These are neccessities, these are things...

It's late Saturday afternoon. I've got a bunch of homework that needs to be done. I've got a bunch MORE of relaxing that needs to be done. My life got about a million times easier this week when one of my jobs finally ended. Now, I can focus on my overload of school-work instead!

Lucky for me, most of my final work of the semester is done. Unfortunately, I've still got some homework that needs to be completed, and the biggest problem is, I need to complete way ahead of when it is due. What I mean is that I have a few things to hand in over the exam period, during which I will be in Toronto for teacher-placement. So, I need to finish this homework early.

Now, for those of you that know me, that isn't that hard. All things considered, I SHOULD be able to get it taken care of pretty easily. Problem is, I'm in total relaxation mode! It makes it hard to focus, but I haven't let myself relax in so long that I need to forget about work.

So I have the perfect solution: recording! That's right, I'm finally recording a bunch of songs that I have written over the past six months or so. They are all in demo form, meaning a single microphone, a single track for music and vocals. It's mainly for posterity and to be able to show people my stuff who hasn't heard it live, but it will also factor in to some improvements to be put in place. The demo will be called "These are neccessities, these are things," and will fill in to my tentative "release" schedule like this:

Woodchip 0: These are necessities, these are things (Online demo) - December 15/08

Woodchip 1: Don't forget to smile (EP) - April 09

Woodchip 2: It doesn't hurt to hope (EP) - July 09

The two EPs are instead of my planned LP...and I have no idea why.

Anyway, in other news, I should get back to my stuff. I will be posting more frequently, I SWEAR!

Stay frosty everyone!

Waking to the sound of car alarms

Hey readers...all two-four of you.

I'm back.

With a vengeance.

CLEARLY the "writing a new album" thing didn't work out. Clearly.

But alas, I am still writing Don't Forget to Smile (and it's newly formed companion EP "It Doesn't Hurt to Hope").

Still, it's time to post in the blogeroonie again. FREQUENTLY (lets see how long I can handle this).

There's so much to update that all I'm going to do is post a poem I wrote for my Creative Writing class:

"Waking to the Sound of Car Alarms" (title from the Neko Case song "In California")

Trapped by the bright lights;
the wind tunnel; the night sky, still Halloween orange;
and a tower of a million LED bulbs shining violet-indigo-blue -
You
trudging down the lamp-lit street, sidewalk neglected
by the works department.
A bit of snow, barely through the smog,
falls on your red pea-coat.
Yet you don't consider going back?

On the smallest little marina
of Conception, he's bringin' in yer boat.
Tears stream down 'is cheeks; warm, even in this island cold.
And behind 'im, yer old place - still aquamarine
against jade and magenta houses. And in three-hundred people
he's one of two-hundred-and-fifty fishermen.
He's thinkin' of ya still.
What did ya ever find wrong with yer Little Heart's Ease?

Enjoy friends, and check back here often for more updates!

Stay frosty!

Be careful what you wish for...cuz you just might get it

Well.

I'm back.

Believe it or not.
I'm back...

So I changed up the blog quite a bit. For instance, new look, new colour, new title...New title? That's right, this blog is taking on a new purpose. Not only will you get to read about the needless and menial aspects of my life, but you also get to read about my process in writing, recording, and producing a brand new album for me and my Librarians of Truth: "Don't Forget to Smile."

Inspired, mainly, by a notebook that has recently come into my posession, I'm beginning to write an album that differs so much from previous stuff that I just HAD to change everything. My style, my writing...and my blog.

Here's where I am right now. Five songs written, three of which completely finished. I'll give a basic rundown on the whole deal, but only over time. I'm aiming for close to 15 tracks in total (yea, I'm crazy...but I just keep writing!)

That being said, there's a lot that I'm shooting for, so I'm definitely hoping to make the most kick-ass blog of life.

Here's the first song-talk...no title, and I'll only post some of the lyrics, but here it goes! Maybe you can help with the title?

So I wrote this song about a week ago with a strange tempo and sound, but I wanted something a little different. Here are some of the lyrics:

"Fall in line

Follow me

Fellow

Watchmaker

Make me sounds

Of kindling burning

Fall right through

The seventh storey

The last sin"

This is the song where the album title comes from. It's pretty sweet.

Anyway, I've been working on the progression for this song. The chorus freakin sucks right now, I mean musically. Lyrics are fine. I play the whole mandolin open then do one string at a time. LAME! 

Essentially this is an unfinished song. I should really do more work on it. It ends with "remind me / to find out / who I am."

That's all for now folks!

Is There a Ghost?

To be quite honest, there are some things that can be solved in two ways. One is to fight, and stress yourself the hell out of your mind. The second is to just get it out of the way. I'm not saying by giving up, but merely by letting things happen as they do.

Problem is, I am AWFUL at taking my own advise. I mean, there is so much shit going down in places that are really beyond my current scope that I shouldn't deal with them, right? I have my home life and my job...that's the stuff I do. That doesn't bother me. But for some reason, stuff that shouldn't bother me, does! Weird, eh?

So here I am, being asked things I can't answer, being told things I can't agree with, and being made to do things I just can't do. But I take one route, and screw some people over...I take another, and screw other people over. It's a tricky balance, but it's all the way in a city I currently don't take residence in. I mean, I will again very soon, but not right now.

The way I see it, the world is made up of just people. People doing things one way and the other. People doing things for other people, or just for themselves. I'd like to think that no matter how bad or opposite to myself some person could be, they are still a person. With a brain and a heart and some red goo connecting the two. And these two things allow them to move and think and do and feel and all sorts of good things. Really, we're all just people. Problem is, we all try to think about things in one way or another. There is no broad or sweeping vision, no way to look at things from more than one perspective. You either choose a side, or you don't. Yet either way, your blood still connects your heart and brain.

Really, it's people that I wish to deal with. I miss my friends abroad and sometimes I don't see my closest friends where I am now. Friends aren't issues or battles or workstations or putters or muffins or records or coffees or robots (I wish!) or anything. They are people. People that you can turn to and say "hey! I'm a person too, yo!" And they listen.

This one goes out to people. People who matter and who are there. People that I, without them, would probably have quite a bit of difficulty in general. It'd be a pretty big list to put together. You know who you are. For starters, you're reading my blog. Like, who does that?

Anyway, this is for everyone. And for you :)

"Is There a Ghost" by Band of Horses

I could sleep
I could sleep
When I lived alone
Is there a ghost in my house?

Rawr!

Cease to Begin

So.
It's been a month, hasn't it. A lot can happen in a month. A lot of not blogging.
I could throw a whole slew of excuses, such as no time because of work, no time because of other commitments, simply no time in general. Or I could say I just haven't been able to sit down and do it. To be frank, I haven't really written anything till today. It's that great and omniscient "Writer's Block" I hear so much about.

