. and it smelled up the elevator.. like fries.. and I hadn't eaten supper and was really hungry. So I went to try and find a hamburger and any place that sold hamburgers was closed! There should be some sort of rule.. like hamburgers should be available for as long as the sun is up.. I had to settle for Tim Hortons, which was not quite the same thing.. Jenn and I hung out at the Tim Hortons.. the guy working there gave us a free donut cause he said I look like a "good person." He started jabbing at the till pretending to aim for the "donut" button, and purposely missing it every time. It was refreshing to see somebody in the service industry who is alert, cheerful, has a sense of humour and doesn't despise the customers.. well maybe he had just been there too long and was dilusional. Hard to say. OH yeah back to the King Ralph, I think I should leave some DJ David Suzuki books outside of his door.. probably wouldn't do much good though..reading is probably bad for the economy.. and I'd have to get them simplified into a grade 8 reading level..
I walked all the way to the Italian Grocery store which is by the way really far and in a really freaky part of town. But it was a great walk. Edmonton is so weird.. you walk for one block, and it's pretty old trees and neat old houses with kids running around.. and I feel totally safe. Then you turn the corner and it's mobs of sketchy homeless people who are dancing on the street..
Both add alot of character to the city, but it always throws me off how the city is divided into these weird little subsections... one block of hookers, then one block of churches, then a nice safeway shopping complex, then a beautiful park, then an empty field of mud that looks like it should have landminds in it, then a run-down ghost town block with about 80% of the businesses closed.. maybe all cities are like this, i've just never payed that close attention..
Well the weekend was pretty good I think. I don't really remember.. I saw an awesome movie called Up and Down (I think) and it was from the Czech Republic, and it totally reminded me of Russia. My host mom in Russia was alot like the mom in this movie. They both wear wigs cause they want to look pretty, but their wigs are actually uglier than their natural hair. I could even follow what was going on for the entire time, even though it wasn't in english, which is pretty exciting cause I often have a hard time following english movies.
I was walking past Jenn's apartment last night and I wanted to go up to visit her.. and sure enough.. King Ralph was getting back too .. and we rode the elevator together. The reason this was memorable was because he was eating a hamburger and fries.. and it smelled up the elevator.. like fries.. and I hadn't eaten supper and was really hungry. So I went to try and find a hamburger and any place that sold hamburgers was closed! There should be some sort of rule.. like hamburgers should be available for as long as the sun is up.. I had to settle for Tim Hortons, which was not quite the same thing.. Jenn and I hung out at the Tim Hortons.. the guy working there gave us a free donut cause he said I look like a "good person." He started jabbing at the till pretending to aim for the "donut" button, and purposely missing it every time. It was refreshing to see somebody in the service industry who is alert, cheerful, has a sense of humour and doesn't despise the customers.. well maybe he had just been there too long and was dilusional. Hard to say. OH yeah back to the King Ralph, I think I should leave some DJ David Suzuki books outside of his door.. probably wouldn't do much good though..reading is probably bad for the economy.. and I'd have to get them simplified into a grade 8 reading level..
I walked all the way to the Italian Grocery store which is by the way really far and in a really freaky part of town. But it was a great walk. Edmonton is so weird.. you walk for one block, and it's pretty old trees and neat old houses with kids running around.. and I feel totally safe. Then you turn the corner and it's mobs of sketchy homeless people who are dancing on the street..
Both add alot of character to the city, but it always throws me off how the city is divided into these weird little subsections... one block of hookers, then one block of churches, then a nice safeway shopping complex, then a beautiful park, then an empty field of mud that looks like it should have landminds in it, then a run-down ghost town block with about 80% of the businesses closed.. maybe all cities are like this, i've just never payed that close attention..
Saturday, May 28, 2005
High Noon or The Phat Conductor
It's already Saturday, and this last week was a huge blur..
Last Friday. Jesse, my middle little brother had his high school grad. He dressed up really pretty in a spiffy tux, and I pulled out the.. thing in the pocket.. napkin? whatever, it's folded really neatly and he said you're not supposed to touch it cause it's hard to fold. It can't be that hard.
My grandparents even came down, and it was really nice to see them. They came over to my apartment and my grandma wasn't even disgusted! (as she normally is when she sees where I live) My grandpa commented that my room was quite messy, and I replied by saying "A clean room is the sign of a wasted life" He was impressed I could tell.
I'm not sure if this validates my messy room or not, but either way, at least it gave him something to think about and distracted him from the messiness.
My cousin landon drove them up which was a nice surprise. He's either really shy or just can't stand my existence. He's going to school in Edmonton in the fall. I think he's one of those people that moves to a big city to go to school and then actually focuses all their energy on school. I should try that.. put school as a top priority... above all else....nah.
Ah yes, how could I forget? I work as a banquet server for some reason, which I can talk about now withoout being bitter because I have the weekend off for once. But Tuesday, the queen and her posse and the PM and the President of Alberta all came and ate a bunch of expensive food. This is the first time that I've ever:
1. seen people drink so much wine in 3hr.45 min.
2. spilt an entire bottle of wine all over the floor.. (a lady at one of the tables turned around and yelled "are you drunk already?" It made me want to stab her with her salad fork. But I didn't. I should have.
I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. The Queen E tried to speak french, but kind of butchered it, and the Prime Minister made a lame speech about nothing. I've never heard him speak before (what kind of canadian am i??) and I just assumed that he would be moderately witty/and or have a sense of humour/have a point to what he was saying or that at least his speech writers would be.. NOPE. What's the point of speeches? Are they meant to inform? entertain? give a nice amount of time for banquet servers to spill wine ont he floor? I'm confused.
Speaking of the queen.. (or am I?) I saw HOtel Rwanda. It shook me up! (in a bad way) made me cry, made me unable to sleep and made me ashamed to be white. Does that mean it's a good movie?
I say it's time for swimming.
Last Friday. Jesse, my middle little brother had his high school grad. He dressed up really pretty in a spiffy tux, and I pulled out the.. thing in the pocket.. napkin? whatever, it's folded really neatly and he said you're not supposed to touch it cause it's hard to fold. It can't be that hard.
My grandparents even came down, and it was really nice to see them. They came over to my apartment and my grandma wasn't even disgusted! (as she normally is when she sees where I live) My grandpa commented that my room was quite messy, and I replied by saying "A clean room is the sign of a wasted life" He was impressed I could tell.
I'm not sure if this validates my messy room or not, but either way, at least it gave him something to think about and distracted him from the messiness.
My cousin landon drove them up which was a nice surprise. He's either really shy or just can't stand my existence. He's going to school in Edmonton in the fall. I think he's one of those people that moves to a big city to go to school and then actually focuses all their energy on school. I should try that.. put school as a top priority... above all else....nah.
Ah yes, how could I forget? I work as a banquet server for some reason, which I can talk about now withoout being bitter because I have the weekend off for once. But Tuesday, the queen and her posse and the PM and the President of Alberta all came and ate a bunch of expensive food. This is the first time that I've ever:
1. seen people drink so much wine in 3hr.45 min.
2. spilt an entire bottle of wine all over the floor.. (a lady at one of the tables turned around and yelled "are you drunk already?" It made me want to stab her with her salad fork. But I didn't. I should have.
I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. The Queen E tried to speak french, but kind of butchered it, and the Prime Minister made a lame speech about nothing. I've never heard him speak before (what kind of canadian am i??) and I just assumed that he would be moderately witty/and or have a sense of humour/have a point to what he was saying or that at least his speech writers would be.. NOPE. What's the point of speeches? Are they meant to inform? entertain? give a nice amount of time for banquet servers to spill wine ont he floor? I'm confused.
Speaking of the queen.. (or am I?) I saw HOtel Rwanda. It shook me up! (in a bad way) made me cry, made me unable to sleep and made me ashamed to be white. Does that mean it's a good movie?
I say it's time for swimming.
Friday, May 27, 2005
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
IF tea drinkers and coffee drinkers were to battle it out, who would win???????
Jenn and I recently purchased one ticket each to Shambhala music festival which will be held in Salmo BC in August. Recruitment starts now for an extremely crazy party, complete with hippies and ravers and just regular people looking to have a good time (or weird people looking to have a good time--like us for example)
There's a hologram on the ticket, which is kind of cool and cheesy all at the same time. Hopefully before or after I'll make it out to Vancity to terrorize the locals.
107 Ave has signs on it that say "avenue of nations" and this morning, I think I finally figured out why it's called "avenue of nations" There's tons of people from all over the place! I met a lady from Eritrea, and I didn't even know that was a country. This is very exciting, it's like being in Toronto! Except for there's no H & M. And no Lake Ontario. Gay. We should have a Lake Ontario here, that would be awesome. It could be used for drinking water, sewage disposal and swimming! Okay, I thought I could slow down the the sarcastic remarks on my environmental perspectives, but I can't help myself.
Now that I've already ruined this post, I might as well go all the way. It's time for an ENVIRONMENTAL JOKE!!
