Howdy Howdy...
From the land of beer, beef and billies (of the redneck, hill type), I send greetings! I arrived safe and sound after a less-than-exhausting flight and even more relaxed weekend. This is going to be quick, but I started the new job, bestowing my massive amount of painting expertise on the great kids of Cowtown. I've only put in a couple hours thus far, but start again fresh in the morning, then run up to Red Deer on Tuesday before returning to the C-spot for some more coaching on Wednesday. I'm staying with my bachelor uncle, so there might be a little bit of trouble to be had in the hot tub and brewski department, but I'm hopefully going to spend most of my time busting the proverbial hump to make some money over the next few weeks.
But for now, hockey's a-calling my name. Hope all is well in the coastal area, and other parts of the world, and just email if you wish to get a hold of me for the next 25 days. Ciao for now, all...
- T
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
In the spirit of a changing world (disjunct tangent... beware)...
... a world that's changing so quickly around us. I was in a darkened arena taking in the OLP concert, singing my heart out hoping to be heard, and became quiet when I realized that the world around me had sped past into a new decade. No longer were lighters the homage of choice, but the blue lights of cell phones pierced the darkness as Raine cried out the lyrics from songs both old and new. And I wasn't the kid... I was the guy watching the kids. The new music, fresh with synthesizers and calling to the trends of tomorrow, seemed just a touch beyond my reach... present, but just beyond my passionate embrace. I smiled, I took it in, but it was all different to me... the people, the music, the sensation I felt when miming the lyrics of 4am and Naveed. Hoping desperately to be heard. Why? I'm still wondering that myself...
It also dawned on me that I'm actually getting up and leaving home for 4 weeks. Sure, 4 weeks isn't that long. But it's a lifetime. A lifetime and a day away from my love, away from what has become home, to a city I don't know beyond trips to the houses of my relatives and summer concerts during Stampede, to a foreign prairie city of snow and wind and rain that I left behind for a world of new adventure. I left it all behind, but I held on desperately to myself. And in many ways, I'm still there. Still 20, running away from everything prairie, everything Alberta, listening to my late nineties rock, and thinking about lyrics to songs that have defined my life. I used to think in lyrics, in song, in the minds of those closest to me. It seems like now I'm so inside my head that I forget that the world is moving on while I'm being left behind. My passion is still stuck in 2001, and five years have past and left me trailing, whispering lyrics to myself, as I first heard of Coldplay orJohn Mayer and believed wholeheartedly that the bands I loved would stay the same forever. Maybe it is the same... just a different station is playing. But where did the passion go? It seemed that everything was important, everything was life or death... and all my music and all my lyrics said it too.
On a possibly related (but likely, completely UNrelated) topic, I think about Diogenes of Sinope a lot. I think about him, bearing a torch through the light of day as he look for an honest man. Once, while digging through a pile of bones, he told Alexander the Great that he was looking for the bones of Alexander's father, but was unable to tell them from the bones of a slave. Ashes to ashes...
I must be singing from the other side of the wall... hearing everything in front of me yet I can barely feel it fall... just a night that others will forget in the eve... my love, is there anywhere, anyplace safe... until again.
It also dawned on me that I'm actually getting up and leaving home for 4 weeks. Sure, 4 weeks isn't that long. But it's a lifetime. A lifetime and a day away from my love, away from what has become home, to a city I don't know beyond trips to the houses of my relatives and summer concerts during Stampede, to a foreign prairie city of snow and wind and rain that I left behind for a world of new adventure. I left it all behind, but I held on desperately to myself. And in many ways, I'm still there. Still 20, running away from everything prairie, everything Alberta, listening to my late nineties rock, and thinking about lyrics to songs that have defined my life. I used to think in lyrics, in song, in the minds of those closest to me. It seems like now I'm so inside my head that I forget that the world is moving on while I'm being left behind. My passion is still stuck in 2001, and five years have past and left me trailing, whispering lyrics to myself, as I first heard of Coldplay orJohn Mayer and believed wholeheartedly that the bands I loved would stay the same forever. Maybe it is the same... just a different station is playing. But where did the passion go? It seemed that everything was important, everything was life or death... and all my music and all my lyrics said it too.
On a possibly related (but likely, completely UNrelated) topic, I think about Diogenes of Sinope a lot. I think about him, bearing a torch through the light of day as he look for an honest man. Once, while digging through a pile of bones, he told Alexander the Great that he was looking for the bones of Alexander's father, but was unable to tell them from the bones of a slave. Ashes to ashes...
