I've been enjoying too much and not updating this blog!!

         April, 15th, 2010

         Victoria passed by in a blur. 

        The ferry and bus ride there was a couple hours that seemed to whirl by. I definitely noticed how green everything became and how quickly it did so. However, it was hard to see much from the ferry just because it was overcast and so rainy. (Oh Vancouver!)

         I remember sitting in the bus depot, waiting for Simon to come get me… I felt like falling asleep, and debated doing so, knowing he would wake me up when he got there. I didn't, but struggled to keep my eyes open.

        When we got to his place I took a nap to help me with some energy lost during the train party the night before.

         Then it began…. the endless string of bar hopping.

        We started at a happen' micro-brewery with a live band. I called them the funky shirts. They were a group of slightly older guys (50s - 60s) who all wore really crazy shirts. But man, they were playing a whole lot of classics and they had everyone singing along and dancing. Their musicianship wasn't top notch, but their energy was. 

        Simon and I had dinner there. SpongeBob didn't like the beer, but we kept him quiet, and us from getting kicked out. Some of Simon's friends showed up and eventually we ventured on to greener pastures. Only the cow's were dead, and the pasture was burnt to the ground. 

        We went to the James Joyce (which is nothing like the one in Toronto). It was a pool hall and restaurant/cafe. Simon and one of his friends went to play pool, while the rest of us sat around drinking and chatting. It was a quite, bright atmosphere. I wanted to go back to the dark lively bar. We chilled there until last call. Simon was in party mode,  but the rest of us were starting to crash. He unwillingly lead me to the Cab line.

        Now when I say Cab line, I think (toronto- terms) a line of Cabs waiting to transport people. In Victoria, a cab line is a line of people waiting for a Cab. Most of these people are drunk, belligerent kids who have to get home after the bar. We saw some stupid interesting characters, but I was ready to get to a bed (or in my case, a couch) and in no mood for Shenanigans. 

         These were so pretty rad ducks, they were just chilling on the sidewalk like it was usually... that is until Simon scared them away.

April, 16th, 2010

        The following day Simon showed me how to get downtown, and took me to the harbour. There were lots of sidewalk vendors and tonnes of buskers, each with a different approach, and different genre of music. 

It was pretty there, with all the flowers, and the boats resting in the harbour. The people seemed a lot more relaxed, and there were MANY tourists. It seemed a bit like Jasper, only in the sense that everything is geared towards the tourists.

        We ventured to a couple book stores, and ended up grabbing some lunch at a chain restaurant. Has anyone noticed that a lot of chain restaurants decorate their bathrooms, to make them extreme? Not only did this one look like some crazy Texan's living room, but the toilets were crazy!! They had plastic wrapped around the seat which would feed through a machine to give a sterile surface each and every time. To flush it, there was a metal button on the floor, a couple steps away from the toilet, which one would step on. Sorry to bored you with the details of this washroom… but it was new to me!

        Caesars were on special, and we felt it was our only duty to have some with our lunch/dinner. 

        While we sat on the patio there was this car full of dogs that was on the road right out front of the restaurant. The owners left the back window wide open, and if the big dog really wanted to, it could have easily jumped out. I kept calling to him in a friendly voice, trying to coax him out, while Simon kept telling him to stay. 

We tried to figure out his name. We kept calling out different names, "Paul? Jack? Ralph? Joe? George?Fred? Frank? Jerry? Gerald?" the list went on and on. Sammy seemed to suit him, and I decided on that name, although Simon wasn't satisfied with that.

        There was also a cute little dog in the front of the truck. It had some confidence issues though, because it felt the need to bark and growl at everything it saw, I guess it was to make up for her lack in size. She was quite yappy, and although I preferred her size, we both preferred the attitude of Sammy.

After a few too many drinks, and a great meal, we headed on our way. 

        This evening we had a party in the beach. We met a couple of Simon's friend, watched the sun go down, and made a fire. 

        There were these crazy people swimming. It was about maybe 7 degrees or so, and here these people are swimming away in the dark. When they were done, they came to borrow our fire's warmth. I asked them why they had decided to go. They then showed me the electrolytes. 

        Essentially at different times of the year these bacteria get some kind of charge with positive ions. It they encounter friction, they light up for a split second, kind of like a fire fly. We were moving our hands about the water for a about a good ten minutes just watching it light up.

        There was lots of chatting, and drinking, and joking. The worse joke of the evening was putting this dead loon's body into the fire. The poor thing's neck was broken and it's body was completely waterlogged. Made me sad to look at, but took a while to look away.

