I have not posted a damn thing in a half a year. so why not post a little somethin’ somethin’?  where oh where did i leave off? yes that’s right! i was in calgary. That was…fun, but not really. i learned a lot while i was there, but don’t really plan on ever going back, unless i need to.

when i returned to winnipeg i immediately submerged myself in the opening of the Grove.

i spent the summer working crazy hours, long days, long weeks, and taking any time i could to escape to the cottage with warriorette and her family. needless to say, the summer went by very fast! but it was very fun. i read Vinyl Cafe stories at the lake out loud. warriorette completed her M.A. in september! congratulations! what an achievement!

in the fall, warriorette and i took a trip to Halifax for the Halifax Pop Explosion festival, and also to check out U of King’s and Dalhousie. Halifax is a beautiful city. the music we saw was great, and included Old Man Luedecke, The New Pornographers, Basia Bulat (w/ symphony Nova Scotia), Tokyo Police Club, Handsome Furs, and more!

after Halifax i officially began my apprenticeship with Norm, my chef at the grove. the crazy work schedule continues! the holidays flew by, like everything else, and i spent a good deal of them working away. but still managed to make it to most family functions! warriorette went out to the cottage for a new year’s cross-country skiing extravaganza! they all braced the cold and got into a really cool sport. recently, i started cross-country skiing as well! it’s a very fun sport

our annual holiday dainty party went off without a hitch!…well maybe one…

new years eve i spent with chef, drinking, cleaning up, crashing a co-workers party, and eventually calling for a cab at like 4am. no easy task…new years day i didn’t work (thankfully!) so i did nothing. i saw Tron in 3D by myself…it was hilarious…

now it’s already february 2011! this year, each month, warriorette and i will be focussing on different monthly goals. january was the month of ‘home cooking’. we avoided going out to eat (with the exception of a trip to the Grove to munch on some tasty veggie burgers!) and every week we cooked a new recipe.

february, we cancelled our cable, and sirius radio, and we’ll be spending more time doing productive things like reading, and writing, and watching our insane dvd collection that is collecting dust! lol

anyway, the last few weeks of january, things really calmed down for the first time ever. i started working normal 40-hour weeks, cross-country skiing, kind of winding down. well apparently, when i start to slow down, that’s when i get sick. and when i get sick, i do it right. i got the greatest old-man virus in the world. i got shingles. it’s…not awesome.

i thought i just had some pimples on my face…then they started hurting like bloody hell. then i developed the worst headache, and jaw-ache of my life. and the pills i was prescribed just started working yesterday. anyways, i am starting to feel like i’m healing. my face still hurts, and my head still feels like an alien is clawing at my ear to get out, but i think i’m improving. i’ve been off work for almost a week, and i am going a little nutty from it…

warriorette says i just need to relax…so i think i’ll do that

thanks for reading!

where are my romantic images of the west? cowboy boots and roads made of dust?

now i’m left with an ultimate test. do i go to wal-mart and buy a two dollar vest?

today i miss winnipeg. the last few days have been very busy. i’ve been able to keep myself distracted to an extent. i miss the village, and i miss the trees. everyone i train is learning quickly, asking good questions, and becoming very involved in their work. i am doing rewarding work, and it feels good. but i miss my home.

tomorrow is a day off for everyone, which is nice. i plan to get back into the city and do some more exploring. i have the jist of the bus and rail system here, so i’ll just ride them all day. i feel like i’ll spend most of the day in kensington. i will check out inglewood (not ingleton) for a while, but something in the pit of my stomach is saying it’s a very touristy place. prove me wrong, inglewood! prove me wrong!!

warriorette and i have played scrabble online the past few nights. and she’s schooled me both times! but that’s cause i kept getting all the V’s, E’s, and R’s. but someone has to win right? eventually it’ll be me i miss the kitties too. this place is just too quiet at night! i like the way mouse and pickles chase each other around before bed. i miss that!

not long before i’m home though

i just gotta keep my head up here, and keep a positive attitude!

i worked for a measly two hours. and the whole time was just washing dishes. when i was finished i hopped the bus to a different area of the city altogether, and checked out some cool stores. then i had lunch at a place called ‘Avocados’. a mexican grill. it was good! it’s a franchise, like everything else out here! but a place i would definitely eat at again. i had a bean burrito and french fries with garlic aioli.

