I JUST WANT A CANDLE LITE DINNER PLEASE

I'm glad that you enjoyed your volunteering in the monsoon weather. I woke up way too early that morning and hours just started out slow. I felt like a fuzzy bum playing marimba in the auditorium, but the lighting in the room itself, was beautiful.

We stayed there for 2 hours, and then split up for a little bit. Carmanagh and I went to mec for what felt like an hour and waited on the rest of the crew to bring back the trailer and van. Before bracing myself for the weather outside, a pink super-soft sweater caught my eye. It was so soft that this older lady was just as attracted to it as I was. We felt it and were in awe. Awe until we saw the price- 75$ . We both then looked at each other and shook our heads " Not today!" "Not this month".

We decided to quick Victoria, because as you know the weather was horrible. It wasn't the day we were going to make our millions. We thought we'd try our luck in Nanaimo and it was the best choice. About a half hour out of Nanaimo, we saw that glorious blue sky. The closer we got, the better it was. Before the busking began, we all went for a coffee. Mortimer, it was the first time I ever ordered a double-double at Tim Hortons. It was a growing up moment.

We busked, we made some money. We then had a bbq at Carmanaghs boyfriends place and then the night was over. I was tired. I'm still feeling it.

In anycase, hope you're happy. This week is going to be a moving week, and the crew and I are going to be painting the ugly green trailer this weekend. We're thinking turquoise with some colorful trim.

Other than that.. In my heart and brain I've been thinking a lot about green spaces and been mostly inspired from the books I've been reading. I've been talking to forrest and we might be starting something up eventually. Who knows. I know at least a couple other people who would be really into it.  I've been getting inspired with ideas that go like this...
1. Why hasn't the city planted more ubarn edible plants and trees?
2. Did you know that green spaces can help lower crime and road rage?
3. I want to experiment more with vertical gardens once i move. I think I might do that this summer.

reverend plays on the ugly organ

Today I volunteered for five hours at a arts festival for Earth Day. I was in a tent helping kids roll water soluble (thank God) ink onto their styrofoam drawings so that they could successfully press the image onto a pendant. I was helping out my friend, whose parents are both arts educators and whose dad is involved in the Bowker Creek Initiative- which is looking to create better management of the watershed of Bowker Creek, which runs primarily underground from UVic to Oak Bay, making a vast detour through Cedar Hill. By underground I mean under infrastructure.So while I was explaining to Oscar, the wily seven year old whose mother thought it might be "fun" to sign her kid up to volunteer for this thing, that if he applied more layers of ink to his styrofoam he would be wasting the ink, I was also learning a thing or two.
My friend's entire family was there: both her parents, aunt, two brothers, boyfriend... and they were all so nice to each other! We were all stuck under these tents in the pouring rain and all I could think was that first of all my parents would never sign up to do anything like this, and second of all if they did we would end up strangling each other to death, in front of the children. I got brownie points with the mom because I had brought a couple of whole carrots and hard boiled eggs for lunch, and because I could identify the music being churned out by the onsite cover band as Van Morrison.

I wore a name tag around that read "Darla" all day. I also got a ride home from her brother, whose name tag read "Swain" who had "crazy eyes" according to your definition, Laura. As I was getting out of the car her dad handed me this envelope, and I didn't think anything of it, since people always give you cards for volunteering. But when I opened it inside the house $50 slipped out. As honorarium for my dedication, card says. 

Anyway, today has been pretty decent.

Anchored to the Tide

Thanks for changing the blog back to regular, SC. I had the hopeless feeling that I had inadvertently ended an era by advancing technology beyond my own grasp. But turns out that friends can always help you reign in that great monster.
I have an exam at 7pm tonight. It's ridiculous, but at least I was able to work this morning.

So I have spent the last 2 ish hours lolling in my room, sort of napping because I was out last night drinking bourbon with Sociologists (my happy little fingers wanted to type "Socialists" in there). I'm not hungover or anything, just tired.

New goal in life: have better pall bearers than Pierre Trudeau. He had Fidel Castro, Jimmy Carter, the Aga Khan, and Leonard Cohen. I think that man is amazing for his pure ability to assemble that very group of people in an emotionally directed task.

Either way I have decided to stay in Victoria for this next year, working at the B and B and hopefully getting a desk job at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, which I am applying for (everyone cross your toes). Going to volunteer at the Fifty Fifty Collective, got some prestigious titles on the line themselves.

Goal is to hit up Mexico in November, in time for the Day of the Day, staying long enough to see the butterflies. And then I am applying for grad school. One year plan in the bag, gents.