Things are busy right now, and I finally sat down this evening and thought: hey, there are people who I have been out of contact with that PROBABLY would like for me to catch up. So. A month later, here I am.

I'll be brief with the most recent stuff... in fact, making the use of bullets!

• Camp: I've been working as a Mini-Golf Specialist at a day camp. It's amazing, and gets better with each passing day. The kids are great and my specialty allows for a lot of creativity and innovation. I'm only a couple weeks in, but I know it'll be a good part of my summer. For training, the specialists, swim, and head staff went on a retreat up north for a few days. It was a lot of fun, and a great way to bond. I'm looking forward to the continuation of the summer, despite my tiredness!
• No Middle Siblings, Live in Concert: On June 24, myself, my brother, his girlfriend, and her sister played a show together at a local bar/cafe. It went amazing, and we all got to sing songs in different (and often hilarious) combinations. This was definitely a super highlight of the summer, and I really appreciate everyone who came even a short distance to see me and the band play (especially Soaking up the Sun, who had the longest, and easily most arduous journey :P). If you'd like to see a video of one the songs we performed as a group, head on over to:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv7S14pxsmg (No Middle Siblings performing "1234" by Feist)
• Moby Dick and the Sinking Ships: So a few of my roommates are in an awesome instrumental band together. Twice since summer started I've gone up to University town to see them play, which has been awesome. Honestly, every time they play it's amazing. Also, I get to see Grey Eyed Girl, Soaking up the Sun, and occasionally others (but who cares about the others!). Great news about this band too, is that myself and another friend of the band will be working together over the coming year at getting shows for the band not just in Uni town, but elsewhere too! Thus, this friend will be the band's "Manager" and I, technically, a "Promoter." I'm hoping we can really help the band out (and you should totally come see them when they're playing)
• Recent stuff: One of my best friends at home has been seperated from me for long periods at a time, and it sucks. This is for many reasons, but I am excited about when I can see her, and looking forward to August when she is free more! I have, however, been hanging out with her boyfriend, who, of course, is also a friend of mine. That has been awesome. Last night we went to see an Open Stage show in Toronto and there was a whole adventure involved when he left his bag behin :P. This past weekend I went with my brother and his fiancee to Wasaga Beach. It was a very nice and relaxing day, but I got burnt! Poo
• Physical exertion: I'm proud of myself for this past Saturday. I had a very exhausting day, but it was ALL worth it. First, in the morning, my brother and I biked from north of Steeles, which is the northern Toronto border, to Eglinton, which is halfway through the city. We got to see the beautiful parks network and take - mainly - downhill paths. Then, in the afternoon, my friend and I WALKED from the same area north of Steeles to Dundas Street! This is right in the heart of downtown Toronto...meaning we walked quite the distance on the main city street, Yonge. It took 5 hours, but was definitely rewarding. We learned about stretches of Yonge we had never really seen or noticed before. GOOD TIMES

Anyway, that's the recap. I really miss Soaking up the Sun and Grey Eyed Girl. It seems like it has been too long (it has), BUT we shall reunite soon, I hope. Aka, they should come to Toronto...wink wink, nudge nudge. Or I got Uni town?

Speaking of Uni town, things have been going down at the University these days and it's starting to piss me off. People just aren't paying attention to the whole story, all the facts, or even offering a small bit of perspective on the issue. I'm trying to think about the work I have to do, and not let myself be bothered by what's going on. But it seems this is an advance look at the year ahead...I don't think I'm a very big fan.

I'm going to be honest for my closing, no song lyrics this time around. I have a student government position, not highly ranking but still important. But I don't see myself being completely stressed and upset about this all year. I was only elected a few months ago, but frankly, my resignation isn't too far off.

The Most Used Key on my Keyboard, Part 1

Hello all, I've got a two parter for you.
Part one is Soaking up the Sun's book list. Now, I don't intend to do book-club stylez (of course, with a "z"). I just thought it would be fun. Part two is a CD list I got from another website, of similar style to this (but half of it I make up myself). Also, a pondering occurs in part two.
So here goes part one!

BOOK LIST!
*bold those you've read
*italicize those you started but never finished
*double star ones you want to read**
*add your own
*post to your blog, if desired

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien (reading it right now, actually)
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen**
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (among favourite books)
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. 1984, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier**
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame**
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres**
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell**
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez**
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert (another ultimate favourite)
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas**
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens4
8. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett**
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer**
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky**
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman**
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Susskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett**
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce (how embarrassing!)
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl**
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith**
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake**
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley**
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo**
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho**
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez**
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie**
101. The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings
102. The Dreamers by David and Leigh Eddings
103. Carrie by Stephen King
104. Salem’s Lot
105. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman**
106. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman**
107. The Lion, the Wicth and the Wardrobe (all the Narnia books) by C.S. Lewis
108. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
109. The Kite Runner**
110. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
111. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen**
112. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
113. Are you there god, it’s me Margeret by Judy Blume
114. Atonement by Ian McEwan
115. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
116. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
117. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
118. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
119. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque**
120. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
121. Sula by Toni Morrison
122. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
123. The Anti-politics Machine by Ferguson
124. Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keys
125. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
126. The Color Purple. Alice Walker
127. A Wrinkle In Time. Madeleine L'Engle**
128. Uncle Tom's Cabin. Harriet Beecher Stowe
129. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Maya Angelou
130. Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury
131. Walden by Henry David Thoreau
132. Bang/Crunch by Neil Smith
133. JPod by Douglas Coupland
134. 2001: A Space Oddysey by Arthur C. Clarke
135. Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam
136. East of Eden by John Steinbeck**

Stay tuned for Part Two!

3rd Movement: Birds in the Abyss

The title of this entry is the name of the 3rd movement in Oliver Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, which I had the privilege of seeing performed by the Gryphon Trio (plus clarinet), last night as part of the Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity, Luminato. I'm a volunteer for the festival, and this performance, which combined the original piece with a visual aspect inspired by Messiaen's ability to see colours due to different sounds. What resulted was the performance I saw last night: Colour....for the End of Time. It was kind of boring, but also kind of awesome.

So here's a super quick recap of life and stuff. Main thing: I attended a couple convocations at school, which were awesome. Super highlight of my time there? Attending a special luncheon as Soaking up the Sun's guest (my name was actually Guest on the list). It was an awesome lunch, one of the best the catering company at our school had ever put before me (not that I've eaten their food alot...*cough*). Not only did they prepare an exquisite meal, we had the hilarious opportunity to sing the University's President happy birthday! Now let me tell you something, being a couple of the only students in the room, this was a strange opportunity. Even more so, a bunch of older people ranging from past students to professors to University Governors tend to create a remarkably in-key version of "Happy Birthday!" It was pretty cool and definitely unexpected. Fun times had by all.

