CONSTRUCTION ZONE

Hello all!

I have been feeling a little dissatisfied with the look of my blog and have been so inspired by the successful new colour scheme of AS's liverjournal that i am undertaking to re-vamp my own site.

I realize that as it currently stands, some things are hard to read. These things shall change soon. As soon as i learn more about CSS and HTML

We thank you for your patience and understanding

Sincerely,
The Management

5 Signs You May Have a Knitting Addiction

5) You insist on bringing your knitting to work on during a 10 minute car ride

4) You don't see anything odd about knitting in a movie theatre (during the feature presentation)

3) You can knit on a crowded bus in the dark without impaling the person next to you with a knitting needle

2) You own more types of wool than you do pairs of pants

1) You knit while crossing the street

Eureeka!

By Jove, it seems she's done it!



Yes, i have managed to write over 50,000 words in less than a month! I am an official winner of

Nanowrimo 2005 and have earned full bragging rights. And a nice certificate to prominently display in my new home. I think waking up this morning and having the snow still here was a definite motivator. Snow in Vancouver makes me giddy. It is such a rarity. Like writing a novel in a month! Sorry. I am so very giddy right now.
Something else that makes me giddy is the fact that i managed to finish the whole novel without any easily discernable plot! Go me! No plot? No problem.

Time for a little dance. Woo hoo novel dance!
Oh the sense of accomplishment!



But now what do i do?
What shall be my next big project?

CURLING!

few things render a voice so sweet
as a crisp night air
a favourite melody sung silently
one caroler in the night
the music falling heavenly
upon a lover's ear

confession

sometimes i check my blog (forgetting that it is i who is responsible for updating it) and wonder why there arent any new posts.

Novel Update

Today is Day 14 of my novel. I think i may have finally hit the wall.
Is the second week slump the start of week 2 or the week after fourteen days? Maybe i am a late-bloomer, a fast runner and the Slump only caught up with me now. Dang!
Maybe it is because i am 18,000 words in and still have absolutely zero plot (and no inkling of how to introduce plot of any kind and no intention of developing an inkling).

Class of 2005

Today was the official convocation of the second ever graduating class of the After-Degree Nursing Programme at the UofA. As some of us were unable to attend the lengthy, impersonal ceremonies in Edmonton, JT and her friend KS decided to host a commerative evening for those grads located in the lower mainland. KS, the only attendee not of the 2005 class, did a phenomenal job organizing the event. Kudos, KS! After a nice home-cooked meal of tacos and shirley temples, we proceeded to Brock Hall at TWU for the actual ceremony. In attendance were myself, JT, and AB. Neither AB nor myself knew quite what we were in for when we had accepted the invitation. I had been told "dinner, candles, possible speech". RS had actually done online research to find a speech from a nursing faculty and learn the necessary elements for a proper nursing graduation. Who knew there were special elements?! Candles, pins, uniforms, and Oaths were all required.
RS had specially selected music for the evening (so good!), dressed us in scrubs stolen from her sister, and made us enter one at a time with candles and walk through the lecture hall and onto the stage. She gave us a moving speech. We all said a few words. (i wrote my speech on the bus on the way over! It was well received! And i didnt even set my notes aflame with my candle!). Together, we lit the Florence Nightingale Candle. We all recited the Oath, were pinned, and exited with candles and flowers. We took turns through out the ceremony running around with the camera. It was the best! So silly, so memorable!
JT said it felt pretty real to her. I dont think it could have been any better!

The Dinner

The Oath

Lighting the Florence Nightingale Candle

The Graduates

Question 1, Question 2

1) What is the plural of Bigfoot? Bigfoots? Bigfeet?

2) Why does it always smell of blackened toast on the corner of Broadway @ Cambie?

This is what i am wondering tonight.
I just dont know.

Now i am going to go lay me down in a pile of laundry.

PS - Brand X Shirley is a disgusting pink fizzy syrupy bottled drink. Dis.Gus.Ting.

Cricketr's* Curious Condition

(*note: Cricketr is pronounced "cricket". The second R is silent. Think of it as being the rating. Cricket, rated R)

Today i found myself walking down Broadway in between Main and Cambie, the part of the street lined with outdoors-y stores, when i started to feel a little....strange. To self-diagnose, i believe i am suffering from... Fleece Envy.

Clinical Manifestations of Fleece Envy

~ overwhelming desire to possess fleecy and/or other outdoorsy items without any obvious need
~ impaired reasoning - person is able to convince themself that they need said items
~ elaborate delusional systems for justification of purchases
~ person becomes convinced that fleecy/outdoorsy items already in possession are shabby and unable to sufficiently serve their purpose
~ impulsive and large purchases have been known to occur in some cases
~ excessive chills due to belief that old fleece will not keep warm enough
~ sweats occur when forced to leave without purchase
~ inability to think clearly when in same space as fleecy/outdoorsy items
~ inability to follow directions from others when fleecy/outdoorsy items are in view

geography time

Hello!