What did the baby light bulb say to the mommy lightbulb? "I love you watts and watts"
Okay, it's more of an "energy" joke, but still..
Yesterday i was waiting in line at the money exchange place downtown (Krzesinski is going away, not me..) and there was a couple with a baby in front.. taking forever by the way.... Then, i was in a car crossing the bridge a little while later, and this same couple was in the car next to us...
then 2 hours later, i was in a store on whyte and we bumped into the SAME COUPLE with their baby. It was wacky wild. wacky wacky wild.
There's a hologram on the ticket, which is kind of cool and cheesy all at the same time. Hopefully before or after I'll make it out to Vancity to terrorize the locals.
107 Ave has signs on it that say "avenue of nations" and this morning, I think I finally figured out why it's called "avenue of nations" There's tons of people from all over the place! I met a lady from Eritrea, and I didn't even know that was a country. This is very exciting, it's like being in Toronto! Except for there's no H & M. And no Lake Ontario. Gay. We should have a Lake Ontario here, that would be awesome. It could be used for drinking water, sewage disposal and swimming! Okay, I thought I could slow down the the sarcastic remarks on my environmental perspectives, but I can't help myself.
Now that I've already ruined this post, I might as well go all the way. It's time for an ENVIRONMENTAL JOKE!!
What did the baby light bulb say to the mommy lightbulb? "I love you watts and watts"
Okay, it's more of an "energy" joke, but still..
Yesterday i was waiting in line at the money exchange place downtown (Krzesinski is going away, not me..) and there was a couple with a baby in front.. taking forever by the way.... Then, i was in a car crossing the bridge a little while later, and this same couple was in the car next to us...
then 2 hours later, i was in a store on whyte and we bumped into the SAME COUPLE with their baby. It was wacky wild. wacky wacky wild.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Democracy Being Held Hostage or I'm Wide Awake, it's Evening
Today, the Carbon Busters team drove down to Calgary to visit an ecohouse/sustainable blah blah I don't remember what it's called. Composting toilet, solar collectors, almost all daylighting, solar oven, LED's, a solar dryer. They use rainwater only, and just filter it a couple times...the guy that built it/lives in it/gave the tour thinks it's a bit silly that only 10% of our water needs to be drinkable, yet 100% of it is treated to be drinkable. It was very cool. In the middle of Calgary's urban sprawl, sits this little house that looks very similar to the rest of the houses. If you're even in Calgary.. I recommend it..
My blog has become an ode to Environmentalism.. but really, anybody who lives in the environment and breaths in stuff like air for example and drinks stuff like water for example..should really consider these things.. but then again, I am an arts student, so what do I know? I only took one science class and considered jumping out of the window of 7th floor Tory, just cause the brief flight to the ground would have been less painful than a lab about rocks, dirt or weather.
My blog has become an ode to Environmentalism.. but really, anybody who lives in the environment and breaths in stuff like air for example and drinks stuff like water for example..should really consider these things.. but then again, I am an arts student, so what do I know? I only took one science class and considered jumping out of the window of 7th floor Tory, just cause the brief flight to the ground would have been less painful than a lab about rocks, dirt or weather.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Rebellion (Lies) or Cascades of Colour
yesterday i was lucky enough to see dj david suzuki live!!
he did some great remixes and even played some of his old stuff..
no really though, it was serious stuff. my favourite part was when he explained how it's ridiculous to think that the economy is more important than the environment. cause .. you can't buy nature.. and if you could it wouuld be worth like 33 trillion dollars, which is alot more than the GDP of.. Canada for example.
He made his point (for me anyways) quite well when he said if the Darlington nuclear power plant, (which is apparantly really massive and near Canada's largest city) were to release any of radioactive materials, then that would be awesome for the economy! The GDP would go through the roof. People would be sick and they would need ambulances, doctors, nurses, new hospitals, band-aids, drugs.. and also people would die, would would be great for funeral homes, flower shops, gravediggers, lawyers and .. the list goes on. So, really, if Canada wants the GDP to go UP, we just have to have plant operators be a little bit less careful, have tests done a little less frequently and have staff that's a little less qualified, maybe summer students? (They'll work for next to nothing.. again, an opportunity to save some cash)
He swore alot, too, which I wasn't expecting. It's not like he had to use harsh language to preach to the converted crowd who payed $30 to see him blab on about the extinction of humanity. Chuck D did the same thing, they must have read the same "how to talk like an activist" guide. Or maybe, Edmonton just makes people wanna swear.
Also, check out Anna’s artwork on Das picture page which is linked at like 2 o'clock.
he did some great remixes and even played some of his old stuff..
no really though, it was serious stuff. my favourite part was when he explained how it's ridiculous to think that the economy is more important than the environment. cause .. you can't buy nature.. and if you could it wouuld be worth like 33 trillion dollars, which is alot more than the GDP of.. Canada for example.
He made his point (for me anyways) quite well when he said if the Darlington nuclear power plant, (which is apparantly really massive and near Canada's largest city) were to release any of radioactive materials, then that would be awesome for the economy! The GDP would go through the roof. People would be sick and they would need ambulances, doctors, nurses, new hospitals, band-aids, drugs.. and also people would die, would would be great for funeral homes, flower shops, gravediggers, lawyers and .. the list goes on. So, really, if Canada wants the GDP to go UP, we just have to have plant operators be a little bit less careful, have tests done a little less frequently and have staff that's a little less qualified, maybe summer students? (They'll work for next to nothing.. again, an opportunity to save some cash)
He swore alot, too, which I wasn't expecting. It's not like he had to use harsh language to preach to the converted crowd who payed $30 to see him blab on about the extinction of humanity. Chuck D did the same thing, they must have read the same "how to talk like an activist" guide. Or maybe, Edmonton just makes people wanna swear.
Also, check out Anna’s artwork on Das picture page which is linked at like 2 o'clock.
Monday, May 09, 2005
....LEFT BEHIND.....
Saturday night 2:40am. Amy is sleeping in her comfortable bed after many days without a good nights rest. She hears sounds outside, like drunks yelling, hitting something metal, climbing. She ignores it.. probably it will stop soon, she thinks. Ten minutes later, she can no longer ignore the souds. They are nearer and nearer, it almost sounds like they are right outside her window. She lays awake panicking, wondering what to do. She wishes she had been more proactive in getting herself a phone. Alas, she wasn't, and is phoneless and terrified. She is too frightened to go and look out the window, but suddenly, the voices are no longer outside, but rather inside. She peeks out her window and sees some legs, hanging out her roomates window.. followed by another body climbing inside. All she knows now is that there are several people within the confines of her apartment, and they were not invited. The roomate is at work still, and she can only hear the intruder voices yelling to hurry.
I got dressed and went out to see what the commotion was in my state of shock and fear, and.. it was my brother and 6 of his friends. I went into the bathroom and couldn't control myself from sobbing. My heart was in my throat, and I wanted to vomit.
So, when Descartes said "I think, therefore I am," do you think there was any chance that this also meant "If you don't think, you don't exist?" Cause in that case, I'm sorry to say it, but my oldest little brother doesn't exist.
They turn on music (my music at least, so it was good music) and ordered pizza. Amy's place is the party place?!? My brother did used to live in this apartment, and his friend (who wasn't home) does live here. I used to live in alot of places too, but that old sweet suite on 76th ave and my big old white house on 114th street don't come to mind when I need somewhere to crash after a quality night at the bar.
I guess occasions like these are good, because they make you feel very alive. It's good to experience a full range of emotion as often as possible, just so all your reactions are well exercised..
I got dressed and went out to see what the commotion was in my state of shock and fear, and.. it was my brother and 6 of his friends. I went into the bathroom and couldn't control myself from sobbing. My heart was in my throat, and I wanted to vomit.
So, when Descartes said "I think, therefore I am," do you think there was any chance that this also meant "If you don't think, you don't exist?" Cause in that case, I'm sorry to say it, but my oldest little brother doesn't exist.
They turn on music (my music at least, so it was good music) and ordered pizza. Amy's place is the party place?!? My brother did used to live in this apartment, and his friend (who wasn't home) does live here. I used to live in alot of places too, but that old sweet suite on 76th ave and my big old white house on 114th street don't come to mind when I need somewhere to crash after a quality night at the bar.
I guess occasions like these are good, because they make you feel very alive. It's good to experience a full range of emotion as often as possible, just so all your reactions are well exercised..
