Once again I have totally blanked on my blogging duties. I do have a few reasonable excuses – I spent much of February traveling. And then quite a bit of March sitting on my ass doing nothing. But what else is new? So here it goes – another list counting of things I’ve been doing whilst not updating my blog:
A trip to NYC - really, you ask? That seems like kind of a big deal, why haven’t you mentioned it until now? See excuse number two above. Went with the guy mentioned in my 1997-1998 journal – the boy in question who I planned to break up with even though we weren’t actually dating. We’re still not dating, so why would we go to NY together you wonder? Not sure really, except that for some reason we are still friends and seem to see each other every 4 years, in kind of awesome locales – Chicago, Banff, Paris, St. Moritz and NYC. Was a super fun trip – not much to report really. Hit up some good restaurants, wandered the streets of Soho, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge (pictured here in blurry instagram glory), went to the Met, watched the skaters of Central Park, etc. It's still not clear to me how we've managed to stay friends these past 15 years, whilst living in 10 different cities on 2 different continents, but we have, and it's pretty cool.
A few days of skiing – not enough really, but still good. Two of the days were with the bride who prompted the ultimate wedding dos & don’ts list (and yes, I'm going to hell for continuing to bash it almost 2 years later). At any rate, there have been a few snowstorms in the past month and so I’ve had a couple of powder days which were fab. Hope to get a few more days in before the end of the season.
Work trips – to really exciting places like Wallaceburg, ON, Fort Nelson, BC and Wetaskiwin, AB. On the first one I had some angry farmers question my integrity. On the second one I went for drinks at a Boston Pizza where we were the only women in the bar. On the third one, one of the SWAG items was a little case holding mints and toothpicks. Those really are the highlights.
A drag show – self-explanatory.
Watching Friday Night Lights – I’m a late convert to the show, which means I’m watching all 5 seasons on itunes and on my PVR. AH has been talking about it for years, but I never managed to watch it live, which is probably a good thing. Watching all episodes back to back to back is awesome. I’m slightly obsessed really. I almost feel like I live in Dillon, TX. And it makes me sad that I could never date Tim Riggins. It also makes me sad that Taylor Kitsch’s John Carter movie was so horrible. He still looks good though. And because he looks so good, I will forgive him for choosing another stupid movie to star in (Battleship) and go see it, if only because both Landry and Eric happen to be in it.
Wine – a few weeks ago we had an impromptu gathering for post-work bevies that went completely off the rails. I met a Dutch guy who had just moved to 4 weeks previous and I’m pretty sure I impressed him with my ability to answer his skill testing question – how many Hollands fit into Alberta. My answer was 20. Everyone else guessed 4-6. The real answer is 16. So I won. If I hadn’t had 5+ glasses of wine by that point, I’m pretty sure that I would have answered exactly 16. SS met a guy who seems like a good guy, but he was uber-drunk and so when exchanging numbers, he gave her the wrong one. Luckily they have a few friends in common. One of the being Rat Guy (see – this blog always comes full circle)and so Drunk Jeff (also known as New Jeff and Good Jeff) emailed him to get SS’s contact info. Rat Guy then had to swallow his pride and send her an email inquiring if it was ok for him to pass along her number. They’ve had one date – the jury is still out, but it could be promising.
Research – AZ is going to NYC this week for work but whilst there is going to a “housewarming/birthday/magazine cover celebration” party. It is being hosted by the mother a famous gentleman, who happens to be both single and a billionaire. Sadly said gentleman won’t be there, but I still looked into his history and it’s a shame that he’s unavailable because AZ is already blonde and so could potentially have become the next Mrs. Musk. Plus he’s building a spaceship to Mars (because that's a totally normal thing to do) and if she did some interplanetary travel, that would make a really great blog entry. One that wouldn't take me two months to update.
Remember way back in June last year when I was so upset that the U2 concert was postponed? In the true spirit of never being satisfied, this June I'm upset because the concert is over! It was on Wednesday night, and my, how fabulous it was. Beautiful evening, beautiful music and a few great stories - this one about Bono hitchhiking is just so fantastic. Only in Canada would an Edmonton Oiler pick up a rock star on the side of the road.
I then spent the 3 hour drive back to Calgary listening to all the U2 songs on my ipod. The one below will I think always be my favourite:
I should also point out that while U2 is obviously a big-time band, they are also a sentimental favourite. My brother had both October and War before they were big and so the fact that I got to go to their concert 30 years later is one of those things that kind of throws me for a loop. But it also makes me thankful to be able to enjoy such fabulous things like good live music and singing at the top of my lungs on the open road.
Sorry for my absenteeism. I have absolutely no excuse, except that I don’t have much to say these days. I really don’t have anything exciting to report about what has been going on in my life. I continue to be obsessed with the royal wedding, even though it’s over. I think because they gave us a tiny little peak into what is usually an intimate event (i.e. a wedding) and so now I want to be given access to everything else. Plus I love hats. And Prince Harry. SS and I watched together – I stayed over at her house, we set the alarm for 3 am MST, watched the event whilst eating homemade (by SS) scones and clotted cream and drinking mimosas. We watched the ceremony and the carriage ride and then went back to bed around 5:30. Got up again at 9 am and then I re-watched to see what I had missed the previous time, including the double-kiss on the balcony. Here is the scene the couch at approximately 4:20 am.
The afternoon of the wedding, I headed off to Vancouver in search of some greenery and warmth. After the craptastic weather we’ve been having in lovely YYC, I decided a tropical vacation was in order. Unfortunately my wallet only allowed me to get as far as Vancouver. But it was definitely warmer there it I had a very relaxing weekend with KM that consisted of beer, sushi, a ferry ride, burgers, wine, hockey, trivial pursuit and brunch.
