24-05-2008 18:47
And like that, the call, like a brick, finally comes through the window. Four years, 66 days, a few hours and change. I look around my apartment, surrounded my her things. Not ours, any more. If I squint, I can see the last outlines of our future together, fading like mist.
I feel I've failed, somehow. A thousand missed opportunites, misunderstood gestures, simple things that I will never get to make amends for. But even that is too simple.
The heart wants what it wants, and it does not want me, does not want what I represent, does not want what I have become, most of all does not want me as much as it wants this other woman who is there, present, while I, three thousand miles away, am only a distant fading ghostly custodian of her memories and keepsakes.
I did it for her. Became this caricature of myself, functionary, her father's employee. Did so much, gave up so much, would have given so much more, if she had only asked. I would have gone to the ends of the earth for her, would have followed her on every adventure, but she did not ask, will never ask, now.
She loves her. She won't be coming back for years. And it's time to let me go, to at long last cut that final cord and throw the call, like a brick, though my window while her cat - my cat - curls about my feet and does not, cannot understand what it means when I finally close the phone, open my throat, and for the second time in my life, understand what it means to wail.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Roundelay.
Went down to Seattle and did EmeraldCon on the weekend, and it was very good. Now why I did that is a story in itself, but that post is taking a while. In the meantime, I'll let Jennie Breeden of The Devil's Panties sum up my average experience of meeting some of my longtime heroes:
Ms. Breeden herself is pretty darn approachable, and while I wasn't familiar with her work before going, I sure do now. She didn't know where Richmond or BC is, though, so I may just have to send her a postcard.
Ms. Breeden herself is pretty darn approachable, and while I wasn't familiar with her work before going, I sure do now. She didn't know where Richmond or BC is, though, so I may just have to send her a postcard.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Carl Sagan meets Barbara Frum. Blood everywhere.
Speaking of the Onion, I think they've put a finger on why media literacy has been dropping for decades. Half the time when I tune in to the news to hear the experts, they come across like this:
In The Know: Situation In Nigeria Seems Pretty Complex
Harsh? Maybe. But when a media personality tries to talk about a subject they don't know much about, they don't always succeed in pulling it off. They're particularly bad with anything science related. A few months ago I almost drove off the road in a rage while hearing a show about the pine beetle epidemic on CKNW, where one guest was adopting a "take a lawnmower to the province" approach, while the other guest was saying that we should try to at least leave dead trees in place around river valleys and eroding slopes, lest we get sudden massive flooding. The host was hostile and acting as if this was the most lunatic hippy idea imaginable. "They have to cut everything and make their money now, before they have nothing left to cut!" Cue a few months later, and my hometown is pretty much under water.
No one's immune to this. I was really shocked when I recently saw this 1988 interview where Barbara Frum - who I had previously had nothing but respect for - seems to be trying to play gotcha! with Carl Sagan. Frum was a respected journalist with decades of experience in political analysis, but here she comes off really badly and almost ignorant.
I suppose it's natural for people who are experts in one field - like, say, politics - to think of everything else in terms of politics; from an interesting crooked timber post here comes the argument that many fields - engineering, science, management - tend to disregard anything outside their own field, complete with this great quote from CP Snow:
A good many times I have been present at gatherings of people who, by the standards of the traditional culture, are thought highly educated and who have with considerable gusto been expressing their incredulity of scientists. Once or twice I have been provoked and have asked the company how many of them could describe the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The response was cold: it was also negative. Yet I was asking something which is the scientific equivalent of: Have you read a work of Shakespeare’s?
I now believe that if I had asked an even simpler question—such as, What do you mean by mass, or acceleration, which is the scientific equivalent of saying, Can you read?—not more than one in ten of the highly educated would have felt that I was speaking the same language. So the great edifice of modern physics goes up, and the majority of the cleverest people in the western world have about as much insight into it as their neolithic ancestors would have had...
It's a fantastic line of thought, and I now want to seek out the original source material; but it does drive the point home to me why we're having such problems now around global warming and the pushback against evolution; people who are not scientists, but philosophers, or religious figures, or politicians, see science as just another social construct, one in which the truths are relative and can be manipulated. But the fact is, you can be an expert in your own field and still be completely ignorant about another one. There is such a thing as reality, science is all about the real, and scientists are canaries in the global coal mine. Eppur si muove.
