Category Archives: Photos

so… i went out on a date last night.

i’d been corresponding with this guy for a couple of days when he suggested meeting up at the free vancouver symphony orchestra concert at deer lake park. i was feeling really cute and exuberant yesterday, so even though it was against my first date rules i said yes.

this guy was great on paper, especially when he was writing. it’s embarassing, but i actually giggled with glee when he used a semi-colon. properly. yes, i know. i’m sad and pathetic. but when you’re getting mail from men who, unironically, type things like “your the bom”, a guy who knows his way around punctuation is a bit of a thrill.

okay, maybe only for me.

anyway, after a huge nightmare trying to find parking (who knew so many people were interested in the symphony!), i finally arrived at our meeting place outside the art gallery. it was interesting, as soon as i spotted him and got near, all the people who had previously been milling about disappeared. if it’d been a movie, he would have turned to see me walk up to him. as it was, i called his name and there was this beat or two when he didn’t turn or seem to acknowledge me.

he was very tall and very blond with his newly bleached hair (long story short: he was born blond and wanted to see what it would be like to be blond again). the first couple minutes were kind of awkward and i worried this was going to be a repeat of my first date, where i tried so very hard to get a conversation started but had to admit defeat. it turned out i didn’t have a lot to worry on the conversation front.

we found ourselves a spot on the grass, spread out the blanket i’d brought and settled in for a couple hours of culture in the fresh air. i was somewhat concerned that we’d not get a chance to chat while the music was playing, but after the intermission, we spent more time talking during the second half than actively listening. at the end of the moonlit show (who knew symphonies did encores?) he asked if i’d like to go get a drink and without thinking i said yes.

we took my car to white spot where we had some food and beverages and managed to talk for solid couple of hours about some pretty weighty subjects. he’s a smart guy; a little dry, but that’s not necessarily bad. by midnight i figured it was time to call it quits, especially since he had a long drive out to maple ridge.

sounds like a pretty good date, doesn’t it?

but, this is my life and nothing ever goes as good as it seems at first glance. at some point during the concert, we were talking and he made some quiet remark i didn’t quite hear. when i didn’t acknowledge him, he suffixed it with another mumbled comment about preferences and then told me a story about his being dragged into bed by an overweight woman he had been dating and how she asked what was wrong when after an hour of fooling around nothing had yet “come up” for him. ah. now i was clued in.

when exiting the car to go into the restaurant, he told me i was “deadly pretty” and that if i were to start working out i’d have all the men in the city falling all over themselves to get a piece of me. later on, soon before saying goodnight, he went on for quite a while about how great i was and, again, if i were slimmer i’d never want for attention from men. he also surmised that it was probably best for modern civilization that i was heavy so that society wouldn’t crumble in man’s bid to be with me.

those were the nicest insults i’ve ever received.

oh, but it gets better. he mailed me today saying he had fun and made a little joke about something we’d talked about at the restaurant. i replied that, yes, i’d had fun and if he wanted to hang out again to give me a shout. i was being half polite and half serious. he really is a decent enough guy, he’s just not hot for me, which is totally okay. everyone’s got their stuff they won’t compromise on, but not everyone would have the balls to put it so plainly in an email:

“You’re a nice and interesting person — or I could say, I personally find it easy to be with you. If I didn’t have any hangups about weight, I’d probably be looking for a ring I could offer.

I can’t say this w/o sounding shallow, and I apologize fully for that, but I need to know, do you have any plans to slim down?”

“friday was, next to thursday, one of the most stressful days i’ve had in recent memory. i don’t even know why it was so extraordinarily annoying, but i could almost feel my blood boiling in my veins and my breath catchng in my chest as i tried to just get something, anything done in the chaos of the day. how is it that the days you look most forward to are the ones which are so amazingly frustratng?”
i wrote that on the ferry last week. wow, what a difference a few days can make. these last couple, i’ve been floating on air. i’m damn cute, i’m damn funny, i’m hyper productive, and i’ve got my words back. the only thing i haven’t done is get outside to make photographs, but that’s okay ’cause i’ve been hanging out online with jeremy and watching movies and making tortilla pizza and buying blueberries and going out for lunch.
i’m feeling my mojo, that’s for damn sure. i feel invincible! i want to spin in circles and laugh my fool head off. i want to go play and be wild. wild!
hey, who wants to go to playland tomorrow (i can get day passes for $24 through work if you confirm by 3pm)?