Just unplugged my sink with my own two hands. You realize that this new conquering of the plumbing-sphere  means that I wasted 4 years of my life not working with these apt and beautiful appendages.

After I got robbed I made a playlist on grooveshark that is incredibly sad. Like Sabo's boyfriend in his drunken competitions with his roommate to see who could play the saddest song before bed caliber sad. It's funny how many times I have lost my faith in humanity in the past few months. Or not funny, rather.
So that is what I am listening to. And eating almonds and guzzling water like it costs something.

Better get some shit done

It sounds as if we are having the same kind of week, Ritch. Except that you are graduating, and I will be here for a longer period of time than anyone thought when I started this stupid degree. Even longer if I don't pull up my socks and catch up on assignments/readings. Were you at a resume workshop or something?
Got addicted to a new television show. Girls? Nothing like watching privileged New Yorkers fuck up their lives. They have developed some truly horrible characters, although it is nice to see a protagonist who has a normal fat layer on her body and still gets laid on a regular basis. Although she does sleep with a 19 year old, turtleneck-wearing, bowl-cut-sporting dude. Another girl gets trapped inside an exhibit that consisted of a box made of television screens playing loops of dead dogs and vicious animals; the artist locks the door and refuses to let her out.  Creative folks can be a disturbing breed.
Talked to a good buddy tonight, her job comes with a free heli-skiing pass. Whooooaaaa. Woke up to find a visitor sprawled out on our couch and kind of liked it. It's lovely to have a place that people feel comfortable visiting.
All of tonight's texts from the boyfriend indicate that people are beating each other up in his living room. We're going to hit up some pet shops this weekend. Pet shop-shopping is what I imagine shoe shopping is for fashionistas.
Stay well.     

No One Tries

Hi,

Had a discouraging week so far. Today I learned that I am total shit at interviews, even with the unfettered ability to spin endlessly in a rolly chair provided by the kind office of the co-op army. Because there is about 25 employees of this office, all of them aggressively smiling middle aged women who "just want to chat" and "revamp my resume"
And all the while my friend's urges to come to Van this weekend because now he has beer money is whispering in the back of my otherwise blank mind.
If my parents weren't constantly giving me apprehensive looks from the safety of my imagination I would probably just cash in and be an alcoholic dishwasher, maybe for good.
I mean how does a person even get a job post-grad that isn't shining rich people's shoes.
And since when is "having a baby" an automatic status brought to you by FB?

Love always,
Emma

It's 8 thirty in the morning and I saw this and wanted it.

PIZZA FRIES!

Self-titled "the most Colombian of Colombian artists" early on

Oh Fernando:


Today is still a sunny day. I'm cleaning my room and trying to get a couple odd things done. (wish me luck):D I've also been slowly getting into Iranian film culture and following theses words is the first I've watched:


I really enjoyed it, I'm always a suck for female focused movies and that being said, it's fun seeing these bunch of girls trying to see a soccer game and then being locked up for the entirety of it. You get to see how the young soldiers/young men individually react to the rules that are in modern day Iran and how... I guess they understand why they are there, but wonder how the rules are. There is some very heart touching characters and this once scene that easily became my favorite and made me think: the young soldier stops on the side of the road to buy drinks for all the girls in response of the whole bunch of them being thirsty. Simple right? I can't explain it, but it made me wonder if we would be off better if there would be more men like that around... overwhelming generosity, or at least that's what Cyrus calls it. It's very appealing.With further conversations with Cyrus, he explains that there is huge emphasis on "the mother" in Iran, that women play an integral part of society and you show them the same respect as you would as any other (which differs from the 'over- protective-father type' that many surrounding middle eastern countries demonstrates. I really enjoyed this film, and in response I'm researching and learning more about the director of it Jafar Panahi

Hey Bring me tea and something sweet while you're at the grocery store pretty please!

I've been reading about Lebanon tonight. It seemed like a good way to erase a headache that's been filling my head tonight. It's weird, lately it's been I've had a series of harder-then-normal, pounding headaches. And in result I've been thinking of Elizabeth's past encounters, where it was a series of intense headaches that lead to her getting drilled into her head. True Story(more or less).

Things to think about (in accordance with Lebanon):
Neopatrimonialism
Consociationalism

yes I did

When I used to come home from dances in high school my dad would always ask me if I "got up and danced." In a pained voice too. First he would ask if I had fun, and I would mumble something and he would say, no fail : "No, but did you get up and dance though?"

Shit of course I did Dad, whose daughter am I?