After fun times I had to go back to Toronto, for I had a doctor's appointment, then an x-ray in two days. The x-ray, dear lord, was such a strange experience. I trek down pretty far out of my way, go in for five minutes, and come out with a three-hundred dollar dent in my credit card. All this because I had a tooth removed in a surgery a few years ago, and I may need a new implant tooth.

Anyway, coming up to today, I'm helping out with my old public school's arts night. This is fine and all, despite the LACK OF AIR CONDITIONING. Holy cow it's hot in there. Tonight is the performance, I hope it's not awful bad. But despite the heat in today's rehearsal, there was one great benefit of the day at the school.

I walked into the staff room to bug my brother (one of the teachers there) and talk to the other teachers, when in walks this guy who looks my age or younger wearing a staff tag. One of the teachers says "you must be a kid, right?" And he shakes his head. "You're a teacher!?" This teacher was incredulous. This supply teacher, who I will refer to as Blue for absolutely no reason, said yes, and that he was filling in for a 7/8 class.

Now let me just tell you something. There might be stories of cute supply teachers and stuff...but this one is practically my age. And he is definitely cute. He said he was just out of teachers college...so really close to my age. I just couldn't get over it. Anyway, nothing to be done.

That's it that's all folks.

"Doubles" by The Librarians of Truth

My decision has caused a division
In my religion and soul
I had no intention to ruin the lesson
To ruin my heart as I did

...just felt like it.
Stay frosty!

SPECIAL: Fight wise and fringe worthy

Damn the sound that breaks the bond

Damn them all, them all in one

On the precipice of inadequacy

They chant

And they tell you there is nothing else to worry about



Those fucking bureacrats

They have nothing more to live for?



It's not a statement of waste

If there's nothing being wasted

Unless everyone wastes away to nothing first



So they chant

And they learn how to defend themselves

No longer unprepared for the worst

And the worst


Those fucking bureacrats

Can blow the big one

While their opponents roll a big one



On the outskirts

The rest are just waiting

For the crusade

All Those Songs Down There, They Have a Purpose

to the max), and a few amazing VHS tapes (Disney, of course). But still, money has been going to food.

So, I applied to this creative writing class. It requires a portfolio application, and to my surprise, I got in! I heard this news recently, and it was super exciting! I put two stories ("unforgivable," and "Sprite") and two poems ("This Way Comes" and "Untitled May 24"), and got in! It was sweet, and now I have to do some other reading and stuff. As well, I'm exploring some other writing this summer too.

On that vain I'm writing a story called "Return to Me" about surprises in love, which serves as a prelude to a novel I'm slowly working on called "The Great Canadian Novel." More on that later.

I have to run for now.

"The Call" by Regina Spektor

It started out with a feeling
And it turned into a hope
And that hope became a quiet thought
And that thought became a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder
Till it was a battle cry

Stay frosty!

BLOGGORAMA UPDATE!

Hey everyone, 4 post update today! A couple from a while back that were never posted, and two ones from today! Enjoy!

Days Are Just Drops in the River to be Lost, Always

Let us go then, you and I...

The time has come for one of those quiet, soft, and reminiscing-like blog entries. This is mainly inspired by the song in the title. Other than this title line, there is a line that goes "On the shore, she speaks to the ocean and the sea, silent." Just hearing it makes it work, makes it pop. It's just...awesome.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about stuff lately. For one thing, I really want to improve my writing skills. Now, I don't think my writing is poor, it's just that I very rarely finish projects larger then a few pages. This is unfortunate! I have a couple musicals, a film, more than half a dozen plays, a few "novels" and many television show/movie ideas I've never even attempted to bring to fruition. I think that if I really set myself to it, I can make it happen. Sometimes it is too difficult to make it all work.

I've also been thinking a lot about life. I'm currently in a very transient phase living between cities. Until work starts for me in July, I'm only kept in one place or the other by my desire. If I want to be here, I am; if I want to be there, I am. In fact, I'm there in just a couple of days. But soon I'll be volunteering more, keeping busy, even doing a little more local travelling.

Last of all is my music. I have found my brother's old keyboard as well as a working power adapter. So now I can finally play some music on piano. That song from a while ago, "Whether You Like it or Not," is very close to the sound I want for it with the keyboard. I am still working on other songs too...I mean, I've got to work towards something.

And that something has finally presented itself. On June 24, 2008, at the Free Times Cafe in Toronto, I will be playing my first real set as a solo musician. I'm very excited and very nervous for this. I need to compile around 45 minutes of music, and my original stuff isn't that long yet (the stuff I like that is), plus I need to make sure I'm damn good at it to play. This time last year I was terrible at mandolin...I hope I'm better now. I'll see.

The show is less than a month away, and I need to get cracking. Got a suggestion for a cover I should play. Britney Spears and Mariah Carey are already in the mix, probably, and a Disney song too. Any requests, oh readers? I also intend to record this summer (fingers crossed), and get the album, Sequence of Measures, actually done. I also have an alternate album title, which is Juices That Do Things.

Anyway, it's late. I hope you're not mad at me for not blogging for so long. Enjoy!
And stay frosty!

"Winter Storms" by Daniel Field

You flowered the garden
When you gave up the last time
Let's go on a thieving binge
I've got the perfect crime
We can break all the hearts of lovestruck men
And laugh at the women and do it again

Till next time, y'all!

Come Down From the Mountain, You Have Been Gone Too Long

Ottawa. Our country's capital. The big city where the big cars go up to a big hill and make some big decisions. There are also big museums, big galleries, big restaurants, and big fun!

Ok, too many uses of big.
Last week I went to Ottawa, not as a leisurely vacation, but as a staff resource for my old public school's grad trip. I was going mainly to assist with a visually impaired student and make his time in the country's capital unique and exciting. However, in a three-day, two-night trip, it is hard to experience all the city has to offer, especially considering the amount of stuff we do and the speed we do it at!

On the first day, last wednesday, everyone had to be ready to go for 6.30 in the morning. Ew. That's all I can say about that load up time. We had scheduled about 8 hours to get Ottawa, a little much considering it takes, oh, 4 hours. So we got there early, which was awesome, because then our itinerary had some leeway. So where do we go before our first real stop? Well, where else do you take a group of grade eight kids, especially girls...the mall! We had a nice stop there to eat our lunches and catch our breath before we got thrust into "learning." Our first stop was the Canada Science and Technology Museum, which featured a simulator ride! It kind of made me sick (eek), but it was a nice museum. A little bit too sterile and, to be quite honest, odd (it was like a warehouse with mix and match exhibits), I enjoyed it. We then checked into the hotel, got about an hour to rest, then off to dinner. Our first buffet dinner was ok. It wasn't amazing, but, for me at least, I didn't have to worry about footing the bill. After this was a trip to Parliament Hill, which, as a budding politisaurus, I found quite interesting. After that tour, we had a "ghost walk" through parts of downtown Ottawa, specifically a hostel that was once a prison (MAD CREEPSIES). Finally our night came to a close, we walked back to the hotel, and PASSED OUT (however, my roommate snored, making it really difficult at first).

