Les boisons

Last night I was at the Globe for a mini-dance fest with resident birthday girl, Keri. We were up in the loft area, which is pretty much 100 percent effective for people watching. As the night went on, we watched the drunk folk roll in. Then I wondered,

Does alcohol hinder our ability to have fun in "real life"?

When I was 19 (legal drinking age here) I used to work most Saturday nights until 12:15, and then go to the bars with co-workers afterwards; thus I got quite used to going out without alcohol, and *maybe* getting a drink at the bar. Point being, I was not introduced to bars as an alcohol-necessary zone. So when I randomly overhear people saying, "I can't go there if I'm not drunk," or "I wasn't drunk enough last night so it wasn't fun," I kind of feel bad for us in general.

I guess the point of alcohol, or any drug really, is to enhance real life -- or perhaps escape it, actually. But what about enjoying life for what it is?

At what point does fun come disappointing when not enhanced?

I don't know... I had this all thought out last night. Anyway, I did have fun danced muchly, saw many others having fun and being happy, and the Globe has good nachos (corn and black beans!).

I also thought about us studying other species: how they raise their youth, mating rituals, eating habits, habitats, etc.

What would other species think if they studied us? Would they be appalled at the clothes we wear and the food we eat? Would they be baffled how there are so many humans but we all look so different?

If someone were doing research on humans, but went only to the poorest regions in Africa, or went only to the richest areas of the hills in California, entirely different observations and conclusions would take place.

"For mating rituals, women put on very high shoes, reducing their ability to walk properly."

CONCLUSION: Males are drawn to females who cannot walk properly. (?)

*Jen breaks her foot in an effort to up sexy factor*

Anyway, leftovers of Tropical Storm Danny flew in last night. I like storms like that - particularly when there is no thunder and lightening. Just an intense ten hours or so of rain. It's efficient rain too. There was mild sprinkling and rain scattered throughout the afternoon and early evening yesterday, but then around 8:00 the rain started coming down like waterfalls. I like it. Efficient rain is good rain. I would much rather skit through deep puddles for one day than deal with teasing rain and storm clouds for three days. Rain on, rain off, rain on, rain off. That all being said, the heaviest of the rain took place after sun down (WHICH IS HAPPENING FAR TOO EARLY NOW), my tone would likely have been different if buckets of water had been pouring all afternoon long, hindering my ability to play on bicyclette.

Anyway, speaking of bicyclette, it and I are off to have fun now. Danny has left the building and the sun is breaking through!

(PS ~ I have a bit of a secret love for hurricaine season, you know, as long as no one gets hurt.)

la la la la laaaa... I will up the humour factor later.

Also, I'm convinced drinking a touch too much causes charlie horses, at least for me. We had a leaving do at work on Friday night for someone leaving, and alcohol was flowing. I woke up at about 7:00am in agonizing pain, trying not to scream over the muscle spasms in my legs. The right leg does happen ocassionally, but for both calves to seeze up at once is much more uncommon - RARE, in fact! I know charlie horses are often a sigh of dehydration... so more water for me, I guess. Also, you know the charliehorses are bad when you can still feel them in your legs close to 30 hours later. I know you are supposed to stretch the muscle and massage it when it happens, but mine always happen at night and the only thing I can ever manage to do is scream, bite my arm to muffle the screams, and thrash about wildly while half holding my leg and think about crying. Death by Charlie Horse would be an agonizing way to go... all the muscles seezing up at once... Aye.

Where are you?

I am sitting in the basement of a hostel in a secret location... No, not so much. Well, yes, actually. Because I *am* sitting the basement, at a hostel, at a location I am not revealing. I shall give hints: I can see the US from this city - a city that I'm convinced occurred after Las Vegas had a mad love affair with I-Drive [Orlando] and Sunset Blvd [LA] stopped in to get in on the action. Ashamed at what was produced, the mother quickly gave the offspring up for adoption, and Canada embraced the awkward child.

Niagara Falls was born. [Oops, gave away location. But by the time potential stalkers read this I'll be in Baby Echo ("Boyfriend") bombing towards the US.]

