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Finishing Surveys and Taking Shifts August 9, 2008

Posted by Edward in 100 Things About Me, Life.
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I’m going to be working every day for the next week.  I might be breaking a rule according to one of my managers.  Guess they don’t like it when someone works too much.  Shifts needed to be taken and I am taking what I can get.  I’m a gay college student! I live beyond my means! A champagne lifestyle on a beer budget!

Because of the financial woes that could potentially be on the horizon (college expenses), I’m going to have an allowance by drawing out a certain amount of money a week.  I can’t trust myself to write down all of my purchases for budgeting.  Starting tomorrow, I will take out a certain amount of money and spend it only for that week.  

Now that it’s on this blog, it is set in stone.  There’s not too much happening in this post, so let me do something exciting by finishing this meme.

81-100 Things About Me:

81. I only drink Coke or Pepsi when it is mixed with alcohol or in Slushie form.  

82. I enjoy natural silences in conversations.

83. Dying does not freak me out.  Since I worked at a Palliative Care Centre, it’s not such a scary thing anymore.

84. I cringe a little when I hear bones cracking.  It used to be much worse, but I became desensitized after someone cracked almost every bone in their body.

85. I can’t watch operations.

86. I’ve always enjoyed random shows on the History Channel, but I never turn on the TV to watch the History Channel.  Or Discovery.

87. When I study something, it is best done in a library.  If I have music on, I will listen to the music and not read my book.  My brain’s priority starts with music and works its way down.

88. I have a key chain, coin, and world instrument collection from when I was a child.  All of those things are collecting dust on my bookshelf and I wonder why I collected key chains.  I understand coins because that 2000 Millenium coin is going to be worth something some day, and the world instruments will come in handy should I need maracas or a bamboo flute on my album, but key chains?

89. I want to see Gone With The Wind but I still have not roused myself to do it.  I’m a terrible gay.  Yet I know exactly how fabulous Vivian Leigh was in that film thanks to the gay hype.

90. When I do have a music career, I am going to do whatever I can not to end up like this guy.  His first album title? Even The Ladies Love Him.  I only know about this because it was one of the gay CDs that I found in the Safe Space in Windsor.  I wonder who bought that CD in the first place…

91. My first job was at a dollar store.  Pretty exciting times.

92. I could wear Cabbage Patch Doll clothes when I was a baby.

93. I loved the movie Waking Life.

94. I have a hard time completing projects that I start.  Since I admitted that last year, it’s been easier for me to follow through.  Katimavik solidified that quality for me.

95. Our family used to have a rotary phone.  Now it’s collecting dust in a box somewhere.  But I know how to use it.  That gives me an edge over the people born in the ’90s.

96. My favorite show when I was a kid was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Who doesn’t know the theme song or seen one of the terribly awesome movies?

97. I have never said “Cowabunga” in my life.  Sounds kind of dirty.

98. Even though I’ve learned about how deja vu works, it still is interesting to me.

99. I usually think with my heart first and my head second.

100. I plan on traveling a lot throughout my life.

Progress August 6, 2008

Posted by Edward in 100 Things About Me, Life.
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An e-mail has been sent to the Eaton Centre.  Now to play the waiting game to see if they will take me on.  After work today I went on a little shopping spree.  I now have an outfit for the party tomorrow.  There is a little change in plans because after the party ends at midnight, I’ve decided to take whoever wants to come along to the Best Chest Contest at Woody’s.  Should be a lot of fun.  I intend on taking pictures!  

I tried to learn 10 new hiragana symbols today but my brain just wasn’t into it.  Since I have time tomorrow, I will learn those and maybe a few others.  It’s better to know them cold than to know them a little.  I’m set for my lessons tomorrow in vocals and piano.  Squee.  

Tomorrow’s post (or Friday’s) will be way more eventful than this.  In order to inject some excitement, I’m going to continue the 1-100 Random Things About Me Quiz that I stopped doing a long time ago! Here is 61-80!

61. I wore an argyle sweater today and was deemed by my co-workers that it was like I was being forced to wear it to Grandpa’s Christmas party.  It was kind of cute, but not my style.

