the kootenos

i just got back from a bit of a trip; paul and i went to the kootenays to help our friend Markus clean out his property which he finally sold. the whole trip wasn't super enjoyable for me, because, for one thing, i don't like travelling that much. i mostly like staying where i live. i feel like i am typing words of sacrilege, but of course there are exceptions, or i would still be in calgary.

anyway, we set off in the farm van, which although i am grateful for its use and that it held itself together the whole time, it's so loud. it seemingly has no muffler, and the whole thing creaks and flaps faithfully along.

on the way we stopped at Half Way hot springs, which were amazing! we didn't take our camera down with us: this is the only good photo i could find of it, THIS IS NOT ME OR MY PHOTO (and this person is obviously a prude):

the whole thing was really amazing, hippie made, nobody around, friggin' hot.

after that we drove a bunch, had a big bonfire with markus, went to some dumps, visited nelson, realized nelson is just another city where you can spend money, spent money, drove some more, got sick, visited a sweet glass blowing shop, read DUNE, and finally came home.

we have a bunch of tools, books, and other useful stuff that markus was getting rid of, and it was nice to visit with him, but i am happy to be back on the farm. i always dreamed the kootenays were really magical and special, but i found out they can ALSO be haunted and creepy.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

getting nervous and hyped!!!!
i have started emailing farms trying to put together some kind of schedule for our wwoofing trip. even within alberta so many look amazing and interesting, but they just aren't on the route :( just working this out my head right now, i guess it'll end up being like 15 farms (about 4 months, one week at each farm, maybe more maybe less at some, maybe we should go to shambala!!).

yup... life is pretty great, good routine (here's the current one: go to work, go to bike shop, meet paul at bike shop, invite whichever friend we run into to come for supper with us, smoke doobies, come home, sync my ipod full of podcasts for tomorrow & fall asleep).

focus: save money, tie up loose ends (bank shit, storage), hang outs.

vancouver

was awesome. here is my trip:

we spent around 16 hours on the greyhound to get there, but it wasn't really that bad. it went pretty fast, despite greyhound being so ghetto. i took a bunch of stuff to keep myself entertained on the bus, like some knitting, some pants i wanted to patch up, and a book (in case i happened to be post-carsick), but they didn't have any lights on at all. not the low lit panel that goes along the side, and there were no overhead personal lights. we had to board in the dark and when we got off the bus i ended up seeing a brownish stain on my seat, eww! there was a lot more examples of the ghetto-ness, but oh well, it got us there and it was cheap.

when we got off the bus, we charged our phone at a coffee shop and for some reason Paul bought a china-man hat... you know the ones, right? then we walked directly though east hastings. fucking crazy and it was only 10 am!

we found our way out to Richmond, where we were staying. paul carried all my stuff, and even pushed me in a shopping cart for the last leg. we were staying at some calgary friend's of his, and they have a great apartment filled with bikes and a hammock.
we stayed out there for a few days, going for awesome bike rides and blazin' and having the usual stoner conversation about how the world is messed up.

all of us went on a mountain side ride that was nice. we got to share the path with a million longboarders in training, it was cute. we got off the path for a bit and watched some dragonfly sex and looked at trees. paul and i road in to granville island, stanley park, and downtown 'couver.

for a few days after that we stayed with my friend in the downtown east side and it was a nice change, and kind of funny, suddenly being so close to everything that we had just struggled to ride our bikes too the previous day. we had brought a "fun" chocolate bar along with us that we were sort of rationing. we finally ate the majority of that and hit up an awesome arcade downtown. i love pinball! it's my new favorite thing. i love the combination of digital and analog that makes up the machine. my favorite was the adam's family one. oh look, here is a picture of it that i googled.
we did some more bike rides and i attempted to find shoes because mine were on the verge, but it's impossible. i ended up getting some at a vintage clothing store in kitsilano pretty randomly on the last day.
we ended the trip with the nudie beach at UBC. it was wonderful - so hot and sunny, and being naked on the beach is GREAT.

we decided to fly back and we got a ride from paul's brother, straight from the beach to the airport with no time to spare.

i tend to not take great photos, but here are 5 sort of:

• a slug on the path. we were all kind of concerned he would get run over so we watched him cross for quite a while.
• paul in the only underwear he brought on the trip, on a beach downtown.
• me walking to wreck beach. i knew the nude portion was coming up, so i was half way there already.
• a night bike ride. i think i was actually from a boys' only ride. i was in the hammock sleeping already.
• bamboo in stanley park. paul climbed it, i watched.

soon.

• soon i will have the most organized desk ever. i took everything out, organized it into logical piles and now i'm putting it back in.

• my teeth hurt all the time. well not ALL the time. only when i eat really sugary stuff... which is ALMOST all the time. ow, it hurts. i will go to the dentist soon

• dan leahul is back in calgary for a month. we are hanging out as soon as he gets here.

• i'm taking a long long bus ride to vancouver with paul tomorrow. we just bought the tickets today. we didn't plan very much of anything and now the trip is very soon.

ps - i brought my new bike home today. it's still got a free wheel (single speed) on it, but you can probably guess when i will be changing that.... (SOON!)

belgium jah

currently in bruge. only a few days until i return and i can not wait to get back. its been awesome but i´m sick of eric´s snoring and i´m really hyped on a lot of things, including:
- seeing my boyfriend. ooh i miss him too much
- seeing my new apartment
- going caving
- learning french
- finding a new job
- maybe woofing, maybe just moving somewhere cool

anyway, gotta go. bye internet. see you soon.

i woke up thirsty on an island in the sea

i feel like i've been a bad friend, and even a bad human lately. so sorry world. i don't think it's over yet though, i'm in kind of a situation that will take a bit more time to work through.

turns out i've been involved in some bad decisions (or more accurately badly timed decisions) lately so now i have to crawl out. i have to work my balls into the ground until europe because a) i quit my office job for lesser paying uncertainty (i have found a slice of certainty in a warehouse position diversified got me so at least i have steady work now) and b) i gave my notice to move in september, despite the fact that i am gone from aug 20 - sept 3. why did i do this to myself? argggg.

plus here's some quick body talk of my own (shoutout angie) - i think i got a stress STY... in my eye. i wasn't familiar with this term before but my eye went all wonky and it seemed to fit the description of sty. also, this is fucked, but for the past like month, my nose has been SOOo dry and painful and boogery. all i've wanted to do was pick my nose constantly. i think jonathan probably has some photo evidence of the nose picking from our vermilion trip. oh except that BOTH the cameras we used stopped working upon return. what. the. fuck. we are cursed... well i really think he is cursed, but i love him so i will accept the curse as my own.

the vermilion trip - yes. it was pretty good. my french joe and vermilion get along great. we got some RAD books for so cheap, some fantastic deals at the closing out SAAN, and i fell on a motorcycle. great times.

but don't worry everyone, i'll be ok. i've joined a strong team (kelsathon.. or jonasey) so it's do or dye. yea dye, i'll go blonde and become an earl's girl. no i won't. what am i talking about.