Shan and I stopped in a couple of wineries in Niagara-on-the-Lake today. Summer is not meant for wine. Perhaps beer has overtaken my taste buds in this delightful season, but 28C does not make me want to drink wine. I find it.. smacky. It makes me smack my lips in a bad way, wishing I had something more refreshing as I furrow my brows. Wine does not quench my thirst. It's like being hungry and someone saying, "Oh, don't worry, I have chewing tobacco you can have."

Yuck. What?

Unrelated: In the right column of my blog I have a wee map of the world that shows where readers are from based on their... oh crap... ISN, no, ISP.. I... something... number. Apparently the Brain does not comprehend acronyms after 1h30am local time. So the wee map brings me much amusement, and I get giddy as new dots appear on the image. The largest dot is over PEI, which is not surprising. My parents (Hi Mom! Hi Dad! I'm still alive and well in Upper Canada!) have my blog as their homepage, because they love me and find me to be a hilarious addition to their family, and I, also on PEI, sometimes go back and read my blog to laugh at myself. Other dots are also obvious: Ottawa/Kingston/Montreal and Toronto/Guelph/Kitchener/other (they kind of blur together and provincial/territorial boundaries are not shown) as I know many people in these regions who also love me... or love to laugh at me. Either or, the dots in these regions are bigger.

But then, there are mystery dots. People who I do not know at all. Once someone visited my blog from Brasil. Two hits from Malaysia. This excites me greatly. When I looked at the map this evening there was a new dot smack in the middle of the US. Without state boundaries being shown, I can't really tell exactly where it is... but I'm sure it's a lovely place! Also, I now have a dot in Australia!! This is extremely significant, as I now have dots in all continents except Antarctica, which isn't even on my map (though I doubt I would have a dot there anyway).

Change of subject: dressing up [I'm getting tired.. when proofreading this I could tell my brain was starting to shut down.]

Today I am wearing a dress. It's one of my favourite clothing pieces in the world, particularly on humid days. The thing about dresses is that you suddenly look "dressed up" if you are wearing them. This one isn't so bad though, which I like. But I kind of did look dressed up today because my hair looked 'up-doish' because I had it knotted on the top of my head due to the intense heat. I was also wearing a ring because I had purchased a new ring ($1.25! Rock on 10,000 villages) and felt the best way not to lose it was to wear it. (Success! Ring has yet to be lost 10 hours later. Sigh of relief.) So I looked dressed up. However, I will let you in on a secret: I was not dressed up. The dress was for air flow purposes in the warm car. It also has no straps. The less skin touching fabric, the better. The hair took .4 seconds to put up. Sneezing would take longer. The ring cost less then a jar of pasta sauce.

I ramble, and sound silly, but the point is, dresses are easy; wearing them is practically cheating. I like them because there is no need to match things. Put on dress. Put on shoes. Leave house. No worrying that shorts/shirt clash. If the dress is clean, the whole outfit is clean. No putting on one clothing item to realise the matching item has a giant blob of mystery goop.

Damn mystery goop!! *shakes fist*

It's a holiday at home on Friday/tomorrow/today.

Happy Gold Cup day! Happy long weekend to all, and to all, a good night.

1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9

My Papa sent me this in a forward ages ago... and now... it's the day!!! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 . On August 7 , 2009 an amazing occurrance of all digits from 1 to 9 take place. . . . At 12hr 34 minutes and 56 seconds on the 7th of August this year, the time and date will be 12:34:56 07/08/09 . This will never happen in your life again !!!

Vehicle

When I was out biking last Saturday I saw a van for sale that caught my eye.


While it was not this exact van, it was quite similar. And I had a thought:

"That would be the ideal automobile for me."

C'est vrai! If I ever want to drive somewhere it is a far location at least two hours away. I could live in this van, just roaming through North America, exploring the wonders of the New World. I would have room for my bikes (or could attach them to the back or roof). Perhaps I could rope some sort of kayak to the roof. Maybe I could attach me to the roof. Or a surfboard. This van just encourages one to use his/her imagination. Obviously this adventure would require a companion. Ideally it would be a male (for me, and for the auto, as I foresee a 1975 van having a few mechanical issues), but if he does not materialise an animal of sorts would do. A small cuddly black bear? Alex. It could help me fish. Or a koala.