The facts that science studies are indifferent to economics, politics, or religion; it wouldn't take very much to cause (for instance) widespread global famine, and there are few belief systems that than outlast the starvation of every adherent. The media might want to interview a few Mayans about that. Ask any farmer: a few degrees' difference in temperature here or there at the wrong time of year, and localized disaster awaits. A bit of drought, and you have catastrophe. And if you have that going on in many places at once...
But the media have not been asking the farmers, now have they?
In The Know: Situation In Nigeria Seems Pretty Complex
Harsh? Maybe. But when a media personality tries to talk about a subject they don't know much about, they don't always succeed in pulling it off. They're particularly bad with anything science related. A few months ago I almost drove off the road in a rage while hearing a show about the pine beetle epidemic on CKNW, where one guest was adopting a "take a lawnmower to the province" approach, while the other guest was saying that we should try to at least leave dead trees in place around river valleys and eroding slopes, lest we get sudden massive flooding. The host was hostile and acting as if this was the most lunatic hippy idea imaginable. "They have to cut everything and make their money now, before they have nothing left to cut!" Cue a few months later, and my hometown is pretty much under water.
No one's immune to this. I was really shocked when I recently saw this 1988 interview where Barbara Frum - who I had previously had nothing but respect for - seems to be trying to play gotcha! with Carl Sagan. Frum was a respected journalist with decades of experience in political analysis, but here she comes off really badly and almost ignorant.
I suppose it's natural for people who are experts in one field - like, say, politics - to think of everything else in terms of politics; from an interesting crooked timber post here comes the argument that many fields - engineering, science, management - tend to disregard anything outside their own field, complete with this great quote from CP Snow:
A good many times I have been present at gatherings of people who, by the standards of the traditional culture, are thought highly educated and who have with considerable gusto been expressing their incredulity of scientists. Once or twice I have been provoked and have asked the company how many of them could describe the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The response was cold: it was also negative. Yet I was asking something which is the scientific equivalent of: Have you read a work of Shakespeare’s?
I now believe that if I had asked an even simpler question—such as, What do you mean by mass, or acceleration, which is the scientific equivalent of saying, Can you read?—not more than one in ten of the highly educated would have felt that I was speaking the same language. So the great edifice of modern physics goes up, and the majority of the cleverest people in the western world have about as much insight into it as their neolithic ancestors would have had...
It's a fantastic line of thought, and I now want to seek out the original source material; but it does drive the point home to me why we're having such problems now around global warming and the pushback against evolution; people who are not scientists, but philosophers, or religious figures, or politicians, see science as just another social construct, one in which the truths are relative and can be manipulated. But the fact is, you can be an expert in your own field and still be completely ignorant about another one. There is such a thing as reality, science is all about the real, and scientists are canaries in the global coal mine. Eppur si muove.
The facts that science studies are indifferent to economics, politics, or religion; it wouldn't take very much to cause (for instance) widespread global famine, and there are few belief systems that than outlast the starvation of every adherent. The media might want to interview a few Mayans about that. Ask any farmer: a few degrees' difference in temperature here or there at the wrong time of year, and localized disaster awaits. A bit of drought, and you have catastrophe. And if you have that going on in many places at once...
But the media have not been asking the farmers, now have they?
I Am Iron Man! (do do do do dooodooo do do do)
I saw it last night with JediSchoolDropout and his pal Dave, in a discount low-rent theatre on the east side, and what can I say? That was a fantastic movie. It's very hard to get a blockbuster to be that light on its feet, but the cast is excellent right down to the bit players, and the film is full of subtle nods, winks, and bright sparkly moments that make the whole thing a delight. When you get a movie that can get laughs out of the personality of inanimate objects, you've got something special. Jeff Bridges and Gwneth Paltrow are revelations, Robert Downey is charming in the role he was born to play, and the whole thing was just plain fun. (Okay, the origin stuff was grim, but that's kind of the point; and it works much better than the original, Vietnam era creation story).
