Uh, scratch what I said at the end of my last post.
There will be NO FACEBOOK for me anytime soon.
Not until they clean up their f***d up "privacy policy".
Check out the VERY informative video about Facebook on this website:
http://www.albumoftheday.com/facebook/
(if you can't link to it from this post, I have posted a link on the right-hand side of my blog)
I strongly recommend deleting your Facebook account if you have one... unless you're into being spied on by major corporations and the U.S. Government.
Go now,
SAVE YOURSELVES!!!
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
This Ain't Oprah Y'All!
I recently received some gentle feedback from a friend and loyal blog reader. Apparently, I've gone "a little too Oprah" on here lately. Alright, point taken.
I can relate to this feedback in the following way: I really like songs that are kinda sad or melancholy, definitely on the quieter, more melodious side (oh, THANK GOD I am not a music critic, hey? what a way to describe songs! oh my...) but sometimes, the feeling just comes over me and I exclaim, "Alright! We gotta kick it up a notch here!" Because sometimes you just wanna have fun. And fun is good, fun is great. Fun is why I just turned off CBC radio and put on Britney's "Brave New Girl" song - it's our shared anthem. (Please see my first-ever blog entry here, where it will be reiterated to you that I HAD THE IDEA FOR THIS NAME LONG BEFORE BRITNEY EVEN RECORDED THIS ALBUM!!! I don't mind the song though, it's fun and dance-able)
Speaking of brave girls and fun,
wanna see what I did on Christmas Day in Las Vegas last year?
Check it:
FYI, "Brave" was the name of the main character in the first play that I wrote. A one-woman show called "The Light Between" that I performed at the Fringe of Toronto Theatre Festival last summer. FUN! (And a little scary)
Oh, and guess what?
France is off this summer. UK work permits haven't been sorted out yet, and I have just decided that I don't want to spend any more time and/or money on this battle. I'm not at all disapointed at the prospect of staying put here in Toronto for the summer. One of the reasons why is because this is my backyard:
Wouldn't you be excited to hang out here all summer too? Well, you can! Call me and I'll invite you over for a visit! It will be FUN!!!
Another reason that I'm not terribly broken up about not working for 4 months as a chaperone for groups of children and teenagers at an outdoor education centre in France is that I read on the company's website that "some centres have internet access" - WHAT?!?! I would be living in a glorified tent all summer AND I might not be able to blog about it regularly? Well, that's just not fair to you, my dear readers!
A week in Paris sounds way more up my alley, and it may end up happening if I can't cancel my flight outright. Oui, dear readers, I am considering a little jaunt over to Paris in May... to meet up and hang out with my friend Mark, who was originally going to visit me in the South of France during his European travels... We'll see... I've been there once before, but Paris could be fun again... Especially in the Springtime!
Another friend of mine is going to be living and doing job training (for her new job in Switzerland!!!) in NJ/NY this summer, so it looks like I'll get to visit the home of my heart again this summer - yay!
So, fear not, there promises to be lots of exciting adventures ahead for me to blog about and I further promise not to go all Oprah on y'all all the time here, only every now and then... okay?
Aiight, I'm gonna go bite the bullet now and consider joining facebook. Because apparently, I am wrong when I declare that "facebook is for highschool kids". Apparently, facebook is for everyone on the friggin' planet. Ugh.
"Fun..."
I can relate to this feedback in the following way: I really like songs that are kinda sad or melancholy, definitely on the quieter, more melodious side (oh, THANK GOD I am not a music critic, hey? what a way to describe songs! oh my...) but sometimes, the feeling just comes over me and I exclaim, "Alright! We gotta kick it up a notch here!" Because sometimes you just wanna have fun. And fun is good, fun is great. Fun is why I just turned off CBC radio and put on Britney's "Brave New Girl" song - it's our shared anthem. (Please see my first-ever blog entry here, where it will be reiterated to you that I HAD THE IDEA FOR THIS NAME LONG BEFORE BRITNEY EVEN RECORDED THIS ALBUM!!! I don't mind the song though, it's fun and dance-able)
Speaking of brave girls and fun,
wanna see what I did on Christmas Day in Las Vegas last year?
Check it:
FYI, "Brave" was the name of the main character in the first play that I wrote. A one-woman show called "The Light Between" that I performed at the Fringe of Toronto Theatre Festival last summer. FUN! (And a little scary)
Oh, and guess what?