hey, i totally forgot that yesterday was there here website’s fifth birthday. hard to believe i’ve been doing this blogging thing for five years so far. every once in a while i read through the archives and i think that i used to be a lot more clever, then i realize that i didn’t chat at work so all my quick and witty thoughts got posted here. now they get related to whomever is in the top-most msn window. i’m sorry about that, but at least you guys get pretty pictures now!

so yeah, happy birthday, blog. here’s to another five years (i’ve already paid for the domain), i hope.

okay, someone just called my cell phone, but they blocked their number. that’s NOT the way to get me to answer. just like i hang up my land line if there’s that second or two of silence when the autodialer connects to the telemarketer, i don’t answer calls i don’t know the number of.
by the way, i’m really cranky today and it’s for no apparent reason. i’m getting lots done at work, the week is flying, i have byron the temp to flirt with for the next two weeks, we have a big bag of free chips in the office, my supervisor is away and they’re building me the kickass shelving unit i designed for my uniform room. what’s there to complain about?
i think i need a hug. someone to curl up on the futon and watch movies with. someone who smells like leather and tobacco. someone who’ll stroke my hair while it rests on their lap.
ugh. i gotta stop that or i’ll be melancholy AND cranky and that’s just a recipe for disaster.

i’m still feeling guilty for forgetting to turn off my alarm clock before i went to the island this weekend. my poor neighbours had to hear my alarm BLEEP BLEEP BLEEPing for half an hour starting at six a.m. both saturday and sunday mornings. then i remember the eastern europeans and their drunken folksong-singing party the other week and the urgent sex-having upstairs neighbours and i don’t feel so bad anymore.
so, i have this sexy new cell phone with all these free minutes which i’ll never use and i’m starting to think i might have to solicit phone calls from people who want to talk with me. mostly i just think it’s bloody cool when the phone vibrates when it rings. so make it ring, dammit! please.

another whirlwind visit to the island: 52 hours from start to finish. we saw two movies in the theatre (march of the penguins and wedding crashers) and two movies in the livingroom (team america: world police and hollywood north). i had one nap and two good sleep-ins. we visited my uncle and discovered an amazing little hidyhole i’m definitely going back to explore in more detail in future. i won’t be going back until my mom’s birthday at the end of september, so we had to pack a lot in to keep her topped up with heathery goodness until she sees me again.

overheard on the ferry to horseshoe bay:
daddy (who looks and sounds an awful lot like darren): christopher, get down off the table, please.
christopher: no!
daddy: christopher, it’s time to get off the table. look around, do you see anyone else lying on their tables?
christopher: *looking around* yes?
daddy: no, you don’t. please get down.
christopher: whyyyy?
daddy: because it’s outside the social norms.

sean is having his new desk assembled/installed this morning, so i can’t really do a lot while his stuff is on my desk. instead, i’m trying to decide where i want to go to get myself some lunch today. i’d kill my puppy for some chipotle, so it’s probably a really good thing i don’t have a puppy because there’s no chipotle for 150 miles.
i’m off to the island tonight to visit the maternal unit. we’re planning on seeing the island and wedding crashers. i’m planning on sleeping as much as humanly possible.
have a good weekend, peeps. *mwah*

for four lovely days i went to bed when i was tired and woke up when i was rested. those were great days. now, at some arbitrary time of day the evil little box which lives beside my bed screams BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP at me, ripping me violently from my restful slumber, terrorizing me with its grating, electronic voice.
i fucking hate alarm clocks.

my vegetarian mexi-shepherd’s pie turned out after a bout of fear and revulsion as i was concocting. jamie even had seconds! phew. all in all, it was a lovely evening. we chatted like old men on the front porch, ate food i cooked and cookies he baked (the biggest cookies in the world!), listened to some music, etc. i certainly hope he doesn’t think it sucked. i know i don’t. i believe this might have ushered in the era of dinner parties in my life. i just need a bigger table…
in other, less interesting news (to anyone but me), i have dived head-first back into the world of warcraft. oh, yes, my pretty. me’n’my female human warrior are kicking ass and taking names in elwynn forest. it’s so much fun playing with jeremy and wade, especially when we’re all skyping together while we slay. i’m fairly sure they’re just in it for the mocking of me, because they’re seasoned gaming guys and i’m the total newbie, girly girl who doesn’t know what the hell is going on most of the time. oh yes, the mocking. at least they’re having a good time, i guess. ;)
and before i forget… thank you very much for all your well-wishes yesterday. i really appreciate it. you guys are tops. tops, i say!