How fantastic would that be? Me traversing the continent with my baby bear in the passenger seat. I realise this could perhaps be "illegal" or "frowned upon", but I feel by putting a yellow fishing hat and a pair of John Lennon style sunglasses on the bear when pulled over by cops would solve the problem.

"Ma'am, is that a bear?"
"Good Sir! Surely you do not think that a bear called Alex would wear a fishing hat and sunglasses?"
"Alarminly correct my fair lady. I am stunned by your superior way of speaking. Perhaps we should enjoy a dram of whisky together?"
"My golly that is a delightful proposal. I shall take my whisky with ice, as acceptance of your effort to make nice."

Apparently my roadtrip is taking place in 1800s posh New England.

The roadtrip will come to a tearful end when I arrive at Yosemite National Park and release Alex, my bear friend. He's growing up now, you see. He is approaching puberty, and starting to take interest in lady bears. It's going to be heart breaking, much like the scene in the Fox and the Hound when Big Mama releases Todd into the wild, which, when I was 12, made me cry and cry and then cry some more and try to hug Mr. Kitty. However, for those of you who knew Friskey back in the day, one would recognise that hugging the "attack cat" (as dubbed by the staff at the vet college) was obviously a ridiculous action.

Anyway.

So I would release Alex the Bear into the park, to roam, and to find his place in life... in the background...

"Almost Paradise"...


I will then slowly walk back to my 1975 Dodge Van... alone. A stranger will tap me on the shoulder...

"Ma'am, I think you dropped something."

A small baby elephant... looking... for a home. Looking... for me.

On the road again...

Biscuits de l'Ile

Today, while I was out on a delightful 70-km bike ride (!), I was thinking about cookies. I was heading down Rte 25 towards Jewel's Country Market, thinking that it would be delightful to stop and purchase some cookies.

I was correct, purchasing, and the subsequent eating, of cookies was a wise idea. However, apparently the secret is out on PEI and people are catching on to the deliciousness that is English Toffee cookies. They were sold out by the time I got there, late in the day, at about 5:00. I had to settled for white chocolate macadamien nut cookies. Still a pleasure for the taste buds... but not the gooey explosion of the cookies I was expecting.

The other delightful cookies place in PEI is in Hunter River. There, however, it is critical to purchase the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. If those are sold out, you could always settle for a cinammon roll. "Settle" is, perhaps, an overly strong verb, given that the cinammon rolls are also delightful, but just not quite as much as the PB/Choc cookies.

Conclusion: I ate an absurd amount of cookies today. However, I believe it's justified, based on my first bike route of the day.

Edited to remove map, because it showed where I live which is probably not a good thing to post on the Internet?

Yeah, you're impressed, I can tell. Then I went for another ride after. However, the Biking for Breakfast Challenge was on this very same Saturday. In that event people bike the tip to tip in one day. Perhaps about 280 km. Suddenly my ride looks... mole hill, rather than mountain. Next year I would like to do the day tip to tip. I will train hard and obtain quadriceps the size of small villages.

My environment will be changing soon. I'm excited. Also, random, but if anyone has recommendations for a school in France for improving ones French, please let me know. It's something I am considering for later in the Fall.

Et.. bisous... bonne soiree.

Summer nights

Ahh, summer nights, je vous adore.

Tomorrow is July 31 - it makes me a bit nervous. Can it really almost be August? My tan has yet to reach perfection, I have not biked to Hunter River to buy cookies, there has been no 100-km bike ride (my own fault for putting social life before bike life), no camping, no fire lighting, etc.