France is off this summer. UK work permits haven't been sorted out yet, and I have just decided that I don't want to spend any more time and/or money on this battle. I'm not at all disapointed at the prospect of staying put here in Toronto for the summer. One of the reasons why is because this is my backyard:
Wouldn't you be excited to hang out here all summer too? Well, you can! Call me and I'll invite you over for a visit! It will be FUN!!!
Another reason that I'm not terribly broken up about not working for 4 months as a chaperone for groups of children and teenagers at an outdoor education centre in France is that I read on the company's website that "some centres have internet access" - WHAT?!?! I would be living in a glorified tent all summer AND I might not be able to blog about it regularly? Well, that's just not fair to you, my dear readers!
A week in Paris sounds way more up my alley, and it may end up happening if I can't cancel my flight outright. Oui, dear readers, I am considering a little jaunt over to Paris in May... to meet up and hang out with my friend Mark, who was originally going to visit me in the South of France during his European travels... We'll see... I've been there once before, but Paris could be fun again... Especially in the Springtime!
Another friend of mine is going to be living and doing job training (for her new job in Switzerland!!!) in NJ/NY this summer, so it looks like I'll get to visit the home of my heart again this summer - yay!
So, fear not, there promises to be lots of exciting adventures ahead for me to blog about and I further promise not to go all Oprah on y'all all the time here, only every now and then... okay?
Aiight, I'm gonna go bite the bullet now and consider joining facebook. Because apparently, I am wrong when I declare that "facebook is for highschool kids". Apparently, facebook is for everyone on the friggin' planet. Ugh.
"Fun..."
Monday, April 9, 2007
Where The Journey Takes Us...
We're back in Toronto. Sarah and I drove "home" from Burlington, Vermont yesterday, and in less than an hour I will wake the princess one last time so that she can shower and dress and prepare to get on a plane to take her to her home in Vancouver later this morning. When we called Robin last night to let her know that we had arrived safe and sound in Toronto, she confessed that after we left yesterday she cried a little. And I think I know exactly what she was feeling. Something will definitely feel empty when Sarah leaves. And this trip will be over.
It was a GREAT trip though! We wandered the adorably quaint streets of "downtown Burlington" (well, Robin and I wandered alongside Sarah, who shopped, of course); We went out for an amazingly fresh sushi dinner with Robin's fella Ethan (I'm a big fan of this guy!) followed by "Thursday Night Trivia" at some bar that Robin and Ethan go to every Thursday night with their friends; I went to school with Robin and met one of her students that reminds her of "high-school Meghan" (while Sarah shopped some more); We went to the fantastic store "Cheese Traders" and came home and made fondue and drank red wine and piled on to Robin's bed and had a girls night in and watched the movie "Stick It!"; We hid easter eggs for each other and had an easter egg hunt; We went and got pedicures (my first time!); We cooked a delicious "easter dinner" and had Robin's friend Erin over before we went out on Saturday night to "Retronome" for 80's dance night!!! In short, it was a blast. Sarah will email me pictures soon, I'm sure and then I will share.
So yeah, it's a wierd, wistfull feeling that I'm feeling now... I keep marvelling at the journey that life has taken me on over the past few months, and how I never would have imagined that I would (or that I COULD) be where I am right now... Which is very happy to be home in my Toronto apartment, preparing to make a decision about whether I can go away and work in Europe this summmer or not (and leaning towards not) while thinking about my plans to move to New York City in the Fall or Winter. And best of all, just totally grounded in my own feeling of "no matter what happens it's going to be okay-ness"!
So far, my journey in 2007 has taken me down to the deepest, darkest depths of my memories and feelings, and then back up towards the light again... My work has taken me on a trip to visit my past, my "hometown" of Vancouver, where I visited the life I left behind and struggled with the realisation that I have truly moved onward... Then my journey took me to New York City, where I glimpsed my future, and met my "best self" (I think)... I then travelled east, to Halifax, a place that I have visited frequently over the past 5 years, and often in times of tribulation and transition. In Halifax I visited with some of my best friends from my university years, and was reminded of who I was, who I am and who I have always been. And then finally, this road-trip to be re-united with the two women without whom I'm not sure I would exist at all... Words cannot describe how special it was to spend time in the year 2007 with my two best friends from high school, Robin and Sarah, and though so much has changed... in most ways, our friendship hasn't changed at all.
And between it all, there has been Toronto. The life here that I have made for myself. The people I love dearly. The friends I love to care for, and those whom I let take care of me. The friends I love to party with, laugh with, chat with, drive with, dance with, drink with, talk with, cry with... My beautiful apartment, and the lovely backyard that is waiting for spring to finally arrive so that it can flourish into the beautiful garden that it is. It's nice to be home.