After the show, we wandered about commercial drive with Dave, before meeting up with his blind date at what turned out to be a stealth vegan restaurant. JDS was pleased with the acting and the lack of condescesion to the material, as well as the screenwriter's ability to get the actors out of theior masks at the key moments. Dave was happy with the secret fanboyservice scene at the end of the credits, which writes a huge check for any potential sequel. But given how cocksure and charming Downey and Favreau were while beating the odds to get this one made right, why shouldn't they be able to pull it off?
And while the Onion hit it out of the park last week, it's nice to see that their fears were unfounded:
Wildly Popular 'Iron Man' Trailer To Be Adapted Into Full-Length Film
After the show, we wandered about commercial drive with Dave, before meeting up with his blind date at what turned out to be a stealth vegan restaurant. JDS was pleased with the acting and the lack of condescesion to the material, as well as the screenwriter's ability to get the actors out of theior masks at the key moments. Dave was happy with the secret fanboyservice scene at the end of the credits, which writes a huge check for any potential sequel. But given how cocksure and charming Downey and Favreau were while beating the odds to get this one made right, why shouldn't they be able to pull it off?
And while the Onion hit it out of the park last week, it's nice to see that their fears were unfounded:
Wildly Popular 'Iron Man' Trailer To Be Adapted Into Full-Length Film
Friday, May 02, 2008
And for posterity...
Let the record show: Cats and Air mattresses do not mix.
I'm thinking some bloggy thoughts, but work is busy. I think...I may review some comic books. BUt that makes me think I may want to start a second blog, which makes me think I'd better shut down that line of thought quick. Write first, publish second.
I'm thinking some bloggy thoughts, but work is busy. I think...I may review some comic books. BUt that makes me think I may want to start a second blog, which makes me think I'd better shut down that line of thought quick. Write first, publish second.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
The Balkanization of the Planetary Mindnet
Copyright's been annoying me a lot lately, in a very particular way: Canada seems to be getting screwed when it comes to media access. If the internet is founded on a premise of being able to access all available information, it then becomes that little bit extra irritating every time that you try to read some post or follow some link only to be brought up short by a message that the content can't be viewed in Canada.
What got me thinking about it was a comment by the remixers who created that Robyn video from a few days ago - A remix, it must be stressed, made with the blessing of the original artist. At the original Youtube posting, people were asking about the possibility of buying the remix, but the remixers commented that it's up to the artist - well---
Q [Gella21] : So then you've decided to drop the mthrfckrs part of your name? Also, when is Be Mine coming out on vinyl???
A [ocelotmthrkckr] : yes we decided it was a cleaner branding job to just do ocelot and also we would be fighting an uphill battle to radio, distributors and stores to carry our records. i dont think our version is going to be on vinyl in the end i think the robyn camp decided ours would go on a cd or maybe just digital. the downside of remixing is that once you turn a track in you rarely get a copy of the finished product. and living in america makes it increasingly difficult to acquire them.
"living in america", indeed. If you go to the Robyn website, it splits off into a site for North America (splayed over an American Flag, no less), and one for the rest of the world. One of them has lots of information (at least), and the other barely has a store, which dumps you on iTunes. Guess which is which? I suppose it's a step up from the old days of import versions, but just barely.
And as the walls go up around the US, where does that leave us? Scrabbling on the outside, peering in at clips from US shows that redirect us to their crippled Canadian counterparts?
And that's not even getting into the really ominous news from today:
Copyright crazies gaining steam in Canada.
And yet, on the other hand, this week I came across (via Beaucoup Kevin) something so impressive as to beggar description: a remixed hour long history of sampled music called "Raiding The Twentieth Century", put together by DJ Food originally for XFM's 'The Remix' show in London, in 2004. The MP3 is an incredible listening experience, and if you doubt it check out the track listing:
Link
So yeah. Fascists, Anarchists. 21st century style. I think I'll be revisiting this one.
What got me thinking about it was a comment by the remixers who created that Robyn video from a few days ago - A remix, it must be stressed, made with the blessing of the original artist. At the original Youtube posting, people were asking about the possibility of buying the remix, but the remixers commented that it's up to the artist - well---
Q [Gella21] : So then you've decided to drop the mthrfckrs part of your name? Also, when is Be Mine coming out on vinyl???
