herro sockeye

i'm generally not big on "holidays". they feel forced and like they just don't apply to me somehow. of course, this time of year it's thanksgiving.
now, we couldn't just have a normal thanksgiving supper at the farm, because of the salmon run. the farm was awarded the security and maintenance contract for this year's "Salute", so we work in 24 hour shifts ensuring that two people are on site at all times.
it was decided (not by me, i was just nay-saying and grumbling about thanksgiving the whole time) that we go celebrate and have the big supper out at the provincial park. friends and family of the farm convened (many of whom were already at the salmon run working the parking or concessioning); 24 people and 3 dogs ate chicken, or tofurkey, and fixins by candlelight while sitting on the forest floor. i underestimated this group of people, the forest, and myself i guess. it was a great harvest party and i thoroughly enjoyed thanksgiving for once.

here is a video i found of one of the many many many visitors to the salmon run. luckily, he doesn't just film the salmon, but all the areas of the park that we clean as part of the maintenance contract. if only he would have filmed the porta-potties...

bike/work/chips/news

my bike is SO PIMPIN.
i wish i knew bike lingo so i could detail all the work i have done on it. on the superficial side, i just put some vibrant blue wrap on the handlebars, it's pretty. i'll take a photo or two. previously i have taken the part where the pedals attach in the middle out, cleaned it, and greased the ball bearings. i think that was called re-packing the hub..? i also tightened and loosened the spokes on both wheels so that they roll straighter - aka "truing the wheels". i put new cables on the brakes and new cable housing on some of the gears.

i started opening up the cafe at 5 IN THE AM. can you believe that?? i used to have the most trouble getting to creb for 9! i started two days ago, and so far so good. it's hard to get up early, but the roads are empty so i can just rip there on my bike and it's nice to finish work at 1.

right now i'm eating some chips that just came in my spud delivery, and i have to give a shoutout because they are seriously amazing. kettle brand! mmm! right now i've got sea salt & vinegar, but i've also tried honey dijon and salt & pepper and they were all delicious. and they have "absolutely nothing artificial" in them.

if you share the same disgusting fascination with bill o'reilly, glenn beck and sean hannity and the rest of the right wing news pundits, you might appreciate this website - news hounds their slogan is "we watch fox news so you don't have to".

oh shit. this is a rant.

i hate serving those "i'm hip; look at my monroe/nose piercing!", but i'm also professional; "look at my pencil skirt/silk top" girls, especially when they are in pairs. today one was waiting for her friend to pay and through some kind of scuffle or coincidence, ended up putting one penny into the tip jar while looking directly at me. in my eyes. while dropping a penny in the tip jar. i'm sure she didn't intend for that to happen, she was just being silly with her friend while i happened to glance at her at the same time and she happened to look in my direction. why did i even think twice about this? because i am super conscious of our roles.

i slept in by like two hours this morning, so i showed up to work very late and when i got there is very busy. everything on the "island" was empty including lids (lawsuit waiting to happen) and napkins so i started filling that stuff up when this lady commented on how everything was empty. yea. got it. working on it. so i fill a couple things rushing around. she's like "miss, this is empty too" and passes me the metal cream pitcher. i grab it and take it to fill it and it was over half full. i wanted to hit her in the head with it, i really did. why did she say that though?? to mess with me? well, it worked lady.

i also hate adult women who have braces. sorry but that's fucking lame.

i keep my eyes wide open all the time

when i got back from europe the warehouse i was working at didn't need me back. on my way home from that rejection i stopped at a good earth downtown to drown my job sorrow with a earl grey latte and ended up getting hired there. secretly i always thought i was too good or something to work at a starbucks equivalent but i have concreted the fact that i do not aspire to keep moving up any type of career latter anymore. i really think i could go from random job to random job and be ok with it. my job doesn't make me. i'm awesome.

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.

the owls go

so my first day of General Labour-ing was pretty Purple Collar.
i ended up at veer (an uber hip design company) in kensington (hip neighbourhood).
it reminded me of helping set up for the fair when i worked at the ag society in the summer. doing lots of different random jobs in a day.

today i am not working. we are going to the zoo.

summer time!

i'm in a great neighbourhood but i wish it was flatter. hah. i live on top of a big hill. WAY too steep to board down and kinda steep for my bike to get up.

unrelatedly, my life is weird right now. my work life, my lust/love/crush/ life both feel kinda... wrong? but, only a week until the WBF assessment... and only... 4 years until the end of the world..

good things:
- i'm getting rid of my car at the end of the month. good riddance dead weight.
- i made a budget
- i signed up for spud organic grocery delivery service
- assess assess assessment

you just stay at home and play synthesizers

dan and i were recounting our crazy tile rummy game and i said "yea, that was a crazy game, i even blogged about it". i didn't want to actually tell him the address or name of my blog, and he joked he would google me or search my history to find it. so just in case he DID go to those lengths to track down my bloggy blog, i thought i'd send him a little shout out, so here goes:

FUCK YOU, CREEPY!

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i thought about my "career" a lot today. i realized i am ok not having a career. i just want a job. and i want a job where i can make something. with my hands even! this was kind of a breakthrough, but i still feel stuck. i need a plan. apparently the city of calgary categorizes me as a youth still, so i am going to see what career counseling is all about sometime next week. stay tuned!

the go in the go-for-it

phewf, what a week.