I must be singing from the other side of the wall... hearing everything in front of me yet I can barely feel it fall... just a night that others will forget in the eve... my love, is there anywhere, anyplace safe... until again.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
I'm Alberta bound...
Funny how you build up hopes sometimes and they get completely dashed. But other times, you limit your excitement about an event and everything works out wonderfully. I'm taking a position with a well-known student painting company in Calgary for the next month as a supervisor/trainer. As explained previously, my old boss (now a GM in Winnipeg) called up and offered me a trainer/supervisor position in Calgary, and after squaring it with K and the bosses at the pub, it looks like I'm running away for the next 4 weeks to Cowtown! I talked to my uncle and I've got a place to crash while I'm there, and K's parents are lending me a vehicle for the time I'm around, as well as housing me for my first few nights in town. My parents already said they come up for a visit and I'm gonna have lots of work to keep me busy. They're flying me out there, paying me $14/hour with a potential bonus, and giving me all the work I can handle. Strange how life gives these random opportunities from time to time... and I only have 3 months of experience painting!!!
This, however, leads to a ridiculously busy next 6 weeks. I fly to Calgary Thursday night, stay in Airdrie, start work Friday morning, work through the weekend and all the way until May 23rd. After this last day, I fly to Kelowna to meet K and her mom at a hotel they have booked, attend my placement school's 3 day orientation, visit my cousins and aunt and uncle in Peachland in the meantime, then drive back to Victoria for the 27th so I can work at the pub that night and the following night. Then, on Monday, my cousin from Austria is coming to visit, I start my classes for education on June 1st (that same Thursday), and my Austrian cousin leaves Friday. I think I might need a nap when this is all over... or a beer... or maybe some sort of inventive combination of the two. Well, just like every summer, bring on the busy-ness! This is all part of my love-hate relationship with post semester summers... crazy busy. But, as always, no rest for the somewhat-but-not-completely-wicked.
-T
This, however, leads to a ridiculously busy next 6 weeks. I fly to Calgary Thursday night, stay in Airdrie, start work Friday morning, work through the weekend and all the way until May 23rd. After this last day, I fly to Kelowna to meet K and her mom at a hotel they have booked, attend my placement school's 3 day orientation, visit my cousins and aunt and uncle in Peachland in the meantime, then drive back to Victoria for the 27th so I can work at the pub that night and the following night. Then, on Monday, my cousin from Austria is coming to visit, I start my classes for education on June 1st (that same Thursday), and my Austrian cousin leaves Friday. I think I might need a nap when this is all over... or a beer... or maybe some sort of inventive combination of the two. Well, just like every summer, bring on the busy-ness! This is all part of my love-hate relationship with post semester summers... crazy busy. But, as always, no rest for the somewhat-but-not-completely-wicked.
-T
Monday, April 24, 2006
Walking home and perfect days...
Warning: The following tangents will likely bore you to tears...
Walking creates a new city. When you're driving, or even taking the bus, the city you inhabit flies by. The smells are ignored, the bugs become annoying pastes on the windshield rather than points on intrigue, and the worldview experienced is so much more limited when compared with walking. On Saturday, I spent a couple hours walking around my neighbourhood, met K for lunch on her lunch break at work, and carried out some errands that I needed to take care of. And I walked. And the whole time I was really struck by how completely different the world is when you walk. I had two people pull up and ask my for directions as they zipped down the street in their Honda Civic. I watched a man help his neighbour with his yardwork. I noticed the first bumblebees of the season trying to fit their bloated bodies into the bloom of the spring tulips. And I looked around the whole time, wondering where I was. Even though I'd driven down these streets hundreds of times. It gave me flashbacks when I was backpacking in Europe, and how strange London seemed above ground when I wasn't taking the Tube from destination to destination, or when I was almost roadkill for a tram line in Vienna. I always find it odd when you're a stranger in you home, even if it's not the case. Clarity peeks through from time to time... You never know a place until you've walked it's streets.