So, things to accomplish before the end of the summer (soon, as I have few days left in PEI):

• 100-km bike ride
• Bike to Hunter River
• Light a fire. I have never, ever accomplished this. Being terrified of fire does not help.
• Camp. This could aid the above bullet.
• Have fun fun fun

And tired. Time to sleep. I'm reading a book on Greek mythology right now. Someone asked me which Goddess I associated with the most. I was early in the book at that point and female Goddesses were not featured so much. Zeus was the focal point with many mentions in brief of his wife, Hera. So almost by default I associated with Hera - though I would rather say Athena. As I learn more about her, hopefully that can be my honest response. I was in a bit of a foul, jealous mood that day, so Hera seemed somewhat appropriate. That being said, I have no good reasons to feel jealousy, just the recognition of things others have that I want.. such as plans for the future, or some sort of life path. Hera actually had good reasons for jealousy (other than a 14th quarter life crisis) - her husband was an ass and cheated on her constantly.

I also started reading Hamlet because someone I met while on holiday in February told me I would not understand life until I read Hamlet. I think he was overexagerating, but I figure it's worth the read anyway. It's survived more than 400 (I think) years of critics.

One of the highlights of my week: Patrick confronting a man who threw his cigarette butt out his car window. "Excuse me, sir, you dropped something..."

And sleep.

Lights out!

I was going to title this "Lights out... on FUN!" but that sounds so terribly un-optimistic and sad. So simply "lights out" shall suffice.

The street lights don't work in Victoria Park. Mais pourquoi? Je ne sais pas. The last couple of nights I have biked through have been pitch black, bless my wee bike light. I don't know if they turn on when cars go through, but I don't think so. There are no houses around to provide light. Woods/unlit tennis courts on one side, the sea on the other. Given the number of other people who bike through (WHO SHOULD GET LIGHTS OR REFLECTORS ON THEIR BIKES SO I DON'T ALMOST COLLIDE WITH THEM!!!) or are running/walking on the boardwalk after the sun sets, one would except the period street lamps to function. Are my demands too high?

YES.

Brother comes home today. Exciting! And he is bringing his Lovely Lady Friend. Also very exciting!

I sent out a survey online today for work and someone filled in the survey, then emailed me seven times with additional ramblings. Sometimes only four words per email.

Sometimes I get tired of bars charging cover, particularly for trivia. Take Hunter's for example. Last night I went there post work, had a couple of bevvies and some food. Left at about 8:30 to go home and get some stuff, go for wee bike ride. Go back at 10:00. Nope, have to pay to get in. Paying for the privilege of paying for a drink. Band likely wouldn't start for a couple of hours. Kind of a PEI thing.

I should just go home now before it starts pouring.

Top Island in the World

The Guardian recently reported that Cape Breton (NS) has been named one of the top five islands in the world by Travel and Leisure Magazine.

The same day, the Guardian changed its online poll to ask, "Cape Breton has been voted the third-best island in the world by readers of Travel and Leisure magazine. P.E.I. didn't make that list. Which island do you think should be #1?"

There are two options: Cape Breton, and PEI.

What a ridiculous question. There are only two options - neither of which were designated the top island in the world (which was Bali, followed by Galapagos, then Cape Breton). There is no option to input a different island. Oh, Guardian. Its webpolls are often faulty and bizarre and leaving no room for a middle ground.

My stomach feels weird and there is a fruit fly in my office.

I need to go goldfish shopping tomorrow.

Yawn. Wish I was outside.

PS ~ Happy birthday Erin :)

PPS ~ I changed my phone settings to French instead of English. It's supposed to help me learn. We'll see.

Taste the Rainbow!

I just found an almost empty bag of Skittles in my desk drawer!

Key: the bag still has, like, ten Skittles in it. Oooh, happy DANCE!

Unrelated to Skittles, but related to candy in general, I am convinced peanut butter M&Ms contain very magical properties of energetic bliss. (Chemical: Ru3Pb2YUMo - which is
Ruthenium lead yttrium uranium molybdenum - OR - Are you Peanut Butter?! YUMMO!!!)

Thank goodness I studied chemistry so intensely in high school.

Back to the point of this... So I biked with Hannah for a wee bit until, umm, she got a flat, because apparently *everything* I touched now proceeds to flatten. Reminder to self to not to touch my chest, inadvertently reversing the effects of puberty.

