A new year cometh

And today I broke my resolution of last year. Not bad really, with one day left in 2005, but I was suddenly overcome with Christmas cheer and Christmas-time guilt, so I had to. I was very restrained though, and only broke it moderately. Yes I know, I talk shite. Ignore me. If I only give in once per year, I'll be doing well :o)

Thankfully my MP3 player turned up today, nicely black and shiny and in working order. The journey back on the plane will hopefully not be quite so hellish as the one here was, now that I have music. Some of it is still in Vancouver on my computer, but having left a lot of my cds here I can now rip them onto my dad's laptop (I'm not sure he's that pleased about this) and get them on the MP3 player. I'm like a kid with a new toy - "ooh, look, it's got touchy-feely buttons!"

New Year's Eve threatens tomorrow in its usual way, and I still have nothing to do for it. I've been trying to insinuate to friends that I might be bored at home by myself, without actually telling my parents that I'll be bored staying in with them. The hope that someone somewhere might contact me and invite me out seems to be fading fast! It's not that I mind being at home with my parents, but I'm kind of itching to get down the pub, hang out with some good old fashioned drunk people and watch everyone get shit-faced. Sadly in a little village such as mine, where anyone with any sense has long departed, this isn't going to happen. *Sigh* I have become boring in my old age.....

Holiday update

Well, I'm still here. Still eating too much, not doing any exercise, feeling the cold of our 300 year old house, and generally watching too much crappy tv. Mind you, it's not really a proper Christmas this year, since none of the irritating old favourites are on; no 'Wonderful Life', no 'Great Escape', only one James Bond and no sign of Julie Andrews in anything musical. What is the world coming to? However, I have done the Christmas thing by buying clothes in the sales with no regard for whether I actually need them or whether they are going to fit in my suitcase when I go back to Vancouver. I've also taken the easy way out and done the mass e-mail to wish people a happy holidays, since I wasn't actually organised enough to send out individual messages. But then at least I said something, right?

We got back from visiting my aunt and some friends in Devon last week, only to find that the mice which inhabit the attic above my head had decided to take the opportunity to eat the poison that my father periodically puts down (humane traps being completely ineffective against the armies that reign in our house) and had decided to get back at us by dying under the floorboards. Actually, under my floorboards. So I've spent the last four or so days going to bed with the lovely smell of rotting mouse lingering in the air. I must say, I've experienced better scents. Happily, it seems to have dissipated now, though I am sure further mice are rising up to replace those that were lost, just waiting for their chance to chew through the beams.

I gave in yesterday and ordered an mp3 player from Dixons. I thought about waiting until I got back to Vancouver, but I would have missed all the decent sales. And with the exchange rate as it is, it was actually cheaper to order it over here. Now I just have to hope that it comes in the next week or so, that it actually works, and that it won't have a spaz the minute I fly 4000 miles away with it. Cross fingers. At least if it does work, I will have something to listen to on the plane. After about an hour and a half of Air Canada radio on the way over here, I felt like strangling someone.

Ok, have a good holiday everyone. It's nearly 2006.....

Back to basics

So I made it home in one piece, despite screaming children on the plane who shattered any illusions I had of sleep, a large number of airsick people (I've never had any on a flight before) and a pilot who needed 'L' plates on the landing. So far my stay here has not been all happiness and light, since my stomach seems to have reacted negatively to having good food and a change of water type, the weather leaves something to be desired, and I got an e-mail this morning telling me that I didn't get the job I wanted. However, I guess since I've been waiting for a decent job for the past year, I shouldn't be suprised that no-one wants to employ me. Still kind of galling though, since the place I was working at persuaded me to go for the job in the first place, which kind of implies that I should have had a good chance of getting it. I seriously don't understand the Canadian system.

Meanwhile, my housemate Jerome informs me that he has spent the last week sitting on a beach in Reunion, drinking beer and snorkelling with dolphins. 'Jealous' does not cover it.

Never mind. I am hoping that 2006 will be my year. My mother says this every year, but surely one year it has to actually come true? Because mothers never lie....

The good, the bad and the ugly

So today I got up at 6am to work for Sunshine at SFU, felt like crap, hit another driver on the way home (minor bumper scrape only, she tried to blame me for everything), bought some Ice Wine for my parents, packed frantically for tomorrow's flight home, took Gilles downtown to buy an armchair off someone on craigslist, managed to get the entire thing in the back of my Mazda, went to dinner, played pool and finally received a fantastic Christmas gift from a wonderful person. I don't deserve it! But it's beautiful, so thank you. I hesitate to say more, even though I want to, simply because I am not sure how my sentiments would be received. However, I will just say that I appreciate the friendship, so long may it continue :o)

Thanks also to Sunshine, who gave me the Harry Potter four-volume set, so now I have some reading to do on the plane. And a big list of things to bring back for all my friends, including a large amount of chocolate. Let's hope customs don't go through my suitcase, or they'll have a field day.

Hopefully next time you read this, I will be in England!

A moment of fitness - or madness?

