best. cartoon. ever.

I'm an awesome communicator

Weyell... I aced the interview today. It was over an hour and it went so incredibly well I can hardly believe it. I've only got 2 more days in the office though before heading off to work in Calgary for 2 weeks straight so I'm not sure if I'll hear anything before I go. And I'll guess we'll see what happens. Chances are I'll say yes if they ask.

CHRISTINE!

Ahem. It's hard to follow up a post like the last one. What to say? Just came back from the PHAAANTOMMMM OF THE OHHHHPPPERRRRAAA which was freaking wicked good. The set was incredible and the costumes were unbelievable and the singing was great, and even if opera is not your thing it is so damn entertaining and full of tricks and cool shit that you're pretty much glued to the stage for the whole 2.5 hrs. It was awesome. And I'm going to sing everything opera style from now on in. That shouldn't annoy anyone too much.

In other news, here's a really interesting article about the cons of shoes. Enjoy!

17 + 17 = 34

Today officially marks halfway in my lifetime that I have been fatherless. 17 years ago today my mom and I drove up that driveway at the house at Blackstrap Lake and saw my aunt standing at the top of the hill ~ and I knew something was wrong, really really really wrong, before she even said a word. I don't really remember much after that - some crying, the offer of a drink. And deciding to go back to school a couple of days afterwards to get some sense of normalcy back into my life. And handing in my poetry dossier for my creative writing class final and getting a C-grade, and being told that perhaps I should try writing about more than one subject. For some reason that still fucking bugs me.

There's lots of things that would be different if I had a dad. I would probably know more about fixing things. I would probably relate differently to men. I would probably have not moved out when I was 17. I would probably have not stupidly moved to Vancouver when I was 18 and done a lot of drugs. I'm sure I would be a different person, but the same could be said about going to high school in Egypt. I'm sure I would be living a different life had I stayed all my formative years in a non-Muslim country. But you can't get trapped in the what-ifs, I can only say that I've turned out mostly ok, and that I understand the reasons why. It must have been so hard to be that lonely, and in that much pain. And so the Softer World entry from a couple of weeks ago really sums it up, I think. And from this day on I will go forward having spent more of my life without a dad than with one. So cheers, dad, if you're somehow listening. It's ok.

on the road again

Swift Current was awesome, and fuck me if the training didn't go exactly as well as the other 2 towns have gone. Damn I'm good. It's also been wonderful to meet the office staff from the smaller towns - makes me realize that as frustrated as I get feeling insignificant to the fancy Calgary offices it is only 100 times worse for them. Good reality check. And there are 2 really cool ladies that run the show in Swift, and we had some really good conversations about alternative health methods and acupuncture (they're both huge believers) and did you know that if you have a brutal headache that drinking the juice of a fresh lemon will cure it? I don't get 'em very often but I told my mom to try it the next time she gets a migraine.

Today's question: if you applied for a position that you weren't really sure that you wanted, but it meant more money and more power, and someone else you knew really really really wanted it, but you knew you'd be better than them at it, what would you do? There's a part of me that would feel like shit knowing that I took it over a friend that wants it more than I do, but on the other hand I think I would be better at it. I'm a bit stumped by this. Of course I haven't even had the interview yet so maybe I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Off to PA again tonight to celebrate Jenn's birthday and new house there. Should be a blast, other than driving through the snowstorm that's forecasted. Oh well, at least there will be no driving drunk at the end of the night, just a stumble down the hallway to the spare bedroom and a drive home tomorrow morning. Whee!

speedy creek

I'm headed to Swift Current in the morning for work. Town 3 outta 3 for training, here's hoping it goes even 1/2 as well as the rest of them have. I'm darn-tootin' proud of the teaching that I've been doing, everyone is doing exactly what they're supposed to be and nothing else. Good stuff. I'm bringing my taxes on this trip though cuz they're due soon and well, it's Swift Current. Cross your fingers they have internet at the hotel. Cross 'em even harder that it's free.

Oh apparently this guy is from there, never heard of him but he's in the hillbilly hall of fame.