And who knows where the journey will take me next?
For now, it's going to take me downstairs to wake Sarah and then out the door and down the street to Starbucks to fetch her some coffee. 'Cause I know she needs it in the morning and I don't have a coffee maker. But most of all, because when you love someone, and they've been your best friend for this long... you want to do things like this. Because you can.
PS - Sarah and I randomly rented the movie "You, Me + Dupree" last night and laughed our asses off. It was surprisingly funny, and joyful, and I looooooove that Owen Wilson. Hotness, Adorableness & Humor-ness = Owen-ness. Watch the movie. You'll get the joke.
It was a GREAT trip though! We wandered the adorably quaint streets of "downtown Burlington" (well, Robin and I wandered alongside Sarah, who shopped, of course); We went out for an amazingly fresh sushi dinner with Robin's fella Ethan (I'm a big fan of this guy!) followed by "Thursday Night Trivia" at some bar that Robin and Ethan go to every Thursday night with their friends; I went to school with Robin and met one of her students that reminds her of "high-school Meghan" (while Sarah shopped some more); We went to the fantastic store "Cheese Traders" and came home and made fondue and drank red wine and piled on to Robin's bed and had a girls night in and watched the movie "Stick It!"; We hid easter eggs for each other and had an easter egg hunt; We went and got pedicures (my first time!); We cooked a delicious "easter dinner" and had Robin's friend Erin over before we went out on Saturday night to "Retronome" for 80's dance night!!! In short, it was a blast. Sarah will email me pictures soon, I'm sure and then I will share.
So yeah, it's a wierd, wistfull feeling that I'm feeling now... I keep marvelling at the journey that life has taken me on over the past few months, and how I never would have imagined that I would (or that I COULD) be where I am right now... Which is very happy to be home in my Toronto apartment, preparing to make a decision about whether I can go away and work in Europe this summmer or not (and leaning towards not) while thinking about my plans to move to New York City in the Fall or Winter. And best of all, just totally grounded in my own feeling of "no matter what happens it's going to be okay-ness"!
So far, my journey in 2007 has taken me down to the deepest, darkest depths of my memories and feelings, and then back up towards the light again... My work has taken me on a trip to visit my past, my "hometown" of Vancouver, where I visited the life I left behind and struggled with the realisation that I have truly moved onward... Then my journey took me to New York City, where I glimpsed my future, and met my "best self" (I think)... I then travelled east, to Halifax, a place that I have visited frequently over the past 5 years, and often in times of tribulation and transition. In Halifax I visited with some of my best friends from my university years, and was reminded of who I was, who I am and who I have always been. And then finally, this road-trip to be re-united with the two women without whom I'm not sure I would exist at all... Words cannot describe how special it was to spend time in the year 2007 with my two best friends from high school, Robin and Sarah, and though so much has changed... in most ways, our friendship hasn't changed at all.
And between it all, there has been Toronto. The life here that I have made for myself. The people I love dearly. The friends I love to care for, and those whom I let take care of me. The friends I love to party with, laugh with, chat with, drive with, dance with, drink with, talk with, cry with... My beautiful apartment, and the lovely backyard that is waiting for spring to finally arrive so that it can flourish into the beautiful garden that it is. It's nice to be home.
And who knows where the journey will take me next?
For now, it's going to take me downstairs to wake Sarah and then out the door and down the street to Starbucks to fetch her some coffee. 'Cause I know she needs it in the morning and I don't have a coffee maker. But most of all, because when you love someone, and they've been your best friend for this long... you want to do things like this. Because you can.
PS - Sarah and I randomly rented the movie "You, Me + Dupree" last night and laughed our asses off. It was surprisingly funny, and joyful, and I looooooove that Owen Wilson. Hotness, Adorableness & Humor-ness = Owen-ness. Watch the movie. You'll get the joke.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
My Travels Back To Winter
Oh, didn’t I think I was such a clever little thing? “Avoiding the winter” by traveling to Vancouver for the month of February, followed by NYC and Halifax in March. And save for one or two intensely cold days in NYC and some fierce Halifax winds, I really did succeed in my avoidance of the cold reality that is winter in Toronto. But smugness gets you nowhere kids. Or rather, smugness gets you driving a lemon of a rental car through April snowstorms to visit your best friend in Burlington, Vermont. Where there is more snow. And it is cold. It is April, but it might as well be February. Brrrrrrrrrrrr!