Then I came back to two equally dramatic, but very different deaths; those of Osama bin Laden and the Liberal Party of Canada. Both were felled by sneak attacks – the first was killed by a team of NavySeals, while the latter was dealt a death blow by a man with a moustache and a cane. The only positive thing I can say about the election is that at least the Bloc Quebecois now has fewer seats than my car. Beyond that, I should probably refrain from talking about the results as this post could easily devolve into a crazed rant that I don’t really have the time or the energy for. That said, I did enjoy the conversations I had both during and after the election with 2 of my BOFs. What’s a BOF you ask? It’s a Boyfriend-Of-Friend. Knowing that I am political junkie, the male companions of both CG and HC decided to get in touch. Sadly both of them were satisfied, and in HC’s young man’s case downright giddy, with the results. You know what they say - you can pick your friends and you can pick your boyfriends, but you can’t pick your friends’ boyfriends. Although with team dating, we do our darndest. More on that later.
So as mentioned, I went to Toronto and Hawaii. I'm still too tired to go into my various adventures on said trips. But once again, I insisted on torturing myself by watching a bad movie on the plane - I watched the latest Twilight movie, I'm not even sure what the actual subtitle is. But it included lines like this one, from Edward to Bella when she asked him to take her virginity:
“I just want to be married to you first ....it’s just one rule that I want to leave unbroken. It might be too late for my soul, but I will protect yours.”
Are you serious? Teenagers are doomed if they believe this bullshit. Good thing there was a barf bag in my seat pocket.
Another thing I am thankful for = frequent flyer miles.
Thanks to aeroplan and my numerous flights to visit friends and family, I now have enough points to fly to Hawaii for free in 3 weeks. Let the countdown begin. Aloha!
On my recent trip to "home" (where my parents live), I found a couple of diaries, hidden in plain sight in my bedside table. Am guessing my mom has probably read them, which is pretty embarrassing because the diaries themselves are somewhat mortifying. Running intermittently from September 1997 to December 1999, they are an account of my inner most thoughts as well as the events and travels that happened when I lived in France in 97-98, back in Halifax for my last year of university in 98-99 and then back to France for a year of teaching in 99-2000. I was a young 21 year old ... I was always thought I was quite mature for my age, but looking back, not so much. Naivete is a good word to describe my mindset. Although it's interesting because the majority of the entries happen as I'm taken far out of my comfort zone, living on a different continent, speaking a different language and meeting people from all over the world, so I probably shouldn't be too hard on myself. A few gems are below, as well as what they mean to me now are below (there is also plenty of introspection, but I think I'll keep those entries to myself for now):
October 11, 1997: "Last night we had so much fun ... our wine only cost $4. Then we went to Bugsy's and everybody was there. We got a beer and hung out but we decided we wanted to dance - so we went to Honky Tonk's to bust a move."Um, everybody? I have no idea who would be considered everybody. Nor would my 34-year old self drink $4 wine. And what kind of town has bars called Bugsy and Honky Tonk? Although I do still use the term "bust a move."
November 11, 1997, discussing a boy I had a crush on: "I broke off our relationship, not that we really had one, but after the events of the weekend, my crush has faded, although I still like flirting with him - he is a great friend even though he's a slut."A little harsh perhaps? Also, I love that I broke up with him even though we weren't dating. The funny thing is that we are still friends. I wonder if I should tell him how mean I was.
November 23, 1997: "Last weekend we hopped on a train and went to Barcelona. Wow - it was so much fun. I couldn't believe how many people were out on just a random Saturday night - 8PM looked like Ottawa on Canada Day or general admission at a U2 concert. Shopping was like the last hour on Christmas Eve - absolute chaos. But I got some new boots and a sweater."I'm guessing we also saw all the Gaudi architecture and went to a few museums, but I obviously wasn't that interested. And I still own those boots.
December 21, 1997: "We went to Paris and KM peed on the eiffel tower."I laughed out loud reading this entry. In her defence, she has a very weak bladder and I was probably taunting her.
January 23, 1998: "Wow, it is so beautiful out right now. I am sitting on a park bench - it is 4:30 in the afternoon, in the middle of winter, I am wearing only a sweater (well, pants too), the sun is shining, there are people and dogs frolicking in front of me, I'm listening to that cool Bjork song and wishing I were in a movie."Cool Bjork song could be any of her songs really, I'm gonna go with "It's Oh So Quiet."
It goes on and on, but is really only funny to me. So let's just leave it there and ponder the all important question: what the hell ever happened to Bjork?
There has been much debate about high speed rail in Alberta ... there are multiple reasons why a fast train linking Calgary and Edmonton would be awesome:
going there and back in 3 hours instead of 6 makes a work-related day trip that much more palatable;
it's much easier to bb message while sitting on a train seat than it is while driving 130kms an hour with mack trucks speeding by;
the whole reduction of CO2 emissions thing;
going to see shows that can't play in the Saddledome because of the stupid roof (i.e. Justin Timberlake) would be that much easier; and finally,
I love my Edmonton peeps and it would be fun to see them more often.
I'm sure there are other reasons (i.e. integrating the economy, ease of doing business, cool looking trains, etc, etc), but I recently discovered a new, much more important one while travelling from Montreal to Ottawa on the train this past Sunday: there are hot men on trains. Seriously, there were 3 very attractive, age appropriate men in my train car ... gives a whole new meaning to "riding the rails."