Thetis Lake.... K and I spent a few hours walking around upper and lower Thetis Lakes this afternoon. The smell of pine and crocus and foliage was thick, the sky was like a movie, the water was like glass and it was 17 degrees. Not bad for Vancouver Island in April! We had chicken salad sandwiches and the best potato salad I've even had (K's special recipes), did some people watching and enjoyed the sun. Then we spent an hour on our mountain bikes this evening just pedaling by the marina and down through our surrounding area, enjoying the fading sunlight. I met a few friends for a couple beers later, as they celebrated the end of their undergrads. I always wonder if a thing such as a "perfect day" exists.... this one came pretty close.
I think that this sort of journalistic forum is just a way for me to talk to myself... is that healthy? Meh... probably not, but I've never made any claims to my personal mental health.
Walking creates a new city. When you're driving, or even taking the bus, the city you inhabit flies by. The smells are ignored, the bugs become annoying pastes on the windshield rather than points on intrigue, and the worldview experienced is so much more limited when compared with walking. On Saturday, I spent a couple hours walking around my neighbourhood, met K for lunch on her lunch break at work, and carried out some errands that I needed to take care of. And I walked. And the whole time I was really struck by how completely different the world is when you walk. I had two people pull up and ask my for directions as they zipped down the street in their Honda Civic. I watched a man help his neighbour with his yardwork. I noticed the first bumblebees of the season trying to fit their bloated bodies into the bloom of the spring tulips. And I looked around the whole time, wondering where I was. Even though I'd driven down these streets hundreds of times. It gave me flashbacks when I was backpacking in Europe, and how strange London seemed above ground when I wasn't taking the Tube from destination to destination, or when I was almost roadkill for a tram line in Vienna. I always find it odd when you're a stranger in you home, even if it's not the case. Clarity peeks through from time to time... You never know a place until you've walked it's streets.
Thetis Lake.... K and I spent a few hours walking around upper and lower Thetis Lakes this afternoon. The smell of pine and crocus and foliage was thick, the sky was like a movie, the water was like glass and it was 17 degrees. Not bad for Vancouver Island in April! We had chicken salad sandwiches and the best potato salad I've even had (K's special recipes), did some people watching and enjoyed the sun. Then we spent an hour on our mountain bikes this evening just pedaling by the marina and down through our surrounding area, enjoying the fading sunlight. I met a few friends for a couple beers later, as they celebrated the end of their undergrads. I always wonder if a thing such as a "perfect day" exists.... this one came pretty close.
I think that this sort of journalistic forum is just a way for me to talk to myself... is that healthy? Meh... probably not, but I've never made any claims to my personal mental health.
Friday, April 21, 2006
So many words, so many sentences...
For about ten years, I've been obsessed with quotes. Of all sorts. And from a variety of sources. I constantly look at K, or friends/family and exclaim, "That's a good line!" or underline a great sentence in a book, or hum a certain line from a song. I was reading my friend L's blog and she had a post about writing, and the reasons for writing, and she had a quote from W.H. Auden that read, "How do I know what I think until I see what I say?" I really liked that, and it seemed to be similar to a quote I heard many years ago from Cecil Day Lewis. It says, "We do not write to be understood. We write in order to understand." Just like speech, writing is a form of explicating not only what we think, but who we are. Who are we beyond what we say? Can we articulate our identities beyond outward indicators?
This is delving into the setimental just a bit, but I've been known to be a bit of a sentimentalist. Regardless, here are some favorite quotes that I remember most clearly (or have underlined in books that are on hand).
"Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given; forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries when they wrote these books."
- R. W. Emerson, "The American Scholar"
"Where shall we fix? where shall our labours end?
Whom shall we follow, and what fate attend?
Let not my prayers a doubtful answer find;
But in clear auguries unveil thy mind."
Virgil, The Aeneid
"... it is impossible to convey the life-sensation of any given epoch of one's existence, - that which makes its truth, its meaning - its subtle and penetrating essence. It is impossible. We live, as we dream - alone."
J. Conrad, The Heart of Darkness
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy"
W. Shakespeare, Hamlet I.V.
This is delving into the setimental just a bit, but I've been known to be a bit of a sentimentalist. Regardless, here are some favorite quotes that I remember most clearly (or have underlined in books that are on hand).
"Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given; forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries when they wrote these books."
- R. W. Emerson, "The American Scholar"
"Where shall we fix? where shall our labours end?
Whom shall we follow, and what fate attend?
Let not my prayers a doubtful answer find;
But in clear auguries unveil thy mind."
Virgil, The Aeneid
"... it is impossible to convey the life-sensation of any given epoch of one's existence, - that which makes its truth, its meaning - its subtle and penetrating essence. It is impossible. We live, as we dream - alone."