I should interlude here. The boss of the tour company was our tour manager for the trip, and my brother worked for him for years. Both he and my mother wants me to get a job with this company, so after the first night, the boss already said "if you want the job next year, it'll be there for you." This is fine and all, in fact it's great, but also balls because I want to work in my school town full time next summer. TOO MUCH PREDICAMENT! (bad grammar, yeesh).

Day two was a later awakening, followed by a buffet breakfast at the Hard Rock Cafe (wierd place, but whatevs). Couldn't eat the sausage or bacon, but probably for the better...don't know how the kids handled it. Following this (note that I may have skipped something here), we went to one of my favourites spots in the country: the Civ. The Canadian Museum of Civilization is nothing short of AWESOME. Formerly the unfortunately-titled "National Museum of Man," the Civ is a massive testament to the power of cultural institutions in Canada. Housing an impressive original Totem Pole collection that is well maintained, myself and the tour were able to make our way through the growth of North America into what it is today (whether that's good or not) through large, interactive walk-through displays. I'm pretty much in love with the place. After lunch we saw an IMAX on their dome screen about Mars. It was ok, but kind of boring. Following this was the Supreme Court of Canada, which was funny because we did a mock trial with the kids being lawyers and judges. THEN we came to my other favourite part, the National Gallery of Canada.

The National Gallery is more than just an art gallery. It's an experience, to say the least. When the place was built in the 1980's, it stood out like a sore thumb in Ottawa's "skyline," if you can call it that. Moshe Safdie (an Israeli-Canadian architect) created a glass and sandstone masterpiece of a building, with magnificent glass structures and a high-ceilinged open aired gallery on the inside. Not only is the display of the artwork incredible, the building itself is a work of art. As our tour guide explained, for instance, the windows for all top-floor exhibits have automatic curtains and make sure the amount of light in the gallery is the same at all times. Also, unlike some galleries, there are no gallery lights immediately around art works, giving an eerie, unnatural look to some paintings. Also, the National Gallery has incredible Contemporary and Canadian sections, which I would have liked to spend more time in without a doubt. One of the most intriguing parts of the whole place, which we only walked by briefly, is the interior garden. Many parts of the building have indoor flower and other plant gardens which were a strange sight within the building.

After the Gallery was dinner time, followed by a trip to a bowling alley for relaxation and, for me, terrible bowling skills (as my visually impaired student said, and I agree, "5 pin bowling sucks"). The next day included the drive home, so we only had the chance to visit a few places. First, we went to the Canadian Aviation Museum, (which, in my opinion, isn't great), and then the Canadian War Museum. This place was incredible. Not only was the architecture of the new building VERY similar to that of my university (as well as much of the interior), but the design of the medium-sized walk-through museum was incredible. We only mangaed to visit the WWI section, as the students had only learned up to that point, but I definitely would have enjoyed the chance to be at this museum longer. Afterward was a short stop at the ByWard Market, the market of Ottawa with lots of little shops and restaurants. This was our lunch, where I had an overly expensive veggie sandwich. And that rounded out my trip.

After the bus back, I got home, flicked on the TV, and fell asleep not long after. I need to go back to Ottawa. And soon.

"Free Man in Paris" by Joni Mitchell

I was a free man in paris
I felt unfettered and alive
Nobody was calling me up for favors
No ones future to decide

That's it that's all, folks!

SPECIAL EDITION: The Engagement Party

***Ok, so this time, I wrote this out in my word processor and never copied it over. Don't kill me***

Headline: Engagement Party rocked by presence of International Celebrity, Soaking up the Sun
Byline: By Utahraptor, Rawr

Toronto, Ontario - There are times when dinosaurs must realize that they are beginning to enter a new stage in their lives. For instance, this reportasaurus knows a T-Rex that plans to be wed next year. However, as a Utahraptor, I know that I, personally, am in no rush. In fact, I am not getting married. My brother is.

Ztegasaurus has been engaged to Atouraptor for a few months now. The big deal was their engagement party. Several people came from far and wide to celebrate their engagement at a local restaurant, serving up fine Triassic dining with a live band and a DJ (and not to mention sweet dancing).

But what really made the festivities was the long journey undertaken by international superstar, Soaking up the Sun, who graced the party with her presence. Many were pleased to meet with her in person for the first time, and I, as Utahraptor, was even more glad to be fortunate enough to be her date.

Many of the party-goers jumped at the chance to interview the celebrity, but I made sure that she was not overwhelmed by her many fans. Instead, I stole her away to the dance floor a few times, and was able to make it out with only one picture of our stolen moments. My other brother, was also caught on film with a rare breed, the Jurassic Richasaur.

But what made the party so incredible was the fact that Sun came all the way to visit me and my family, meet the lovely spouses-to-be, and most of all, spend time in my cave lair. It was pretty rockin'. Is rockin' an investigative journalism word? Who cares? The only newspaper that will buy this is a moderately unliked school newspaper from the Kawartha region...

Awkward.

Signing off,
Utahraptor
Rawr!

In Spite of Everything, I Still Believe People are Good

***Once again, a blog entry from a while back was unfinished and hence never posted. Feast your eyes!***

Yes, I haven't blogged in a while. That shouldn't keep me from being cool!

Recent life has been a hodge-podge of awesome and busy. This weekend I went back to my school town . My roommates band was playing at - or should I say "under" - one of the bars in town. It was not the greatest venue in the world, especially considering the only people in attendance were friends of the bands playing...a small crowd. Oh well, I had a great time, especially seeing some of my roommates, school friends, and most importantly, Soaking up the Sun and Grey Eyed Girl! Nothing completes a weekend like those two.

I thought I'd use part of this blog to talk about these two, so once I'm done the life update, I'll take care of that. So, surrounding this little excursion, I've been working at my old public school doing some volunteer work. I have been tasked with preparing a video for their participation in the "Literacy Collaborative," a school board-wide conference type thing where schools share their advancement in literacy education (throws up in mouth). Anyway, I filmed the classes and teachers doing literacy stuff, but the real challenge came in the editing. Today I FINALLY finished after hours upon hours of video capture, editing, fading, titling, and dealing - of course - with the magical software of the Microsoft corporation. Ultimately, it came out as a pretty snazzy video, AND I got to sneak in some of my brothers' music, WITHOUT HIM KNOWING! Anyway, that's life right now, in a nutshell. In a couple days I'm off to Ottawa, and I'll be blogging after (I hope).