62. I don’t do much layering in my fashion.  Usually it’s just a polo or a t-shirt or a button up shirt with nothing underneath.  I plan on changing that.  Maybe I won’t die from the cold as much.

63. Since I was born 4 months pre-mature, I don’t have any body fat which means I am very susceptible to cold (it’s super effective?)

64. I am a tad comma happy.  I like using compound sentences and conjunctions.

65. I like biographies.

66. When I look in the mirror, I get a surge of happiness.  I didn’t feel that way about myself until I started High School.  

67. I didn’t have the best Elementary School years.  Lemens Ill Pubic Scoo was not too kind to me.  I got picked on a lot ’cause I was scrawny (once again, lack of body fat).

68. I don’t talk much about my past because nothing exciting happened until I got to University.

69. I miss some people in Windsor, but I don’t miss the city.  As Mik once said, “It’s the city that smells like ass and roses.” I couldn’t agree more.  The Detroit River smells awful.  

70. I don’t consider my ex-boyfriends as ex-boyfriends.  I call them my friends because that’s what they are to me now.

71. I consider not being out to your parents (at least) or your immediate family to be a deal breaker.

72. I don’t watch Oprah or Tyra, although I do find them amusing if I’m really bored and happen to be in front of a television.  In fact, I don’t watch much TV anymore.  I used to when I was a child but I just don’t have the time (it’s all taken up by work and learning).

73. I spend most of my time on the Internet instead, watching television from there (ha!).  

74. I love my MacBook, but I wish the keyboard was built more ergonomically.

75. I love live bands, theatre, opera, orchestras, anything! I’d rather be there than watch it.

76. I’ve never had a jam session.

77. I’ve never performed with a band.  Only with an accompanist or as a duet.

78. I love fragrances.  My most recent purchase was Banana Republic’s Cordovan.  It came out last year and I love it.

79. I would like to create my own music box one day.

80. When I was a kid, I used to slide down the stairs steps because we weren’t allowed to slide down on the pole.

An interruption from The Hills Watching Extravaganza April 2, 2008

Posted by Edward in 100 Things About Me, Katimavik, Life, Rants.
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I have come to terms with my room-mate’s snoring habit. I figure that he gets what is coming to him because when I want to stop him from snoring, I have to get out of my warm comfy bed, take 5 steps, kick him (which prompts him to say “Ow” in his sleep), and retrace my steps and try to warm up my cold bed. Every 2 hours. It’s just a fact of my Katima-life.

On Sunday our group attended the Oak Hammock Marsh Parrot and Beach party. It wasn’t much of a party for the parrots because there was only 2. 2 out of 50 parrots showed up due to the grey skies, which later cleared up nicely. The day went on anyway and we learned how to Salsa dance. Just the basics with turns and the waterfall move.

After dancing, we rounded up people for the fashion show and started to get ready. The fashion show theme was “What not to wear to the beach followed by what to wear to the beach”. So some of us wore tacky clothing to show what not to wear, and later on we walked out in our beach wear. I wore the following:

  1. Red Billabong board shorts with a white GAP (RED) hoodie
  2. Black and grey Billabong surf top with TYR surf shorts (oh Lycra, you are so comfortable)
  3. White Billabong board shorts with the same hoodie as before with white sunglasses

When the show ended, I was approached by the man who ran the event and he asked another participant and I if we were models. We looked like we had done it before (which was true in a way because of the Parade de Mode in Montréal), and we must of looked good. There were pictures taken, but we don’t have them yet. Although today we did receive a blown up picture of our group on the roof. Oak Hammock Marsh has a green roof that serves as a great observation deck, a fantastic place to have lunch when it’s warm, and a feeding place for the birds. Hopefully more pictures will arrive soon in a digital form.