then i came back to the hotel, and played a ruthless game of scrabble online with warriorette. she beat me…school’d me, i would even say! but in my defense, i had a Z and a Q at the end of the game…

then today i worked for around 8 hours. started training some guys finally. it was hard times! we’re literally working in a construction site. like, there are guys drilling holes in the walls around us, and plastic sheeting everywhere. it’s overwhelming. it took us like 2 hours to make rice…i think it can only get better though, because everyday the construction crew gets a little closer to completion. so i’ll be looking forward to each day more and more!

after work i decided to check out Kensington Village. and i enjoyed it thoroughly! a unique community which is exactly what i’ve been looking for since i got here. lots of shops, cafes, restaurants, music, and cool people.

i did a walk around the main streets and looked in a couple of shops. stopped into a small gallery and looked at some photographs and paintings. pretty much just explored the area. it’s really cool. i even walked through some of the residential parts, and it made me think of a small coastal town. unpaved back alleys, weathered, but cute houses, lots of rocks and trees…for the most part, a very cute neighborhood.

i ate dinner at a thai restaurant called ‘Delicious Thai’. i had a spicy tofu dish that blew my mouth off! unbelievably spicy, and so delicious! i chatted with the proprietor of the restaurant and he told me about Thailand and why the food is so spicy. he said the restaurant is family owned, not franchised, and that pleased me!

then i went to a coffee shop called, ‘House’ and talked to the proprietor there. he told me the coffee shop has been open for nine years, and how they’re all about fair-trade, organic coffee, and that pleased me as well! he also told me to check out a neighborhood called, ‘Ingleton’ which is similar to Kensington. there were some people hangin’ around inside playing guitar too, which was pleasant as ever.

then i hopped the (wrong) train and rode all the way to the depot outside of town. pretty cool, cause i got to see the city from the outside. then i hopped the right train back home. and since then i’ve just been hangin’ out, reading, and internetting. watched the Blackhawks win, finished On The Road, and blogged!

so far so good!

i checked into my hotel where i expected to meet my room mate, but didn’t. turns out he was at a meeting all day. i would’ve been at it too, but since my flight came in in the morning, i was exempt which is good because i spent the day exploring the city!

i hopped a bus, then a train to the downtown area. before getting on the train, i made a new friend. a fifteen-year-old kid named Harrison. basically this guy who got off the train asked Harrison and i if we had a dollar. then i asked Harrison if my transfer would work for the train. and the rest was history! no but he started going on about Calgary and it being a confusing city, then he mentioned how LA is similar, and obviously i was all, “no friggen way dood i just went to LA!” then he gave me a smarter route to the Tower which was awesome because the Calgary transit website told me to get off at the wrong stop.

so that was sweet! then i went to the tower. which isn’t really a tower anymore. i remember it was a tower when i was eight years old, but now it’s just dwarfed by taller buildings. anyways, it’s still pretty high, and pretty cool! i took a butt-load of pictures cause i’m a tourist like that.

then i walked around the ‘district’ for awhile. so there’s a couple of pedestrian streets which at first, i thought were nice. but then i realized that they are just outdoor malls. so you can go to sportchek, and hmv, and mexx, and sunglass hut, and le chateau, and taco time, but outside. woop. however, there were some very nice looking cafe’s and bistros around. some that i would like to check out, and will probably do on friday.

so after that i decided to be adventurous and i hopped the wrong train. which took me to suburbia. the thing is, that everything in this city looks the same! all the residential areas have a commercial district with a bunch of restaurants and gas stations and big box stores. so i got off at what i thought was near to my hotel. but it wasn’t even close.

so i started walking in the blowing snow and rain. and continued walking for the next two hours. in the wrong direction. when i pulled out my map and realized what i had done, i was spitting mad, and completely exhausted. i sat on some street corner in front of an esso/tim hortons gas station, and waited for a cab. which i really did not want to do because i still thought i was able to walk back. after driving on two highways, and passing through several identical neighborhoods, i found myself in my hotel room completely shredded. that’s when i met my room mate!