So, where to begin on Sun and Grey. Well, howsabout a multi-part series! No, too lame. I was going to slowly recount our meetings, but I kind of don't remember very well! Instead I remember just already knowing these two lovely ladies. And I also don't remember how I lived without them :P

Soaking up the Sun really does bring that sunny smile and, as cliched as it seems, disposition to the moment. This dapper dino can't help but giggle at the sight of a beaming and radiant Sun, especially on a sunny day! AND, the sweetest sense of humour this side of Texas to boot. That sentence didn't make much sense, but I don't mind. Night Kitchen much, Sun? I know I can always turn to her in times of need, and I'm glad I can be there for her in the same situation. Now just one thing...GET A SUMMER PHONE LINE! It's hard to get a hold of her right now (TEAR).

Grey Eyed Girl is, as her name implies, a robot-in-disguise. That's right. A Transformer. I'm just kidding. I remember stealing Grey's pencil (and NEVER RETURNING IT, MUAHAHAH), as well as sitting across from her every time in our Po-Po class. After a while, she got used to the sight of me being late, and came up with a different way to make fun of me EVERY time. One day she'll run out of these, but I don't think that day is any time soon. And her writing! WOW. I hope she gets into the creative writing class at school, because her writing is freaking awesome. I wish I could...you know...compel...and...emotionalize? Luckily for me, Grey is in fact easy to contact....she just works crazy hours (ALSO TEAR).

Well that's it for this manosaur today.

"Hotel Song" by Regina Spektor

Come in to my world
I want to show show show you
Come in to my bed
I've got to know know know you

I have dreams of orca whales and owls
But I wake up in fear
You will never be my
You will never be my
Fool will never be my fool

Stay frosty, y'all!

You Counted All the Seconds to July the First But You Counted All the Minutes and it Made You Feel Worse

Hey blog-readers. I'm feeling rather bloggish today, so I thought I'd blog. Bloggerific, eh?

So what's new in life these days. Well, me and my mandolin have been hard at work. My last couple of songs have been pretty awesome, so I'm working on a pseudo-pop number called "Whether You Like it or Not." I'll talk more about that after. I've also been working on some new covers, and the most recent include the following artists/musicians/writers: High School Musical, Joanna Newsom, Coldplay, Laura Veirs, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Shakira...and the list goes on. I'm especially proud of the Coldplay and Mariah Carey ones. I'm a pretty cool...dork.

Anyway, here are some of the lyrics of "Whether You Like it or Not," imagine a poppy, bubbly piano accompanying the lyrics:

It's come to the point
Where everything
The taxi fare, subway token
The can of paint, the coffee cup
Are all the same
We've hit the point
Where everyone
Is changing pace, losing the race
To big machines and whirring things
They're all the same
That's how it is

Whether you like it or not
Things are on the up
No time to make the same mistakes
Getting back on a level plain
Whether you like it or not
I'm about to turn around
The way things are will change
To something you didn't see coming
Whether you like it or not
Oh oh, oh oh
Whether you like it or not

I've started to think
About all the times
We fooled around, found common ground
And broke apart, broke your heart
That can change
It's starting to get
A little cooler
In the summer, and warmer in the winter
You're the same cold
All around
That can change

Whether you like it or not
Things are on the up
No time to make the same mistakes
Getting back on a level plain
Whether you like it or not
I'm about to turn around
The way things are will change
To something you didn't see coming
Whether you like it or not
Oh oh, oh oh
Whether you like it or not

...I know it needs work, but pretty rockin huh?
Anyway, that's all that's on my mind right now. Big day tomorrow! I'll blog about it ;)

Stay frosty folks.

And yea, those are today's song lyrics :D

Goldenrod and the 4-H Stone, The Things I Brought You When I Found Out You Had Cancer of the Bone

I think it'd be really funny to blog in rhyme.
...
...
...
But I won't.

Sorry, my faithful (two) readers, to keep you waiting for a new blog, but here it is! I won't make it too long, but I'll fill you in on the happenings in life!

In a nut shell, I moved houses. That's kinda cool, my new room is awesome! And I have a TV. Soaking up the Sun and Grey Eyed Girl helped warm the house with me (does that make sense) and we watched the Matrix. Awesome.

Next, moved back to my parents house for the "summer." It took me two full days to clean and tidy my room, but I conducted a ridiculous purge of all my stuff. I came in with two duffel bags and 5 boxes, and ended up putting 4 boxes of other stuff into the basement and went through most of my clothes. Next step? The dreaded closet (me = packrat).

Last couple of days have been busy. Aside from unpacking, I've tried to spend time with my family and also my friend Luna (not her real name) who left this morning to go tree-planting in Saskatchewan! I finally come back from school and she LEAVES! Ugh, I'm over it though, my friend and I "helped" her pack last night.

Last night I cooked dinner for the family, and that went well. I've had a bunch of appointments of late, dentist was Monday, ortho was today, I have a pedicure this afternoon (SO EXCITED), and gp, derma, and I think something else too coming up. Gee, leave town for a while and come back to a packed schedule of waiting rooms. Woot.

In other news, I'm enjoying this brief period of freedom. I have more busy times coming up, but I'm really looking forward to the completion of this week. Today is my brothers' birthday, so big family dinner. Tomorrow, I'm at my mom and brothers' school (they teach at the same public school) to help with a project for the local Education board. In the night I'm seeing Countess (also not a real name), who is one of my best friends in this crazy place called Toronto! We're probably going to a party, out for coffee and desserts, and maybe even watch Spirited Away! Then Friday is the BIG DAY. I'm going to the bus terminal to meet a certain very radiant young lady who will accompany me to my brothers' engagement party in the night. And then there's the weekend...which I am partway through planning.

So that's the near future, which is exciting. I'm hoping in the more distantesque future, I can welcome a girl with grey eyes to the t-dot as well.

Alright, that's all for now. I have to go soak my feet in advance of pedicure. And yes, I will actually get to blogging more!

"The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" by Sufjan Stevens

Man of Steel, Man of Heart
Tame our ways, if we start
To devise something more
Something half ways

As always, stay frosty.

Weep Upon the Spot for the Starving of Me

****NOTE: I wrote this two weeks ago, and never posted it. My apologies, but here it is****

Hey all! It's been super long since I posted, and I apologize. So here's the first of a few entries for today! We'll start with my passover adventure at home!

For starters, going home is a fun experience, especially considering I get to have a meal with extended family. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but my aunts and uncles and even my cousins can be a handful.

Ok, so passover dinner is called a "seder" and is accompanied by a mult-course dinner and reading from something called the Haggadah. I'll spare the excess of the dinner, but basically we talk about the story of the Ten Commandments, if you've ever seen the movie or just know the story. The jist of the holiday is to not eat leavened bread for 8 days. Not sure why 8, but I know the unleavened bit is because "our ancestors had to high-tail it out of Egypt without time to leaven bread" so we're stuck with the magic diahrrea inhibitor, matza. Don't get me wrong, once a year it's cool, but 8 days!

