wandering

I feel like I am drifting a bit. My things are packed, the move is over (for the most part) and the farewells have begun.

Lots to do. The countdown has begun.

Fresh blog

I promised everyone a blog re-start awhile ago, then I got lazy. Please bear with me while I ease myself back into blogging.

So here I am. I am packing for my move back to Nanaimo, the majority of which is happening tomorrow morning. It is very difficult to PACK when you know that you have to live in the place for another three weeks... I kinda need to pack for a three week holiday, then pack what is left after that to go to Nanaimo...

Full of mixed emotions. The end is near for me here, and this feel more, well, permanent than my last myriad of life changes. It just feels very final. I have so much to do in the next 3 weeks, and so much stress in life, and I am starting to feel like I can't cope - a sure sign of needing to move on into something else.

Anyways, I cannot spend too much time on this entry - I need to get going on packing. The 26-foot UHaul beckons. And tomorrow, I bid the dwelling below good bye!

Paris Day Ten

Paris Day Nine

Pontorson/Caen/Normandy Day Eight

Pontorson Day Seven

Paris Day Six

Paris Day Five

Paris Day Four

Paris Day Three

Paris Day Two

Paris Day One

whirlwind

Tomorrow is going to be a whirlwind... I have advising appointments at UVic and UBC, 5 hours apart... god bless a free flight to Vancouver! Then downtown to see if the SFU campus downtown has any material that might be of use to me, and then... phew!

Ah ha ha ha ha!!!! *insert maniacal laughter here*

humpf

Just entering one of my usual existential crises here.

Feeling a bit adrift, lonely, poor, and unsure.

Perhaps good cup of coffee and a chin wag with a friend in the fresh air will help? It is my favourite kind of day today... moody and gray, but bright, with a freshness to the air.

So, I am bored out of my tree, and decided to see what my soundtrack would be in Round 2. Here are the results:

Opening Credits: I'm Always Chasing Rainbows - Judy Garland

Waking Up: The World is Not Enough - Garbage

First Day At School: First Day of School - Phillip Glass

Falling In Love: Guinness Song - Irish Drinking Songs

Fight Song: Ev'rything I've Got - Chick Corea

Breaking Up: Sun Child - The Vines

Prom: The Body Says No - The New Pornographers

Life: Everybody's Born to Die - Electric Light Orchestra

Mental breakdown: Forbidden Love - Madonna

Driving: Close Every Door - Andrew Lloyd Weber

Flashback: Do What You Gotta Do - Nina Simone

Getting back together: You'd Be So Easy to Love - Frank Sinatra

Love Scene: I'm Alive - Electric Light Orchestra

Wedding: Swallowed in the Sea - Coldplay

Birth of Child: I Can't Be With You - The Cranberries

Final Battle: The Dark of the Matinee - Franz Ferdinand

Death Scene: Fix You - Coldplay

Funeral Song: I Wanna a Little Sugar in My Bowl - Nina Simone

End Credits: 'S Wonderful - Diana Krall

another survey

I've never seen this, so I thought I would try it out.

If your life was a movie, what would the soundtrack be?
So, here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool

Opening Credits: Feelin' Good - Nina Simone

Waking Up: An American in Paris - George Gershwin (kind of fitting)

First Day At School: A Fifth of Beethoven - Walter Murphy

Falling In Love: I Only Have Eyes for You - Oscar Peterson (also fitting...hmmm)

Fight Song: Dindi - Antonio Carlos Jobim/Astrud Gilberto (not at all fitting)

Breaking Up: Haydn - Nikolaimesse (the trend is collapsing further)

Prom: I Feel Pretty - West Side Story (I feel pretty, and witty, and gay!!!!)

Life: Big Girls Don't Cry - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

Mental breakdown: Light Cavalry Overture - Suppe

Driving: Blue Eyes - Cary Brothers

Flashback: Volcano - Damien Rice

Getting back together: Any Dream Will Do - Andrew Lloyd Weber (what the hell am I supposed to get from this?)

Love Scene: Night in the City - Electric Light Orchestra

Wedding: Suite in D, Overture - Telemann (If I were having a princess wedding)

Birth of Child: Dreaming My Dreams - The Cranberries

Final Battle: You Wouldn't Like Me - Tegan and Sara

Death Scene: The Bones of an Idol - The New Pornographers

Funeral Song: Chim Chim Cher-ee - Mary Poppins (ummm...)

End Credits: Wake Up - The Arcade Fire

+++

God only know how (in)accurate this is...

feeling good

It is a beautiful day here in Victoria. I went to Starbucks, got me an Americano, and am just about to go for lunch with Hannah. The weather is going to be one of those West Coast days, but whatever!

I had a rough week, but I really feel like today is the start of something good. I am in a very good moods despite being tired (rare for me, as the two never go hand in hand), and I am looking forward to the day. Haircut, lunch with friends, hanging out with Adriane after her LSAT exams... It's gonna be good.