         The greatest thing we did was roll a giant stump down to the pit, only for the fire to nearly penetrate it. It took six of us at one point to get it to where we headed it. It was a GIANT stump!

        Once it got too late for the Victorian's we put out the fire. Simon and I decided we would walk back to his place from the beach. It was about a two hour walk, but we had booze, we weren't tired, weren't cold, and ready for the challenge.

         It was quite an epic walk! The terrain went through all sorts of changes, as we walked through the suburbs of Victoria. 

We also had a very long talk, more so than in the past, and although no psychological issues were solved, I think we both enjoyed just chatting about stuff that had been on our minds for weeks, months, and years. 

        Travelling for so long, it was sure nice to have a chat with an old friend who had known me for so long, and I didn't have to continually explain each detail of the story to.

        We stopped on UVic to have a cigar, and refill our drinks. At this point we realized we had been drinking for about twelve hours straight. This thought was hilarious to both of us.

So we took some "we should look like this after twelve hours straight".

      We continued on, and reached a Tim Horton's about thirty minutes later.

We both grabbed hot chocolates, spiked them, and continued walking. We got back to Simon's around 4:30, 5ish, and sat on his front steps. We smoked a cigar each and reflected on our epic walk from the beach and we rested our now sore feet.

Jasper

I awoke feeling refreshed. I think I slept about twelve hours or so. I felt happy still and was excited about the day ahead of me. I ran over to the window and pulled back the curtains. They were still there, it wasn't a dream, "Good morning Mountains," I said I headed to the shower.

One of the first things I noticed about this town (other than the distraction of the mountains), was that it has a lot of cobblestone. A lot of the building have stones in their walls. Also there are these benches. They look like something from the Flinstones. I giggle at them but I really enjoy the way they look.

I went for breakfast. I ended up at this place on the main strip. They were actually done breakfast so I had some soup and a sandwich. 

After I ate I headed through town to the museum. It was closed. It made me a little sad, museum number two I have missed. Directly behind the museum was some nature trails which lead into the foothills and into the mountains. OH FUN!

I looked at the map… Which way… twenty mile loop or nine kms to Pyramid lake. I decided pyramid lake sounded not only easier, but the reward of a lake was at the end.

Within two minutes I was in the forrest. I could no longer see the town, and all I could see was the forrest around me. There was this one rock I passed where I was sure there was a face in it. Did Medusa trap a man inside thousands of years ago? Do you see it?

As I followed along the path I watched the town of Jasper get smaller and smaller. I marvelled at how it existed perfectly with nature completely surrounding it.

I walked along in peace for about an hour or so. I had lots of time to think, and it was so nice to be alone, uninterrupted with my thoughts. I looked over the last year in my mind, and it helped me to better understand myself and my wants in life. I didn't get anything figured out, or come to an epiphany, but it was really nice to have some quiet to think.

SpongeBob and I had some fun staking rocks. I always love the way these mini statues look. Inukshuks!

Every jogger I passed in the woods said hello. All of them were with someone or had a dog with them. I thought it was kind of dumb to go alone. Not only are these woods full of wildlife, but I saw, on a number of occasions, bear prints in the mud.

I eventually ended up in Patricia Lake. It was nothing short of spectacular. The lake was frozen over and the contrast of green trees and hills between the mountains, sky, and lake was breathtaking.

I sat on the lake for about twenty minutes or so. Mouth-gaping stare I'm sure the whole time. Spongy got excited that we were at a lake and kept talking about searching for his pineapple. Eventually he got really excited and tried diving in. It took a bump on the head and twenty minutes of explanation before he understood the lake was frozen.

On the way back I took a detour. Took a path that looped around a different part of the woods. Was I ever happy that I did, for the trail winded further and further up the hill. The view was great and the rolling hills reminded of a bright eyed child, or little house on the prairie. I imaged running up the hill with my hair in pig-tails crying, "pa-pa! Pa-pa!"

The path went back and forth and slowly scaled back down the side of the mountain. I kept marvelling at how steep the slopes were (the ones I was staring right beside).

Not a trail? REALLY!? It certain looks like a tire rim to me. Hum?

I got back from my little hike just in time to watch Buffy… Oh how I love that show! Especially the old episodes.

I killed a bit of time and watched a silly 80s movie about a cross-dressing college kid.