A [ocelotmthrkckr] : yes we decided it was a cleaner branding job to just do ocelot and also we would be fighting an uphill battle to radio, distributors and stores to carry our records. i dont think our version is going to be on vinyl in the end i think the robyn camp decided ours would go on a cd or maybe just digital. the downside of remixing is that once you turn a track in you rarely get a copy of the finished product. and living in america makes it increasingly difficult to acquire them.
"living in america", indeed. If you go to the Robyn website, it splits off into a site for North America (splayed over an American Flag, no less), and one for the rest of the world. One of them has lots of information (at least), and the other barely has a store, which dumps you on iTunes. Guess which is which? I suppose it's a step up from the old days of import versions, but just barely.
And as the walls go up around the US, where does that leave us? Scrabbling on the outside, peering in at clips from US shows that redirect us to their crippled Canadian counterparts?
And that's not even getting into the really ominous news from today:
Copyright crazies gaining steam in Canada.
And yet, on the other hand, this week I came across (via Beaucoup Kevin) something so impressive as to beggar description: a remixed hour long history of sampled music called "Raiding The Twentieth Century", put together by DJ Food originally for XFM's 'The Remix' show in London, in 2004. The MP3 is an incredible listening experience, and if you doubt it check out the track listing:
Link
So yeah. Fascists, Anarchists. 21st century style. I think I'll be revisiting this one.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Shocked, Shocked, I say.
From Sybil Vane over at Bitch, Ph.d., an excerpt from Things I Learned While getting a Ph.d:
4) Academics are, on the whole, not as progressive as they fancy themselves.
Testify. You can also substitute "Baby Boomers" for Academics, or use "Baby Boomer Academics" as the square of the function.
On the plus side, I am constantly enjoying watching Generation Y making Boomer heads explode, a trend which shows no sign of abating. Watching people with poor self-knowledge get a reality pie in the face is one of life's little guilty pleasures.
Note: There are baby boomers whom the above doesn't apply to, of course. But as a demographic, sorry. The most influential leaders of the baby boom so far have been George Bush, Stephen Harper and the Clintons. Res ipsa loquitur.
4) Academics are, on the whole, not as progressive as they fancy themselves.
Testify. You can also substitute "Baby Boomers" for Academics, or use "Baby Boomer Academics" as the square of the function.
On the plus side, I am constantly enjoying watching Generation Y making Boomer heads explode, a trend which shows no sign of abating. Watching people with poor self-knowledge get a reality pie in the face is one of life's little guilty pleasures.
Note: There are baby boomers whom the above doesn't apply to, of course. But as a demographic, sorry. The most influential leaders of the baby boom so far have been George Bush, Stephen Harper and the Clintons. Res ipsa loquitur.
Monday, April 21, 2008
My subordinate senses are tingling...
So I'm spending the start of this week filling out performance evaluations for my superiors. Hoo boy. When people who can fire you (and at very least make your life a misery) ask for honest opinions (anonymity guaranteed), it's a time to try the soul. If you've ever been burned on anonymous feedback that turned out to have mousetraps in the comments box, or had a friend ask for an honest opinion prior to going all psychiatrists' couch on you, you know what I mean. An honest opinion is a trust exercise, at the end of the day, and trust is earned, not requested. Not that I won't complete the exercise, but it does mean that every response must be carefully weighed, rendered neutral, and considered before submission. Did Hawaiians sweat like this every time they tossed some offering into the volcano? Gotta do it, gotta keep Pele happy, but you never know what's gonna set off the explosion, and heaven help you if you were the one in charge of the delivery that day...
Huh. Evidently early Hawaiians didn't toss people into volcanoes. Well, that's good to know.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
It's like an echo in my head.
This is probably the best evocation of missing someone you're likely to ever see. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Robyn, Be Mine (Ocelot Mthrfckr Remix)
In case you are wondering, the people in the footage are the filmmakers themselves and not some unsuspecting extras lured in with coffee and donuts.
Via the every enjoyable Beaucoup Kevin Church, linked at right. I always like to toddle by his blog and see what nifty music, vids, or comics commentary he's served up.