That, and I am feeling slightly goofy today. I hope the people in the old folks home behind me don't wonder about the sanity of the guy dancing alone in his apartment!

omnibus update

It's been a month, so I going to try to cover off on the big stuff. If you know about it, great, if not, consider yourself newly in the know!

Had an alright Christmas. I had the 25 & 26 off, and worked the rest of the week. You can put the fact that I work in quotations, as all the bosses were away, so the mice did play so to speak. Not much was accomplished. Over the Christmas holiday I made some decisions though - I am not at school right now. I had been kind of leaning that way anyways, but when Lindsay took the plunge, it made me think about it again. I haven't stopped my degree, but I will not be attending at UVic anymore. Working full time and trying to finish a degree there is almost impossible. The Gardens are being very flexible with my schedule, but unfortunately the English department offers almost nothing in the evening.

So I am taking the semester off, then transferring my credits to Thompson Rivers and finishing by distance education. I know I had a bad run with that in the past, but I figure I am much more mature now, and this is actually something I want to do. And let me tell you, taking this semester off has been a great idea. I do what I want, when I want. I read books when I want to. I don't have to juggle things. I think that 2007 was incredibly trying (I actually know that it was), and that perhaps I was pushing myself too hard. 2007 saw a lot of good, but it also saw a lot of stress. The cancer scare, followed by the medical things, stress about my car, buying a new car, getting myself rear-ended, ongoing medical treatments, surgery, then an extended recovery, a course I hated, breaking up with Eric, getting my wisdom teeth out... it was all a bit too much. I am calling this my sanity-semester!

In the exciting news category, I am off to Paris to visit Ella. I am very excited about this. Air Canada had a seat sale, and I got return tickets from Victoria to Paris for $1000. A great deal. I leave in April, and am spending 10 days there. Ella and I might go to the south coast of France, or Monacco for a weekend, we'll see how the $$$ work out, or shall I say how the the €€€ work out? In any case, I am very excited about that. I will bring you all a corny gift!

I am thinking about moving - this apartment is just about finished for me. I desperately desperately want a kitchen! You know how much I love to cook... and this is just not working. I buy food to cook, and get so frustrated that I don't cook, and then I end up wasting a lot of food, and spending even more money buying lunch at work and eating out at night.

But now, it is a new year (has been for almost a month) and new things are going to happen!

nothing to do

And it is a good thing...

I am up in Nanaimo, have been since Wednesday night. I am having an excellent time doing absolutely nothing at all. After the last few months, this has been a welcome respite. Because of my various health issues, and the fact that Liz and Chris' town house flooded out in September, I haven't had much of an opportunity to visit with them, so I have been happy to be here. We've watched movies, drank wine, and are heading out to the pub tonight with a bunch of people. Good times had by all!

I am feeling a lot better about myself in the last few days than I have been. Just taking things in stride. My mouth feels tonnes better now after the wisdom teeth, and my persistent, constant headaches are gone. It's a good thing. And I have a lot of fun to look forward to tomorrow. Drinks & a Christmas soiree at a coworker's house, and then off for a Christmas movie night with friends. Then back to work on Monday. My friends are destressing now that exams are winding down, so my social calendar is getting quite busy.

Here's to fun times in the coming days!

how green is my life?

Claire's recent post about the green-ness of her workplace made me think about how green I am at work, and how green I am in general. The thinking process was good, the result was bad:

UNGREEN

- I print numerous emails, and hang on to the digital copy as well. My manager is a "paper person" so there is no way around this.
- My water at lunch is always served in a styrofoam cup.
- The pitcher of water that is kept in the fridge tastes bad, so I get mine from the tap... I run the tap for about 45 seconds before it is cold. That, I can fix.
- My printer frequently malfunctions, spewing sheets of paper and envelopes with one single character on them.
- I drive 32kms to work in my car alone, then another 32kms back at the end of the day.
- I specifically use an incandescent desk lamp - the fluorescents hurt my eyes.
- I pack my lunch in a plastic bag every day, and throw it away when I am done.
- I use two caustic chemicals in my bathroom - the biodegradable ones don't work well enough, and I am lazy, so I use the nasty stuff instead.

GREEN

- When shopping for a new car for my 64km/daily commute, I got the most fuel efficient car I could afford.
- I do all of my errands on the way to/from work, so that I am combining trips.
- I signed up for SPUD.ca to have vegetables delivered to my door every week in a reusable container. The veggies all come from with 800kms of here, so they are relatively local.
- I use biodegradable cleaners when I can.
- My lights at home are all low-energy fixtures.
- I only launder once a week, and only with full loads, and a biodegradable soap.
- I try not to buy individually-packaged things like yogurt.
- I am very conscientious of recycling. Paper, plastic, glass, all that is recycled, both at home and at work.
- I take short showers.

I am sure that this is nowhere near a comprehensive list. I know there I things that I have forgotten from both sides. I applaud any and all efforts to minimize ones impact on the earth.

And Claire, as far as New Year's Resolutions go, I applaud that you make any, even if you do feel like you do not accomplish them. I don't even try. Maybe I'll see what I can do this year. Maybe 2008 will be different.

and I'm out.