on moving

things are happening too fast now. my room (formerly known as my fortress of solitude) is a shambles. well, it usually is a shambles because i am a slob. but now, most all of my books and clothes are gone. i sold my desk on craigslist yesterday. and this lady just bought my bed, again thanks to craigslist. man, i know that i shouldn't be attached to material goods and all that, but dang, i loved that bed. it was a great bed. through my many nights of insomnia, at least i was comfortable. and i could look out my window at the mountains and english bay and the vancouver skyline. now i am sitting amongst dust bunnies.

change bites.

goonies never say die

ingredients for an AWESOME friday night:
friends
beer
junk food
and a DVD of goonies, a childhood movie classic. pirates, gadgets, danger and adventure. instantly transports you back to being about nine years old again. except that you're drinking beer while watching.

"Don't you realize? The next time you see sky, it'll be over another town. The next time you take a test, it'll be in some other school. Our parents, they want the best of stuff for us. But right now, they got to do what's right for them. Because it's their time. Their time! Up there! Down here, it's our time. It's our time down here." -Mikey

i gotta find me a treasure map.

moving SSSSSUUUUUUUUUUCCCKKKSSSSSSS

on my top 10 list of things i hate to do, moving is definitely one of them. the long lazy days of may have slipped by all too fast. sitting in the backyard has been replaced with figuring out how to fit stuff into boxes. (baby was not actually packed into box)

what makes leaving harder is that i have no clear plan. you know, besides move back in with my parents. it's very kind of them, but i might just go nuts after about 2 weeks, if that. there's also a letdown after working so hard and accomplishing this goal of earning my degree. of course wondering what next is on my mind, which makes it so much more annoying when complete strangers ask me this.

i decided that moving and saying goodbye is like ripping off a band-aid. if you do it slowly or quickly, it still sucks.

back from rivendell

rested. relaxed. there aren't very many places that encourage you to stop take a deep breath and think. but when you find those places, take advantage of them. each time i have gone there, the change in pace has been jarring; it's like jumping off a speeding train. not that i've ever actually done that. the change in pace back to regular life is equally abrupt. trying to remember to breathe.

gone fishin'

off to rivendell for a few days. taking a book, my journal, and a pen. seeing what comes out of my head, minus my computer, the tv, and video games and people.

good thing #5,672 in my life

reaching the evening's perfect point of alcohol consumption so that when you buy a greasy slice of pizza on the way home, that it tastes like best freaking pizza you have ever had in your life.

further clumsiness

these are the hedges out behind our school, between the building and the parking lot. we discovered a few months ago that they are dense enough to support your weight. jeff demonstrates this here. it's quite amusing.

the other day i ran into my friends, the swaim family, as i waited for katie to give me a ride home. i thought my little buddies, hudson and everett would be amused by this little trick. so after a few unsuccessful attempts (i have a poor vertical leap) i hopped on top of the shrub. only to be immediately swallowed by the hedge. completely. it looked like i had vanished. I FELL THROUGH A HEDGE, people. why do these things happen to me? or, more accuratley, why do i keep doing these things to myself. perhaps i just shouldn't go outside anymore. the only thing you could see was my leg sticking out the side. i managed to crawl out of the hedge, russ, rebecca and katie had nearly peed their pants with laughter. it was pretty funny. i can admit that at least. because if you can't laugh at yourself, then you have no sense of humor.

perspective

sometimes my approach to life looks like this:

when, really, maybe it should look more like this:

did you know?

may is nacho awareness month.
may is also barbecue appreciation month.

at least it is at 4531 west seventh.
i have made two kinds of salsa. we have grilled wings, brats and chicken kabobs. then sat in the backyard all day.
this is the best month ever.

sponsored by honey's doughnuts.

straight outta compton, foo'

may showers

i didn't leave my house today. it was too dreary. my vacation isn't supposed to be like that.

when you're done with school and don't have a job...

every day is like the weekend.

