Hurry up already!

I purchased an all day bus pass which included the Sea bus to North Vancouver as well as the Sky Train, I jumped onto the bus I was told would take me to the Vancouver Art Gallery. Did I ever mention that I am a geek and like Art Galleries, pubs and museums... Well now you know..

I arrive at the Gallery just as a tour was beginning for the featured exhibit....

RODIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

now for those of you unaware, when I worked in Glace Bay I had a figure on my desk... It was a hunk of glass with "The Thinker" etched inside. Rodin is the artist behind The Thinker as well as the "Gates of Hell", "The Kiss", The Burghers of Calais. Critics claimed that some of Rodin's sculptures of the human body were eerily realistic he was accused of using casts of bodies instead of sculpting them himself.

I am probably boring you.. Point being I love Rodin and felt so fortunate to be able to visit to this exhibit.

Theodore Saskatche Wan , Franz West, Wang Du were also featured to name a few, I can't even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed exploring this vast gallery, and the Emily Carr exhibit was exquisite.

I had brought my lunch with me.. to save some money, I climbed unto the stairs in front of the gallery,similar to something you would watch in a movie, I witnessed some bizarre activities. This handsome young man rode up on his bike, drug it up the stairs to where I was sitting, shyly glanced at me, sat down and lit up a JOINT.. in the middle of the square, in front of a busy intersection, with others sitting on the stairs, in plain site at 3:30 in the afternoon... I almost choked on my yogurt. I had an older man approach me and ask if he could tell me some of his poetry, and then out of the corner of my eye I see this man walking around in a towel, a bathing cap and water goggles carrying a briefcase... He approached a group, squatting on the sidewalk, opening his case to reveal a sign stating "You've just been splashed". I presume it for a TV commercial or game show. It was strange nonetheless.

I finish up my snack and head towards the waterfront, enjoying the magnificent sunshine, the cool breeze from the water, and the joyous feeling of adventure. I get a little lost trying to locate the sea bus, manage to locate it, and I hopped on board for my trek over to North Vancouver.

I went to the market, watched two fantastically hot men working this meat kiosk as I dined on a Beaver Tail, and surveyed my maps, then explored the little "shops" in the market, including a sex store, which I thought rather odd, a sex shop didn't seem to belong in a market...

I bounced back on to the Sea bus around 5pm, the port being only a few short steps from "Gastown" I slipped down the street to see the "steam clock" an old fashioned clock powered completely by steam, it was interesting. I then popped into another gallery, with some very lovely Native sculptures, and wondered down to East Hastings Street. It was around 6:30 and this is the "seedy" part of Vancity, the part I had been sternly told by people in Grande Prairie to avoid. My British Aunt on the other hand had advised I see it, I guess it was meant as an eye opening experience, to be more aware, and that it was... I'll leave it at that...

I ventured back down through to Chinatown, and strolled through there, I enjoy Chinese artwork, the dragons are fascinating, and then hopped a bus back down to the waterfront more "posh" district to discover a lovely place to dine....

I must catch the bus for Cape Breton... Forgive yet another delay... I must document all my travels for future reading ... It seems to be taking forever, and you are only getting the bare bones of the trip.. I haven't even told any good stories.........

Tears and Exploring

I think I was destined to live in the West Coast I went to bed every night at 10 or 11 and was up at 8 or 9, on my own, very bizarre, but if you think about it.. that's a 4 hour time difference from the East Coast so it was like going to bed at 2 or 3am and getting up at noon or 1 pm.

After breakfast we headed out to one of the many organic farms in Richmond and my mother bought some blueberries, we did some banking, visited my Great Aunt's mother, who is British and hilarious. My Mom was leaving to head back to Grande Prairie so her and my Aunt dropped me off at the bus stop, and we had to say goodbye. My mother is a very strong willed person, and so am I (in case you have been living under a rock and missed that). We had spent most of the summer butting heads, but know we are both "old" enough that we don't hold the grudge anymore.

I had put on a really good brave face when I left GP, saying goodbye to my brother Dan and my Daddy, but this was the last of the parental line and I honestly don't know when I will be able to see my parents again. I like to think I am independent, but the thought of... yea so... Jamie begins to cry then sob and I was a wreck climbing on to the bus, c'est la vie.