Then I headed to the main strip for dinner. I sat at the bar and had a delicious steak, with some mashed potatoes and asparagus. I took my time there, it had a fun youthful vibe. I decided that I would have some desert, but what I wanted they did not have, so I opted for a glass of port instead (Taylor 20, my face!). I asked for a glass, but what I got was a bucket. The bartender poured me about 9oz. (For those who don't know, 2oz. of pour is equal to one drink). I was shocked, but knew I would enjoy it. When I headed out for a cigar, the bartender came out for a smoke and asked me to come with him to the nearby club (Pete's). He was a good looking, friendly English chap, and we were hitting it off chatting all evening. I decided I would hang out till he was done and follow him over.

Upon getting back inside I met one of the cooks who was at the bar. The bartender had poured him a pint and threw a couple shots of Hyphynoptic in it. It smelt strange, but he said it didn't taste terrible. We started chatting a bit, and I found out he was from Barrie. He seemed nice enough and told me he would see me over at Pete's.

Once the bartender and the manager were finished closing up, we all headed over. I got stopped at the door and asked for ID. I presented my health card, and his response was, "I don't take healthcard's." He wouldn't even look at it, and I had nothing else. I guess I wasn't getting in there.

I began my walk back to hotel. It was probably time to head back anyways, my head was swirling with all the port and drinks before that. I didn't even get a block when I heard someone calling my name. "No one knows me in Jasper," I thought to myself. I saw that it was the cook that I had been talking to at the restaurant. He asked me why I wasn't at Pete's already and I explained.

He didn't seem phased at all. "Let's go over here," and we continued walking.

He took me to a nearby pub and we grab a drink. We chatted some more and laughed an what not. Some of his friends invited us to a party just after last call. I said YES! But it was decided if we were to go to a party that booze was in order. We went to another hotel, or bar type place and bought a bottle of gin. It definitely was sketchy. (sorry daddy)

Then it was decided that one wold need juice with said gin and so the cook and I made a detour to the Mac's Mart. It was weird, the town had felt empty and quiet since I arrived, but during this time people were running around everywhere. The bar we went to, the sketchy hotel/bar, the club I couldn't get into, and the Mac's Mart were full of people having good times. Man, does Jasper ever come alive at night.

The cook, Nate, lead me to his place, and very much discouraged me from going to the party. He said that it would be twelve guys in a garage doing coke all night. I was still down for going, it was twelve guys I didn't know and could chat with while I got drunk. (Not that I was or anything at this point).

We ended up chilling at Nate's wicked apartment till stupid o'clock. Chatting, drinking, laughing. I remember we watched some BAD music videos.

I got back to my hotel at 5:30am.

Minefield of broken thoughts

Insomnia has struck again. It seems to be the strongest when my free time is abundant. My mind is left wandering (racing) through an abandoned minefield of broken thoughts and hurt feelings.
It drifts from lost memories of my ex and good christmases; to my annoyance for letting David's warmth pass by me, without ever letting him know my side; to my brief flush with Mike, who thought things were far more than they were; to the guy I've recently crushed on who now seems to have a lack of interest in my company.... and on and on.... Here I am faced with all these thoughts of situations that I am disappointed in the results.
I sit here wondering if I could clearly sort it all out, would these unhappy feelings dissipate... Or is that a pipe-dream? I feel internally we are mirrored by our external shell. We slowly accumulate scars, we carry them with us, and over time they weigh us down.
Hopefully we are strong enough to climb out of bed and meet that battle everyday, no matter how difficult or how outnumbered you may be, you fight.
Learn from these scars, these battle wounds, they only get worse as you get older.
I feel as though my minefield is packed full of these monstrous thoughts, I have been fighting them for quite a while now. I want to lie down and let them destroy my body and mind with scars. I know I can not.

Luna & Sol

I decided to take a break from the isolation, the comfort of my apartment, and embrace the outdoors. I took a nice walk around my neighbourhood and watched the sun setting. The sky filled with bands of thick clouds. In between the bands were various shades of pink and orange. I couldn't help but gaze and marvel at the beauty in which the sky beheld. Sometimes you just need to slow down... see, hear, touch, or experience the moment, whatever it may be.
After the sun was gone. The moon appeared in all it's glory. Magnificently glowing, almost full and quite large in the sky, it beamed down it's comfortable reassurance that everything in the universe is just as it should be. The moon is my favourite. Many nights I have walked, or biked around the city, gazing up at it's beauty, daydreaming of something equally as appealing to my senses.