I have provided you with a map of BC so that you may understand where my new home is in relation to other places in the province. Clicking on the map will take you to a larger, more visible version.

To find Creston on this map, locate the southern border of the province and follow it east (to the right of the screen) until you have almost run out of BC and are about to enter Alberta. Welcome!

Coming this December: tales of moving in the snow, my new apartment, my first days as a (paid!) nurse in a strange hospital, and things to see and do in a small Kootenay town.

My Roadtrip

It was the long weekend,
november,
i went away at the last minute

the trip may be reduced as:
1 rental car
1 driver
4 days
5 snowstorms
2 different provinces
2 time zone changes
2 bottles of visine
an unfortunate amount of time lost in Calgary (curse you!)
2 sightings of the World's Largest Truck
1 sighting of the World's Largest St-Bernard
1 apartment lease
1 frozen credit card
1 Antichrist summmit
1 Anarchist summit
1 flock of sheep on the road
1 camouflaged suicidal bunny
1 close encounter with a Moose

à l'envers

i have no appetite
but eat,
without satiety

i wake,
without sleeping

i cry,
without feeling

i choose,
without loving

tu me manqueras

De temps à autre

Je peux presque
Me convaincre
D’être solide

et tu ne me manqueras pas

De temps à autre
Je me rends compte
D’avoir tort

Déjà,
Tu me manques

(sometimes
i can almost
convince myself
that i am
a rock
and will not miss you

sometimes
i realize
i am mistaken
already,
i miss you)

a free sunday (no free sundaes)

I woke up this morning feeling very heavy. As if a truck went roaring past where I slumbered and the passenger stuck their arm out and yanked me violently from my sleep state and dragged me with them for a few hundred yards until the weight of me became to much to bear and the arm released me and I crumbled back onto my couch whose contact with my body caused me to awake and feel rather disheveled. What a way to begin the day. But at least it isn’t raining.

Here I am, a free Sunday. Free from rain. Free from obligations. And I sit at a study carrel at the centre of public library activity. Its an usual feeling to be here without urgent purpose. No notes to write. No practice questions to suffer through. No research to do. Its strangely exhilarating.
I found a CD by a group from Salt Spring Island called Carrot Revolution. It isn’t very good but I am still uploading it to my computer. It may grow on me over time. Mainly I like it because there is a picture in the liner notes of the band members jumping off of a dock into a lake and it looks very similar to the dock we hung out on when we went on a 2 night camping trip to Salt Spring Island. And it reminds me of good things. I like being reminded of good things.
The woman sitting at the carrel facing mine, adjoining mine, is reading one of the Lemony Snicket books. Oh, she is taking a break from her reading. She is… cleaning her ear…with her glasses?!?!?!? Seriously. I am not mistaken here. I wish that I were. I feel ill. I think it is time to go.

update

I thought that all i wanted was a job.
That was until yesterday when i was finally offered one.
And as far as jobs go, it is a good one.
But i was wrong.
I WAS WRONG!
I want more than that.
I want a job in a town that i dont hate.

Last Night

what is this game at which we play?
pussy-footing
darting
skirting
an intricate dance
of emotions
of sous-entendres,
tis a game only adults dare.
we are playing with fire
and one of us will burn

a little pick-me-up

I think the people downstairs are fiends of illicit substances. When i got home last night, it smelled of pot. And now, already this morning, there is the distinct odour of pot wafting up through the floor. I think they are trying to hotbox my house. Lately i have been feeling like i could use a little pick-me-up, but this wasnt quite what i had in mind.

Silence is Golden

they say silence is golden
(the ever-present they)
what i wouldnt give for a little silence right now
all the noise noise noise
questions
incessant chatter
traffic
television
the bass of passing cars
the people downstairs
if i had some silence,
i would pawn its golden self
and fill my pockets
with freedom

Typical Post

this began because i was waiting
and waiting
and waiting
and there really wasnt anything else with which to occupy my time.
And "all my friends had one".
I fear i am failing miserably at waiting so i might as well try my hand at writing.
I shall bombard this community with my ramblings.
I shall unleash my fury upon the masses.
I shall take up a friend's challenge to join Nanowrimo and write 50,000 words before the end of the month. I have 1,396 done today.

What have you done today?

There's No Going Back

its past the hour
when i should even consider
what time it is

these words are no more
and no less
than any others
than any other's

publication = validation?

we shall see,
we shall see.