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Moon is the Oldest Television
just a quick update from the office of the flying daggers. i found this really funny thing on the internet.
i'm not sure if IT is serious or not, but either way, IT is lustig lustig tralalalala.. (lustig = funny)
speaking of awesome, This is making me cry.. and by cry i mean laugh so hard i cry, so I have to share it. SNOop doooooooog ooooooooooohhhhhyeeeaaaaahhhh you've probably all seen it before.. but just in case..
jessie you would love it
i'm not sure if IT is serious or not, but either way, IT is lustig lustig tralalalala.. (lustig = funny)
speaking of awesome, This is making me cry.. and by cry i mean laugh so hard i cry, so I have to share it. SNOop doooooooog ooooooooooohhhhhyeeeaaaaahhhh you've probably all seen it before.. but just in case..
jessie you would love it
Friday, April 29, 2005
La guitaristic house organisation
Friday night's alright for fighting, and i've decided that my ear hurts. Maybe I have an ear infection. I remember having an ear infection when I was a wee lad.. oh wait I wasn't a wee lad, but when I was younger than I am now, I think I remember my ear hurting like it does now. And I had an ear infection then.
So I'm at work, and my mom just called me and said she would be very very late picking me up. So I'm stranded here until traffic gets moving and she can come rescue me.
Yesterday, I travelled to Mayerthorpe for my job. I used my bosses vehicle cause I don't have one, and hoped to get everything done there in one day, and it all went well except that I decided it would be a good idea to combine my city-instincts of locking the doors with my country-girl insticts which involve leaving the keys in the car. This was instict combining gone wrong, let me tell ya. Cause my keys were locked in the car, along with my jacket, wallet, camera (I thought I could make some nifty photos of my stupidity) and any phone numbers which might have been useful in fixing my predicament. Luckily, there was a very nice man who helped me break into my car. In 2 hours. I was glad that I had my clipboard with me outside the car, so i could look very professional while wanting to start crying like a baby.. I am very grateful fo their kindness..
So, I finally start driving home. I got about 45 minutes away, and stopped to get a coffee.. and you'll never guess what I found in my purse, but the keys to the Mayerthorpe swimming pool. And, to be perfectly honest, I didn't really need the keys to the Mayerthorpe Swimming pool. I mean, it's empty, and it's only open June-August, so there's really no need for keys. Plus, the town of mayerthorpe probably might think they're important. So, I turned around and drove them back. Energy savings right there..
Anyways, in other news, it's snowing outside. I still, despite having lived in Edmonton my whole life, am not familiar with Edmonton weather patterns. Is this normal? Something about May long weekend and wearing tights after labour day seems to be sticking in my mind as some sort of basis for something.. but overall I'm just confused as I sit here, listening to Four Tet, wondering if my mom will make it through the storm.
So I'm at work, and my mom just called me and said she would be very very late picking me up. So I'm stranded here until traffic gets moving and she can come rescue me.
Yesterday, I travelled to Mayerthorpe for my job. I used my bosses vehicle cause I don't have one, and hoped to get everything done there in one day, and it all went well except that I decided it would be a good idea to combine my city-instincts of locking the doors with my country-girl insticts which involve leaving the keys in the car. This was instict combining gone wrong, let me tell ya. Cause my keys were locked in the car, along with my jacket, wallet, camera (I thought I could make some nifty photos of my stupidity) and any phone numbers which might have been useful in fixing my predicament. Luckily, there was a very nice man who helped me break into my car. In 2 hours. I was glad that I had my clipboard with me outside the car, so i could look very professional while wanting to start crying like a baby.. I am very grateful fo their kindness..
So, I finally start driving home. I got about 45 minutes away, and stopped to get a coffee.. and you'll never guess what I found in my purse, but the keys to the Mayerthorpe swimming pool. And, to be perfectly honest, I didn't really need the keys to the Mayerthorpe Swimming pool. I mean, it's empty, and it's only open June-August, so there's really no need for keys. Plus, the town of mayerthorpe probably might think they're important. So, I turned around and drove them back. Energy savings right there..
Anyways, in other news, it's snowing outside. I still, despite having lived in Edmonton my whole life, am not familiar with Edmonton weather patterns. Is this normal? Something about May long weekend and wearing tights after labour day seems to be sticking in my mind as some sort of basis for something.. but overall I'm just confused as I sit here, listening to Four Tet, wondering if my mom will make it through the storm.
Friday, April 22, 2005
HAPPY EARTH DAY
It is Earth Day today.. and I just want to focus your attention on the US governments sincere love for our dear earth. They built a great webpage to show off. Read about how the US federal government is "cleaning the air, promoting land conservation, and improving water quality" all because of earth day! This is why earth day is so great.
In case you were wondering, Walmart is not evil. They built a great webpage to show off how much they care. Apparantly they buy paper and enveloppes and donate them to soldiers overseas. If that's not civil service at its finest (by 5 people tied for title of 6th richest person in the world) then I don't know what is.
I should consider joining the army so I can get some freeee stationary. wheeeeeeee.
On a more sad note, Germany closed another nuclear power plant. Apparantly, nuclear energy cannot find acceptance with Germans because the plants have a huge potential for catastrophe and they produce toxic waste for all of eternity...
AND.. we couldn't find any evidence of Germans celebrating Earth Day!! (unlike the americanos) No webpage! Man they are lazy. Germany takes up space on the earth, they should really be more appreciative.
In case you were wondering, Walmart is not evil. They built a great webpage to show off how much they care. Apparantly they buy paper and enveloppes and donate them to soldiers overseas. If that's not civil service at its finest (by 5 people tied for title of 6th richest person in the world) then I don't know what is.
I should consider joining the army so I can get some freeee stationary. wheeeeeeee.
On a more sad note, Germany closed another nuclear power plant. Apparantly, nuclear energy cannot find acceptance with Germans because the plants have a huge potential for catastrophe and they produce toxic waste for all of eternity...
AND.. we couldn't find any evidence of Germans celebrating Earth Day!! (unlike the americanos) No webpage! Man they are lazy. Germany takes up space on the earth, they should really be more appreciative.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
epinephrine
"do you know why I like chocolate chip cookies?"
no, why?
"They have chocolate chips in them"
oh
"Do you know why I like chocolate chips?"
no, why?
"they have chocolate in them"
Children are the future, and that's why I love this logical discussion between a 4 year old playschooler named George and myself which happened on Friday afternoon.
This past weekend, I baby-sat my cousins in Calgary. Friday I got to be the "special helper" and kick it old school with 12 playschoolers.. one thing that I was a bit perplexed about was that 5/12 of them have deathly allergies. So they have to be quarantined during snack time so they don't die or something. I know nuts have always been an issue, but this class cummulatively is allergic to strawberries, dairy, soy products, tomatoes, carrots, meat products and of course nuts.. why is this? Was this always the case and I just don't remember? Somebody please clue me in.
My cousins are adorable, and I know that everybody says that about every kid, but it's cause it's true. I brought them to Chinatown in Calgary and they kept calling it Chinese-city. Georgia had a metal coffee travel mug and 4 stuffed dogs with her as we cruised around on the C-Train. She was a little slow, with all her loot, but she was in no rush at all.. she kept singing and bopping her head.. and talking to her 4 puppies; megan, boomer, browner and rosie. Laura has grown about 2 feet since I saw her last and has picked up a novel skill: reading. She's also developped the ability to foresee consequences and clean up after herself. I was impressed.
In Calgary, I was also able to meet up with Ryan, one of my CWY Big bro's. He brought us to Peter's Drive In and we had a good chat. It's cool that he lives so close, I think this weekend encounter was the first reunion within our whole group. Honestly, spending the whole afternoon with him made me miss everybody...
A clever boy once told me that people are like composts, and you should just take all your experiences and put them in your compost and let them decompose and use whatever is leftover to grow and prepare for future experiences. My compost scheme was working quite efficiently.. but this reunion business is slowing down the process. I guess it's not a bad thing..
Last Thursday I went to Stammtisch, which is always an enjoyable time.. German + beer. It's really the perfect combination. I somehow managed to become the President of the German club for the upcoming school year. I didn't get voted in or anything, so I guess I'm actually the Dictator of the German club for the upcoming school year. Nowadays, I hear they're the same thing..
My dad has turned into Mr. Fitness and woke me up at 5:30am so I could go to the gym with him this morning. Yet another opportunity for me to confirm that I am not a morning person.
I'm very proud of myself, because I finally finished cd's for Galya and Ricky.. and stuck them into the mailbox headed for RUSSIYA!!! It only took me 3 months for Ricky's. But he is just a Swede stuck in a Russian exclave.
no, why?
"They have chocolate chips in them"
oh
"Do you know why I like chocolate chips?"
no, why?
"they have chocolate in them"
Children are the future, and that's why I love this logical discussion between a 4 year old playschooler named George and myself which happened on Friday afternoon.
This past weekend, I baby-sat my cousins in Calgary. Friday I got to be the "special helper" and kick it old school with 12 playschoolers.. one thing that I was a bit perplexed about was that 5/12 of them have deathly allergies. So they have to be quarantined during snack time so they don't die or something. I know nuts have always been an issue, but this class cummulatively is allergic to strawberries, dairy, soy products, tomatoes, carrots, meat products and of course nuts.. why is this? Was this always the case and I just don't remember? Somebody please clue me in.