Other than the chill in the air, I must say it is truly fabulous to be here. I spent the day yesterday driving from Oakville, Ontario to Burlington, Vermont with my other best friend from high school, Sarah. She had flown to Toronto from Vancouver at the beginning of this week and Tuesday night was spent visiting Robin (the now-Burlington best friend)’s parents in Oakville. As far as spending about 12 hours in a car with someone you really haven’t spent any quality time with since approximately 2002, while driving a rental car that drives like a golf cart with poor alignment, in inclement weather through the back roads of the province of Quebec goes… I would say yesterday was a smashing success!
Sarah and I may have grown a little more into our differences (her boyfriend gave her a subscription to The Economist for her birthday last year, meanwhile I make the bulk of my living working in the non-profit sector, either as an artist or educator…), but I found that as long as we avoided political/ethical conversations to the best of our abilities, we were fine. We still have some overlapping tastes in music, and the fact of the matter is, she has a very, very good heart and a generally open spirit. So the best-friendship still works! We made it to Montreal just in time to spend a good hour or so sitting in rush-hour traffic, which was totally unnecessary, but we had decided that we wanted to have our meal for the day in downtown Montreal. And we are so glad that we did.
Upon completing our tasty meal of shared frites and mayo, plus salad for me and soup for Sarah (accompanied of course by une verre de biere locale – mais oui!), we asked our server if she could help point us in the right direction to get on the Autoroute 20, in order to get on our way to the U.S. of A. Unfortunately, she wasn’t a driver herself, but kindly took the googlemaps printout out of my hands and walked over to some regulars, sitting at the bar and posed our question to them. One friendly gentleman came over to help us, and although he realized immediately that we were Anglophones, he ended up giving us directions pretty much entirely en Francais, because we were doing such a good job of communicating with him in his mother tongue!
Apparently, the fact that we were Anglophones even bothering to make an effort to speak French in Montreal was cause for major recognition – I almost thought he was going to call Lucien Bouchard to tell him about these two young anomalies! In any case, we both felt very grateful for the helpful directions and flattered by the gratitude of this man, Regent, as well as our server, Karine. We left Montreal with a slight bounce in our step, and definitely a sense of pride in ourselves and our good efforts.
We arrived, finally, after a rather brutal 2-hour drive through the dark and snowy back-country roads of Quebec and Vermont, at the quaintest little house on Woodlawn Road in Burlington… Robin and Ethan’s house! It is totally adorable, and they were waiting with bottle of red wine already opened. I, of course, managed to spill copious amounts of red wine on their white futon couch within an hour of my arrival, but they assured me that it’s no big deal. What gracious hosts. Perhaps I’ll need to take a trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond while I’m here and buy them some sort of replacement sofa cover… Oh, I am a class act, no?
Alright, well, Robin and Ethan have gone to school for the morning (those dedicated little PhD students!) so it is my responsibility to wake Princess Sarah this morning. It’s almost 9:30 and I think it’s time for her to wakey-wakey soon…
Looking forward to a lovely (albeit snowy) Vermont day today!
PS – still haven’t got the UK work visa sorted out yet, looks like my summer plans may be shifting… stay tuned!!!
Other than the chill in the air, I must say it is truly fabulous to be here. I spent the day yesterday driving from Oakville, Ontario to Burlington, Vermont with my other best friend from high school, Sarah. She had flown to Toronto from Vancouver at the beginning of this week and Tuesday night was spent visiting Robin (the now-Burlington best friend)’s parents in Oakville. As far as spending about 12 hours in a car with someone you really haven’t spent any quality time with since approximately 2002, while driving a rental car that drives like a golf cart with poor alignment, in inclement weather through the back roads of the province of Quebec goes… I would say yesterday was a smashing success!
Sarah and I may have grown a little more into our differences (her boyfriend gave her a subscription to The Economist for her birthday last year, meanwhile I make the bulk of my living working in the non-profit sector, either as an artist or educator…), but I found that as long as we avoided political/ethical conversations to the best of our abilities, we were fine. We still have some overlapping tastes in music, and the fact of the matter is, she has a very, very good heart and a generally open spirit. So the best-friendship still works! We made it to Montreal just in time to spend a good hour or so sitting in rush-hour traffic, which was totally unnecessary, but we had decided that we wanted to have our meal for the day in downtown Montreal. And we are so glad that we did.