In case you are wondering, the people in the footage are the filmmakers themselves and not some unsuspecting extras lured in with coffee and donuts.
Via the every enjoyable Beaucoup Kevin Church, linked at right. I always like to toddle by his blog and see what nifty music, vids, or comics commentary he's served up.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
In case anyone ever wonders...
Where I've been? Ah, that's a longer discussion, and probably not one for this space at this time. But let me give a partial answer.
I'm hardly the first person to say this, but writing is hard. It's particularly hard to do as a sideline, or in your spare time, because it is difficult, and draining, and not precisely fun. Thus, if you aren't writing for a living, or as your sole outlet, it's hard to build up the momentum to compose things when you don't have to. You have to write a lot to get good at it, and you have to write a lot to even get halfway competent, and less than a few hours a day just doesn't cut it. It isn't so much that writers starve for their art, as that they starve because they are writing, and they write (as opposed to pouring the time and energy into a career that pays living wages) because they are driven to.
Now me, I am what you call a generalist, and we live in an age of specialists. I figured out a long time ago that the top 5% or 10%* of any profession is where the driven people and specialists are, and they tend to be the ones with the talent, luck, connections, and above all narrowness of focus to do really well.
Now obviously, some people get there more by talent and some more by connections or luck, but what they all have, I am convinced, is that narrowness of focus. And obviously that exact percentage varies with profession - take sports for example. The percentage of soccer players who make a living at it versus the percentage of pentatheletes is probably very different. (Of course, given how many more soccer players there are than people who do pentathelon, it might even be soccer that gives the worse odds, who knows).
It's possible to be good- sometimes very good- at something and still not be good enough to live in that top percentile. It's what separates the most glorious amateur from the mediocre professional. And when it comes to the creative arts, that top percentile is generally the only band that makes enough money to exclusively do art for a living. People below that band who write, act, dance, or make music for a living generally do so because they're driven to do it enough that they'll endure the financial hardship it entails. The catch is, that they're also the only ones who devote enough time to their art that they can get really good at it.
I write for part of my living. Which is to say, I sometimes write things as part of my job description. But it's not creative writing, and if you're not doing creative writing then you aren't getting any better at it. And so long as I am researching and writing about what I will generically describe as government regulations for a living, that's always going to be a drain on my creative energy. After spending 10 hours a day working in front of a monitor, doing so on my own time just doesn't seem to appeal.
So if I'm going to get better - or at very least stop the corrosion in my writing skills - it's time to get back at this.
*Who knows what the actual number is, but a grad school friend of mine used to spit out the phrase "the talented tenth" to refer to those who vacumned up the work experience, plum positions, and financial aid, leaving the rest of the peons to pay the full shot for everything. Regardless of the number, it's a pattern that was pretty clear to see, and had a dubious relation to talent as opposed to what cohort you entered the school in, or how good you were at apple polishing, or whether you were under 30. Seriously.
I'm hardly the first person to say this, but writing is hard. It's particularly hard to do as a sideline, or in your spare time, because it is difficult, and draining, and not precisely fun. Thus, if you aren't writing for a living, or as your sole outlet, it's hard to build up the momentum to compose things when you don't have to. You have to write a lot to get good at it, and you have to write a lot to even get halfway competent, and less than a few hours a day just doesn't cut it. It isn't so much that writers starve for their art, as that they starve because they are writing, and they write (as opposed to pouring the time and energy into a career that pays living wages) because they are driven to.
Now me, I am what you call a generalist, and we live in an age of specialists. I figured out a long time ago that the top 5% or 10%* of any profession is where the driven people and specialists are, and they tend to be the ones with the talent, luck, connections, and above all narrowness of focus to do really well.
Now obviously, some people get there more by talent and some more by connections or luck, but what they all have, I am convinced, is that narrowness of focus. And obviously that exact percentage varies with profession - take sports for example. The percentage of soccer players who make a living at it versus the percentage of pentatheletes is probably very different. (Of course, given how many more soccer players there are than people who do pentathelon, it might even be soccer that gives the worse odds, who knows).