I could go on on a long rant about how supportive and wonderful my parents are and how much I love them... but I still have to tell you about wondering around Vancity ALONE! I could go where I wanted, do what I wanted, see what I wanted without having to worry about anyone else.... yea I'm selfish, but I love to explore and I wasn't about to let this city go without seeing the best and the worst.

I have to drive Sean to work.... so my PC time has run out......

Quickly

I still have no computer to call my own, my brother was nice enough this evening to allow me to hijack his and boy have I ever enjoyed it.

I am heading to Cape Breton for the weekend. I want to see my Metalheads before they venture off into their big time futures and I begin mine.

I selected my courses, extremely excited.. I only have classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, from 8:30 am till 2:30 pm, very sweet!

I get a rebate back from my car insurance, for 135$, nothing overly fancy but money in my pocket nonetheless.

I chatted with hot guitar player tonight, and it turns out that my "cute boy interested in Jamie" metre was not out of whack last night, and he is supposed to call me... as cheesy as it sounds I am rather looking forward to it... I even blushed and giggled a little tonight.. (fromage fromage).

THIS could prove to be a LOT of fun!

Did I mention I dyed my hair this dark reddy burgandyish color and I am enjoying it!

I am reading my entire psychology textbook before school starts in two weeks... Is that really nerdy or just being well prepared..... I also have 5 other books on the go... I will post titles and recommendations later.

Listening to Stone Sour... I prefer Corey Taylor's vocal stylings with this band as opposed to Slipknot... you know it's 4 am and Jamie has only had 5 hours sleep in the last 2 days when she thinks she can discuss metal... Intelligently....

Motorhead's Live at Brixton '87, at retardedly high volumes, makes doing laundry, scouring the kitchen, and doing dishes, all while pissing off the dirty basement tenants, a pleasure.

Someone should have warned the bastards not to fuck with and threaten my friends.

*YAWN*

Did I tell you I went to the Rodin exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery? Well I will!

It's really bizarre how quickly things change..

I will tell the rest of my summer vacation tale, but first I must tell you about how absolutely amazing my night was last night.... My whole weekend... Actually the last two weeks of my life... Actually my entire summer, my entire year, my entire life except for the whiny bitchy teenage years and even those weren't so terrible, I just had a terrible outlook on life...

I was worried I would be returning to New Brunswick to face stress and financial turmoil.. That I wouldn't be able to find a job... That I would have to find a new place to live, that I would be alone... I was WRONG! So completely and utterly incorrect!

This renewed sense of confidence is kicking ass my darlings and I am loving my life.

I met some really cool people last night.

I like yet another hot guitar player...

I met this wicked awesome chick also last night, well I've met her before but we hung out last night, and she introduced me to some wonderful people.

This was written in a rush so forgive me if this does not make sense.

Wicked West

The next morning as I had presumed, my mother and Aunt were up fairly early we had a nice bit of breakfast and headed into Vancouver City. It was beautiful, for a city it was fairly clean, traffic flowed fairly smoothly but it was a Sunday... We headed across the Lion's Gate Bridge, and up to Grouse Mountain, we rode a gondola up the mountain, after slathering on some SPF 40 sunscreen. It was a fantastic sight... All of Vancity laid out before our eyes as we climbed up this magnificent mountain.

When we reach the top I was blown away by the beauty of the lake beneath us, the bright blue sky above us, and these huge mountains surrounding us. I can see the Pacific ocean all swirled around the great city of Vancouver laid out in front of me... I can even begin to describe how I felt to bear witness to such spectacular beauty, with the sun shining down on me, and my mom and my aunt close by, I was filled with a complete sense of contentment.

We then went up the hill to take some more photographs, watch an unique presentation about falcons, owls, and hawks. Then we walked down to watch a very interesting and hilarious demonstration about lumberjacks. There were bears, a grizzly and a black bear, also some wolves.. These superbly carved wooden sculptures. Took some interesting photos, I promise I will share.. as soon as they are all collected.