We arrive back to Ch'town and I do a mad biking dash to the Bulk Barn (true love) to buy some peanut butter M&Ms. I ate some, and proceeded to bomb through the city like a mad women with rockets for wheels. Many kilometres later, I went home, because I thought I should despite thoroughly enjoying my biking and singing adventure. Sweaty delicious mess, I was. Then I passed out solid in front of my fan for two hours, stripped of my sweaty clothes, then awoke by faint noises and the fact I had started shivering from the milliletres of sweat sticking to my skin, hair, lips, eyelashes, etc.

I'm supposed to stop taking two hour naps that late in the evening. Waking up from a nap at 12:30 is awkward, particularly as the brain hits into gear and thinks, "You have to shower you crazy sweaty girl! Lick yourself, you taste funny!" or "You forgot to eat supper and ate a small supply of candy instead! You suck!"

I bought a book last weekend on Greek mythology. I need to get into it very soon, perhaps post work in the sun.

And... work some more. Le sigh. J'ai besion d'une nap.

Tyre (aka: tire)

Oh, bike tyres, how you baffle me.

I had one flat last year on Bicyclette.

This WEEK, I have had THREE! Last Sunday night (which I actually did find a sharp rock shard/piece of glass wedged in my back tyre), Friday evening (found my back tyre to be completely flat on Saturday morning), and yet again Saturday evening.

What?

I know how to change a tyre, and have done so before successfully. I think it was just a stroke of bad luck.

No. 1 - rock/glass wedged into tyre
No. 2 - ??? i don't know, I can't find the hole in the tube, but do know it's there because I pumped up the tube and let it sit overnight to see if it would deflate. If it did not, that means there is something wrong with my rim or actual tyre. Tyre deflated overnight.
No. 3 - this was the first tube, which I patched. But I think I did a shoddy job of patching the tube. Re-patched this morning and so far... success! I also didn't inflate my tube as much, which feels crappy, but anyway.

I think things are okay... I checked the tyre and it seems fine. I looked to see if any spokes had pushed their way through the rim and no.

So yeah... I don't know. A series of unfortunate events, I suppose.

I finally finished reading 'Long Way Down' and would like to go to Africa, please.

Unrelated, but I'm a little in love with my tan. The tan lines are awkward, and I have this horrible urge to show them to people (note to self: don't do that !) but, alas, do not. Couple things to work on: white feet (from wearing sneakers when biking), and weird back tan line, also from biking.

Things that rock: my white bum. Makes me giggle.

I think my brain is disconnected from the rest of me today. When biking it felt like my legs were malfunctioning, and now I'm in my room giggling loudly at an msn conversation with my Darlin' Charlin'.

Disconnected brain may explain disconnected blog, with no real purpose.

The Tales of the Sky

Tonight my papa drove me home after his mini birthday fete. When we were putting my bike on the bike rack in the driveway, he pointed at the bizarre sky, which I have captured in an artists rendition below.



Please, refrain from collectively gasping and dropping your wine in awe at my artistic skills. I will give you a moment to collect yourself and dry the tears of emotion from your eyes.

Anyway, bird's eye view. Greyish square on bottom is my parents' house. When I looked up to the sky, almost directly above us were five thin strips of cloud which appeared to be starting from the same point and darting out from each other. Almost like five planes took off from the same place and flew, heading out, 30 degrees from each other. Then, off to the far right, was a bright, detailed full moon with a very thin strip of whispy cloud below it.

Apparently I liked the sky tonight. I rambled to Housemate Shawn about it upon my home arrival and apparently feel the need to share it with the entire blogosphere - all five of my loyal readers. I love you all! *bows*

PS ~ I got my Papa a wheelburrow for his b'day. Best. Daughter. EVER. Also learned how to spell "wheelborrow"... almost.. I can't remember anymore. I spent awhile googling "wheel barrel". Bless my deaf ears... bless.

Rollercoaster.. of Looooove

Remember the song "Roller coaster of Love" from the soundtrack of "Beavis and Butthead do America"?