It's possible to be good- sometimes very good- at something and still not be good enough to live in that top percentile. It's what separates the most glorious amateur from the mediocre professional. And when it comes to the creative arts, that top percentile is generally the only band that makes enough money to exclusively do art for a living. People below that band who write, act, dance, or make music for a living generally do so because they're driven to do it enough that they'll endure the financial hardship it entails. The catch is, that they're also the only ones who devote enough time to their art that they can get really good at it.
I write for part of my living. Which is to say, I sometimes write things as part of my job description. But it's not creative writing, and if you're not doing creative writing then you aren't getting any better at it. And so long as I am researching and writing about what I will generically describe as government regulations for a living, that's always going to be a drain on my creative energy. After spending 10 hours a day working in front of a monitor, doing so on my own time just doesn't seem to appeal.
So if I'm going to get better - or at very least stop the corrosion in my writing skills - it's time to get back at this.
*Who knows what the actual number is, but a grad school friend of mine used to spit out the phrase "the talented tenth" to refer to those who vacumned up the work experience, plum positions, and financial aid, leaving the rest of the peons to pay the full shot for everything. Regardless of the number, it's a pattern that was pretty clear to see, and had a dubious relation to talent as opposed to what cohort you entered the school in, or how good you were at apple polishing, or whether you were under 30. Seriously.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Just for fun, and for absent friends.
I wonder if you can imbed videos in blogger? There must be a way. If you can't get a little moved, when, years later, you hear the music of your teenage years, then I'm not sure you were really living them. Which is not to say I feel any obligation to subscribe to nostalgia for the music of other generations' teenage years. Hmm, let's try this:
Ah, that works. There is a version of history where we all formed an absolutely magnificent 80's hair band, I dressed like Thomas Dolby and played bass like nobody's business while you crooned buttery lyrics and seduced anything that moved, as we strode the stage and brought the house down night after night after night, surrounded by budding geniuses the likes of which we've never quite seen since. You know this in your heart of hearts, yes you do.
Ah, that works. There is a version of history where we all formed an absolutely magnificent 80's hair band, I dressed like Thomas Dolby and played bass like nobody's business while you crooned buttery lyrics and seduced anything that moved, as we strode the stage and brought the house down night after night after night, surrounded by budding geniuses the likes of which we've never quite seen since. You know this in your heart of hearts, yes you do.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Not Dead Yet.
If the Goddamn Fafblog can come back from an 2 year hiatus, well, what excuse do I have?
First Up: The Matrix Revolutions.
After that, Facebook, The University of British Columbia, Butter Chicken Pizza, and whatever else crosses my path.
Oooo, Blogger's added a new 2.0 Tool for easy edits. Well played, Blogger, well played.
First Up: The Matrix Revolutions.
After that, Facebook, The University of British Columbia, Butter Chicken Pizza, and whatever else crosses my path.
Oooo, Blogger's added a new 2.0 Tool for easy edits. Well played, Blogger, well played.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
The bear in the campground just wants to play, but doesn't know its own strength
We got away clean yesterday, I'm dropping by tonight to grab some clothes and such--quick in and out, maybe a half hour tops. Gotta get back to the future in-laws' place before Survivor, after all.
Our cat is quite annoyed about the move (if only we could explain things to her) but she's been there before and it's really for the best. Also got word yesterday that one of our family cats on the island had died suddenly. She had been old, frail, sick and ill-tempered for a while, but...I miss her.
Suffice to say, for those who know this means, that she was David's cat. She was beautiful, playful, delicate, and charming company. I'll add her picture when I can.
Our cat is quite annoyed about the move (if only we could explain things to her) but she's been there before and it's really for the best. Also got word yesterday that one of our family cats on the island had died suddenly. She had been old, frail, sick and ill-tempered for a while, but...I miss her.
Suffice to say, for those who know this means, that she was David's cat. She was beautiful, playful, delicate, and charming company. I'll add her picture when I can.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Assholes $300, Wrye Zero
It was a great weekend with the folks visiting and The Frantics reunion special, but things went downhill rapidly after that, with a cancer scare (doctor doesn't think that's what we're looking at, but given my family history I can't be too careful, so he has referred me to a specialist) and the psychopaths downstairs going batshit insane and slashing my tires. So today finds me kinda decompressing and coming off the adrenaline high.