Because of Spring Break for the schools, I get to work at Oak Hammock Marsh this week. On Monday I got trained on how to use the theatre and do slide-shows and movies as well as work with the day camp. The next day I did a slide-show, face painting, and story time with the children that visited. Today I showed a film, did an hour and a half of face painting, and just generally hung out around the exhibits and learned stuff about the wetlands. I really enjoy working here, but I’m glad that I get to back to the school in 2 weeks (I’m house managing next week). My face painting improves with each child’s face or cheek I paint. It’s pretty amazing that I can develop such a skill. Drawing is my only weakness in the arts. It just takes practice I suppose. Much like anything else.

On Monday night, my Dad and Brother Unit #2 visited. I was so glad to see them. My sister-in-law’s mother is a chocolate maker, and she gave the Katima-group a lot of chocolate (left over from Easter, but it was still good and very delectable). I also got my broken watch back from the Bay, a pair of shoes I can wear for spring, and a credit card bill (there has to be some business on the trip).

We went out to a Chinese Buffet (ironically named Goody Foody). It was definitely Chinese-Canadian style. Almost everything was deep-fried, and there was hardly any vegetables in sight, except for the two stir-fry dishes. The bus boy that was working there had nice hair, and it reminded me that I need to buy hairspray and wax. As we were walking out, we found a man passed out in the foyer of the restaurant. I’m glad we found him as we were walking out, not as we were walking in (although if we did, then we would of ate at Joey’s bar, which had a Cabana bar attached… can you say gay?).

After eating not so goody foody, we killed a little time at the hotel my dad and brother were staying at by watching television and drinking rye and cokes. We found a disturbing “art” dance show on Bravo! (Bravo! and Showtime are one in the same, I swear).  In one scene, there was a man pacing back and forth and a woman sitting on the couch. The man stops pacing and the woman tilts her head back and points her leg upwards. Blackout. Next scene there are two women wearing dance tights and artistically “wrestling”, complete with soft-core porn grunts. I wanted to change it, but my father and my brother wouldn’t have any of it. I am officially scarred for life. Thanks, Bravo!

We finished our rye and cokes and then went to Silver City to see A Superhero Movie, a parody of a bunch of superhero movies. Go rent it. It isn’t worth the price of admission, but I thought Leslie Nielson was fantastic as always. There are a few laughs, but it’s not comic gold. It was 9ish when the movie was done and my brother decided that we should go have some drinks at the hotel bar.

Our drinks were great, but our service was mediocre. People that sat down after us, had 4 drinks, 2 appetizers, and left before us were served way better than we were. We left no tip, and I’m pretty sure they complained to the manager in the morning when they left to go back to Ontario. We would of complained on the night of, but the manager looked like an idiot who knew nothing (that, and he fidgeted with his hands and kept wringing his fingers. Very sketchy). I was driven home and I decided that I would never drink in another hotel bar again.

I had had a drink in a hotel bar before, with Jeffrey, in the Best Western of Montréal. They screwed up our orders. I asked for a Cosmopolitan for Jeff and I, and I received a vodka and orange juice, while Jeff got a cranberry and vodka. Hmm. Not right. Are all hotel bar staff not competent in all aspects of their jobs?

Last night was physical activity, and my committee had planned on going to the school to play floor hockey.  When we got there, we remembered that the school was closed for Spring Break.  So we decided to do a Billy Blanks Tae-Bo video instead.  It was actually a work out.  The video itself was kind of terrible.  Billy Blanks was wearing a very unflattering blue Lycra leotard thing that emphasized his man-boobs (he had a wardrobe malfunction half way through the video).  For some parts of the video you could tell that they just repeated the sequence again.  The cheesiest part of the video had to be when they decided to do moves in double time.  Then the strobe lights would go on and the lights would dim and the music would get more “intense”.  When the group wasn’t laughing, we actually got a work out.