We took the gondola back down the mountain.. Which it swung a little more and I actually thought I was facing death for a second.. It was only a tall Muslim man in a turban, not a skeleton in a hood.

Ventured back across the bridge and into Stanley park, this absolutely amazes me, Vancity has this superb group of forest and wildlife right on the edge of the city. We drove the length of the park, swung over to a small slightly less crowed beach.

Jamie dipped her toes into the "other" ocean... I had missed the ocean, being in Northern Alberta, and the sand between my toes as the water lapped at my feet, the warmth of the sun on my sun burnt skin and the delightful smell crept into my nostrils...

AMAZING!


more to come, but I really must get to bed, 8 am comes early on the East Coast!

I have to tell you:

-I was at a bachelor party last night... no I was a guest not the entertainment assholes! So much fun... I love having the best guy friends on the planet.
-I flew from the edge of one coast of this country to the exact opposite (Victoria to Halifax) and I slept almost the whole way as I took a LOT of Gravol... gotta love motion sickness.
-I go tomorrow to hold my Friend's hand as she does something that I am struggling with.
- I will not be in Cape Breton as planned this upcoming weekend... I am going to a boat party...
-With the guy whom I just spent the entire afternoon on a date with.
- Went to a driving range on a lake.. with golf balls that float... and a boat you can whack the balls at... teeeeeeeeehehehehhe
-went to a nature park with a spectacular view of the ocean...
-had a squirrel almost climb into my hand... it actually sniffed it till he startled it.
-went to Reflections three nights in a row and met up with some very fun people from CB.
-met a hot gay Australian, and his boyfriend *sniff*
-went swimming int he St John River in the Kingston peninsula.
-unpacked my suitcase.... in what might be "home"
-decided it's time to dye my hair another wild color to scare away new guy...
-I love how everything always seems to work out well int eh end.
-Laura I desperately need to talk to you... I had a amazing day today...
-Davinna and Curtis rock and everyone should go to BC to visit them because it could very well be the greatest time of your life... I love you guys!!!!!!!!!
-I will update with more information

Wine and Hornets

I closed the bar at 1:30 am, headed to the local club for one drink with the new girl, I had just finished training her to replace me..... After the bar closed at 2, I drove some people back to the hotel I worked at, and met up with a few others, and went to check out the local cemetery... now before you think I am a total weirdo, I have to point out something bizarre and fascinating about the graveyards in Grande Prairie... well the one next to where I was residing..... all of the tombstones are lit up, little glowing "lights" of some sort... it's really trippy... and kinda cool... I had pretty "amazing" company.

I got home at 5:30 am just in time to pack up the rest of my stuff and hit the road... I said goodbye to my Daddy with years in my eyes and my best brave face on... I am emotional, and I love my family... I said goodbye to Dan "the asshole", I am going to miss them.

We stopped in Grande Cache (got there right as the Death Race was beginning), to pick up some clothes I ha left at Naomi's she wasn't around and she didn't leave them where she said she would so... We kept on going.. I fell asleep... sleep most of the way through Hinton, Jasper, and woke up in Mt. Robson for a bite to eat.. We were now in BC so it was only 11:30 for them... so no lunch rush.. We headed further down the road about another hour and I realized I had forgot to grab my parents computer tower... so now I have no computer... I suck!

The rest of the trip remain pretty uneventful I drifted in and out of consciousness, and drove for a little bit.. We got to Kelowna and headed down the highway towards Merritt... we were five kms away form the town when we were stopped and told to turn around and go back and turn left over the next by pass.... which was 40 kms back.. it added an extra hour and a half to our trip...*yawn* there was a forest fire we had to drive around.. I tried to get some pictures not sure if they turned out....

I navigated us into the start of "Vancouver" the suburbs and such... i stopped paying attention for five minutes and my mother gets lost... then we head into my aunts place, my Aunt Gwen is British and she is hilarious.... I was in bed early because I knew we would be up early on some sort of crazy adventure the next morning....

Beach bums and prostitutes

So was in the middle of typing up an update on all my adventures in BC when I had to drive Davinna to work... (We are going to the beach later today..)

