falling in line

Had a good day today. Went on a mission to New West, Main St and Downtown. Sifting through antiques and old tables and dusty books and wobbly chairs. Keys and old cameras, artillery and canvas. Bookshelves and shotgun boxes. Looking for pieces to put in our home. The old man and I signed a lease today. Bought a set of pots and pans today too. Settling into Domesticity; another dimension that I thought I would never see... but it's kinda nice. I've got a good teammate.

nectar bomb

redundant

I think I used the word 'sweet' at least 10 times in the last post. What? The zoo was sweet. For future descriptive reference:

Main Entry: sweet
Part of Speech: adjective
Synonyms: affectionate, agreeable, ambrosial, amiability, angelic, aromatic, attractive, beloved, charming, considerate, delectable, fragrant, fresh, gentle, harmonious, heavenly, honeyed, kind, lovable, lovely, luscious, mellifluous, musical, pleasant, pleasing, pretty, saccharinity, scented, soothing, sugary, sweetness, syrupy, thoughtful, wholesome, winsome


Anyway... today was the fourth nice day we've had in June. Yar. So I was walking around "Greek Day" groovin to this.




7 days baby. 7 days.

0 for 5 Hermiiiidaaaa....

Ben and I went to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle yesterday. It was super sweet and OBVIOUSLY I took more pictures than necessary. And OBVIOUSLY I'm going to show them to you.. with commentary. More of them can be seen on my stalkbook but you have to be my friend to do that. Or if anybody requests to see them.. maybe I'll post more.
SO... here it goes.

This is kind of irrelevant but... is anybody else sick of gas prices/hearing about gas prices????? Stop shit talking and start coming up with something else more sustainable.... christ. Anyway... $20 got us 4.6 gallons. Sweet.



Ocelots are sweet. Ben says if my kitty looked like that she would be way sweeter. I agree. I bet ocelots don't play fetch though. Take that ocelots.



Piranhas are sweet. I just wouldn't want to swim with them.



Emerald tree boa beautiful snake... beautiful markings.




Toucans... also sweet. This guy was pretty much posing for me.



FLAMINGOS!



Giraffes! The big one was trying to hump the little one but unfortunately I'm not quick enough to catch some sweet sweet giraffe lovin.



Ok... so... I love Hippos, like... for real. They are so sweet that even crocodiles are afraid of them. They look chill but could bite you in half. Don't mess with a hippo.





Elephants are also really sweet. This is the male of the the family. The other two were females and one of them was two steppin. It was pretty funny.



Komodo dragon. He was handsome.



This is a Gila Monster. When I was young my father used to tell us that if we misbehaved the gila monster would get us. Who knew it was a slow moving lizard that is maximum 2 feet long and 5 pounds. Weak. Apparently kids will believe anything.



Reticulated Python... this bad boy is tied for the longest snake in the world. The girth of this fucker was about the size of my head. And yes... I have a fat head.



Northern Pacific Rattlesnake. This fucker is found right here in BC... he's got mad camouflage skills. Word to the wise... don't step on him. We also saw a King Cobra. He was lying on his tummy the whole time so I couldn't get a picture of his sweet hood. So the rattlesnake will have to do.




After the zoo, Benny and I hit the Seattle Mariners game vs the Marlins. Baseball is pretty boring to watch but I had almost forgotten how it felt to step out onto freshly dragged dirt.... the smell of freshly cut grass of the outfield... the feel of playing under the lights... the heckling. We were harassing the right fielder for the Mariners... I kinda felt bad for a bit then thought about how he makes more money in one game than I do in one year.. and then I didn't feel so bad.

Being at the field made me miss all the girls I played ball with... made me miss the camaraderie, scraped knees, slap of leather, double plays, strikeouts, good hits, laughs, post game beers. So this one goes out to all the ladies I've ever played ball with who just played because they loved the game. Good luck this year Phillies.

that's why they call them business socks...

I've been a little bit stressed the last few days... but it's over now... I hope *fingers crossed* that it went well. So here's some things that have been help chilling me out...

I caught one of my favourite Canadian movies on tv the other day... Men with Brooms. Ya sure.. laugh.. but I think it's cute and it's Canadian and it's about curling and it has BEAVERS in it.

The soundtrack reminded me of a few Canadian female singers that I had kinda forgotten about...

A burly girl.. Sarah Harmer...

(full of clips from the movie)



Another quick one.. reminds me of current living situations and how stoked I am to get out.



The other lady I want to mention is from Ottawa (wootwoot).. her name is Kathleen Edwards and my friend Kev plays bass in her band.





Other things of interest... I think this show is absolutely hilarious.







and one last one for good measure.. it might be one of my favourites...

Double Vision

Caught in the locked groove of this long season.
These hours motions circle, still repeating.

The beat moves on itself.
The beat moves on itself.
Every day my love.
Crazy crazy days are gone
when I come home
and we're finally alone.

And I'm caught in your arms safe from a morning.
No one walks out on the tightrope today my love.

The beat moves on itself.
The beat moves on itself.
Every day my love.
Crazy crazy days are gone
when I come home.
Crazy crazy days are gone
when I come home.

We awoke at the edge of a summer.
New days began to stretch their legs
and the tempo's changing to compensate.
The needle finds the groove to free us tonight.

We awoke on the edge of this winter.
The ice melts off and flows in like a song.
The record plays but the needles old.
It lets the player take control.
Move the speakers how they're told.
To make us march for something more.

Music is a sedative
and you put out what you put in.

(mtb)

A Year in Review

Another birthday goes by...
Questions that came up...
How do you feel?
Do you feel any older?
Do you feel any wiser?


To tell you the truth I feel amazing. There's a lot of really wonderful things going on in my life right now and I think as I get older I can approach and appreciate these things completely and without some of the distractions of my youth. So far (hahaha knock on wood)... life seems to get better with age... sure I notice a few more wrinkles... my hips and feet ache more frequently... hangovers last a little longer... but I like the experience that comes with this journey I'm on. Of course there are the ups and downs but I'm hoping that I'm a little bit more level headed about decisions and reactions. I also feel that as I get older the more I crave simplicity in my everyday life. It's all about the little things in life... all those little bits that make up the big picture for me...

I did a lot of things for the first time this year... a lot of things that terrified me...

A little recap perhaps?

*got on stage at a strip club for the first time
*made some new friends
*got stoned with some co-workers
*rode on the back of a motorcycle for the first time
*lived on my own for the first time
*kissed a boy with a girlfriend
*stood up for 2 of my closest friends
*applied for a more challenging job and got it
*moved across the country to a city I had never been to
*drove across Canada with a girl I met the night before
*fell in love
*waited for a man worth waiting for (yes you ding dong)
*learned how to be ok eating by myself at a restaurant
*took out one of my oldest piercings and 3 others
*applied for another job that terrifies me [haven't heard anything yet.. :( ]
*a few other things that i can't tell you about but they were fun... trust me... hahahahahahah

I'm very proud of myself for doing quite a few things that scared me this year. I also like that I think with this "aging" business I'm becoming more honest with myself when I need something to change. Acknowledging it is half the battle... the rest is growing the balls to follow through and accepting the consequences of that.

Yadda yadda yadda...
Anyway... I read this book close to 15 years ago.. lent my copy of it to someone and never got it back. So yesterday when we were in the used bookstore... I was stoked to find a copy of it for $1.87. It's called All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum. I think he's a pastor or preacher of some sort but his "credo" is solid and I wanted to share it.

"All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think of what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are - when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together."



Fingers crossed for another wonderful and healthy year. It's started off pretty good so far.
xo




not too bad for 26 eh?
;)