My cousins are adorable, and I know that everybody says that about every kid, but it's cause it's true. I brought them to Chinatown in Calgary and they kept calling it Chinese-city. Georgia had a metal coffee travel mug and 4 stuffed dogs with her as we cruised around on the C-Train. She was a little slow, with all her loot, but she was in no rush at all.. she kept singing and bopping her head.. and talking to her 4 puppies; megan, boomer, browner and rosie. Laura has grown about 2 feet since I saw her last and has picked up a novel skill: reading. She's also developped the ability to foresee consequences and clean up after herself. I was impressed.
In Calgary, I was also able to meet up with Ryan, one of my CWY Big bro's. He brought us to Peter's Drive In and we had a good chat. It's cool that he lives so close, I think this weekend encounter was the first reunion within our whole group. Honestly, spending the whole afternoon with him made me miss everybody...
A clever boy once told me that people are like composts, and you should just take all your experiences and put them in your compost and let them decompose and use whatever is leftover to grow and prepare for future experiences. My compost scheme was working quite efficiently.. but this reunion business is slowing down the process. I guess it's not a bad thing..
Last Thursday I went to Stammtisch, which is always an enjoyable time.. German + beer. It's really the perfect combination. I somehow managed to become the President of the German club for the upcoming school year. I didn't get voted in or anything, so I guess I'm actually the Dictator of the German club for the upcoming school year. Nowadays, I hear they're the same thing..
My dad has turned into Mr. Fitness and woke me up at 5:30am so I could go to the gym with him this morning. Yet another opportunity for me to confirm that I am not a morning person.
I'm very proud of myself, because I finally finished cd's for Galya and Ricky.. and stuck them into the mailbox headed for RUSSIYA!!! It only took me 3 months for Ricky's. But he is just a Swede stuck in a Russian exclave.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
ATTENTION ALL FRUIT FLIES: Please leave me alone
Ah, yes, a lovely Tuesday morning. I sit here staring at my screen wondering what to do. Some technical difficulties with my computer are preventing me from doing the work that I would like to be doing. I considered consulting the office Tech Support to see if they could fix it, but then I remembered that I am the office Tech Support and I have no clue how to fix my problem.
So, this problem will go unfixed until I dream up a solution. I'm feeling a touch guilty that it's not quite lunchtime and I'm already freeling blogging away. So I'll do some advertising. My company is called Carbon Busters, or Öko-Smart in Deutschland, and we do energy audits and environmental education of/in schools and municipal buildings in Canada and Germany. Our goal is to decrease CO2 emissions and provide a healthy liveable environment for future generations.
In other news, we have fruit flies!!! They are flying around the office all over the place and I want to stab them all. With daggers perhaps. Anybody know how to get rid of them? Other than rid your surroundings from all dust, food, moisture and smells or attempting to smother them all??
And, I leave you with some words of wisdom from my idol:
"Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat."
--Mr. Themostpowerfulmanintheworld
So, this problem will go unfixed until I dream up a solution. I'm feeling a touch guilty that it's not quite lunchtime and I'm already freeling blogging away. So I'll do some advertising. My company is called Carbon Busters, or Öko-Smart in Deutschland, and we do energy audits and environmental education of/in schools and municipal buildings in Canada and Germany. Our goal is to decrease CO2 emissions and provide a healthy liveable environment for future generations.
In other news, we have fruit flies!!! They are flying around the office all over the place and I want to stab them all. With daggers perhaps. Anybody know how to get rid of them? Other than rid your surroundings from all dust, food, moisture and smells or attempting to smother them all??
And, I leave you with some words of wisdom from my idol:
"Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat."
--Mr. Themostpowerfulmanintheworld
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
office of flying daggers
THEY (who the heck is they?) say the blog was kinda interesting while I was in RUSSIA.. and once I got to PEI it went down a significant notch and now.. well, it's downhill, and there's no turning back.
Do you REALLY have to be "OUT OF TOWN" to keep up your blog? Probably not.
I've been THINKING about this whole blogging business/entertainment/notion/idea and well, it seems to me that it's quite complicating. There's alot of WACKY stuff I could write about, but the readership is QUITE broad. Not necessarily large, but broad. As in broad ages and broad walks of life and broad relationships with me. So not everything I wanna say is going to be appropriate for everybody. Which leaves me to write really shallow crap about NOTHING. Or to just NOT CARE and write what I want. My fellow young short-attention span-ADD-or-maybe-ADHD-i wanna ride my bike-over-stimulated-de-sensitized- fellow internet surfers can appreciate it either way..
I'm back at work at CARBON BUSTERS. I found my old desk covered in random BOXES and old PRINTERS and DEAD PLANTS, so until I feel energetic enough to deal with it, I've migrated across the office to sit with Anna, or the SPUNKMEISTER as I like the call her (she doesn't know about this nickname yet either). So far, things are going A OKAY. I'm dealing with the usual computer problems and communication problems that existed 6 months ago, but CHALLENGES are always important for personal growth, right? And jobs are helpful for.. money.. and money.. helpful for living.. etc.. etc..
Last week, I went to Stammtisch for some German speaking madness which was awesome. Then I went to Whyte for some pub action and remembered that Edmonton is a very vibrant city. And it has a damn high bar/club/restaurant turnover rate.
I learnt today that the Chinese ideogram for "CRISIS" is the character for "DANGER" and "OPPORTUNITY" put together, which I thought was very cool. This makes me feel much better about the global eco-crisis. Anna said she met a lady on the bus who was asking where global warming was cause it was still so damn cold outside.
I'm living with my parents, which has been quite nice. My dad and I watched this wacky video called "ROCK AND ROLL CIRCUS" last night. John Lennon, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal, Jethro Tull and a bunch of other musically inclined wacked out on drugs individuals dressed up like they were at a frickin CIRCUS and put on a wacky concert somewhere in England in what looks like a circus tent. Some dude came to play the violin and Yoko Ono is standing in front of him for half the song staring at him. (he's looking quite confused at this point) Then all of a sudden she starts YELLING at the top of her lungs.. TO THE BEAT.. if that's possible.. and this guy was totally caught off guard and had this strange look on his face, kind of a cross between FEAR and EMBARASSMENT. The audience (which is really small) are all wearing YELLOW rain jackets and appear to be randomly swaying BACK and FOURTH in a space-cakey- trance for 30 hours. Sometimes I wish I would have been alive in 1968. This is the image I had in my head as I drifted off to sleep. That may explain the random YELLING throughout this post.
Do you REALLY have to be "OUT OF TOWN" to keep up your blog? Probably not.
I've been THINKING about this whole blogging business/entertainment/notion/idea and well, it seems to me that it's quite complicating. There's alot of WACKY stuff I could write about, but the readership is QUITE broad. Not necessarily large, but broad. As in broad ages and broad walks of life and broad relationships with me. So not everything I wanna say is going to be appropriate for everybody. Which leaves me to write really shallow crap about NOTHING. Or to just NOT CARE and write what I want. My fellow young short-attention span-ADD-or-maybe-ADHD-i wanna ride my bike-over-stimulated-de-sensitized- fellow internet surfers can appreciate it either way..
I'm back at work at CARBON BUSTERS. I found my old desk covered in random BOXES and old PRINTERS and DEAD PLANTS, so until I feel energetic enough to deal with it, I've migrated across the office to sit with Anna, or the SPUNKMEISTER as I like the call her (she doesn't know about this nickname yet either). So far, things are going A OKAY. I'm dealing with the usual computer problems and communication problems that existed 6 months ago, but CHALLENGES are always important for personal growth, right? And jobs are helpful for.. money.. and money.. helpful for living.. etc.. etc..
Last week, I went to Stammtisch for some German speaking madness which was awesome. Then I went to Whyte for some pub action and remembered that Edmonton is a very vibrant city. And it has a damn high bar/club/restaurant turnover rate.
I learnt today that the Chinese ideogram for "CRISIS" is the character for "DANGER" and "OPPORTUNITY" put together, which I thought was very cool. This makes me feel much better about the global eco-crisis. Anna said she met a lady on the bus who was asking where global warming was cause it was still so damn cold outside.
I'm living with my parents, which has been quite nice. My dad and I watched this wacky video called "ROCK AND ROLL CIRCUS" last night. John Lennon, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal, Jethro Tull and a bunch of other musically inclined wacked out on drugs individuals dressed up like they were at a frickin CIRCUS and put on a wacky concert somewhere in England in what looks like a circus tent. Some dude came to play the violin and Yoko Ono is standing in front of him for half the song staring at him. (he's looking quite confused at this point) Then all of a sudden she starts YELLING at the top of her lungs.. TO THE BEAT.. if that's possible.. and this guy was totally caught off guard and had this strange look on his face, kind of a cross between FEAR and EMBARASSMENT. The audience (which is really small) are all wearing YELLOW rain jackets and appear to be randomly swaying BACK and FOURTH in a space-cakey- trance for 30 hours. Sometimes I wish I would have been alive in 1968. This is the image I had in my head as I drifted off to sleep. That may explain the random YELLING throughout this post.