J. Conrad, The Heart of Darkness
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy"
W. Shakespeare, Hamlet I.V.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Hypnotists...
Hypnotists create book stores. Or Neuroscientists. I think that's the reason that books stores exist for book junkies like myself. I walk into one to purchase a journal for K's friend who's leaving for Europe, and I get all googly-eyed and drooly over the smell and look of all of the books I haven't read. The scent of new ink and 60% post-consumer recycled paper must release endorphins into my brain. I'm like one of those lab rats who can either get a pellet of food by tapping one paddle or getting a shot of drugs or an electrical charge by hitting another until I'm so doped up that I don't want to leave, and then I begin to ignore eating altogether. I get excited about the stories I know nothing about. It's an irrational sensation, and I understand this, but it does not take away from the fact that I'm launched into an adolescent-in-a-candystore mentality. Maybe it's just me. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I drink too much coffee in a day. Which is possible. I even have about 30 books on my shelf that haven't been read, so I really don't need any extra books right now (or anytime soon)... does that prevent me from lusting after these paper-and-ink morsels? Methinks, uhh... not so much.
I'm glad I warned people that this blog doesn't have much of importance on it... it's always best to keep expectations low to prevent disappointment.
I'm glad I warned people that this blog doesn't have much of importance on it... it's always best to keep expectations low to prevent disappointment.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
'Tis a strange world
So, I got a call on Monday from my old boss from College Pro (I did 3 months of painting for them last year). After chatting for a bit, he asked if I'd be interested in taking on a position with College Pro as a "QJOB'er", which is more or less a trainer/guru/painter stud. The pay sounded good and I needed work for a month until I started summer school, so I said it sounded great.
Today, I receive a call from Mike something-or-other who asked me again if I was interested. After telling him that I was, he asked if I would be willing to move to Calgary for a month. CALGARY! Now the dilemma... I have a job here on weekends that I kinda need throughout the summer until I move, but to accept this job I'd have to either get a month off or quit altogether and hope to find a 2-day a week job when I get back. Not to mention that Kerrie (my wife) probably wouldn't love the idea... she wants nothing more than to be closer to Calgary where her parents are, and now here I am with an off to go to that very place. Is this the definition of "quandary"?
Now, the benefits would include a bonus (I don't know how much), and I think Mike whos-his-face said that they would fly me out there. Also, I would probably be able to stay with friends or relatives for free, so as long as they gave me a vehicle to traverse the city, I'd be in fine shape. Also, it may give Kerrie an opportunity to head to Cowtown to visit the family, which she'd love. On the flip side, I'd need to convince the bosses here to give me a whole month off (plus a weekend in June), Kerrie would have to be okay with staying on the Rock for a month by herself, and I would have to make a good deal of cash to justify my heading out the great bald prairie.
No clue what I'm going to do.
Quandary: a state of perplexity concerning what to do in a difficult situtation; a practical dilemma.
Today, I receive a call from Mike something-or-other who asked me again if I was interested. After telling him that I was, he asked if I would be willing to move to Calgary for a month. CALGARY! Now the dilemma... I have a job here on weekends that I kinda need throughout the summer until I move, but to accept this job I'd have to either get a month off or quit altogether and hope to find a 2-day a week job when I get back. Not to mention that Kerrie (my wife) probably wouldn't love the idea... she wants nothing more than to be closer to Calgary where her parents are, and now here I am with an off to go to that very place. Is this the definition of "quandary"?
Now, the benefits would include a bonus (I don't know how much), and I think Mike whos-his-face said that they would fly me out there. Also, I would probably be able to stay with friends or relatives for free, so as long as they gave me a vehicle to traverse the city, I'd be in fine shape. Also, it may give Kerrie an opportunity to head to Cowtown to visit the family, which she'd love. On the flip side, I'd need to convince the bosses here to give me a whole month off (plus a weekend in June), Kerrie would have to be okay with staying on the Rock for a month by herself, and I would have to make a good deal of cash to justify my heading out the great bald prairie.
No clue what I'm going to do.
Quandary: a state of perplexity concerning what to do in a difficult situtation; a practical dilemma.
Dear diary, I met the nicest girl...