Upon completing our tasty meal of shared frites and mayo, plus salad for me and soup for Sarah (accompanied of course by une verre de biere locale – mais oui!), we asked our server if she could help point us in the right direction to get on the Autoroute 20, in order to get on our way to the U.S. of A. Unfortunately, she wasn’t a driver herself, but kindly took the googlemaps printout out of my hands and walked over to some regulars, sitting at the bar and posed our question to them. One friendly gentleman came over to help us, and although he realized immediately that we were Anglophones, he ended up giving us directions pretty much entirely en Francais, because we were doing such a good job of communicating with him in his mother tongue!
Apparently, the fact that we were Anglophones even bothering to make an effort to speak French in Montreal was cause for major recognition – I almost thought he was going to call Lucien Bouchard to tell him about these two young anomalies! In any case, we both felt very grateful for the helpful directions and flattered by the gratitude of this man, Regent, as well as our server, Karine. We left Montreal with a slight bounce in our step, and definitely a sense of pride in ourselves and our good efforts.
We arrived, finally, after a rather brutal 2-hour drive through the dark and snowy back-country roads of Quebec and Vermont, at the quaintest little house on Woodlawn Road in Burlington… Robin and Ethan’s house! It is totally adorable, and they were waiting with bottle of red wine already opened. I, of course, managed to spill copious amounts of red wine on their white futon couch within an hour of my arrival, but they assured me that it’s no big deal. What gracious hosts. Perhaps I’ll need to take a trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond while I’m here and buy them some sort of replacement sofa cover… Oh, I am a class act, no?
Alright, well, Robin and Ethan have gone to school for the morning (those dedicated little PhD students!) so it is my responsibility to wake Princess Sarah this morning. It’s almost 9:30 and I think it’s time for her to wakey-wakey soon…
Looking forward to a lovely (albeit snowy) Vermont day today!
PS – still haven’t got the UK work visa sorted out yet, looks like my summer plans may be shifting… stay tuned!!!
Sunday, April 1, 2007
The Joke's On Me
Today is not such a good day. But tomorrow WILL be better.
Not much time to write now, as I am upstairs at my friend/neighbour/landlord Guntar's house using his computer before we head out to see Daniel MacIvor's play "House", but in point form, here is how The Universe decided to play April Fool's tricks on me today...
1. Upon arrival at the Toronto airport this morning, I stopped dead in my tracks with the horrifying realisation that I HAD LEFT MY LAPTOP AT THE HALIFAX AIRPORT. Sh*t!
(Thankfully this has turned out to be a mere $70 mistake as opposed to a $2,000 one, as they have found my lost laptop and it is waiting safely at the security desk for my nice "friends" at FedEx to pick it up and expedite it to me tomorrow... for a cost, of course.)
And
2. Upon opening the mail I received while I was away, I learned today that the UK government has denied my application for a work permit (the company that has hired me to work in France is a UK-based company, hence the need for said permit). It's too complicated, and nonsensical, to explain to you WHY I have been refused this visa, but I will get it all sorted out tomorrow and I'm sure all will be fine.
I'm SURE all will be fine.
(I'm just gonna keep saying that over and over until all IS fine)
Atleast they gave me back my passport so that I can cross the border when I drive to Vermont later this week.
It's all about the small victories,
and trying to figure out the lessons that the universe it trying to teach you...
*sigh*
Not much time to write now, as I am upstairs at my friend/neighbour/landlord Guntar's house using his computer before we head out to see Daniel MacIvor's play "House", but in point form, here is how The Universe decided to play April Fool's tricks on me today...
1. Upon arrival at the Toronto airport this morning, I stopped dead in my tracks with the horrifying realisation that I HAD LEFT MY LAPTOP AT THE HALIFAX AIRPORT. Sh*t!
(Thankfully this has turned out to be a mere $70 mistake as opposed to a $2,000 one, as they have found my lost laptop and it is waiting safely at the security desk for my nice "friends" at FedEx to pick it up and expedite it to me tomorrow... for a cost, of course.)
And
2. Upon opening the mail I received while I was away, I learned today that the UK government has denied my application for a work permit (the company that has hired me to work in France is a UK-based company, hence the need for said permit). It's too complicated, and nonsensical, to explain to you WHY I have been refused this visa, but I will get it all sorted out tomorrow and I'm sure all will be fine.
I'm SURE all will be fine.
(I'm just gonna keep saying that over and over until all IS fine)
Atleast they gave me back my passport so that I can cross the border when I drive to Vermont later this week.
It's all about the small victories,
and trying to figure out the lessons that the universe it trying to teach you...
*sigh*
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