Monday, March 28, 2005
back to reality oop there goes gravity-you know you're a loser when you start quoting eminem..probably incorrectly too
I miss Galya and the rest of my big disfunctional CWY extended family and host family. Just thought I'd get that out of the way. The canadian government organizes things up really nicely so you're forced to get along with 14 random people from across the world. and then once you all bond and become a big disfunctional cwy extended family, they break the whole thing up. I should write a letter and complain.
I'm in Lethbridge visiting my grandparents/extended blood family at the moment. Everybody came over to my grandparents for Easter dinner, and it was delicious of course. But it was strange to see so many people I hadn't seen in so long in such a short period of time. I got made fun of for not cutting cake properly, not having a job, having holes in my socks (which clearly related to not having a job) not enjoying the sport of curling (unlike EVERYBODY else in the family), and being so messed up that I'm prolonging graduating from University. Alas, it feels good to be home. In all honesty, though, my family does keep me grounded. It's good to be around people that question what you do.. it keeps you on your feet and forces you to think about what the heck you actually are doing.
I've been reading some books my grandpa has about alternative medicines and home remedies.. it seems everybody has some sort of health issue, so while they talk about the various ailments and I reflect about my own ailments, namely caffeine addiction and insomnia (or inability to get off of PEI time), I read about what the hell causes all these things and what you can do to help.. and the one theme running throughout the entire book is to eat a healthy diet, exercise, and listen to your body. Who knew? Did anybody know this? And also keep lavender oil (but don't put it in your eyes) handy. The VERY best cure I found was called the "2 hat method" to cure colds. You sit at the table and take off your hat. Then you start drinking whiskey. Keep drinking whiskey until you see 2 hats instead of one. Once 2 hats are visible, go to your bed and sleep. If you don't have a hat handy, you could use a scarf or a salt shaker.
My aunt is taking a class in Sustainable Community Development at the U of C and it pretty much sounds like the coolest class ever and I want to take it RIGHT NOW!
Well, I'm gonna be back in Edmonton in a few days and I'm really really looking forward to seeing a bunch of folks and catching up..
I'm in Lethbridge visiting my grandparents/extended blood family at the moment. Everybody came over to my grandparents for Easter dinner, and it was delicious of course. But it was strange to see so many people I hadn't seen in so long in such a short period of time. I got made fun of for not cutting cake properly, not having a job, having holes in my socks (which clearly related to not having a job) not enjoying the sport of curling (unlike EVERYBODY else in the family), and being so messed up that I'm prolonging graduating from University. Alas, it feels good to be home. In all honesty, though, my family does keep me grounded. It's good to be around people that question what you do.. it keeps you on your feet and forces you to think about what the heck you actually are doing.
I've been reading some books my grandpa has about alternative medicines and home remedies.. it seems everybody has some sort of health issue, so while they talk about the various ailments and I reflect about my own ailments, namely caffeine addiction and insomnia (or inability to get off of PEI time), I read about what the hell causes all these things and what you can do to help.. and the one theme running throughout the entire book is to eat a healthy diet, exercise, and listen to your body. Who knew? Did anybody know this? And also keep lavender oil (but don't put it in your eyes) handy. The VERY best cure I found was called the "2 hat method" to cure colds. You sit at the table and take off your hat. Then you start drinking whiskey. Keep drinking whiskey until you see 2 hats instead of one. Once 2 hats are visible, go to your bed and sleep. If you don't have a hat handy, you could use a scarf or a salt shaker.
My aunt is taking a class in Sustainable Community Development at the U of C and it pretty much sounds like the coolest class ever and I want to take it RIGHT NOW!
Well, I'm gonna be back in Edmonton in a few days and I'm really really looking forward to seeing a bunch of folks and catching up..
Saturday, March 19, 2005
goodbye east coast, hello prairies
Well, it's my last day on the program. I am physically and emotionally exhausted. I've decided that crying and laughing simultaneously is the best feeling in the world. I decided that on St. Patrick's Day in an Irish Pub after too much green beer. Everybody kept asking me why I was crying.. and I pointed to them and said "I'M CRYING FOR YOU! BECAUSE YOU CAN'T CRY!!" and "I'M CRYING FOR YOU BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO FASHION SENSE!" It was very therapeutic and not to mention fun. People are so uncomfortable with crying.. it's good to get them out of their comfort zones..
We said bye to the Russians this morning, and it's just starting to hit me. Right now, I'm supposed to be doing a resume workshop.. working on my resume.. which Cecylia sent to me.. cause I'm not as organized as I should be.. really we should all be carrying our resumes around with us at all times. What was I thinking?
Resumes/employment future aside, it's been a great last couple weeks. Toronto was a good time. Caught up with Lena and Paul which was better than I had expected. Galya and them got along devinely.. and the city provided an abundance of stimulation and entertainment.
The radio thing went awesome. It was such a rush. I got to interview lots of interesting folks. Farewell went well. On our last day we made Sushi for our host mom Kate and have been debriefing (not ripping off eachothers underwear..contrary to what you might think..) in Halifax.
I'll be back in E-town on Wednesday night.. which I am actually really looking forward to.
Hopefully I'll get some sleep before then.. get out of this funk brought on by sheer exhaustion..
High Five to Canada World Youth and to Jacques Hebert and Pierre Trudeau for starting the whole thing!
We said bye to the Russians this morning, and it's just starting to hit me. Right now, I'm supposed to be doing a resume workshop.. working on my resume.. which Cecylia sent to me.. cause I'm not as organized as I should be.. really we should all be carrying our resumes around with us at all times. What was I thinking?
Resumes/employment future aside, it's been a great last couple weeks. Toronto was a good time. Caught up with Lena and Paul which was better than I had expected. Galya and them got along devinely.. and the city provided an abundance of stimulation and entertainment.
The radio thing went awesome. It was such a rush. I got to interview lots of interesting folks. Farewell went well. On our last day we made Sushi for our host mom Kate and have been debriefing (not ripping off eachothers underwear..contrary to what you might think..) in Halifax.
I'll be back in E-town on Wednesday night.. which I am actually really looking forward to.
Hopefully I'll get some sleep before then.. get out of this funk brought on by sheer exhaustion..
High Five to Canada World Youth and to Jacques Hebert and Pierre Trudeau for starting the whole thing!
Monday, March 14, 2005
tune in on THURSDAY!!!!
CWY Participants in the field - Live from Charlottetown, PE March 16
>
>Would you like to catch up with what’s happening with current
>participants in the field? "Beyond Our Culture" Is a special
>presentation organized by this years Netcorps Kaliningrad/ PEI - Canada
>World Youth team. Join the crew on March 16th at the Confederation Court
>Mall as they broadcast live or tune in to 95.1 FM in Charlottetown. You
>can also join on the fun by web at www.ryakuga.org
>
>>Listen to new kinds of music, learn about Russian culture and relive the
>program!
>
>For more information visit www.ryakuga.org/netcorps/index.html
Happy listening everyone!
>
>
>Would you like to catch up with what’s happening with current
>participants in the field? "Beyond Our Culture" Is a special
>presentation organized by this years Netcorps Kaliningrad/ PEI - Canada
>World Youth team. Join the crew on March 16th at the Confederation Court
>Mall as they broadcast live or tune in to 95.1 FM in Charlottetown. You
>can also join on the fun by web at www.ryakuga.org
>
>>Listen to new kinds of music, learn about Russian culture and relive the
>program!
>
>For more information visit www.ryakuga.org/netcorps/index.html
Happy listening everyone!
>
Sunday, March 06, 2005
fso yo
HOly schmoly!
It's been a wacky week. Just the kind I like.
Friday night, I went over to these peoples house with Galya and Masha. This couple is Russian, but the guy lived in the Congo and France for a long time, so he speaks french and Russian. I spoke only with him in French and Galya and Masha spoke only in Russian to his wife. There's something very cool about english-free parties in Canada, I have to say. Partly cause it's an indication that English hasn't quite fully dominated everything and everybody and partly because I only understand about 73% of what's actually going on, which makes it a bit more riveting.
The only problem with them being Russian.. is that they pulled out the shot glasses and the vodka.. and.. well, my month long break from alcohol which has just ended did not help me cope with this Russian style drinking tradition.
Toast after toast after toast.. left my stomach.. not a very happy camper. Plus, the russian style of this celebration meant that there was pickles, tomatoes and cheese.. which.. also wasn't a positive experience. Just looking at it all made me want to throw up.. So I decided I would throw up.. so I get up to try to find my way to the bathroom.. and suddenly I notice a police officer in the living room telling me that our partying was just too loud.. it was all very surreal, partly because I almost threw up on a police officer and partly because there was really not alot of noise at all.
Saturday we sold Russian name-tags (we wrote peoples names in the russian alphabet) at the mall. It was a fundraiser for AIDS-PEI. My days spend promoting the IKEA credit card really payed off. I convinced people at the mall that they really wanted to see their names written in Russian and that they wanted to give money to AIDS-PEI. We made a few hundred bucks and I worked on my manipulation skills. Cheslav, the Russian supervisor had some debatable tactics. When people ignored his sales pitch, he would muffle something really cruel under his breath. He called one guy a capitalist (is that really an insult though) The guy came back and thew $20 at us, without even getting a name tag.