just a quick long-weekend update. there was sleeping, eating, drinking, dvd & west wing watching, new cell phone buying, house cleaning, book reading, heat hating, cool loving, cute being, phone talking, WoW playing (more on this later) and dinner guest inviting.
this morning, i’m going to have breakfast with my daddy and then i’m coming home to cook s’more because jamie is coming over for dinner. this is my first ever dinner guest. i mean, i’ve had people over and when we got hungry we ate dinner, but i’ve never INVITED anyone over specifically to eat an evening meal of something i prepared. i’m totally stressed out.
in less joyful news, my uncle passed away yesterday. while my family isn’t close, geographically or emotionally, i have always felt a very strong bond with all of my aunts, uncles and cousins. they’re my family. being an only child has intensified that, i think.
my uncle, whom i saw two summers ago when i went to ontario, finally succumbed to his very long battle with prostate cancer. it’s very sad and it’s also a relief, both for him and my aunt.
i always joke about what a hardass he was. how when i was there the summer i turned 14 he took us all out to sandy beach to go waterskiing. my cousins had been on skiis their entire life, but after three tries to get up on the water while being dragged at 10 knots he said that i only got three chances and never let me attempt waterskiing again. he did let me work in the kitchen of his pizza place. he did have a secret way about him, a knowing smirk, a very dry humour, a huge love for his wife and two sons.
i’ll miss you, uncle frank. i love you very much.

too much to say. not enough to say. nothing seems really interesting enough to bother with. people are good. good people are better. photowalking with my posse shuts off my inhibitions. sometimes i think i might be getting better with the photgraphy stuff. othertimes i wonder why i even bother.
oh, i had totally forgotten and just yesterday discovered that i have both monday and tuesday off work next week. i’m so thrilled. a whole extra day of sleeping in and naps!

lunch with nelson today. dinner/photowalk with col & jamie tomorrow. possible party at jen‘s friday (oh, there’s a party all right, but it’s only possible that i’ll attend). then i’m doing NOTHING for three days. NOTHING! i’ll watch more west wing (i’m six episodes into season three now) and eat my way through the giant vat of fruit salad i made the other night and sleep in and have naps and… yeah.
i’m so gloriously boring i can hardly stand myself.

i’m really groggy today. i woke up not knowing what day it was. the combination of saturday’s hard labour washing all my beautiful hardwood floors and rushing around yesterday after a luxurious sleep-in to get stuff done before going to dinner with jason wiped me out. at least i’m back to my real job and i can ease into it a little this week.
hey! it’s a long weekend coming up! i keep forgetting that.
today’s photo is one i took of a bottle of jones soda with my photograph on the label. there’s another shot up here.

so, i need to talk about my seattle experience. more specifically, my rental car experience. for my $35.99/day i got a toyota echo sedan. it was some sort of shiny-brownish-greyish colour with four doors and a cd-player. it did not have air conditioning. it did have power steering and power brakes.
like my first rental car experience in manitoba two years ago, i realized that power brakes are scary. as i’m pulling out of the budget rent-a-car lot, i put my foot on the brakes as i would in my own 13 year old vehicle and came to a screeching, jerking halt. oops. power brakes! then, as i’m driving through downtown vancouver at 9am on a sunday i looked down at the spedometer (once i could find it: who the hell at toyota thought it was a good idea to put it over on the CENTRE of the dash instead of in front of the driver?) and noticed i was doing almost 80kph in a 50 zone. the whisper quiet car combined with sitting higher off the ground totally eliminated my ability to judge how fast i was driving. i spent most of my driving time breaking every speed limit i passed by a very healthy margin.
the combination of my not being able to feel how fast i was driving and the REALLY FUCKING TOUCHY power brakes nearly got me arrested and/or killed before i’d even left the city of vancouver. i was through downtown and exiting off the oak street bridge (which turns into the road which takes you all the way to america. handy!) when i saw cops in the meridian stopping people for speeding. shit! i knew i was speeding, so when mr. police officer stepped out into the left lane and pointed, i hit the breaks. the car jerked and squealed. the cop yelled “NOT YOU! KEEP MOVING!” as he flagged down the guy zooming up behind me in the other lane. thankfully, there was no one immediately behind me in my lane or i would have gotten creamed. but, for all that is good in the world, why, oh why, was there a speed trap at NINE O’CLOCK on a sunday morning? if you can explain that to me, i’ll give you a cookie.
it was a pretty great day out. the sun was shining, there was a nice breeze and i don’t think i remember a single cloud in the sky. so the hot sun got to beat down on me in the car with no air conditioning for three hours. yay! i kept thinking, especially as i sat in the lineup at the border for half an hour, “gee, i wish i’d stopped to pick up some beverages… and a towel.” poor kevin. i was pretty damp and frizzy by the time i picked him up at his hotel. the thing is, i thought all rental cars had a/c. c’mon! then again, my last rental was a free upgrade because they didn’t have any economy cars available, so i guess i got spoiled with the a/c and cruise control (oh, man, what i would have given for cruise control on this trip).
after a few frightening too-hard brakings on I-5, i finally started to get accustomed to the car. i was still speeding, but so was everyone else, so i didn’t worry too much about it. i did wonder what all those washingtonians thought of the brownish-greyish toyota echo with canadian plates and a big BUDGET sticker on the bumper thought as i zoomed past them, though. probably something along the lines of “fucking tourist”.
i really, really liked not being embarrassed to have passengers in the vehicle with me. i liked the cd player a LOT (i’d totally get one for my car, but it’s so not worth it now). i didn’t much like all the blinky nag lights on the dash cajoling me when i took my seatbelt off to reach for something at the stoplight. oh, you know that dumb commercial where the echo is parked in a “large vehicles only” parking spot (yeah, like they have those) and the tow-truck driver gets in, looks around and you hear the voice-over say something dorky like “it’s only small on the outside“? it’s totally true. the echo is freaking HUGE inside. and tall. i couldn’t get over how much headroom there was. if i had fifteen grand in the bank, i’d totally go buy one. but not the sedan. it totally weirded me out to know that there was a bit of car sticking out past the rear window that i could not see. no thanks. it’s all hatchbacks for me.
huh. when did this turn into a car review? ohwell. i’m going to go buy a burrito for lunch now.