Ha ha haaaa... Ugh. In a conversation with me lovely mum about the latest ex-stress (holy f**k), I said, "Feeling like you have to break up with the same person 308,432 times is very emotionally draining." "It's very much a roller coaster..." "Yes, but not one of those awesome ones, one of those shoddy wooden ones that I hate."

You know, the wooden roller coasters that just go up and down, and you can feel slightly sway in the wind? And you look down the side of the track and see screws dribbling down the sides and termites munching away. To quote me mum, "Sometimes you feel like you won't survive the fall."

I've been on the same roller coaster for practically 1.5 years. Going around and around and around. And I did get off more then once. But then I would trip, fall back into the car, WITHOUT A SAFETY RESTRAINT - GASP!!! So dangerous. No real blame to the other party involved, as I am responsible for my own poor decisions.

On a happier note, there is a boy playing at the daycare outside my window (entertainment A++++++, like an excessive eBay sellers rating). The boy is pushing a plastic toy vacuum cleaner on the grass and it's pretty much making my day. Hey, if that boy wants to vacuum, I have a floor right ready for it!

Also, c'est mon papa's anniversaire aujourd'hui. Bonne fete Papa! (Et non, mon papa n'est pas francophone... J'aime parler en francais des fois.)

I let housemate Shawn borrow my bike last night. Immediately I started panicking - it was like I gave my child up for adoption. But then I realised it was actually more like letting your kid stay with his/her aunt or uncle for the afternoon.

Bicyclette was returned unharmed :)

Fish inventory: 1

Fish to replace: 1

Work to do: loads, so I shall return to that.

Goal(s) for the day: (1) be excessively animated and wave my arms around a lot which will elevate my cuteness factor to level 11 - EXTREME, (2) send off my passport application (got my pics done last night and.. I actually kind of like them, given their mugshot qualities), (3) send Erin's cd (I promise I will do this today :) <3), (4) work hard so I can take three hours off on Friday to go to the beach and rub sand all over myself and act dog-like by rolling in the sand and barking at other dogs. What?

*waves arms around animatedly*

Woohoo hump day!

(Just got asked if I wanted to work this weekend.. gay laughter ensued. Hardy har har!)

What I Like about YOU, PEI

Oh, PEI.

I was in a wee bit of a sour mood today after getting rained on during my 1.8 km commute to work. My day did eventually turn around, particularly after finding a toothbrush in my parents' dishwasher.

In honour of the glass being half full, here is a list of great things about PEI, in no particular order.

1. The new light show on Province House every night. Basically my inspiration to write this post as it's the closest thing I've seen to Illuminations in a long while. Obviously it doesn't compare, but given it's purpose and non-Disney World budget, it was quite well done. I'll have to go back sometime when rain isn't leaking from the sky and the temperature has more than one didget.
2. The non-National Park north shore between Malpeque Bay and New London Bay.
3. Driving down the road and finding strawberries for sale at an un-manned stand for $3.00. After a fall/winter/spring of eating California and Florida berries that have been shipped much too far, these strawberries pretty much made my taste buds explore in euphoric bliss. I wanted to rub them all over myself and lick them off.
4. The obviousness of rural road signs. Exhibit 34, Jen and Hannah driving down Hamilton Road (where Hamilton is on Route 104) and not knowing what road to turn onto to get to Beech Point. Suddenly, to our right, looms BEECH POINT ROAD. Well named my friend, well named.
5. The Hunter River Bakery, specifically cinammon rolls and PB chocolate chip cookies. Best eatened after the 27-km bike ride to Hunter River, needed to refuel for the pedal home. Obviously.
6. The Historic section of downtown. It actually is quite pretty and leaves me baffled when in newer cities. "Where is the old part of the city?" "It's that building right there." "Oh, 1914. Umm, wow?" I'm quite glad they are ripping the ugly plastic crap off the side of the Confed Mall on Grafton Street to reveal the original (?) brickwork underneith. Much more pleasing to the eye. Also enjoy biking downtown in the evenings due to minimal traffic (when timed properly while plays on are, not right before or after!) and because I like going around turns.
7. Restaurants - given its size, Charlottetown is quite blessed with restaurants. We have a good variety of restaurants; something I suspect is somewhat of a result of our culinary school.
8. The accent. It makes me giggle. "Tomorrah!" "Diabetas" and slurring the crap out of any word with 'ar'. Bar, car, tar, etc. And the excessive stress on short As, pretty much turning them into long As.
9. The Confederation Trail - I shall be honest, the Trail definitely does not offer the most exciting scenery, but it's excellent for windy days as the trees do buffer a great deal of the wind, and it's nice to avoid traffic. I like taking the Trail to somewhere, then taking the road home.
10. The Charlottetown Airport. Who doesn't like arriving at the airport only 45 minutes before a flight?!
11. Bars/restaurants with patios. I am strategic with patio selection, for the not-tall buildings often block the sun at various points of the day.