Anyway, it takes a long time for the dinner to get started, because you have to point at things, ask questions, say a tonne of prayers, do some other crazy stuff, drink way too much wine, and THEN you get the food. So there's Matza Ball Soup in chicken broth, Gefilte fish, chop liver, then veal, chicken, cow tongue...the works. You can imagine I had a great time trying to find food to eat being a herbivore. I rawred my way through the meal scot-free...until my cousin learns I'm a vegetarian and suddenly the whole table is up in arms.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Asks one aunt. "You should really see someone about your diet!" Says another. "What a stupid idea." One cousin. "Yea, like that'll last." Another cousin.

The funny thing is, both my brother and the cousin who belted it out have been vegetarians in the past. My brother didn't criticize, but who are the rest of the family to do that?

What's done is done now, and meal was delicious, of what I did eat (maybe a little fish :). My family makes for quite the adventure...I'm looking forward to my brothers' engagement party. Should be swanky :)

Heard this sweet new song by Mariah Carey. Yup. Mariah Carey.
"Touch My Body" by Mariah Carey

If there's a camera up in here
It's gonna have to leave
When I do, if I do
If there's a camera up in here
I'd best not see this flick
On YouTube, YouTube

Stay frosty!

There Was A Booming Above You That Night

So I'm just checkin' in for now, no long and rambly blog about random things today. Well, maybe later, but not now! I'm currently at my brothers' apartment in downtown Toronto, and whilst he naps I use his computer! Hurray!

Anyway, I'm in Toronto seeing my family for a holiday this weekend. I still have one more exam, but it won't be much to study for, so I should be fine. Funny thing about this weekend is two very big dinners, one with extended family and one with just the bros, the 'rents, and the g-rents (if that makes any sense...I'm not cool). My grandma told me the other day she made all the things I like for this dinner: gefilte fish (a delicious fish thingie), chicken soup, and tongue (yes, cow tongue). It was kind of hard to remind her that I'm vegetarian now, so I might just let myself eat some meat this weekend (not that I want to, but whatever).

I hope this is a good weekend...I mean, being stuck at home for a few days can't be so bad? Regardless, I'm going to miss Soaking up the Sun and Grey Eyed Girl. And my roommates too, I'm running out of time with them. And Quinn! He's been crazy lately, I almost thought he'd run into the door like he did one morning. Once again, Quinn is a cat (also known as Quinlan and Q-Ball). Damn, this weekend is going to feel both long and short...it'll be good to go back. But hey, I get to go shopping tomorrow, see my brother's wedding place, AND hang out with one of my best friends who I haven't seen in a while! Ok, this weekend will be totally worth it...I just may have to call aforementioned Sun and Girl once...or twice...

Anyway, I'll leave you with that, I'll give an awesome special-edition update tonight or tomorrow on the happenings of family dinner!

"Canadian Flag" by Daniel Field and the Suburban Cowboys

The Leafs can’t stop losing and you’re getting bitter
You tried to watch baseball but he’s got a no-hitter
A stranger in your homeland, you’ve nothing to catch
And on your bag you sowed a Canadian patch

Stay frosty, y'all!

Tearing Green Down Off the Vine

I decided I would actually put a lyric to my own song as the blog title today. This is from one I wrote today called "All That." It's pretty swanky, but I can't figure out how to end it. Hmm...

I'm going to make a short entry today, mainly because I just finished writing an essay and I'm sick, and want bed. So, here I go!

Last night I hung out with my American friend from Minnesota, who I will call Bango due to a hilarious misspelling by Soaking up the Sun that I have now officially adopted. It was a fun night, but we started out having no idea what to do. First we went to see a friend's recently displayed art at a coffee shop in town, but we had no idea the coffee shop would close super early (it WAS Sunday and everything). So from there we went to a restaurant/bar thing, and Bango had a little trouble trying to get some beer (they didn't believe his real Minnesota driver's license, even though he's definitely of-age). We were with a random assortment of people, especially considering a friend of mine from my program also happens to be the girlfriend of another friends' roommate! Wow, confusing. Anyway, I spent a lot of time making fun of Dri-Dri, my Sri Lankan friend. That always makes for an exciting evening.

Afterward Bango and I went to play some pool. Final tally of the games? 3 losses to 1 win. And the only reason I won was because HE put the 8 ball in on his turn by accident. I'm actually terrible at pool, even though my grandfather had a pool table and I always used to play. Oh well. So it was 10.30 when we decided we should leave the pool place. But we were both like "it's 10.30...stupid night being long..."

I suggested we rent a movie, and off we went to Have You Seen, an awesome local video rental place. As soon as we went there we knew exactly what we wanted, but still looked around (which amounted to nothing). We rented a movie called The Darjeeling Limited directed by Wes Anderson. Sidenote: Have You Seen's rentals went up to 5 dollars! I was shocked!

Anyway, I hijacked my roommate's PS2 (I asked, of course) and we watched the movie on the terrible TV in the living room. Bango loves cats, and lucky for him, Quinlan loves Bango! My kitty jumped on the couch almost right away and slept on Bango's leg. Q-ball doesn't do that for me, but that's probably because I gave him a bath once. Yea, that makes sense.

The night ended similarly to how this one is about to end. Bango headed out and I told him we'd best see each other again before we both leave town. See, Bango is not only going home to Minnesota this summer, but he's travelling abroad next year for school, which means I won't see him again for more than a year.

Overall, it was an awesome night. Tonight, instead, I did an essay. But ooooh, I kicked an awesome dinner before that! Get this: peanut satay tofu pasta! What a wacky combo, but it worked, and now I know how to make my own Thai peanut sauce! I'm really excited!

"Only Skin" by Joanna Newsom (wow, I did that really abruptly)

Scrape your knee; it is only skin
Makes the sound of violins

Powerful lines, eh? I think so. Stay frosty and have a good night!

We're Still Young/We Still Need Intensity

Yes, I stole the title of today's entry from my old band's album. I was at a concert last night at a local coffee bar (yes, coffee and bar) and it got me thinking about the days when I was part of the rock scene in Toronto.

That might come as a surprise to some people. Actually, a lot of people, myself included, but whatever. I was a Melodica-player, hand-clapper, lyric-writer and back-up vocalist for a 9-person alternative independent rock band called Happy Party. This was back in Grade 12, and constituted pretty much my entire school year and a little into the summer before first year of university.

Happy Party was quite the experience for me on so many levels. I kind of joined the band in a novelty fashion, my only instrument being my brother's Melodica (kind of a handheld piano that sounds like a mix of harmonica and organ...and you blow into it). I used to be able to sing when I was younger, but that talent had been gone by the time high school came around. As my time with Happy Party progressed however, I discovered that my singing voice could come back if I practiced (duh), and it did, so I did some back-up vocals behind our leads Lanny and Dave. If you heard Lanny's voice you would just melt, wow.