as part of being sean this week, i get to injure myself on the job. yesterday, i forgot how heavy the big boxes on the pallet jack were and yanked them something fierce, causing myself a mild form of whiplash. today, i lifted some heavy things and i’m pretty sure i didn’t use just my legs to do it. we’ll see if my lower back is as tender tomorrow as my upper back is today. gee, it’s a good thing they’re paying me that extra $1.93/hour, huh?
i’m on the cusp of a serious hermit phase. i’m not answering emails, i’m avoidng the phone, i’m *this* close to cancelling any plans i have with people. i’m not really bloo, i just suddenly want to avoid the world. it started before the bad news i got yesterday morning, but that email certainly did nothing to encourage me to slap it down and keep on truckin’. before you go asking, it’s not tragic news. my plans for sunday fell through due to scheduling issues and i’m upset about it.
i was really looking forward to seeing rick again (which does not come anywhere near close to doing justice to the actual feeling involved). it was probably going to be the last time i would get to see him, what with him living in arkansas and all. if it wasn’t for all the 5-htp in my system, i probably would have cried a lot more than the few tears which rolled down my cheeks at 6:23 yesterday morning as i read the news. i suppose that’s a good thing, lest people harangue me for being overly-emotional about something so trivial in the larger scheme of things.
there are things i want to write about, but don’t know if i ever will. i’ve been thinking too hard about how to write well and when i do that it doesn’t come out at all. it’s a strange mix of writer’s block and stage fright. this post was an exercise in just letting it flow. how’d i do?

after a beer-laden friday night out and a completely wasted saturday, i had a twelve-and-a-half hour adventure tour of seattle (well, it was six hours of driving and six hours of touring) with kevin and his boss/friend greg. i don’t have time right now to do the visit justice, but suffice it to say that mkh is just as wonderful, sweet, funny and intelligent in person as he is on his website. oh, and he gives fantastic hugs!
in other, less pleasant news, i’m sean at work this week so posts will probably be of the evening variety. don’t let anyone say i don’t keep you updated! *cough*jeremy*cough*

well, i’m not sure if my headache is from fun. it’s probably more from the beer and the inappropriate nap which kept me up and talking to jeremy on skype until very late last night. now it’s friday, i’ve the worst hair ever, i have to wait two whole days until i go to seattle…
aw, fuck it. if you have nothing good to say, you should just shut up.

i totally wasted all my good material on wade, so you guys are stuck with photos instead of interesting stories about toilet seats and rice in a can. i’m sorry. it’s all wade’s fault.

i’m so EXCITED! this coming sunday, i’m driving a rental car down to seattle to meet mr. hall of hidden city. he’s there for some conferency thing and since it’s not like i’m ever going to florida, i decided to drive the couple of hours down to meet up and let him buy me a belated birthday meal.
but, that’s not all! the sunday after this, i’m driving another rental car back down to seattle to spend the afternoon with my very favourite rick who is also in town for a conferency thing (man, i never get to go to conferency things!).
luckily, my passport is good until the end of the month, so i don’t have to find my birth certificate. OHMYGOD! i’m so thrilled. travel! adventure! strange american men! yippee!