One lady indicated very sternly that she doesn't care about Russia, and therefore wasn't interested in what we were doing.
One lady sped up and turned around to yell (in an english accent) "I'm russian" and pouted of.. she must have thought I asked "where are you from?" and not, "would you like a russian name tag and to support AIDS-PEI"
If they responded: "no thanks, I'm good, I don't want to donate" Cheslav would reply "It's nice to see that YOU'RE GOOD, but some people AREN't good!! have some compassion!!"
People watching is always very thrilling.
Last night, one of the host families hosted a turkey dinner for our entire group. It was very thanksgivinglike.. complete with grace and a everybody says something they are thankful for moment. I did my thanks in German, because I thought it would add a nice spice to the mix and everybody was very uncreative and thankful for all the same things..
including me.. so I though if I just looked at the right people at the right time and smiled appropriately, the main idea would get through..
Then, Galya and I embarked on our pathetic incessant "search for a party" quest. We found a house party that was okay, except for the latin music that just wouldn't end.. which forced us to go to another one.... with some drunken hip hoppers (one who is half-newfie even) making up some very clever depressing rhymes.. eventually we found our way home, into our beds, safe and sound.
I rose for Sunday brunch, and some fun chat about Canada.
My host family informed me that there are 2 islands near Newfoundland that are actually french! Like part of France kind of french. And there was an exchange student that went there from Mexico and was just so confused.. she thought she was traveling to Canada and she ended up in France. Somebody should have really explained that to her.
I've decided that Canada is a very cool place and when I get home, I plan on putting up a map of Canada somewhere. Maybe next to my quote wall.
It's been a wacky week. Just the kind I like.
Friday night, I went over to these peoples house with Galya and Masha. This couple is Russian, but the guy lived in the Congo and France for a long time, so he speaks french and Russian. I spoke only with him in French and Galya and Masha spoke only in Russian to his wife. There's something very cool about english-free parties in Canada, I have to say. Partly cause it's an indication that English hasn't quite fully dominated everything and everybody and partly because I only understand about 73% of what's actually going on, which makes it a bit more riveting.
The only problem with them being Russian.. is that they pulled out the shot glasses and the vodka.. and.. well, my month long break from alcohol which has just ended did not help me cope with this Russian style drinking tradition.
Toast after toast after toast.. left my stomach.. not a very happy camper. Plus, the russian style of this celebration meant that there was pickles, tomatoes and cheese.. which.. also wasn't a positive experience. Just looking at it all made me want to throw up.. So I decided I would throw up.. so I get up to try to find my way to the bathroom.. and suddenly I notice a police officer in the living room telling me that our partying was just too loud.. it was all very surreal, partly because I almost threw up on a police officer and partly because there was really not alot of noise at all.
Saturday we sold Russian name-tags (we wrote peoples names in the russian alphabet) at the mall. It was a fundraiser for AIDS-PEI. My days spend promoting the IKEA credit card really payed off. I convinced people at the mall that they really wanted to see their names written in Russian and that they wanted to give money to AIDS-PEI. We made a few hundred bucks and I worked on my manipulation skills. Cheslav, the Russian supervisor had some debatable tactics. When people ignored his sales pitch, he would muffle something really cruel under his breath. He called one guy a capitalist (is that really an insult though) The guy came back and thew $20 at us, without even getting a name tag.
One lady indicated very sternly that she doesn't care about Russia, and therefore wasn't interested in what we were doing.
One lady sped up and turned around to yell (in an english accent) "I'm russian" and pouted of.. she must have thought I asked "where are you from?" and not, "would you like a russian name tag and to support AIDS-PEI"
If they responded: "no thanks, I'm good, I don't want to donate" Cheslav would reply "It's nice to see that YOU'RE GOOD, but some people AREN't good!! have some compassion!!"
People watching is always very thrilling.
Last night, one of the host families hosted a turkey dinner for our entire group. It was very thanksgivinglike.. complete with grace and a everybody says something they are thankful for moment. I did my thanks in German, because I thought it would add a nice spice to the mix and everybody was very uncreative and thankful for all the same things..
including me.. so I though if I just looked at the right people at the right time and smiled appropriately, the main idea would get through..
Then, Galya and I embarked on our pathetic incessant "search for a party" quest. We found a house party that was okay, except for the latin music that just wouldn't end.. which forced us to go to another one.... with some drunken hip hoppers (one who is half-newfie even) making up some very clever depressing rhymes.. eventually we found our way home, into our beds, safe and sound.
I rose for Sunday brunch, and some fun chat about Canada.
My host family informed me that there are 2 islands near Newfoundland that are actually french! Like part of France kind of french. And there was an exchange student that went there from Mexico and was just so confused.. she thought she was traveling to Canada and she ended up in France. Somebody should have really explained that to her.
I've decided that Canada is a very cool place and when I get home, I plan on putting up a map of Canada somewhere. Maybe next to my quote wall.
Monday, February 28, 2005
"The only things worth learning cannot be taught"
oh wow i'm a bit wound up at the moment. Galya and I just went with the boss of the human rights commision to cbc radio cause he was doing an interview about gay marriage/gay adoption and the reporter asked galya and I to do an interview with him after and we got a tour of the radio/tv building!
This reporter guy introduced us to everybody working there. one lady was updating her blog..on "blogger" and I innocently said under my breath "wow, blogger" and she totally heard me and gave me a stare tha burnt through the side of my head. she closed the window and started to plot my death in her mind.. I was just so excited that middle-aged reporters on islands use blogger to divulge all the juicy details of their lives just like me that I had to put my shock into words.. She probably wrote about this nosy little punk from Edmonton who was spying on her at work. Just as I write about her... Maybe my advanced nosiness is a sign that I should be a reporter.. wait a minute.. she's a reporter.. you'd think she'd understand..
We were joking about taking over the building using force so we could come on the evening news and say "hi" to friends and family. That would be pretty cool if my grandparents are just innocently watching cbc evening news when I pop up and start waving like a lunatic..
We told him about how people think Galya and I are lesbians and one guy stopped us on the street to ask us if we were reallly lesbians.
I'm a bit nervous about our interview.. I think he'll cut and paste and make us look like eco-terrorists lesbians. Whatever, if people are gonna be gossiping about us, I might as well give them something juicy to gossip about.
This reporter guy introduced us to everybody working there. one lady was updating her blog..on "blogger" and I innocently said under my breath "wow, blogger" and she totally heard me and gave me a stare tha burnt through the side of my head. she closed the window and started to plot my death in her mind.. I was just so excited that middle-aged reporters on islands use blogger to divulge all the juicy details of their lives just like me that I had to put my shock into words.. She probably wrote about this nosy little punk from Edmonton who was spying on her at work. Just as I write about her... Maybe my advanced nosiness is a sign that I should be a reporter.. wait a minute.. she's a reporter.. you'd think she'd understand..
We were joking about taking over the building using force so we could come on the evening news and say "hi" to friends and family. That would be pretty cool if my grandparents are just innocently watching cbc evening news when I pop up and start waving like a lunatic..
We told him about how people think Galya and I are lesbians and one guy stopped us on the street to ask us if we were reallly lesbians.
I'm a bit nervous about our interview.. I think he'll cut and paste and make us look like eco-terrorists lesbians. Whatever, if people are gonna be gossiping about us, I might as well give them something juicy to gossip about.
Friday, February 25, 2005
Work and Play and everything in between
okay, so it feels like it's the final hill coming up before this whole canada world youth thing is over. There's like 3 more weeks about before we leave our host families. Time flies when you're... old. (or having fun as some like to say)
So, now I have the task of planning out my life from when I get home. And I don't say this as if
I'm the only person in the world that has ever had to think about their future, I just say this as somebody who is a touch excited/scared/stressed.. to sum it all up in a really complicating way.
But, I'm sure I'll blab on later about my withdrawal of the Canada World Youther life, but right now, I'm not experiencing any withdrawal, I'm still fully immersed in it all.
Our group will be doing a live radio broadcast on March 16th. Mark this on your calenders, folks! The planning is a touch behind, and our theme is a little underdevelopped, but we're hoping to make it something related to global experience, global perspectives, etc etc and global future for youth and with youth etc etc blah blah.. Not just youth I hope,but our group is made up of young people, so we're probably gonna have a youth bias no matter what.
Anybody have any ideas about what might be interesting to put on a radio show? I'm considering just playing my favourite music, but probably the rest of the world would be largely disapointed.
So, now I have the task of planning out my life from when I get home. And I don't say this as if
I'm the only person in the world that has ever had to think about their future, I just say this as somebody who is a touch excited/scared/stressed.. to sum it all up in a really complicating way.
