It adds up

• Unsolicited advice about personal matters in my life
• Certain readers that I’m not entirely comfortable sharing everything with
• A life that sometimes no longer feels like I own it
• An identity that I’ve just kind of outgrown

I’m fed up with a lot of things.  Tired enough to call it a day.  I actually had a conversation today that required me to say to my mom "So, if I wear a short skirt that entitles anyone who wants to fuck me?" after she lectured me for the millionth time that I offer too much information on my blog.  Her point was that reading it makes people feel like they can weigh in whenever and on whatever they want.  Maybe she’s onto something.

So I’m going underground.  If you’re meant to find me, I’m convinced you will.  Regardless, keep in touch, would ya?

I can’t give up entirely so I’ll be posting a little over here.  Come visit.  Or email me.

Takin’ it to the street

Thanks to Rebecca for pointing this out… I saw the press release and had a giggle, but seriously, check out the note about where else the tickets are available.  I love it!

And yes, that is THE Grady chilling at a mixing board.

I’m guessing Kemah is NOT one of the invited guests.

Have shoes, will travel… fast

This is sick.

I’ve been having some perverse fantasies lately and I just can’t seem to shake them no matter what I do.  I’ll just tell you: I’ve been finding something irresistibly sexy about running.  Sure, whatever, you’re thinking.  Hot, sweaty bodies in motion are sexy.  See that’s not the thing.  Here’s the sick part… these fantasies all centre around the thought of me doing the running.  I repeat: me running.

I don’t know what to blame exactly, whether it’s my diet or some exciting things going on behind the scenes or maybe it’s just seeing the sunshine a little more often (although by no means all the time – this is Vancouver, after all) but I have been shockingly full of energy lately.  I’ve never felt better than I do these days.  I’m happier, feel more fulfilled and excited and I just want to go, go go.  I love it!  I’ve been more productive in doing some work outside of my job, I’ve been eating healthy and nourishing food, I’ve managed to feel like I’ve made some headway in decluttering my house, I’ve taken on some new academic challenges this fall, I’m loving my friends, I’ve been exercising regularly and I’m just feeling really satisfied with my life these days.  I feel invincible.

It seems invincibility is just the ticket to deluding myself enough to believe that I should actually take on the challenge of beginning a running program.  It also seems that I’ve got a case just bad enough to be taking it rather seriously.  Last night I stopped in at the mall on my way to a dinner date to take a look at running shoes.  Not only did I pick up this pair here, but I also bought some Under Armour pants and a UA shirt to complete the outfit.  So excited was I when I got them home after dinner, I had to take them out right away.

I’d done some research about beginner running programs online and set out last night doing a variation of what I’ve read, alternating between walking and running.  I didn’t push myself a lot, but I did work hard and it felt so good.  The only reason I came back inside was because it got dark and I got tired of circling the small area close enough to home to feel safe.

Now I just can’t wait to get out again later this afternoon.

Before I took off last night, I quickly threw together a playlist to help Asha Bosley keep me motivated.  All
the songs worked out pretty well, in fact, I doubt I’ll remove any of
them.  I would like to add more so please let me know if you have any
suggestions.  Just make sure it’s something that there’s a remote
possibility I will like.

• Move Along by All American Rejects
• Sleep Now in the Fire by Rage Against the Machine
• Goodnight Goodnight by Hot Hot Heat
• Hello Time Bomb by Matthew Good
• Set It Off by Audioslave
• No More Sorrow by Linkin Park
• The Great Escape by We Are Scientists
• Petrified by Fort Minor
• Empire by Kasabian
• E-Pro by Beck (thanks to an episode of Entourage I watched the night before)
• Heat Dies Down by Kaiser Chiefs
• Nothingwrong by Jimmy Eat World

Phew!  I can’t believe I remembered all that!

August 23, edited to add:

I forgot two of the songs that were originally on the playlist.  I mistakenly thought that there were 12 songs when actually there were 14.

• I Bet The You Look Good on the Dance Floor by Arctic Monkeys
• Skip the Details by Knapsack

I also took Rebecca’s sage advice and added If It Feels Good Do It by Sloan.  I even listened to it twice tonight.

Signs

It takes a shock – a sudden burst of beauty – to wake us to the wonder of our reality.

I’ve been thinking a lot about being more creative lately, but you already know that.  I’ve been basking in other people’s art, buying it and trying to surround myself with imaginative creations.  I’ve been in touch with some new people and I’ve been trying to spend some time talking to and in the presence of artists (Vanessa is my special inspiration every day – her art arrived and it is GORGEOUS!) and have made a point of spending more time with people who are positive and encouraging for me and less time with those who are not.  One of them has proven to be far more supportive and constructive than I’d ever imagined and I’ve followed through with the promise that I made to him that I’d spend an hour every day being creative.  I honestly think that alone has helped.

The other day at work, I saw a girl that I’d only met briefly, someone who I’d been told does very creative work painting and doing body casting.  I asked her about being an artist (it was a good laugh that she thought that when I’d said "(someone) told me you’re an artist" she thought I’d said "(someone) told me you’re retarded") and we talked a little about her art school education and her creative work, but I never got up the guts to ask her how she fosters her own creativity.

The next morning when she left for work, I called out for her that she’d left a book and her rubik’s cube on the table.  She told me she’d just leave it until she came back.  When I took a second look, I was surprised to see a copy of The Artist’s Way.  I had a psychic reading a few years back where I was told that I had great artistic potential and that I should read that exact book.   As I looked at it laying there, I wondered if that is what she’d have told me to do if I had asked her when I’d had the chance.  Turns out that no, it isn’t.  She’s never read it either.  Still, I took it as a sign and pulled my pristine copy off of my bookshelf and cracked it open over the weekend.  So far, so good.