Now for 41-60 things about me:

  1. I enjoy reading with a glass of wine or chocolate.
  2. When I was a kid I used to stay up all night and read.  That stopped when I got to University.  I’ve taken up that habit again since Katimavik.
  3. I love looking for the subtle rhythms and melodies in music and studying the lyrics.
  4. My first exposure to Japanese music came from watching Clip Trip on Much More Music.  I watched Pizzicato Five’s Tout Va Bien and I was hooked.
  5. If I studied more in that field, I would love to run a show like Clip Trip, or The Loop.
  6. I have never toured the CHUM Building in Toronto, but I want to and plan on doing it this summer.  Some Torontoian I am.
  7. Synthesized strings in serious ballads annoy me and take away from the emotion of the song.
  8. I have so many things I want to do in life, I wonder if I’ll have time to do it all.
  9. I don’t do anything for April Fool’s or for Poisson Avril.  No fools or fish here.
  10. Spring to Summer is my favourite seasonal transition.
  11. I enjoy going to art museums and wandering around.
  12. I have yet to buy any souvenirs for my family.  It’s probably because they have all been to the same places I have been living in for the last 7 months.
  13. I try to find things to look forward to in life.
  14. Sometimes when I’m bored and listening to a song, I wonder what the artist is doing at that moment in time.
  15. I’d rather do something right the first time than half-ass it.
  16. I pick up random romance novels for fun and open up the page to see if it has any hilariously written love making scenes in it.
  17. Bad resumés make me wonder how those people got jobs in the first place.
  18. I’ve seen almost all of the Star Wars movies (except for the most recent one) but I couldn’t tell you what happened in any of them.
  19. I get more intellectual satisfaction out of reading a book than watching a movie.
  20. I have a soft spot in my heart for documentaries.

I decided on a set list for my Open Mic performance.  It is going to play out like a relationship.  Happy, sexy, romantic, sad, depressing, and hopeful.  Probably with some jazz and accordion thrown in for good measure.  The performance isn’t until the end of this month, but I love thinking about how fabulous it is going to be.

P.S. The title of the post comes from a few seconds ago, where 2 of my house-mates wanted the internet so they can watch more episodes of The Hills.   Just for the record, I do not watch that show.

Poetry, Anticipation, and Information March 26, 2008

Posted by Edward in 100 Things About Me, Katimavik, Life, Stonewall Collegiate Institute.
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I’m currently reading Lean Days by Steve McOrmand (a poetry book I found for free thanks to the Free Table at DIY Fest), and I found this amazing poem that I’d like to share with you:

Departure sensitive (for Janet)

These days, each window casts a rhombus of sunlight on the floor, brightens, dims, then brightens again, glowing like tungsten.

Love’s horrible. All you can think about is fucking that person. Or you catastrophise. The future’s an unreleased Russian film, storms of Stalin and wheatfields, wheatfields flattened under books. Worst case scenarios when you’re conspicuous by your absence.

You asked last night, ‘Are you fearless?’ I was trying to seduce you to stay and I laughed, ‘I am full of fear.’

Do you know your hands flit and rest a moment on my shoulders and I can’t think of pain and a time after pain? Only now and now – no, I’m lying. I’m a chipmunk filling his cheeks for the long winter ahead. I store you up in my memory, in my mouth and skin, in case things don’t work and I’m cold, starving.

It took a tall drunk guy in a blue dress to tell me I have great lips. It took you to show me who they were made for. You came and you said, ‘I am for you, for now.’ You came and said, “I will be everything you asked for, and else, and more.’

Today, lying on my back, I’ve decided I will be fearless. So the future’s a Russian flick. I will not go to see it. The window’s open. This wind that licks my skin and runs its fingers through my hair is warm without a hint of winter. And if I get up and go to the window…Yes. (31)

So amazing. That’s all I can say about that.

Monday:

I played the baritone sax with a trombone part in the Jazz Band class. What a fun instrument. All saxes are all built the same, it just takes a different embouchure to get it to work. I officially have a schedule now, which is nice. I know where I’m supposed to be, rather than following Courtney around or having to run all the way back up to 2nd floor and finding out from my work partner.

Speaking of work partners, tonight is the Katima-Welcome Party. It started snowing halfway throughout the day, so it seems highly unlikely that anyone will show up, but then again, it IS the Prairies and they are probably used to the snow. We got enough fresh baked bread, home-made tortilla chips and salsa and vegan muffins to feed the town.