Anyway, I had a lot of problems in the band too. For the most part, I wasn't nearly as musical or musically creative as the others (who had other bands on the go as well), and so sometimes I wouldn't always be doing the right thing when writing a song. I wrote lyrics with Lanny and Dave, but I had the same problem there with my lack of experience. But problems that there were (and there were definitely more than these), I enjoyed my time in the band in those moments when we were all on stage. 9 people crammed onto a tiny stage with three guitars, a bass, multiple percussionists, a piano, and the vocalists/other instruments...we got pretty warm up there.

But it was that feeling, that wash of energy and blast of heat from the lights, that made it all worth it for me. Some of our shows played to packed houses of a hundred people or more, where others, as some can attest, played to our closest friends in a venue that could definitely fit more. When the band would rehearse, it would be a test of everyone's patience and teamwork skills, but in the shows, it all came together.

So I quit the band in July of the summer after grade 12. It was super liberating, but it was strange to leave them behind too. Over the course of that summer, the band recorded a full-length album, which I only guested on. It took a year (all of my first year), but the record was finally finished, edited, and ready to go. Throughout that year as well, the band played a bunch of shows, without myself and Lanny, who had also left the band.

One of my all-time fondest memories of Happy Party - and this is why I was reminded at that concert last night - was the CD Release party last year at the Tranzac Club. This was a great show, but it wasn't just our crowd pleasing openers, literally hundreds of audience members, and the large stage (for once). Instead it was the feeling of playing a large venue, and being able to perform with Happy Party one last time to hundreds of dancing, screaming fans. We weren't called an "independent rock spectacle" for nothing in the Toronto online press.

I'm really going to miss Happy Party, and now that they've taken a brief break I kind of wish they'd get back together (without me, of course) to keep making some great music and play a show here or there. You never know, even though I've played my last show with the band, it might be nice to see the band for once :).

This post goes out to Seb, Eric, Dave, Stuls, Stephan, Lanny, Joel, and Goodman of the Happy Party that was. You can check out some of the tracks from "We're Still Young/We Still Have Intensity" at www.myspace.com/happyparty (frig, I have to stop pimping myspace here...Google don't like dat!)

And of course, how could I possibly do lyrics from anyone else today?
"Summer Sometimes" by Happy Party

All the hearts pulling down on my sleeves
Elbows pushing into me
It's all undone
It's all undone

As an addendum to this post, I thought I'd share something extra from today. Observation: People are awesome. Today was a training day for our fall orientation week for first years and it went super well. Big shout-outs to the peeps of CC, OC, LEC, Not-A-College, OOSA and G-ski! That's all for now, folks!

As usual, stay frosty!

You Make Me Look Legitimate

So clearly I am among the worst bloggers ever, because, as Grey Eyed Girl has so kindly put it "I'm not up to the challenge." So what if I can't post EVERY DAY. Whatever. I'm still awesome, and that's what counts.

I guess these daily-ish accounts of my life might be straining to some, considering it seems to be getting repetitive. But fear not! I'll probably end up discussing something or other and ramblings won't be THAT bad today. For the most part, I'd be pretty happy if I can get through this without also stealing Grey Eyed Girls most recent - and awesome to the max - poem "if i could." Check it out on her blog (Scribblings of a Grey Eyed Girl) or also on Soaking up the Sun's blog too.

Anyway, the last few days have been a whirlwind of activity, matched with moments of severe non-activity. Since last Tuesday's entry, I've been busy with working on an essay and a project for my music class (that I perfectly intend to write after I'm done blogging) and studying for an exam. Ok, I wasn't that busy with that stuff. I actually slacked a little bit with my studying, but that exam was yesterday and went fairly well (plus I got a paper back that I did awesome on). The rest of my week has been, believe it or not, taken up by doing other things! GASP! That's right, now that my job is done (as of last Saturday), I've been free to..DO THINGS. So of course, boredom set in hardcore! Pretty sweet though. For instance, last night I just sat in my room and watched an awesome show called jPod for a few hours, and then when one of my roommates came home, we built a gingerbread house. That's right. A gingerbread house. When I finally went to sleep, I was worried that our kitty would eat the gingerbread house, but when I woke up it was safe. Unfortunately for us, Quinlan (our little black cat) had thrown up in the living room. Another roommate came home and we pretty much deduced that he got into an open bag of Ringolos. Q-ball can be a little crazy sometimes. He's sleeping on my bed right now, actually.

Other stuff in the recent past? Well, I had planned a wicked Monopoly party with friends for a couple nights ago. One person showed up, but we still had a rocking time, so there! The night before that me and Soaking up the Sun had fun choosing courses for our future. That's right, one of my exquisite methods of cheering people up is by making them focus on something completely unrelated, like the fact that our university's academic calendar just came out! I hope the night helped you, Soaking up the Sun, and I'm really glad I could be there for you.

In an unrelated note, I got a new album from one of my favourite artists, Kathleen Edwards, called "Asking for Flowers." This is one of the best albums I have ever gotten, and easily Edwards best performance after two previous albums. I didn't get the chance to see her live when she was in town recently, and I totally regret that, but whatever. I highly suggest buying this album or heading to her myspace (www.myspace.com/kathleenedwards) and listen to some of the tracks. Buffalo is one of my favourite songs so far this year, right up there with Basia Bulat's "I Was a Daughter" but on a completely different level. One of the most powerful songs on this album - an absolute beauty - is "Alicia Ross," the true story of a girl from my hometown, you may have heard of her, and the song perfectly captures her family and the way people were encapsulated by her back home.

Anyway, I have to get to my homework (like actually, for real). Tomorrow I'm up at campus again all day for training for this fall's orientation week for first year students. It should be fun, and we get fed tomorrow, which is always good for me.

Keeping with my current Kathleen Edwards addiction, here're some lyrics from the title track of her new album, "Asking for Flowers."

My life is like a picture left
out too long in the sun
Now I'm trying to remember all
the faces of the names I've loved
And all that's left of me now is
a cigarette burning bright
And a fading memory of all the things
I tried to get right

Stay frosty folks, and I'll try to be more frequent in updating!

Pretty Words Doled Up on Silver Platters

Ok, don't be mad at me, I KNOW it's been a long time (5 days!) since I've posted! Way to keep up a blog, Utahraptor. Anyway, I'm back now, for real! Believe me! I'll actually post and everything!

So if you haven't gathered from my absence, the last few days have been exceptionally busy. It turns out winding down my job would be a lot harder than I had initially expected, and I totally did not think I would have three 12-hour work days in a row. But I pretty much did. When my job ended last Saturday at midnight, I pretty much exhaled my entire life in joy. Not that I hated my job, as people here know, I just had some problems with it and the stress was killer.

But anyway, that's over with. Classes are done too, which is a huge relief, leaving me with an essay, a project, and three exams to work on. That's not much, considering my standard workload. If things work out, I won't over-busy myself and get work done, and even have the occasional hour of free time! Oh, I miss free time.