So...first order of business is to minimize the time we're in our existing apartment, and not stay overnight. Me, the fiance, the cat and our computers are bugging out tonight to housesit for her parents, who'll be away until the 20th. By which time, using that as a base and returning to pack things during the day, we should have most of the old place packed up and ready to go. If we can move in to our as-yet-hypothetical new place on the 25th, say, things might just be okay. I don't like the looks of that five day gap, but we are not exactly without resources here.
The ladlady has offered another apartment, one not above the crazy people and in a neighbouring building, but frankly that offer would have been fine up until the point someone took a knife to my car. I'm not sure putting the car in the neighbouring parking lot is an adequate hiding place, really. She's also made noise about evicting the psychos, but--frankly that doesn't suggest to me that I want to be around when and if they get that notice.
So far, 2006--big thumbs down from here. Maybe March will start heading upwards.
So...first order of business is to minimize the time we're in our existing apartment, and not stay overnight. Me, the fiance, the cat and our computers are bugging out tonight to housesit for her parents, who'll be away until the 20th. By which time, using that as a base and returning to pack things during the day, we should have most of the old place packed up and ready to go. If we can move in to our as-yet-hypothetical new place on the 25th, say, things might just be okay. I don't like the looks of that five day gap, but we are not exactly without resources here.
The ladlady has offered another apartment, one not above the crazy people and in a neighbouring building, but frankly that offer would have been fine up until the point someone took a knife to my car. I'm not sure putting the car in the neighbouring parking lot is an adequate hiding place, really. She's also made noise about evicting the psychos, but--frankly that doesn't suggest to me that I want to be around when and if they get that notice.
So far, 2006--big thumbs down from here. Maybe March will start heading upwards.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Thirty-seven?!
Geez, it's early. 6AM shifts all this week. Chocolate cake left in the fridge for us, for some reason, though. Some fun from the polling station:
-The requirement for each voter to state their name and address, immediately after giving us their voter card with their name and address on it. (Of course, woe betide anyone who told us a different name and address--they would have to produce ID. oooooo)
-Several voters wondered why some voting procedures were different in the federal than the provincial election. This was particularly amusing when they were remembering things that so far as I know (and I worked that one too) didn't actually happen. e.g., "Why don't you have one of those automatic counting machines like they use in the provincial?" That would have been nice, to be sure, but I think you're imagining that, sir...
-Several angry voters demanding to know why the polling station wasn't in the usual place. Thanks for the ol' heads up, there, Elections Canada.
-Lots of funny voters who under any other circumstances I would have enjoyed joshing with.
-Amazing peoplewatching fun: numerous families, parents with little kids, and couples voting. Dozens of new Canadians from all over and at least six or seven languages spoken.
-Many occasions to use (sometimes with deep regret) the phrase "I'm not legally allowed to express an opinion on that until about 8 this evening." Much love goes out to one particular poor woman who was genuinely agonizing over who to choose.
-A complete lack of any appreciable morning rush, followed by extremely irregular spurts and starts of people. At one point we had a lineup of ten people at our station while the other four were empty.
-The young people voting for the first time.
-As we were situated in a church hall with a toy basketball hoop, little kids cccompanying their parents got to run around and shoot minature baskets. W00t!
-Tracking the progress of the family where everyone came to vote over the course of the day except for and I quote "the asshole watching TV".
-A crowd of polite and helpful scrutineers. I thought the Conservative and Liberal volunteers were going to come to handshakes and hugging by the end of the count.
-A really tight race in my poll, with a final margin of only three votes--and going counter to the eventual result, at that.
-A woman who came in to vote with her trained rabbit sitting on her shoulder...
...Followed immediately by a woman allergic to rabbits. Ah, democracy.
Line of the day:
me: "You can mark one X for one candidate"
voter:" "I don't want more than one!