Aftermath:

We placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of the raging snow that was outside. 4 people showed up: 2 billet families. One of the families works at Oak Hammond Marsh, and we were invited to participate in a Swimwear Fashion Show on Sunday, featuring the Parrot Club of Winnipeg (there are going to be a lot of parrots at this fashion show/summer party thing. I think I may have to rock one as an accessory, like Jennifer Love Hewitt did). I’m going to be wearing a surfer wet-skins outfit, and 2 different types of board shorts. There will be pictures.

Wednesday:

Today I played an alto sax in band, got invited to help out the Senior Choir, and bought a portable, roll-able piano! You better believe I’m excited to get it tomorrow! I’ll get someone to take pictures or record a video of me playing it, because IT IS AWESOME. *ahem* I also went swimming with the Special Ed. kids today. It was so much fun! I got to play ball, tag, and float around the pool for an hour. Afterwards I took 10 minutes to myself in the sauna. It was glorious.

When we returned to the school, we discovered that someone had smeared their own feces on the walls of a boys bathroom. This incident happened last week when someone did the same thing in a girls washroom. In order to find the culprit, there will be a lock-down on the bathrooms during breaks. Loks like people are going to have to hold it until lunch or the end of the school day. This all reminds me of Woodingford a little, only more messy. Should be an interesting next couple of days.

Now it’s time for…

21-40 Things About Me:

21. I’m blunt to a fault sometimes. I’ve gotten better at not being that way though. Living with 10 other people cures you of that habit quickly.

22. I would take an one-on-one interview over a group interview any day.

23. Lucky Charms cereal is so good. I think the love for the super-sugary cereals comes from not having those cereals when I was a child. I was also deprived of Sodalicious, Fruit By The Foot, and other fun-time treats that would get traded over elementary lunches. 

24. I’m a sucker for Major 7th chords.

25. I find it easy to predict a chord progression of a song.

26. I enjoy lazy male vocals and female vocals with vibratos. I can”t understand what’s being said in screamo songs. Can anyone?

27. I have never had a pen explode on me and make an embarrassing stain on my pants or shirt.

28. I don’t have much of a problem walking around the house in my underwear, unless there are guests in the house.

29. Every time I watch the movie Amélie, I always find something I missed the previous times I watched it.

30. I prefer form fitting or tight yet comfortable clothes over loose clothing any day.

31. I don’t care much for beer. Everything else alcoholic is great, and I’ll force down a beer if I have to, but I will never ask for one.

32. I love Easter chocolate. It’s my most favourite time of year because the weather is warm and the chocolate is cheap and delicious. (As I write this, I am eating a Rolo Egg. It’s pretty delectable.)

33. I am a mouth breather, according to my friend/model/dental hygienist.

34. I will defend friends if they are being put down behind their backs.

35. I read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings when I was 10. I couldn’t bring myself to watch the movie. Although, I do think I would enjoy watching the Hobbit. Bilbo… Bilbo Baggins… only three feet tall…

36. I love it when I start singing a song and then someone in the house will finish it and vice versa.

37. However, I find it annoying when people who are not performing with me start trying to add in bad harmonies or vocal acrobatics in the middle of my songs. You have to start at the beginning of a song and build up to it, not just jump in there and add in whatever you want.

38. I’m a nerd. But I didn’t take programming in high school or university, so I don’t know how to hack into your computer, or physically put together your hard drive. But I can fix your computer in other ways. I’m handy with printers and photo-copiers as well.

39. I think the Microsoft Office Assistants are annoying. I don’t want to see you pop out and ask me, “Oh, it looks like you’re writing a letter! Want me to help you with that?”. No, thank you. I’m capable of doing it myself.

40. The greatest compliments I have ever received were after my performances. People would come up to me and say, “Thank you, your songs made me feel like this, or made me think of a time in my life.” I love knowing that the music that I play makes others feel good.