That is the end of my written list for I promised myself I would spend fifteen minutes cleaning my room everyday until it is clean. This means my room will be clean shortly after the Earth collides with the sun.

Bisous.

Allo Mr. Murphy!

Murphy's Law:
The day I don't take my spare tube with me is the day I get a flat tyre.

Ah well, at least I wasn't far from home and now I get to put those tube patching/changing skills to work.

Let the Sun Shine In...

I'm kind of done with this grey sky thing.

I'm not sure why I even own sunscreen, other than for holidays to sunny destinations.

Someone said to me once, "If the sun stopped shining we would eventually forget how many days it had been since we've seen the sun."

Not me.

It was last Saturday, save a few scattered quarter hours here and there.

Today Hannah and I tried to be explorateurs, but failed because it kept raining everytime we got out of the car. On the plus side, Counsins Shore is very nice and definitely a beach I shall return to on a *sunny* day. Or even an overcast day when there is no rain!

I just tried to go for a bike ride. I went to go outside and noticed it was raining. I swore loudly and thought, "Screw it!" and changed into fake rain gear that can handle regular size rain droplets.

Change shoes.

Change shirt.

Put on raincoat.

Wrap phone/wallet in plastic bag.

Put fender on bike.

Exit house.

Bike across road.

Proceeds to downpour.

I'm not even sure if I went far enough for my bike computer to register any sort of distance. Chalk up 0.1km for Sunday!

Yesterday ended week three of my 200 km per week biking goal. So far I only hit my target the first week (245 km). Week two was about 188 km, and this week just finished was 194 km. Had the weather cooperated yesterday I would have easily hit 200 km, but after biking in the rain for an hour I was starting to get super slimey and gross. Then when I thought about going out again later it started raining again. *clunks head against wall*

It's starting to feel like it snows all winter, then rains all summer. Last year summer started in late June, as it was supposed to, and ended in, oh, the first week of August when we had minimal sunny days and mostly rainy days.

The year prior we were still hovering around 15C until the second or third week of July when we finally got consistently nice weather.

And people wonder why we are obsessed with the weather here. Because it hates us.

Groan.

It may have stopped raining now. I have to bike downtown to drop something off. If the rain holds off for the 20-min round-trip adventure I will write Mother Nature a thank-you note. The fact that I don't know her address (Cloud 34, Atmosphere??) doesn't matter as by the look of the sky it should start raining again any wee second.

*gives up*

The Jenga Blocks of Life

This morning while laying in bed with a hazey head still full of sleepiness, I was thinking about life in general. Nothing too deep. But it occurred to me that life is similar to Jenga, pictured to the right. I feel like you start off with half a tower, and build higher as you learn new things. As you make errors, blocks are removed and put up higher, creating instability. In my version of Life Jenga, you would get the option of taking those additional top blocks, and putting them back in the middle for support. Maybe you can even borrow blocks from a friend, but those can last only so long until the friend needs them back to support his/her own tower.

What happens when the tower/life you built comes crashing down? I guess things could get a little messy, but there is always hope to rebuild, start all over again.

I feel my game of Jenga is going well. Although obviously I would have sparkly orange, red, and yellow blocks, not those silly wood varnished ones. Gosh I am deep and serious today.