Okay, maybe this isn't so much a private diary with stars on the cover where I muse on the juvenile influences of eighth grade. But no doubt, there will probably be things that do not surpass the juvenile tendancies that punctuate my life. I guess I'm just not sure how to approach this blog thing, since this is a bit of a virgin experience for me. I thought, "Everyone else has a blog, so why don't I?" Some people think I have leadership qualities, but I kinda just follow the trends. Baaaaa...
Enough of that... a little about whats going on in my life.... in short, not much. I finished the last 3 final exams of my undergrad last week and it felt oh-so-wonderful. It took me a total of 6 years to get it done, with a "sabbatical" of a year and a half after my first year at the wonderfully depressing concrete world of the University of Lethbridge. The time off was great since it enabled a 4 month backpacking trip through the great continent of Europe and a pilgramage to my grandparent's homeland. Other highlights included being in Belfast/Dublin throughout Easter weekend, seeing a ghost, hiking in the Swiss Alps in the middle of April and skinnydipping in Santorini. But enough of that for now. I'm just really glad to be done my degree here at UVic. I can't say that I went out with a bang and straight A's, but I didn't really throw the semester away either. Either way, it's finished and I get to move on to the new and exciting world of being a student teacher come september, which is also pretty fantastic. It will involve a good deal of hoop jumping, but I've realized that there are worse things in the world.
Likewise, it will be a great opportunity for my beautiful wife and I to start a new adventure. When she joined me out here, I had already established a life of my own with a friend base and support network that she had to adapt to. Now that we're heading back to the mainland in a few months, we'll be able to start fresh and get our bearings together. I'm pretty excited. So is she. The Okanagan will never be the same! Okay, maybe it will. There will just be more people. 2 more to be precise.
Well, I don't think I have too much more to add for the next five minutes, but I'm sure I'll think of something very clever or excuciatingly boring to post a little later. I'm somewhat suspicious that this whole blog thing is a little narcissistic, since I'm pretty much just hoping that people will come on here and read what I have to say (as if the things I say are interesting or important). Oh well, I am, admittedly, a bit of a narcissist. Therefore, I hope those that stop by and get a glimpse of my world (and the ramdom workings of my brain) enjoy what they read, and feel free to leave comments to celebrate my wit, tell me I'm a dumbass, or just strike up a conversation about whatever may float their boat. I love talking and debating about a variety of things... if nothing else, I have an opinion on almost anything! Until again, mes amis... ciao.
- T
Enough of that... a little about whats going on in my life.... in short, not much. I finished the last 3 final exams of my undergrad last week and it felt oh-so-wonderful. It took me a total of 6 years to get it done, with a "sabbatical" of a year and a half after my first year at the wonderfully depressing concrete world of the University of Lethbridge. The time off was great since it enabled a 4 month backpacking trip through the great continent of Europe and a pilgramage to my grandparent's homeland. Other highlights included being in Belfast/Dublin throughout Easter weekend, seeing a ghost, hiking in the Swiss Alps in the middle of April and skinnydipping in Santorini. But enough of that for now. I'm just really glad to be done my degree here at UVic. I can't say that I went out with a bang and straight A's, but I didn't really throw the semester away either. Either way, it's finished and I get to move on to the new and exciting world of being a student teacher come september, which is also pretty fantastic. It will involve a good deal of hoop jumping, but I've realized that there are worse things in the world.
Likewise, it will be a great opportunity for my beautiful wife and I to start a new adventure. When she joined me out here, I had already established a life of my own with a friend base and support network that she had to adapt to. Now that we're heading back to the mainland in a few months, we'll be able to start fresh and get our bearings together. I'm pretty excited. So is she. The Okanagan will never be the same! Okay, maybe it will. There will just be more people. 2 more to be precise.
Well, I don't think I have too much more to add for the next five minutes, but I'm sure I'll think of something very clever or excuciatingly boring to post a little later. I'm somewhat suspicious that this whole blog thing is a little narcissistic, since I'm pretty much just hoping that people will come on here and read what I have to say (as if the things I say are interesting or important). Oh well, I am, admittedly, a bit of a narcissist. Therefore, I hope those that stop by and get a glimpse of my world (and the ramdom workings of my brain) enjoy what they read, and feel free to leave comments to celebrate my wit, tell me I'm a dumbass, or just strike up a conversation about whatever may float their boat. I love talking and debating about a variety of things... if nothing else, I have an opinion on almost anything! Until again, mes amis... ciao.
- T
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