    Something about other people and 1-20 things about me March 22, 2008

    Posted by Edward in 100 Things About Me, Life.
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    Sometimes the actions of other people astound me.  For example, just now, I found a book cover that my room-mate made  himself and decorated with stuff about sex rights.  On the front it says “Write for yourself, write for change”.  My room-mate is not the greatest writer in the world.  He always writes quotes that are about peace, love, acceptance, etc. and it comes across as promoting his stereotype.  My quotes are at least funny sometimes.  His hippie-ness skews his writing (and he spells the word “hippie” as “hippy”).  I learned that he plans on writing “random things that he believes in” in his book.  We’ll see where that goes.

    I was reading through a blog and I found the customary blog meme “100 Things About Me”.  It reminded of me when I did that same meme a long time ago.  Too bad I can’t find it now, it would have been really interesting to compare the two.  Since this quiz has not graced the pages of this blog, I present to you my 100 Things About Me (Questions 1-20):

    1. I don’t doodle or draw all over things.  Right now, I’m using a laptop that my room-mate used to own (he was going to toss it out because the monitor didn’t work.  I fixed it by attaching a monitor cord to it) and he doodled all over the keyboard with sharpie.  I find doodling all over something makes it more ugly.
    2. I am spontaneous sometimes.  Not in the “Let’s pack our bags right now and go on a trip to Cuba for a week” spontaneous, but in the “I saw something that was so you that I just have to tell you about it and I haven’t talked to you in a while” kind of way.  I found a book sitting in the bookshelf a few seconds ago and it was Oscar Wilde’s classic The Picture of Dorian Gray.  I called Mik (who loves the book to death) to tell him that I found a copy and thought of him.  That, and to say hi.
    3. Poetry books are my guilty pleasure.  Some people have Nick Carter, others have watching bad soap operas, some may even have reading Perez Hilton (not guilty) at work, but mine is well written poetry.
    4. I am on a never-ending quest to create a wardrobe of my own that has clothes that are unique, interesting, and, of course, fashionable.
    5. Sad novels, movies, and pictures can make me tear up, but have never pushed me to crying.  Music, on the other hand, can and did, twice.
    6. If I am performing a song in public, I always make sure that I know the words the song.  There isn’t anything more embarrassing than forgetting the words to a song in front of an audience.
    7. I want to try para-sailing.
    8. If my skin was clearer, I would be insanely confident all the time.
    9. I enjoy all types of music.  I used to say that exact phrase and add in, “except honky-tonk country music”.  But then that wouldn’t be true, would it? Being here in the Prairies has allowed me to enjoy it a little.
    10. It irks me to see things spelled wrong (see earlier in the post with hippy and hippie).
    11. As I help out high-school students with their school work, I realize that their work isn’t so bad and it can be done relatively quickly if you just focus.  Why it took me two years of University and Katimavik for me to figure that out, I do not know.
    12. I yawn a lot.  When I think about yawning, or someone mentions it, it happens.  You aren’t boring me, I’m just lacking oxygen.
    13. My hands are almost always cold.  Cold hands, warm heart, my mother used to say.
    14. I was born 4 months pre-mature.  I should of been born in March, but I had other plans.
    15. Religion is fascinating to me, but I do not follow a certain one (unless Tolerance is a religion now).
    16. I know that I will inevitably become a full-time musician one day.  It is just a matter of when I have enough money to support myself while pursuing my dream.  For now though, I will be a gerontologist which is I love as well.
    17. I have seen sides of people that very few other people get to see.  I am easy to open up to and trust.  I keep confidentiality.
    18. I leave messages on phones and I am not very fond of texting (something that my parents have beat into me because texting is expensive, and words alone can be so impersonal and misinterpreted).  I would rather hear or see a person face-to-face than exchange pleasantries over the Internet.
    19. When I eat chocolate, I have to remind myself to savour the chocolate and not just bite down and finish it in 2 seconds.
    20. Sometimes I will write little witty notes on tests that I mark.  For instance, on a psych test I marked on Friday, a student wrote, “I don’t know, lol!”.  I wrote underneath, “lol, don’t write that.  It is bad form.  kthx.”

    Et voila.  1-20 Things About Me.  The rest of the meme will follow in other posts.

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