RIP, Fishie

About two weeks ago one of my co-workers left to go on holiday. Right before he was leaving on his last day of work he tells me, "I am bringing you a fish tank. We will put it right there." *point to chair*

A short conversation follows, for I was confused. Turned out that there would be *fish* in the fish tank.

Fish tank arrives.

"Do I have to clean it?"
"No."
"Well... what do I do?"
"Just feed them one flake per day!"
"Weekends?"
"Just over feed them on Friday."
"Okay..."

Things go well. A wave of humidity takes over PEI and the fish tank, placed against the window, proceeds to grow an absurd amount of algae very, very quickly. Jen slightly panics. However, algae subsides when she closes the blind of her office window overnight and over the weekends.

I arrive to work this morning to see one fish swimming.

And - obviously you know where this is going based on this post's title - one fish belly up. I guess it found Canada Day a little too intense.

So... dilemma. Do I replace the fish? DK told me before he left that the fish were rather old by goldfish standards - 6 mos. They are expected to live for only three. I feel I did nothing wrong. We played fetch everyday, went for long walks in the park, played wrestled in the yard, and chased cats down the road. Fish love that, yes?

Farewell, Mr. Fish. I wish you well with your new life.. including the beginning of your journey: the School of Business toilet.

Sush-ified

First one to roll! I was nominated, as I had watched a video on YouTube earlier demonstrating the rolling procedure.

What the sushi looked like pre-roll (roll no. 2).

Devin rolls... success!
Jen Mac goes for the gold, again.
And yeah, we have about 13 kilos of rice left.

Unrelated, that day was a bit windy and my dress blew up in the grocery store parking lot. I kind of panicked, as my arms were full of groceries (no plastic bags for us!) and I had no means of coverage. I just kind of dove into Janielle's car. Jen Mac, staying classy since 1982.

Excitement is in the air...

Link to video entry on YouTube.

Janielle and I have entered the 67 Days of Smiles contest. Basically the winners spend 67 days in Orlando playing, exploring, smiling, and then promoting/discussing their experiences on a blog, sharing photos, etc.

Obviously this is making me drool all over myself in anticipation. I'm already daydreaming of this adventure. I love writing, I love snapping photos and playing tourist, I love planning holidays.

I am biologically and physically designed to win this contest. With the possible exception of my hair, which panicks in Florida and proceeds to frizz out in 800,032 directions, but I'm getting better with it. The fact that my Florida Ringlet (while most of my hair is a bit curly, one spot turns into Super Ringlet when in Florida) has appeared frequently in the past week is a sign that I need to go back to my other home - a home I have not seen in months - over a YEAR.

Another awesome part? Jannie has never been to Florida.

I COULD PLAY TOUR GUIDE.

I used to have dreams about this when I was young - I wanted to be a professional Disney World tour guide, something I semi got to be when people visited me there during my far-too-short stint as a castmember.

Please, Orlando Convention & Visitors Bureau, pick me!! I promise, I will not disappoint. My smile generates enough wattage to power small villages and light up lighthouses. That's pretty intense.

Can I beg? I am more than willing to do so.

With a Smile and a Song

I used to be hilarious!

My level of happiness is directly related to the amount I sing. Judging by the stylish vocals coming from my delightful windpipes, I am gosh darned thrilled with life. It also helps distract me when biking up big hills. I came up with some delightful versus in both English AND French of the song "John Jacob Dingle Schneider Smith". Or similar. I don't know the name past the first two words because I was deaf and confused as a child and played the "sounds like" game a lot.

John Jacob joieabo bw jkeek Smith,
His name is my name too!
Whenever we go out,
The people always yell,
JOHN JACOB JINGLEL SNCKJKLGLKOW SMITH!
Fa lala lalallallaallallaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Delightful tune.

I'm supposed to go group biking tonight. The wind is completely freaking out outside. Easily over 30 km/hr, particularly at the University.

I miss physics and the very special differences between velocity and speed, and displacement versus distance. Whoever decided to give me the physics award in high school would be very disappointed with me right now and the overall lack of intense physics discussions that take place.

And back to work. It's actually a very busy day even though half my team is off on vacation.