This weekend was pretty sweet. I worked on Saturday and had a sweet Saturday night. I had to work again on Sunday, even though I kinda wasn't paid for it, but whatever, it ended kinda early. Sunday night I saw Soaking up the Sun's AMAZING "Acting Politricks" performance. It was truly awesome. And coming from a dino like me, that's sayin a lot! I only saw one of the two performances, so I hope some of you got to see the second one last night, which also went well.

Speaking of last night, there was a huge party at one of university's residences because it's the last time it will be a residence. There were a bunch of bands playing and a lot of people. Best part was the free barbeque, but there's something at this university that makes me laugh every time... So there's this long line-up for the barbeque, but when you finally reach the food, it turns out everyone is waiting in line for veggie burgers, and the people making the food keep calling out "who wants a hot dog or a hamburger?" and only one or two people come out of the line. Pretty funny if you were there...oh vegetarians. Keep in mind that my breed of Utahraptor is a herbivore too.

Anyway, my stomach is rumbling to the max so I should go make food. Peace out everybody!

"Cannon Fodder" by Laura Veirs

Every war is brutal, stupid, expensive and mean
If you take her, you also take me
Hiding by the water
Innocent cannon fodder

When You Need to Shout, And No One's Ever Listening

Tonight's entry will be shorter than last, mainly because my body is being like "Hey, Utahraptor, slow the shit down and get some sleep." In response I say "Listen up, body, you do what I tell you to do, and if I say stay awake, you damn well stay awake." But it stopped listening today, bright and early in the morning, when I almost fell asleep at work. Very embarassing.

Today was eventful as usual. Had my school bag with me right from 9 am till I was home again at 1.30. Balls. That's all I can say. This has got stop. Now don't get me wrong, I had a sweet dinner with friends tonight, but I am just barely home anymore.

Since I am almost ready to pass out, and still have that blasted essay to edit again, I'm going to draw this to a close early. Before I sign off, I wanted to draw your attention to the "mad skillz" of Grey-Eyed Girl and her awesome writing in the links to the right. It's, to say the least, pretty sweet. Plus, Grey-Eyed Girl owes me some help in skillz, but not writing, oh no....I mean crochet skillz. That's right. I am SO going there.

That's it for tonight everyone!
"Oh, My Darling" by Basia Bulat

There are two things I will carry
In my pockets at the end,
Oh, my darling
You are one of them

("What's the other thing?")...

Stay frosty and goodnight!

Postscript: Mules. Awesome? Discuss.

Could Someone Get the Woman A Napkin?

Hello friends, trilobytes, cave-dwellers, and fossil-hunters. My day reaches its end, which, if I do say so myself, is awesome. Just like me.

Today has been hella long, with an early morning class that I just could not miss. From there it continued on a spiralling whirlwind of pedantic necessities and unneccesary word lengths. Fortunately for me, I had an awesome meeting and an essay to edit to look forward too all day! Ok, well the first thing I actually was looking forward to. This evening I met up with some members of incoming student government here at my university, and we had the opportunity to talk about some fun stuff for next year as well get to know each other outside of the stickler-rific formal atmosphere that some meetings can give.

That being said, I have a sweet-ass meeting tomorrow morning bright and early to interview applicants for a job within the student union. So much effort is involved to get up and go there that it's ridiculous. I sleep in once every three weeks and it's never past 10, and of course, looking at my schedule for this week, I'm up at 8 every day from now till Tuesday (Saturday being an exclusion, I get an extra hour or so). How am I ever going to survive? Well, I know how: my late night ritual.

So lately as I've gone to bed around 1 or 2, I've developed a couple habits that I both enjoy but also find hard to break. Usually, I start my homework around 10 or 11 pm (late, I know), and work on that whilst distracted by Gmail or Facebook for a couple hours. Usually, I'll find myself so distracted near the end of it I give up on homework till the next day, and either have in-depth conversations with people on Facebook/Gmail/MSN or find myself looking up random TV shows at length. For instance, last week I was learning about the new season of Trading Spaces. Last night? Found this show called "Make Me a Supermodel" from the American Bravo television network. I don't recall whatsoever how I got there, but it didn't look like too bad of a show considering one of my fraudulent friends (that's surprisingly not a negative thing to say at all!) is trying to get me hooked on Project Runway. Anyway, today I was introduced to "Improv Everywhere" by Soaking up the Sun and have succeeded to watch like 5 of their videos on YouTube. It's pretty sweet.

What will tomorrow be like in the late night ritual? I dunno, but I guess I'll find out pretty soon. Tomorrow is always sooner than I think. Anyway, I should wrap it all up for the night as I ponder both my essay (which I did actually finish editing) and just how awesome I will continue to be tonight. I also work towards finding some miniscule wiggle room in my schedule over the next couple days to spend some "no-talking-about-work-or-school-or-issues friend time" with Soaking up the Sun and a friend of ours who made me the most amazing card ever and manages to miss me everytime she comes to my office and I miss her everytime I go to hers!

Here's today's lyrics:
"Lost at Seaflower Cove" by Laura Veirs

Pretty words doled up on silver platters
Chanting sea shanties
The words that matter
Oh how they shatter
Me...


Stay frosty folks!

It's a Sequence of Measures that Keeps us Together...

That's lyrics from a super lame song of mine. Ok, maybe it's not that lame, but it is in my opinion. And I am entitled to my own opinion. I'm the writed of said song.

That being said, I want to make it clear that my blogs's actual title is "inSequence," not the more probable and less strange "insequence," which could be like "inconsequence" or "consequence" or a combination of the two. Still, it is "inSequence." There, I have done my due diligence for taking care of that.

Anyway, I got this blog for a few reasons. First of all, there are people in the world who care far too much about the mundane and mediocre aspects of my life to not read it in a daily, or every-other-day, blog. Also, this serves as a companion to the blog of a certain Soaking up the Sun, who you may or may not be familiar with.

To make things very clear, however, I am currently procrastinating "h to the core" on a big essay that's coming up. I also have Kraft Dinner cooking downstairs. WAY TOO MUCH GOING ON AT ONCE.

In short, you will soon find that my humour takes some getting used to.

I'm going to end my blog today, and hopefully everyday, with a song lyric or group of lyrics I like/reflect something. I will do my best to keep it from being lame. Postscript: I owe this idea to a certain Ms. Education T. Thanks!

From the song "Biomusicology" by Ted Leo and The Pharmacists:
But look beneath the glassy surface
All the songs you hear down there
They have a purpose

That's all for the night folks! See you tomorrow!

Oh, and as an endnote: If you're wondering where I get "Utahraptor" from, go ahead and check out the amazing work of a Mr. Ryan North at http://www.qwantz.com/ THEN YOU WILL SEE WHY!