here's what really happened

After an all-you-can-drink for $10 at Winston's on friday night for ye olde local ball team, a bunch of us decide to go to the Overdrive. Actually, that decision was made and I decided to tag along. Didn't feel like going to Broadway and was having fun with the folks I was with, plus it's right near my house so that was all ok even though the bar is scuzzy and young and stupid. I catch a ride with a couple of friends from work and a wife, and we try to go in the door at the Overdrive. "I need to see some ID" the bouncer goes. "Are you serious?" says I, the youngest of the bunch at 34. "These people are 35, 37, & 40 years old." "No ID, no entrance". I tell him he's being ridiculous and show him mine. He won't let anyone else in, so I say "well at least let me go tell our friends that you're not letting them in". So I go in and find the other girlfriends and tell them to go sort out the scene at the door. We're in the bar for a while, and I go outside to smoke a cigarette. I ask the same door dude if I can get a stamp, and hold out the top of my hand. He holds out his arm and smacks the inside of it. "Pardon?" I said. He smacks the inside of his arm again. "Are you trying to tell me that for some reason I need to get stamped on the inside of my arm as opposed to the outside?" I say and hold out my arm and he stamps me on the inside and doesn't say a word. So out I go, and in I come again, and we all dance for a while, and then out I go again for a cigarette. As I'm coming back in I flash my stamp and he grabs me by the arm and says "you need to check your vest". I said "I've been in here 3 times, and now all of a sudden I need to check my vest?" He says if I don't check my vest I'm not allowed in. I tell him I've been in 3 times, and that I'm not quite sure why he's being such an asshole. He says "you started it by being an asshole when you snuck in here". I say "excuse me? Snuck in? That was when I showed you my ID and came in right in front of you? That's what you're now calling sneaking in?" and he turns away and starts talking to someone else. So I just keep walking. And halfway to my table some other dude grabs me by my collar and tells me to check my vest or I'm not getting in. I said "I've been in here for an hour, what is your problem" and he says "we've told you 17 fucking times to check your fucking vest". I said "you actually haven't told me 17 times, you've told me three, and I'm not really sure why all of a sudden it's such a big fucking deal". He screams "check your vest, or you're getting kicked out" and marches me back over to the coat check. Now at this point I'm drunk and mad and start yelling "apparently they're going to kick me out if I don't check my vest" and the coatcheck girl takes my vest and I walk back to my table and start crying cuz I'm drunk and mad and vestless. So my friend's wife decides that it's time for me to go and offers me a ride home, I go un-check my vest and call the doorguy an asshole on the way out, and I'm home by 12:30. Free beer is not such a good idea in retrospect. But seriously, I didn't start it. And I'm still mad.

here's what happens

I end up at the Overdrive
and get next to kicked out for wearing a vest and being 34 and
"sneaking in".
And in some serious fight with the "head doorman". No thanks.
That was bullshit. He grabbed me by the collar
and told me I was an asshole. And to check my vest.
And I got grabbed by the bouncers and told I was an asshole.
And I caught a ride home and will NEVER go there. Not even
after I ask why they're being assholes to me, it's because
I'm an asshole. Ouch.

hey internet

hey internet PA is like a rainstorm
one where it drizzles and the banks reveal smoke butts
your breath fogs your glasses and you're
surrounded by trees.

it's almost like BC, minus the collective
30 something vibe. You need a big truck and a flashlight
to navigate those wooded tracks.

I'm just gonna keep going until something makes me stop.
Ok? Let's try that for a while. Go.

as seen at the doc's office

cue the music

It's sunday night and the Juno's are on, you know what that means. Another arty head shot of Feist. And toasting every time Nickelback is mentioned, which already happened about 20 seconds into the show. The rally for Station 20 West was AWESOME, btw. And your comments about it were out-of-control...

do you believe in rallies?

Tomorrow morning there is a community rally against the government pulling promised funding from Station 20 West. In case ya don't know, or ain't from these parts, here's the scoop: "Members of Saskatoon's core communities have been working to develop a "community enterprise centre" on 20th St. called Station 20 West. This initiative is situated in the centre of Saskatoon's poorest neighbourhoods and will bring together a wide range of services, including affordable housing, a co-operative local grocery store, a library branch, health care, dental services, a legal aid clinic, and community development offices. In 2007, the provincial government under the NDP committed $8 million to the project for capital costs. On Thursday afternoon, the new Saskatchewan Party government informed Station 20 West organizers that they were no longer funding the project, even though the money had already been transferred to the community." The right-wing Sask Party is now likening it to "funding a strip mall" and claims that it's unfair to other private businesses to subsidize this project because of the food co-op involved. It's a bit of a nightmare, the buildings are already designed and there are contracts in place. And tomorrow there is a public rally against the pulling of the funds. If facebook is any indication then at least 500 people are going to show. I'm just not sure anymore if rallies do anything. I took part in a lot of them when I was young hippie-wannabe, don't think they did anything but make the people involved feel good about themselves. This one might be different though. It's not often that the folks of Saskatoon gather for some random rally. For sure it will make the news, which is a start I guess as opposed to just smoking joints on Weyerhouser's steps in Vancouver. What think you?

de-flate

I believe in a quiet beauty,
nothing forced or nothing crafted.
No hair streaks or nose jobs
just a dedication to the self and
what makes you strong.

It's interesting watching everyone else fall into
the best thing that's ever happened to them
this is my pattern
say goodbye and boom! there they go.

I'm just looking for someone to conversate
the way that BC conversated with me
remember this feeling? It lasted a whole long week
and now I'm home again
watching couples couple
scouring the interwebs for someone to talk to
and turning off the phone.