his name is Jesse, and he is training on the saute station at Chop. that is all.

kay so i forgot i was blogging because the hockey game is just too intense! 5-5 going into the third period! AHHH! so i should wrap this up quickly.

i just did some reading and apparently the hip place to go is Kensington Village. so i’ll check it out on friday for sure!

wazoo

our trip is going to be great, and i cannot contain my excitement! pickles, however, is sleeping on the printer. mouse is sleeping, arms outstretched, in her chair. ahh sunday morning. for the trip, i will be keeping a written journal. WEIRD. when we went to montreal, i really enjoyed blogging about the trip, and i think this will have the same factor of enjoyment! we leave in three days! nothing else to say really

this is a festival i have dreamed of going to since i was 17. five years later….BOOM SHACKALAKA!! warriorette has been before, so at least i won’t be too horribly confused. ahh music and desert. nothing better! except maybe folk fest? because i just got my tickets for that the other day. another festival i am looking forward to!

anyways, Coachella for three days, then we’re just going to hang out in venice beach for two more days. not sure what our plan is for those days yet, but i’m sure we’ll make the most of it.

that is a trip i am looking forward to and i’m sure warriorette is, because it marks her end of semester, and her birthday! yesss!

other than that, the weather is getting nice, i’ve been on my skateboard a few times already, and things are good. pickles is sleeping in front of me, and she’s a darn cutie!

sunday morning’s certainly are nice. i do not like the idea of getting up early to go to work, but i like how quiet everything is on sunday morning. there are nearly no cars on the road, no people wandering around, everything is closed. i can coast on through the streets without worrying about crazy truck’s tailing me then speeding around me for no reason!

mouse is the cutest thing in the world right now. chillin’ all upside down-style in her chair. this is probably the first morning ever that these guys (the cats) aren’t going insane. couple of cuties right now i tells ya!

apparently things are just always crazy busy around here. so let’s see what happened since last we spoke…

the pickles poem, has become a song! i started writing it, and played it for warriorette one night. she wrote a few more verses for me, and i think we’ll be selling out arenas next week. that’s just how it works, baby!

i had a sweet jam with Jonas, Dustin, and Nick. all of us have very different musical backgrounds, so parts of the jam were rather convoluted and nightmarish. BUT there were also some very good moments where we all jived together and were able to really create some nice music! so positive energy for that all around. we’re planning to do another jam soon, and i hope we do.

warriorette and i…are going…to LA! yes!! i’ve been singing the theme song from the o.c. pretty much everyday. i’ve only left the country once, when i was like 12 years old, so i’m really excited for this. getting all my passport crap together wasn’t so much fun, but it’s taken care of now. we’ll be leaving the day before warriorette’s birthday, staying in a ritzy hotel for a night, then heading to the coachella music festival!! a festival i’ve wanted to go to for years. and the fact that i’ll be going with someone who’s done it before makes it that much more exciting!

i could actually go on about the l.a. trip for hours, but my mind is moving a mile a minute just thinking about it…

…so work has been very crazy! first there was new years eve, which was a bit of a gong show. we had a special menu, with these miniature desserts, that were a nightmare to make, and we had to make 300+ of them (of which only 150 were sold) in addition to prepping insane amounts for the event that is new years eve! but, in the pinch, our awesome prep crew pulled our shit together, and made a very good new years eve for everyone involved!

oh and then new years eve was amazing! warriorette spent the day preparing a feast of delicious appetizers including spinach dip, crab cakes, baked brie, and more. we spent the night indulging, and hanging out, relaxing. we even got to watch fire works from our apartment window! then new years day, was the day of breakfasts. we made eggs benedict for breakfast, and pancakes for dinner. can’t remember what we had for lunch…

so new years ruled! oh yeah, then work again! back at it, as we say…we prepared the same menu for valentines day, and it wasn’t as crazy. the crazy part was that i was training a new guy at the time. oi vey! but it all went really well, and i ended up working several long days, but not being too too phased by them. so one day chef asks me if i’d be interested in flying to Kelowna to help them train prep cooks for the new store they’re opening there.