I dropped her off at work, I went to buy a bathing suit, as I have only purple bottoms and a skimpy tank top that shows off far too much cleavage..... I stopped at my favorite store, the store I have spent close to 5,000 in since I first discovered it four years ago..... They had a 50% off sale... I tried on some clothes... I suspected I lost weight this summer... Gained a little muscle so I got adventurous and tried on some other sizes......


I went from a size 20 (twenty) to a 14 (FOUR-FUCKING-TEEN), except for in dresses, my boobs are still too bloody big....

I purchased 2 pairs of size 14 pants... I could cry... I have been a size 18-20 almost 5 years.... I lost some weight last summer, because when I left Stream I was a size 22, ick...

I wasn't worried about the number on the scale... It was always the size of clothing that bothered me... I am doing this... I AM DOING THIS!!!!!!!!!!!

Mount Allison just built a brand spanking new best in Atlantic Canada Fitness Centre..... I haven't ate McDonald's in 4 months, I haven't ate Kraft dinner in four months.... I am getting in shape mofos... It feels great!!!!!!!!!

Laura I love you for pissing me off this summer... bitching about what I was eating... I owe Chiquita for introducing me to the Greens, and dear lord...

I lost weight dudes....

The beach today... Jamie's toes in the Pacific, I will finish my adventures update, going to the I-max with Curtis.

ooo and on a totally unrelated, but have to tell you because it is so funny, note.

Jamie and Davinna were parked waiting for the store to open that Davinna had to pick up supplies in for her employment. We see a hooker, she was wearing this really cute skirt, it was 11am, which I thought was rather early for a hooker, but I guess

"the early bird catches the worm" hehehehehehhehehehehe (ok I enjoyed that pun, screw you if you didn't)

ANYWAY

I see the hooker walk into tthe street and pick up a Tim Hortons cup, and I thought that is so cool in Victoria the hookers are environmentally conscious....

UNTIL

I see the hooker walk over to an ice machine at the traveler's Inn and fill it up with ice and water and DRINK FROM IT, she picked up a dirty run over coffee cup, placed water inside it and drank from it.... (yes she was recyling so she still could be environmentally aware....) but

EEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Davinna and I were discussing the type of man who would actually acquire a street walker, and if we could ever date a man who we knew had been with a hooker (the answer being for both of us a strong NO!) when our inquires were met with an answer as an old school camper pulls up and picks up the hooker... So anyone driving a dirty old camper is now a "john".

seriously that actually happened ask Davinna it was so funny...

Update

Soon very soon...

you will have a lot of reading to do so be prepared.. I was on mountains.. I was in the "roughest" part of vancity. I have been to wax museums and had a photograph of my head on a shelf... I was on boats... I seen interesting animals.. I laughed so hard I almost peed..(my aunt is British and hilarious) and cried so hard I was almost sick....(saying goodbye to my parents).

I have renewed sense of self... this new inner confidence... I have the sunburn from hell... Which should turn brown... Oh and the FRECKLES! I could put poor Anne of green gables to shame.

I have a brand spanking new lingerie collection.. La senza had huge sales this summer.. I have lost some weight so I can put my puppies in those bras again....

The sun is shining... The wind is blowing... I have friends in every single province in Canada, good friends.

I leave here on Tuesday and it will be bittersweet, I am anxious to see everyone back home... it's always so hard to say goodbye.....

I have a ton of email to write and I must mail those gosh darn postcards!

Well then

Social calendar has suddenly been cleared when I return... So yea... That's always fun...

but it leaves me open for new opportunities, that I wouldn't have otherwise investigated when I return.

I can't wait to tell you all about my amazing supertablus adventures.

I am havign so much fun, nothing could bring me down... yes that does mean you....

Vancouver

amazing, astonishing, awe-inspiring, awesome, exciting, hair-raising, heart-stirring, impressive, magnificent, moving, overwhelming, spine-tingling, stunning, thrilling, astounding, bewildering, breathtaking, extraordinary, impressive, marvelous, miraculous, spectacular, staggering, startling, striking, stunning, stupefying, stupendous, wondrous.