on graduating

i forgot to mention my activities on the day leading up to graduation. after lunch with my parents, i played video games. i packed some, and then went for coffee with the kelleys. we ate our snacks at trimble park, in spite of the gale force winds that day.

as we left the park, lara and i hopped on the seesaw, a old school playground toy. simple enough to operate, yes? this seesaw happened to be some kind of souped up model - with springs. it added a trampoline kind of effect to the seesaw. anyway, i thought "whoa, this is crazy. i should get a better grip." i was holding a snapple bottle and empty cup of coffee in one hand. so i thought it wise to COMPLETELY LET GO of the handle to to shift these objects around. i ended up FALLING OFF the seesaw and flat onto my back. i was more stunned than anything else. my first thought was, "wow i haven't heard lara laugh that hard before." the next was, "i can't believe that just happened." so on the same day that i got my master's degree, i fell off a seesaw. now how many people can say that?

2006 Miss Cherry Blossom of 4531 west 7th

i am so smart! S-M-R-T! i mean S-M-A-R-T...

well, three years and many dollars (canadian!) later, i walked across a stage to loud applause. they handed me a few expensive pieces of paper and bestowed me with a shiny cloth to wear. ooh, a headcovering! it's biblical, you know.

though the culmination of my education was two nights ago, in the years to come i'll be mulling over my time at regent and what it did in me. i leave with few, if any, answers about God that i thought i'd get here, but am more comfortable with mystery. maybe a little more cynical, but definitely more thoughtful about my faith. my future is foggy, but i have a clearer sense of my vocation and plenty more confident to pursue it. certainly more broke and with more debt than when i first got here. i leave with more wonderful, interesting, and crazy friends and lots of memories. as to exactly how the many books i've read and papers i've written and relationships built have impacted me and continue to do so, that will take more time to figure out. that's life, i guess. further thoughts will be documented on the blog. because i'm a geek. a geek with a headcovering.

sigh

spring is here. wearing my flip-flops. it is very good.

starting to pack up and get stuff ready to send home to california with my parents. their house is a stable point in the midst of all my wanderings. once i settle somewhere else, i'll pick it up, and they can begin to reclaim their garage. i had a bit of a moment today as i ran some errands. i could be hormonal, or sentimental, or whatever, it's just what i do. i was walking to the hardware store, and i just relished the fact that i have lived in this little neighborhood of west point grey for 3 years. that's the longest i've lived in one place since i lived in DC.

i love being able to walk to the butcher, and to the hardware store where the people there are always cheerily helpful. i love knowing where to get my produce, and kick back for some beers with pals, and that the bakery down the street has these amazing chili chocolate cookies that the swiss-trained baker made. that the nearby park is where i showed my professors kids how funny it is to run while you're dizzy. my friends live three houses over and i can run over with bare feet. good memories.

well, well, well

if only i could amuse myself as easily as this.

i turned in my last paper 9 days ago. my last day at the well was 7 days ago. since then, my days have been mostly structureless. i don't even know what the date is - that's something new. it has been rather nice, i've caught up on sleep. i wake up in the morning without this overwhelming pressure to get somewhere and get something done that has been the state of my life for the past 8 months. is it weird that a small part of me misses that? i think it is, a little bit.

i'm watching a lot of felicity. had some drinks with some friends. trying to just soak in vancouver, and not work so hard at trying to relax. allowing my brain to turn to mush. giving myself a break before i plunge into the job search. that kind of stuff. got a big stack of books to read and not have to write papers about.

it is finished.

4:32 p.m.

crankin'

1 paper down.
1 whopper of a paper to go. probably 6-8 pages left on it.

then it's nothing but felicity reruns, beer, video games, four square and really any other kind of trouble that i can come up with. besides the trouble that i've already come up with.

having a beer with dane at school after he finished his comprehensive exams.
a few days later, smoking cigarillos with dan at school and looking surly for no good reason

probably building this girl more sofa forts in a few days. because what's better than a good sofa fort? let me tell you: not much.

Happy Easter!

He is risen!

Slightly sacreligious, but also nicely brings together the bunny and candy thing with the Jesus thing.