Yesterday I signed up for the 2006 Vancouver half marathon, in a vain attempt to inspire myself to get fit and beat my miserable time of last year. And then I went to the Community centre and signed up for the two most different classes I could possibly find - Ryukyu Kobodo and International Style Ballroom Standard and Latin. One deals with nunchucks, clubs and short swords, and the other deals with floaty dresses. Neither of them are things that I would normally do, but I feel that a marshal art is needed in my life at the moment. And learning the tango or the foxtrot would just be fun. I'm sure everyone who reads this has done these sorts of things before, but I am obviously a late bloomer.

In other news, there may be jobs sighted on the horizon. Proper jobs. I shan't say any more for fear of jinxing myself, but I'll keep you all posted. Oh, and the other day on the way back from Sunshine's house a stone lept up and smashed itself against my windscreen, leaving a lovely bullet-shaped shatter mark. I am trying to ignore it and hope that my windscreen doesn't fall out, as I don't have the money to fix it.....

And in more news, I go home for Christmas in a week!!! :o)

Outward appearances

I'm sitting here in our pool room (and by this I mean the room with the pool table in), with the Christmas lights that Gilles hung up the other day around me, and near-darkness. It's strange how such a simple thing as light can affect your mood so much. White Christmas lights + dark room + sofa = relaxation and happiness.

On Saturday night I spent the evening playing pool, listening to music, lying on the pool table at 1am in the dark and talking, enjoying some good company and learning more about other people's lives. Sometimes when you think you know someone, they still manage to surprise you. Not just the way they behave now, but the way they used to behave in the past. Sometimes you can't believe that the person you thought you knew fairly well is actually very different. It always fascinates me to realise how little we really know about people, and how much people can change. Maybe it's just the psychologist in me.

But Saturday night was good because it reminded me of all the nights that I spent with good friends at University, lying around in our rooms and talking crap, sitting in comfortable silence in the darkness and relaxing, venturing onto fire escapes with some alcohol for company, lying on the grass and watching the world go by, debating topics such as cartoon penguins and PhDs in potatoes, running out into a thunderstorm to stand under the torrents of water, or simply appreciating the proximity of another person. I've missed this level of comfort recently - it was nice to have it back for an evening.

All is not well with the world

And my heart breaks for the person that I can't help.

An aside

You know something? This blog was much more interesting when I was a depressive, jobless, basement-living newbie to Vancouver. There's something to be said for emotional rollercoasters.

Of course, this doesn't mean that I want to go back to being unemployed, depressed or dark-basement dwelling, but it would be nice to have something interesting happen once in a while....maybe whilst Christmas shopping tomorrow I will bump into a cute young millionaire in Sears. Or maybe not.

Workwise, I have a testing session at the RCMP in Surrey in a couple of weeks (then an interview in January) for a civilian position, and my current temporary employers want me to work for them permanently, which is nice to know. But whilst work is indeed useful for paying the rent and keeping me occupied, I would also like to have some personal life to speak of. My friend Sunshine is trying to get me to go speed dating with her, but I keep assuring her that I would rather eat my own feet, with ketchup. Don't get me wrong - I'm happy being single, dear readers, but I miss the butterflies of attraction fluttering round my stomach :o)

Winter comes to Vancouver - as do Wide Mouth Mason!

It snowed here on Sunday night/Monday morning, and suddenly it became a white November. Too early for Christmas, but still a nice sight. Driving wasn't good, but then it never is in Vancouver anyway. Some dickhead overtook me on our road on my way to work, round a corner and in the snow. So it's snowing again now, which means that maybe I will be able to lie in tomorrow and struggle to work later! I wish....

Last night I went to see Wide Mouth Mason and The Heck at Richard's on Richard's. I decided to go on a whim on Sunday night, since I had never heard of either band but thought that they might be good. And they were. I spent the entire Heck set staring at the bassist, who was about 6 years too young for me but had my idea of the ideal body for a guy to have. This doesn't mean that he was perfect, since everyone's ideas of a good body differ, but damn, he made me wish that I spent more time in the gym. If you ever see the guy live, or you see a decent full body picture of him on the web, have a look. You'll see that I am easily satisfied, since he really wasn't out of the ordinary in any way. But take a quite skinny guy with good arms but no huge biceps, add a flat stomach and a pair of flares, and it's all over. I should have been a 70s hippy.

After lusting after the bassist's body for most of the set, I also began to appreciate their music. Enthusiasm was boundless and the drum player (who had recently come into the band, and hence is not the girl on the website) was really comical when playing. I can imagine him having done drama at school and having been fantastic at it. And then Wide Mouth Mason came on, and they were even better. Although they opened with two great songs, 'I love not loving you anymore' and 'Smile', it didn't go downhill after that, since they were equally as good throughout. The crowd was jumping up and down, and Richard's on Richard's has a stage that's right next to the floor, so the band was practically in the pit with everyone else. In fact they said that they were having a drink with all the fans afterwards, which I would have stayed for, if it wasn't for the fact that they didn't finish until half past midnight and I had to work today. Anyway, I highly recommend them for their enthusiasm, the lead singer's voice, the bassist's coolness, the drummer's cuteness and the fact that all their songs rocked. Amen to that.