DUH! yes i would! oh wait! it’s supposed to be mid april? scheduling conflict with our l.a. trip! nooo! but wait, there’s more! chef gave me the confirmed dates, and it’s going to be right after our l.a. trip! YES! i’m just waiting for confirmation from the regional chef, but it looks like i’ll be going. i’m crazy excited for this experience!

so if everything works out, i’ll be taking two trips in april/may, and that makes me a happy clam

i love warriorette with all my heart. she made us a fabulous valentines dinner, which included fettucini alfredo, made with fresh pasta, garlic bread, chocolate covered strawberries, delicious salad, and a lovely bottle of chianti. and she fooled me, by saying she’d “warm something up for me”. clever girl…

lately we’ve just been hanging out, watching the olympics, and being crazy. warriorette has been insane with school, and i’ve just been insane. today i went for a skate on the river, then a walk to corydon and back…and i’m at like 700 words on this post, so i should wrap it all up nicely.

thanks for reading! :

warriorette and i had our housewarming party the other night. none of my friend’s showed up, which was a bit of a bummer, but we all had a great time. there was definitely mulled wine, a butt load of dainties, card games, karaoke, and a little midnight rendition of ‘sandwiches’. totally a blast, best way to warm a house!

i have been missing my core-four lately. Jonas, Renee, Corey, and Brit. it’s this time of year. when i lived in st. andrews it was easy to see the whole crew anytime or anywhere. but now, the only person who’s not forty-five minutes away, is Renee. but i’m optimistic that once the holidays slow down, and once the roads are little nicer, we’ll all be able to get together. it is a goal!

speaking of the roads, how crazy was the snowstorm christmas eve and christmas day?! yeah, woke up on the 24th, to a foot of snow, and closed highways. everyone cancelled on my mom’s christmas gathering (there’s that forty-five minute drive again…) and she told me she’d feel better if warriorette and i didn’t brave the roads. then christmas day…even more snow! it was outrageous!

but fortunately for me, warriorette’s family took me under their wing! we had a lovely christmas eve of socializing, and appetizers. then breakfast the next day, and dinner, and lots of presents, and all that fun stuff! warriorette, bless her heart of a warrior, was sick from the 23rd to the 26th. talk about brutal time to be sick. mostly stomach issues, and getting up in the middle of the night issues. but, she braved through it like a lord of war!…and i made miso soup for us

so now, we’re preparing for new years. which we’ve decided is going to be chill. well, as chill as can be anyways. i would like to go out, but here’s how that would go: i would get up at 8am to go to work. get home from work around 9pm. shower, shave, make and eat dinner, get on the road to drive out to selkirk by 10:30, get to selkirk by 11:15, if not later, hang out for an hour, watch the ball drop, head home, sleep. aka: push myself way too far with no sleep, and a cold.

so we’ve decided to take it easy. we’re guna make some appetizers, drink some wine, watch the ball drop, sleep, have benedict for breakfast, enjoy the day off, and relax. i want to relax. i need to relax.

wow this has been a ramble. here’s a poem about pickles.

hunting with her eyes

the cursor on the screen

tail twitching, hindlegs bracing

ears are perked, heart is racing.

catch the digital mouse

then let it get away

watch it dart from side to side

it’s always time for play.

work has been good times. i was so scared for december because we’re open at eleven everyday instead of four. which means, i gotta bake a whole lotta bread in a short amount of time. the first couple days were tricky, but i think i got it on lockdown now. and i like being able to leave at four or five o’ clock instead of six or seven. it means warriorette and i can have more time in the evenings to hang out

which is good for this time of year, because pretty much every evening we’ve got something planned…like thursday night. we got a kitten! her name is Pickles, and she’s the cutest thing since…digital tv? anyways, she’s super playful and cuddly like all kittens, and i’m very happy to add her to our family! Mouse isn’t as receptive, but she’s warming up. this morning, and last night they had some fun times playing with each other.

right now, Pickles and Mouse are sleeping, not together mind you, and warriorette is working on essay stuff. regarding oppressors and oppressed. and i’m just bloggin’. this morning i (almost) finished my christmas shopping. i got everyone taken care of except for my mom. which is odd, because she gave me a very nice detailed list of options. within’ the week i’ll get her on lockdown.

ima guna go eata some cookies