But, I'm sure I'll blab on later about my withdrawal of the Canada World Youther life, but right now, I'm not experiencing any withdrawal, I'm still fully immersed in it all.
Our group will be doing a live radio broadcast on March 16th. Mark this on your calenders, folks! The planning is a touch behind, and our theme is a little underdevelopped, but we're hoping to make it something related to global experience, global perspectives, etc etc and global future for youth and with youth etc etc blah blah.. Not just youth I hope,but our group is made up of young people, so we're probably gonna have a youth bias no matter what.
Anybody have any ideas about what might be interesting to put on a radio show? I'm considering just playing my favourite music, but probably the rest of the world would be largely disapointed.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Friday, February 18, 2005
I think Phil the Dog would really like it here
Does he get out much anymore? Galya painted my nails and they look like Chinese flags..I wanted USSR flags, but she ran out of hammer and sickle decals so I was forced to use starts instead. I like to wave them around and call them my revolution nails..
PS galya never had hammer and sickle decals for nails but OH how I wish she did.
PS galya never had hammer and sickle decals for nails but OH how I wish she did.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
"Judging from your blog, your life must be pretty boring honey"
said the caring mother to her boring daughther.
Despite the fact that her tact can be mildly offensive, she is honest. There's no russian onion in the nose drunken taxi driver bribing border police fiascos on Prince Edward Island, but there are some cool things that have been happening around here. Unfortunately, many I don't feel comfortable sharing on the blog, because they are a) embarassing b) illegal (just kidding!)
c) offensive d) generally don't fall under the "things you want about you on the internet" category
That said, CULTURAMA 2005 was a huge success. It was Friday night and was huge celebration of different cultures and foods and blah blah blah get together and party it up. Galia choreographed a wonderful dance for our group. We were amateur Russian acrobat red-lipsticked dancers and we had a great time. I want to post some pictures when I can. And there was some singing and some Sri Lankan dude that I've seen play before and it just doesn't move me.. but also some lovely columbian dancers..
It was a fundraiser for CUSO and CWY and WUSC and Newcommers Association. It was cool to mingle with all the people that came out to support the event, and I was surprisingly able to recognize alot of the people. This place isn't very big, and the group of people that get involved in things seems to be involved in EVERYthing which is super cool. Plus as a CWYer I have a strange status.. we have our own little weirdo sub-culture/connection to the community.
(I just realized that when we talk about our group, we sound like a cult or an addictions treatment group.. "yeah, so like Saturday night I got together with my group and we sang some folk songs and did some group building activities and debriefed about it all and now I'm like totally feeling like I'm growing within the group and as an individual")
I say that in the nicest way possible, because I'm Canadian, and therefore inherently "nice". (Sorry about that. No, really I'm sorry. Really sorry. Thanks for listening though. Sorry I keep saying sorry. It's just so hard not to when I'm this nice.)
Saturday night was a pot-luck at the supervisors house. I've decided that all pot-lucks taste the same.. all the good tastes of the variety of food are cancelled out by the shear abundance of it all. Did you know that pot-lucks in Switzerland are called Canadian suppers?
Sunday, we went to.. HALIFAX. Our host dad had a meeting there on Monday, so they stayed in a super zany hotel (I point this out only because Oscar Wilde stayed there which compelled me to steal a pen) and we stayed in the super youthful exciting hostel across the street. Same staff as when I was there in January. Same staff as when I was there in October. We met a guy from Jamaica/England/Vancouver.. and he was really interesting to chat with. Kingston Jamaica has more murders than all of Canada. who knew?
He said that he thinks Canadians are more similar to Europeans than they are to Americans, and I disagreed.. trust me I didn't want to, but I felt it was necessary to point out that he'd been living in Vancouver. (The East side, but he doesn't know the Swollen Members. It's a pity, because I was depending on them to be leading any future revolutions)
So yeah, we saw the Alexander Keith's Brewery, the ocean, the shops, the Archive centre (Galia's into the historic archives scene..and oh what a scene it is) We went to the lower deck and saw signall hill. Same thing I did the first time I went to Halifax. Deja Vu in a very literal sense.
We stopped at Wendy's in Truro and everybody made fun of me because I knew my way around Wendy's so well. I knew what was in all salads, where to get cream for my coffee, what a "frosty" was. I guess Wendy's is just part of my identity.
One last thing for Steve, just to make this post extra long. Galya and I gave up alcohol for lent. I'm anticipating us giving up lent for alcohol in the future, but so far, we've been doing awesome.
Despite the fact that her tact can be mildly offensive, she is honest. There's no russian onion in the nose drunken taxi driver bribing border police fiascos on Prince Edward Island, but there are some cool things that have been happening around here. Unfortunately, many I don't feel comfortable sharing on the blog, because they are a) embarassing b) illegal (just kidding!)
c) offensive d) generally don't fall under the "things you want about you on the internet" category
That said, CULTURAMA 2005 was a huge success. It was Friday night and was huge celebration of different cultures and foods and blah blah blah get together and party it up. Galia choreographed a wonderful dance for our group. We were amateur Russian acrobat red-lipsticked dancers and we had a great time. I want to post some pictures when I can. And there was some singing and some Sri Lankan dude that I've seen play before and it just doesn't move me.. but also some lovely columbian dancers..
It was a fundraiser for CUSO and CWY and WUSC and Newcommers Association. It was cool to mingle with all the people that came out to support the event, and I was surprisingly able to recognize alot of the people. This place isn't very big, and the group of people that get involved in things seems to be involved in EVERYthing which is super cool. Plus as a CWYer I have a strange status.. we have our own little weirdo sub-culture/connection to the community.
(I just realized that when we talk about our group, we sound like a cult or an addictions treatment group.. "yeah, so like Saturday night I got together with my group and we sang some folk songs and did some group building activities and debriefed about it all and now I'm like totally feeling like I'm growing within the group and as an individual")
I say that in the nicest way possible, because I'm Canadian, and therefore inherently "nice". (Sorry about that. No, really I'm sorry. Really sorry. Thanks for listening though. Sorry I keep saying sorry. It's just so hard not to when I'm this nice.)
Saturday night was a pot-luck at the supervisors house. I've decided that all pot-lucks taste the same.. all the good tastes of the variety of food are cancelled out by the shear abundance of it all. Did you know that pot-lucks in Switzerland are called Canadian suppers?
Sunday, we went to.. HALIFAX. Our host dad had a meeting there on Monday, so they stayed in a super zany hotel (I point this out only because Oscar Wilde stayed there which compelled me to steal a pen) and we stayed in the super youthful exciting hostel across the street. Same staff as when I was there in January. Same staff as when I was there in October. We met a guy from Jamaica/England/Vancouver.. and he was really interesting to chat with. Kingston Jamaica has more murders than all of Canada. who knew?
He said that he thinks Canadians are more similar to Europeans than they are to Americans, and I disagreed.. trust me I didn't want to, but I felt it was necessary to point out that he'd been living in Vancouver. (The East side, but he doesn't know the Swollen Members. It's a pity, because I was depending on them to be leading any future revolutions)
So yeah, we saw the Alexander Keith's Brewery, the ocean, the shops, the Archive centre (Galia's into the historic archives scene..and oh what a scene it is) We went to the lower deck and saw signall hill. Same thing I did the first time I went to Halifax. Deja Vu in a very literal sense.
We stopped at Wendy's in Truro and everybody made fun of me because I knew my way around Wendy's so well. I knew what was in all salads, where to get cream for my coffee, what a "frosty" was. I guess Wendy's is just part of my identity.
One last thing for Steve, just to make this post extra long. Galya and I gave up alcohol for lent. I'm anticipating us giving up lent for alcohol in the future, but so far, we've been doing awesome.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
It's common knowledge that convenient stores should be convenient
Okay, here's a blob of blog for you all. (I was tempted to say "for you's" but I stopped myself)
Convenience stores. Charlottetown needs some convenience stores. There's one near our work that's called a convenient store. Except it opens at 9:30am and closes at 10pm. I would call this an inconvenient store. Very inconvenient store.
Liquor stores are also very inconvenient here, because they close at like an early time that I can't remember that I think it is silly. Supply and Demand! Whatever happened to supply and demand? Not that I'm really demanding alcohol, but if I was, it probably wouldn't be between 9 to 6.
Oh yeah, just a note about common knowledge. Did you know there's no such thing as common knowledge?
For example, the Russians (well the few I've asked) don't know who Nelson Mandela is, and they have no idea about the AIDS pandemic in Africa or anywhere else..
Some people claim it's necessary to rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, and some people claim it's necessary to NOT rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Both sides are pretty adamant that their way is better for time management, economical and environmental reasons.
Should you let your car idle when it's cold outside? "too much pollution" if you do, "bad for your engine if you don't.