-The requirement for each voter to state their name and address, immediately after giving us their voter card with their name and address on it. (Of course, woe betide anyone who told us a different name and address--they would have to produce ID. oooooo)
-Several voters wondered why some voting procedures were different in the federal than the provincial election. This was particularly amusing when they were remembering things that so far as I know (and I worked that one too) didn't actually happen. e.g., "Why don't you have one of those automatic counting machines like they use in the provincial?" That would have been nice, to be sure, but I think you're imagining that, sir...
-Several angry voters demanding to know why the polling station wasn't in the usual place. Thanks for the ol' heads up, there, Elections Canada.
-Lots of funny voters who under any other circumstances I would have enjoyed joshing with.
-Amazing peoplewatching fun: numerous families, parents with little kids, and couples voting. Dozens of new Canadians from all over and at least six or seven languages spoken.
-Many occasions to use (sometimes with deep regret) the phrase "I'm not legally allowed to express an opinion on that until about 8 this evening." Much love goes out to one particular poor woman who was genuinely agonizing over who to choose.
-A complete lack of any appreciable morning rush, followed by extremely irregular spurts and starts of people. At one point we had a lineup of ten people at our station while the other four were empty.
-The young people voting for the first time.
-As we were situated in a church hall with a toy basketball hoop, little kids cccompanying their parents got to run around and shoot minature baskets. W00t!
-Tracking the progress of the family where everyone came to vote over the course of the day except for and I quote "the asshole watching TV".
-A crowd of polite and helpful scrutineers. I thought the Conservative and Liberal volunteers were going to come to handshakes and hugging by the end of the count.
-A really tight race in my poll, with a final margin of only three votes--and going counter to the eventual result, at that.
-A woman who came in to vote with her trained rabbit sitting on her shoulder...
...Followed immediately by a woman allergic to rabbits. Ah, democracy.
Line of the day:
me: "You can mark one X for one candidate"
voter:" "I don't want more than one!
Monday, January 23, 2006
October 17, 1991...
...that would be the last time I woke up angry at the leader of the free world and at living under Provincial and Federal governments fundamentally opposed to my ways of thinking. But...looks like things will be back to the 1980's for real come Tuesday morning. Republican president, check. Nitwit right winger Premier...check. Latest entry in the "worst Prime minister ever" competition? Come on down, Steve.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
42, Level
Quiet day, today, sifting out the mess that had accumulated at work while I was playing third-string goalie. Basically, If I'm on the ice on the tech support side of things, gonna be a long day. But onward and upward. After finding out that the Harpy candidate in Richmond is an ex-president of Focus on the family (yikes), I feel very good about my vote. I don't think the riding is likely to go blue anyway, but--this is an important point in history. Time to be counted.
Monday, January 16, 2006
M minus 43
Hmmm. February may be a short month, but there's still 43 days between us and the new (and at this point theoretical) place. But things are in motion, a decision has been made, I feel good. No more feeling like a hostage in my own space. No more jacktards thumping my floor and screaming obscenities when I step through the door, vacumn, or kiss my fiance. No fucking more. $1100 a month for this? Try again.
Not all grim news, though. We had our elections Canada training tonight, there've been a few legislative tweaks since the last election, but it's pretty much unchanged. 12 hours (really 14 plus), bring a pillow, food, water, possibly a book. Pick up the ballot box on Sunday afternoon, all done by this time Monday. Ms.W is enjoying the new job, our sick kitten is feeling much better (still no test results, tho) and it's all very...full.
43 days. I can do this. Not so hard. I've done much harder for far longer.
I'm just tired of having to.
Not all grim news, though. We had our elections Canada training tonight, there've been a few legislative tweaks since the last election, but it's pretty much unchanged. 12 hours (really 14 plus), bring a pillow, food, water, possibly a book. Pick up the ballot box on Sunday afternoon, all done by this time Monday. Ms.W is enjoying the new job, our sick kitten is feeling much better (still no test results, tho) and it's all very...full.
43 days. I can do this. Not so hard. I've done much harder for far longer.
I'm just tired of having to.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
I do not like you, 2006.
Ugh. The insane downstairs neighbours (who are, it turns out, "known to police") have finally forced our hand and so we'll be moving March 1st. Terrific. After a first week sick as a dog and a second week working the dawn shift and worrying about a sick kitten, now this. 2006 is really pulling out all the stops to leave a lasting impression.
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