sigh

worst case of insomnia in a while. perhaps i took too long of a nap yesterday after church. maybe i shouldn't have sat around and watched so much television and played scrabulous. so there i lay, unable to get comfortable, and watching the room slowly become more illuminated by the dawn. dammit.

i mean, i am finishing up at the church this week. i don't feel overly anxious; i do think it is the right thing to do. and i am happy to continue to be part of this community. it's a place that has started to feel like home. took damn near long enough. seriously.

and i do turn 32 in 2 days. i think it's kind of a cool number.

here's hoping for a few more hours of sleep tonight.

stomping grounds

after a blurry two days of work and a lazy friday, i think i am recovered from my trip to vancouver. i lost my camera on a plane a few weeks ago after my brother's graduation, so i am sans pictoral evidence i was there. (potential birthday present? anyone? anyone?) well, i did steal this picture from a camera crazy friend. i walked off the plane, got picked up, and immediately went to get pedicures. the little one did not, though later we did play some mario kart together. he's not a very good driver.

but it was wonderful to be there. vancouver summer days are beautiful as ever, though i probably would have loved it anyway had it been a more typical vancouver grey day. it was good to see old and dear friends, and i was largely content to bask in their presence and conversation. i think at other points in my life i would have pressed to create some kind of big experience, but i have since mellowed and enjoyed good meals and just being in the same room together. the wedding was a simple and beautiful celebration. i never cease to be amazed at two people coming together in marriage.

old words i hadn't heard in a while were musical to my ears... community, sasamat, toonie, sleeman's. that pretty much sums the visit up. i saw my favorite wisest custodian in the world, relaxed with friends like i hadn't in a long time, and found parts of my brain and personality reawaken and dust themselves off. thanks, friends! did my soul much good to see y'all. hopefully it won't be so long 'til we raise a pint together again.

frick

i've been housesitting for the past 3 weeks. it's been nice to pretend that i've got my own place to live, and nice to be closer to friends. stupid gas prices. anyway, i thought maybe i'd get the chance to read more, since a) i've got basic cable, and not the hundred or so tv channels at my parents' house and b) i have restricted myself from buying more books until i have finished the stack that i have piled up over the past year.

so that hasn't happened. it's 1 am, and i am watching yest another episode, because i have become addicted to deadliest catch. now this is reality tv - crab fishermen in the bering sea. i've watched it before, but now in the absence of other channels, this is the most compelling thing to watch. so, rather than read, i'm totally into watching these grizzly blue collar dudes risk their lives. apparently, cell phone tower technicians have a higher occupational fatality rate than these guys, but the fisherman thing is still way cooler.

another post coming soon re: my night watching roller derby.

vancouver: comin' at ya in 2 days. are you ready to rock? i said, are you ready to rock?

whatever happened to opposites attract?

the other day after church i was having lunch in the gym with my friend. church lunch is reminiscent of soup tuesdays at regent. anyhow, she and i were chatting when a couple approached us. the woman wanted to introduce her new fiancee to my friend.

they chatted as i looked on. the woman exclaimed to my friend, "we met on eharmony! our profiles were so similar! his said, "i love my kids, and my family is really important to me. and mine said, "i'm passionate about my family and about caring for my daughter." i haven't been able to shake this sentence out of my head since i heard it; i almost stared cracking up right there. really? i mean congratulations to them and all that, but it just struck me as odd.

in this techy day and age of online dating and profile scoping, is that what compatible is? are we basically looking for a version of ourselves in the opposite sex? i seem to recall a seinfeld episode like this, when jerry dates janeane garofalo. he's all excited then i think he gets annoyed that she is more funny than him. i suppose finding someone just like us holds a small measure of attractiveness, i suppose it would be really easy to get along if you had the exact same interests and way of thinking. ah, what the hell do i know.

"If The Flintstones has taught us anything, it's that pelicans can be used to mix cement." -Homer

i am trying to resurrect my latent drive to write. i can't say that it's been working very well.

sometimes it feels like life issues are too big to fit onto a page. or a computer screen. and who really wants to read about those anyway? i have no wish to verbally vomit and leave the mess on the internet. nice mental image, eh? you're welcome.

the end of my present job is near. it's a good move that is also tinged with sadness, as transitions are wont to be. fighting the panic of wondering what comes next, rolling out the resume and trying to word cover letters just so. mostly i am looking forward to living life outside of a church bubble. i plan on still being a part of this community (it will be nice not to be in charge); i think community was what i have really been looking for, as opposed to, you know, a real job or something. i could say more but that would verge on regurgitation. i think most of you know how neurotic i am, and i am happy to report that it has been kept at healthy levels. well, healthy for me. yay for meds!

right now i am content to hang out with kids on summer vacation, drive around with the windows down to get gelato, and singing along to silly songs. and rest in faith that God is on control.

vancouver: 10 days. woohoo!

indoctrination

somehow, i have convinced kids to watch significant pop culture movies from my own childhood. anything mid 90's or earlier. so far they have eaten it all up. fist there was karate kid. then so i married an axe murderer and the cutting edge on our ski trip.

at the end of the school year, it was goonies. it's still as excellent as i remember. though i totally missed the "one-eyed willie" innuendo the first time around - i was 9. and in the era preceding political correctness, it was okay to laugh at chunk, the fat kid. these are the details the kids picked up on right away - i told them they were ruining the movie. but they agreed with me on wishing to live out being goonies in reality. seriously, who wouldn't want to?




last night, we watched tranformers. the animated version from 1986. before any of the kids were alive by at least 5 years. yeah. i keep getting older, and they stay the same age. because i was watching this as an adult, i was able to enjoy it more for it's campiness and not be so enraged/traumatized by the fact that most of the original cast from the cartoon series gets killed in this movie in the first 30 minutes. it's set in 2005 by the way, and i'm hugely disappointed that reality isn't at all like this. where are the giant robots? dammit. at least give me a jet pack, or hover skateboard.

at the end of the movie, one of the kids turned to me and said, "i wish we grew up when you were growing up." long live the 80's!

vancouver count: 15 days...

go local sports team

went to my first baseball game of 2008 last night. for some reason, the quality of play resembled how these guys on the right would play, if they played baseball, and say, didn't eat people's brains.

the cubs, however, were excellent. somehow those crazy kids are doing well this year, fingers crossed. whatever. with little to cheer for, i chose to root for the ball park food. "yay for nachos! i like cotton candy." yes, i really yelled these things.

the countdown to vancouver begins. 18 days...