• started my job at the drug store - apparently doodling is NOT allowed

• had my first class of screen printing, which was so fun i said "this is FUN!" during the first project. a guy in my group, james agreed, and at the end he and our other group member, doug, high fived. but, there are no crush prospects in the class.

• made lunch every day for work (except for my trade day - mat made pizza subs mmm)

• i haven't been running - no time, too cold.

• finally went to broken city

• i bought a bus pass for february, but i can't find it now. guh-reat.


plus, the weekend.

• had caylie over and told her about zodiac signs and the science of sweating.

• bought the best socks ever




EDIT: here are some photos, weekend aftermath. my camera blows and i didn't get a good picture of all the embroidery hoop crafts we made, so take my word for it, they look super cute as a set. there's also some buttons i spilled after caylie left, our piles of sculpey crap, wonderful tea, and my amazing socks (me and the socks had a total photo shoot, i love them so much!).

deux poteaux en un jour - comment boiteux!

follow-up to my earlier post:

i got a job at the super drug mart. it was the first place i went into and she didn't even look at my resume, sweet! i think my handshake impressed her. i start on monday. it's a perfect walk from my place and the hours are perfect.

to celebrate, i had myself a matcha smoothie - good decision, it was the best ever. i don't know if it's because i haven't had one for a long time (i used to be a bit addicted - "mighty matcha" at jj, "matcha monsoon" at bj), or my ipod just makes EVERYTHING better.

the celebration continued as i bought two jens lekman cds, and got a kwazy hair cut. it's pretty effing hip. i have the best hairdresser now, i'm finally settling down into a steady hairdressing relationship. [the corner salon, shout out]


i made a pretty life changing discovery today. headphones are better than toques - for the following reasons:
1. my hair doesn't get all staticy
2. people don't try to talk to you on the street
3. MUSIC comes out of them!
4. they are all-season
i'll never have an ear ache again! every time you see me henceforth, i will be wearing headphones. that's just the way it is.


ps. i just took a picture of myself showcasing my new hair cut and my new favorite headphones/ear ache protecters, but the camera died. hah... um...

a kiss is not a contract (but it's very nice)

so a CERTAIN situation has gone from cute/nervous/awkward to awkward/nervous/awkward. i'm over it, but it's hard to be at ease with all that weird energy about.

man, i have been spending too much time on the internet! but that'll be over soon. i'm handing out resumes for a second job today, and my wednesday class starts next week. PLUS the bod's moving to calgary in february. so excited to have another girl friend here.

i found a new favorite show -the flight of the conchords. i love the internet.

you could surely try to be more alive

tough day today at work - where is my attention span?
i wasted the day on the following things:
• eating
• talking about other people's crushes
• pictures of sting rays
• arranging drug deals
• facebook scrabble
• making & drinking tea
• lovin' on my ipod
• indecline (its like 2003 again!)
• talking about heath ledger

tomorrow i will do loads of work, fer reaaaaaaal.... ugh.

had a pretty good night tonight - but i really need a new, more fulfilling crush. i'm really hoping for my class at ACAD starting soon.


ps - i totally jinxed us with that post about calgary's great winters. its been snowing since i hit SUBMIT on that one.

break in case of anything

when i say everything, i really mean everything


• this morning i woke up to my eyes sealed shut with sleep goo. my eyes have been itchy and watery for a week, but that really creeped me out first thing in the morning. so i went and got a prescription for some drops. all day though, my eyes betrayed me with fake tears (only cry when i say to cry, eyes!) and i felt yucky.

• i normally can get along with most people, or i just avoid them. once upon a time, there was a guy who i could NOT get along with and i could NOT avoid. it was pretty rough, i wanted to kick him in the face every second. since getting out of that situation i've declared him "the guy i hated the most ever". it's been a few years and i actually was starting to realize i had been overly hostile and pretty unprofessional at that time, but still, what a dick. thank god i never have to see him again.

THEN. THEN!!
today. i see him. at my work.
in the store. outside smoking. holding the door open for me!

no interaction occurred; i became invisible.

i know it sounds like i'm making too big a deal of this, but he can't be hanging around at my work. it's too bizarre. and what if he wants to advertise and i have to be fake nice to him? fucked.
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ok, facebook really makes it too easy:

his profile is public and his status: "is taking CREB orientation"

-------

i'm going to watch my comfort show and have a comfort snack (arrested development & cornbread).

don't call me white

downloading + the library + my ipod = me having a ton of music (always on hand) that i'm digging! i indulged myself and downloaded every nofx album. oh me.

i bought a bit of fabric from value village (and applied for a job while i was there) and returned home eager to make something. BUT now i can't get my sewing machine to work. the bobbin just gets tangled every second. booo.

for work tomorrow - i made a casserole for lunch AND i get to wear jeans AND i'm going to get down with some travel trouble around the break table. woo.

some songs from today:

the black lips - bad kids

cut copy - drop the bomb

jens lekman - people who hate people

m. ward - i'll be yr bird

the fiery furnaces - single again

the pipettes - your kisses are wasted on me

beirut - nantes

the clash - magnificent seven

bishop allen - ghosts are good company

eels - i like birds

okkervil river (with dan johnston?!) - happy hearts

slick rick - memories

saturday looks good to me - meet me by the water

the pixies - hey