Should bananas and oranges (the outside of them or any part for that matter) be washed? In Russia, I heard claims that it's absolutely necessary or you will die a horrible painful death. Can brocoli and mushrooms be eaten raw? (apparantly not within the boundaries of Germany or Russia, but if you fly across the ocean, it's perfectly safe under almost ALL circumstances)
I always thought a cup was about 250ml and 250ml is 250g, Regardless of what's inside. Did I make this up? (maybe this explains why I have the "black thumb" in the kitchen?)
And who won the second world war?
Convenience stores. Charlottetown needs some convenience stores. There's one near our work that's called a convenient store. Except it opens at 9:30am and closes at 10pm. I would call this an inconvenient store. Very inconvenient store.
Liquor stores are also very inconvenient here, because they close at like an early time that I can't remember that I think it is silly. Supply and Demand! Whatever happened to supply and demand? Not that I'm really demanding alcohol, but if I was, it probably wouldn't be between 9 to 6.
Oh yeah, just a note about common knowledge. Did you know there's no such thing as common knowledge?
For example, the Russians (well the few I've asked) don't know who Nelson Mandela is, and they have no idea about the AIDS pandemic in Africa or anywhere else..
Some people claim it's necessary to rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, and some people claim it's necessary to NOT rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Both sides are pretty adamant that their way is better for time management, economical and environmental reasons.
Should you let your car idle when it's cold outside? "too much pollution" if you do, "bad for your engine if you don't.
Should bananas and oranges (the outside of them or any part for that matter) be washed? In Russia, I heard claims that it's absolutely necessary or you will die a horrible painful death. Can brocoli and mushrooms be eaten raw? (apparantly not within the boundaries of Germany or Russia, but if you fly across the ocean, it's perfectly safe under almost ALL circumstances)
I always thought a cup was about 250ml and 250ml is 250g, Regardless of what's inside. Did I make this up? (maybe this explains why I have the "black thumb" in the kitchen?)
And who won the second world war?
Thursday, January 27, 2005
If I was President
Another week has passed, and I've decided the time has come to make yet another update to my blog. How exciting!?!!???
Monday, another snowed-in day. We slept most of the day and played "10 days in Africa," this really cool board game with our Kenyan host brother, Wycliff (also the name of the man who translated the bible into english in the 16th century my host mom just informed me).
Then Tuesday (after the big storm) our host dad gave us the idea to take the day off work and just go around shoveling people's walks who were snowed in (like the elderly and disabled for example) So we organized our group to come out and help. It was alot of fun being outside for most of the day, and we even made some money (which we won't keep, don't worry) and one team got some tea with a nice old lady. It was alot of snow, let me tell ya! (I can't believe I'm talking about the weather) Sorry Steve, I don't have any pictures yet but I'll take some for you.
Wednesday was work. We went with Mary Joan to a Human Rights presentation to single moms. They were a pretty spunky group, and it was interesting to spend an entire afternoon with them. They're like.. all you need to join our group is to have lots of kids, be between 19-35 and hate men. By the end of the presentation, they figured out that their rights have been violated over and over again because they 1. are women 2. have lots of babies 3. are poor 4. are un-educated. I learned why people always rambling stay-in-school-wear-a-condom-look-both-ways-before-crossing-the-street-drink-milk-don't-take-no-for-an-answer..
It's illegal in PEI to refuse someone housing becaue they have kids, unless your building is a registered seniors home.. but it's impossible for the majority of these women to find places to live. Okay, I admit, kids can be messy and loud and obnoxious, but last time I checked, so can adults, but their messiness, loudness and obnoxiousness is on a much larger scale.
And where would our society be without kids? People need to accept the reality that "childhood" and all the frightening things related to it cannot be avoided. Buy earplugs and stop making the lives of those less fortunate than you a living hell. Or not. Whatever.
Thursday I don't remember.. probably not that great I guess..
Oh wait, I went to Baba's Lounge, which is a quaint little pub with a live band. The place feels kinda like a house party.. It was fun. Met an interesting guy who works with "YEN" the Youth Environmental Network or something. I'm just wondering why decided to point out that the acronym for their name is actually the japanese currency. Secret link?
Friday was EAD on Health. I learned to floss my teeth more and that the Canadian Health care System is in need of some renovations. We had an amazing guest speaker. He's an AIDS activist/comedian/ person living with AIDS in PEI. He talked about the Healthcare system in PEI and was really really bitter for many many reasons, but he was absolutely hilarious. In his opinion, people with AIDS are put on the back burner because.. well.. they're gonna die anyways..(this man has been HIV positive for 14 years and looks fit and healthy) the sooner the better..(too bad the amount of people with aids is increasing in most parts of the world) it's better that all the gays especially die anyways..so they won't reproduce (gay mean won't necessarily produce GAY CHILDREN)
I wanted to laugh and hug the guy and cry and leave the room all within the course of an hour. He went in a few years ago to talk to the Health Minister and the minister said "aren't you dead yet?" Imagine how you'd feel after that. And this guy thought about responding.."OH NO I'M STILL ALIVE. And your son says hi" which some people might not find funny, but I found absolutely hilarioius.
Saturday, menu committee (which probably due to some bad-karma mix-up I managed to be a part of) had to plan the meals for our Mid-project. 3 days. 14 people. $280. It's the first time I've spend 4 hours in a grocery store. So how many loaves of bread do you think we need?
We just got back from skating and toboganning with the YEN dude. It was -3 out, so it was perfect weather for frolicking in the snow. Mid-Project is this week. We're staying at a boy scout camp for the e next 3 days (sans boyscouts I'm assuming) Maybe I'll have less venting about social issues in my next post. Only time will tell I guess.
Monday, another snowed-in day. We slept most of the day and played "10 days in Africa," this really cool board game with our Kenyan host brother, Wycliff (also the name of the man who translated the bible into english in the 16th century my host mom just informed me).
Then Tuesday (after the big storm) our host dad gave us the idea to take the day off work and just go around shoveling people's walks who were snowed in (like the elderly and disabled for example) So we organized our group to come out and help. It was alot of fun being outside for most of the day, and we even made some money (which we won't keep, don't worry) and one team got some tea with a nice old lady. It was alot of snow, let me tell ya! (I can't believe I'm talking about the weather) Sorry Steve, I don't have any pictures yet but I'll take some for you.
Wednesday was work. We went with Mary Joan to a Human Rights presentation to single moms. They were a pretty spunky group, and it was interesting to spend an entire afternoon with them. They're like.. all you need to join our group is to have lots of kids, be between 19-35 and hate men. By the end of the presentation, they figured out that their rights have been violated over and over again because they 1. are women 2. have lots of babies 3. are poor 4. are un-educated. I learned why people always rambling stay-in-school-wear-a-condom-look-both-ways-before-crossing-the-street-drink-milk-don't-take-no-for-an-answer..
It's illegal in PEI to refuse someone housing becaue they have kids, unless your building is a registered seniors home.. but it's impossible for the majority of these women to find places to live. Okay, I admit, kids can be messy and loud and obnoxious, but last time I checked, so can adults, but their messiness, loudness and obnoxiousness is on a much larger scale.
And where would our society be without kids? People need to accept the reality that "childhood" and all the frightening things related to it cannot be avoided. Buy earplugs and stop making the lives of those less fortunate than you a living hell. Or not. Whatever.
Thursday I don't remember.. probably not that great I guess..
Oh wait, I went to Baba's Lounge, which is a quaint little pub with a live band. The place feels kinda like a house party.. It was fun. Met an interesting guy who works with "YEN" the Youth Environmental Network or something. I'm just wondering why decided to point out that the acronym for their name is actually the japanese currency. Secret link?
Friday was EAD on Health. I learned to floss my teeth more and that the Canadian Health care System is in need of some renovations. We had an amazing guest speaker. He's an AIDS activist/comedian/ person living with AIDS in PEI. He talked about the Healthcare system in PEI and was really really bitter for many many reasons, but he was absolutely hilarious. In his opinion, people with AIDS are put on the back burner because.. well.. they're gonna die anyways..(this man has been HIV positive for 14 years and looks fit and healthy) the sooner the better..(too bad the amount of people with aids is increasing in most parts of the world) it's better that all the gays especially die anyways..so they won't reproduce (gay mean won't necessarily produce GAY CHILDREN)
I wanted to laugh and hug the guy and cry and leave the room all within the course of an hour. He went in a few years ago to talk to the Health Minister and the minister said "aren't you dead yet?" Imagine how you'd feel after that. And this guy thought about responding.."OH NO I'M STILL ALIVE. And your son says hi" which some people might not find funny, but I found absolutely hilarioius.
Saturday, menu committee (which probably due to some bad-karma mix-up I managed to be a part of) had to plan the meals for our Mid-project. 3 days. 14 people. $280. It's the first time I've spend 4 hours in a grocery store. So how many loaves of bread do you think we need?
We just got back from skating and toboganning with the YEN dude. It was -3 out, so it was perfect weather for frolicking in the snow. Mid-Project is this week. We're staying at a boy scout camp for the e next 3 days (sans boyscouts I'm assuming) Maybe I'll have less venting about social issues in my next post. Only time will tell I guess.
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