I’m still looking for suggestions on how to get the creative juices flowing.  I was surprised that more of you didn’t speak up.  Let me know how you motivate yourself to get stuff done. 

The phrase at the top of the post is what came out of the fortune cookie bath bomb that Kelly gave me a while ago.  I thought it sounded nice and its appearance was quite timely.  I’ve been seeing a lot of beauty lately and even basking a little in my reality as a result.  (Shut up, Steve.)

The image here is the work of Vanessa Valencia and available at the A Fanciful Twist Etsy Store.

Anyone want to buy a Vick jersey?

They’re cheap.  I’ve got red, I’ve got black, I’ve got white.  A dress, toque, any number of t-shirts… take your pick.

I’ve steered right clear of the entire story.  Details are not something I need right now.  Or ever.

I’ve had this photo pinned to the board in my office for weeks.  Her name is Maggie and she cracks me up.  The opportunity to introduce her is, obviously, bittersweet.

Seriously, I just got that pink and white glittery number for my birthday and I never even got to wear it.  Yes, Kelly, it appears that all that glitter that probably took you months to clean out of your hallway was all for naught. 

Thanks again Urban Dictionary!

Work hot: A person that may or may not be hot, but is the most attractive person in the set of people you work with so you lust after him/her.

Person 1: So this new girl at your work is she hot?
Person 2: Hell yeah…well I mean she’s work hot.

Heh.

Aloha

Last week, I was keeping secret the vacation plans that I had brewing, waiting only to get my ticket in my hands (or inbox) before unleashing it on my loyal readership.  Well, the wait is over, today’s the day…. Hawaii, here I come!

As you all know, I’ve been dying to travel and to get somewhere new.  When I put word on the street that I wanted to get around, my call was answered by my very dear friend, Jason, a guy who has a habit of coming through for me when I least expect it.  He sent me an email that said "I’ve always told you that wherever in the world I go, my place is your place.  Come visit!"  Seconds later, I was at expedia.ca and after about ten days of price watching, I bought my flight yesterday morning.  I don’t know if I’m more excited about being in Hawaii or seeing Jason. 

Back in the day, Jason and I used to date.  He was just finishing up nursing school down the street and in fact, lived three doors down from where I am right now.  We were only neighbours for a couple of months before he left to go to work in San Francisco.  He spent a few years there and I visited him once in December 2003.  That’s the last time we met.  He moved to Honolulu about a year ago and absolutely loves it there.  He’s bought a place and a car and as he put it, he practically lives in boardshorts and t-shirts.  What a life.

So, round about the time that the rainy Vancouver transition between fall and winter is really starting to grate on everyone, I’ll be jetting off to a nice warm beach.  I can’t freaking wait!

Now, off to plan my trip to Calgary, then Portland, then…

Isn’t he a beauty??

Oh, and thanks for keeping my secret, Sarah.  There was just no way I couldn’t tell you!

She kills me

The HCIC does it again.  I can’t remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did reading her latest epic, White People Are Better At Everything!.  And I could never resist sharing something like that with you guys.  Heh.

The leaves don’t lie (…or do the they?)

If you believe in tea leaf readings, then you may want to stay tuned as Rebecca is scheduled to be burned at the stake within the next seven to ten days.  Who’d want to miss that?

First, let’s flashback to February when I had my first reading out at the Urban Tea Merchant in West Vancouver.  I just reread everything she told me and there was only one prediction she made that you could say has come true since then.  Looking back, she nailed certain aspects of my life.  That makes me wonder about what she told me when I visited Ariadne again on Monday.

• Her first impression was of me holding onto someone who is hurt and bloodied.  She said that I am not hurt myself, but that I am hurt by my sympathy for this person who is.  She didn’t say whether I was involved with whatever it was that hurt my companion, but she did say that I narrowly missed being affected.
• In the last ten days, she told me that I’ve had a friend who has been hurt.  She saw me around a crowd of people who are not good for me.  She said that this group are out of control in that one does one thing and then the next person does it and so on and so on.  There is something about this group that is tempting to me, there is some kind of hook that keeps me involved.  Someone with the initial M stands out from this group and knows how to handle the group and themselves when they are around the group.  This person stands back from the others.
• In the future few weeks, she sees me as a great peacemaker.  She told me that I have very strong negotiation skills, that I can wave the white flag without backing down on anything.  She said it’s possible that I’ll use them in a future career.  (It was at this point that she started mentioning that she saw big college campuses all around me.  It was a theme throughout the reading and came up a number of times.)
• In the next two weeks, she told me that I would take an opportunity to do something fun and just for me.  She told me I’d do a disappearing act and that it would be very good.
• Unrelated to any specific time she told me that I have great academic ability.
• I was surprised when she gave me an exact date for this point.  On September 3rd, I’m going to have a very lucky opportunity to do something artistic.  She said there would be a person coming forward to make this possible and that it was related to something with the initial E.  The E does not represent the person coming forward, but is related more to what I’m going to be doing.
• In four months, she said something drastic will change between me and a man who "has the hots" for me and is "very determined."  He is a good person, a kid at heart and his business takes him east.  She said that this is someone I already know.
• In about two months, she sees a person waving at me.  This person is an older woman who I see as a kindred spirit with whom I have a solid connection.
• I will take a trip to New York City within the next two years.  She had no doubt about that.

I swear, I’m addicted to this kind of thing.  I just love it.  She told me the first time that her readings span only about six months into the future.  I’ll be more likely to schedule those on time than I am my dental check-ups!  Who’s with me in February?

Now if only I could get Rebecca to blog about hers…

Cursed

Why, Vince?  Why?

In the light of all this bullshit, you were my go to guy. 

Ladainian had the sense to say no.  Why didn’t you? 

Oh yeah… sorry.

Ugh.