carpe diem

even I'd be pulling the goalie

2009-05-12T11:41:00.003-07:00

I fear that politics in Canada is trending the same way as hockey--we try our hardest, take it right to game six and tie it up in the third period--and at the very last moment the other side gets a few lucky strokes and it goes the way it always does. Not that the other side is evil, or underhanded, or even inferior; I may not believe in their cause, but enough other people do for it to be more than valid, and such is living within the rule of the people.

Something in me is hoping for change. Maybe it's "Obama-envy": I wish that Canada had a fearless and suave leader whose visions and tact were something new and exciting, something worth calling a "phenomenon." Or at least BC. Vancouver is fortunate enough to have Gregor Robertson, but municipalities have such limited control in the grand scheme of things that, unfortunately, Robertson seems more of a token towards becoming a green and sustainable province than anything else.

I voted NDP today, mostly because it's in my home riding of Columbia River - Revelstoke, and Norm Macdonald, the incumbent, has done an amazing job representing our part of the province. He's an honest and genuine man, and he's looking out for people like me and my family and friends. Unfortunately, his opposition Mark McKee is also an incredibly upstanding citizen, so it's a tough choice. But I'm voting NDP, and not just because I'm a card-carrying member.

Someone on Facebook recently posted a somewhat crass, though poignant saying: "Politicians are like diapers, they need changing, and for the same reasons." As I said--crass. But politicians do need changing, so they don't become entrenched and corrupt. We saw what happened to the NDP government the last time the Liberals in BC were elected; I fear what could happen if the BC Liberals remain in power for another four years. That will equate 12 years of BC Liberal governance, which perpetuates their problems for another four years. BC still has the highest rate of child proverty (a quarter of all children are in poverty in BC), has yet to take a tough stand against climate change, and the problems in the downtown East side of Vancouver are still rampant. There are no quick fixes, but if the BC Liberals cannot effect true and dramatic change in eight years, to me that does not equate a convincing argument for re-election. There's a reason why the United States has a maximum two-term allotment for its Presidents, folks.

Today could be one for the history books if the BC-STV system passes the 60% supermajority in the referrendum. We could be the first state in all of North America to use a proportional representation system. Last time when the BC-STV system faced a referrendum, it achieved 57.3% majority, yet it needed this 60% supermajority to pass. As it should--an entire voting system should not be altered based on a bare 50+1% majority, yet the fate of Quebec as a province of Canada was decided this way--and no governing politician or political party in North America, I'm quite sure, has ever been elected on 57% of popular vote. But again--game six, the last few minutes of the game, is it possible to score those last three goals? Physically, yes... but the Canucks have yet to get that break, and I fear that our province might meet the same, oh-so-close, fate.

Well, here's hoping.

the coyotes begin to howl

2009-01-11T01:51:00.004-08:00

Goodness but it's been a while since I've written in here. Nearly 8 months, by my count! Truly unacceptable. I hope to use this blog a bit more in the upcoming months, as I find myself embroiled in the Semester in Dialogue at SFU--it's only been a week, but I can tell it's going to be a challenging, engaging, and incredibly rewarding semester. Part of our assignments is journalling, and I figure that blogging will count quite well towards that.

But in the meantime, here are a few photos to describe what's gone on since my last update--as in, what's happened since the beginning of summer '08.

1. A Fantastic Job

I worked for four months at the Heights Merchants Assocation (www.burnabyheights.com) in Burnaby, BC. Not only did I get to use my degree and realize that hey, I can do a 9-5 position, enjoy it and be successful, but I got to know a few new cool cats and a new neighbourhood (that was always at my doorstep) a lot better.

From Hats Off Day '08 & HMA Shenanigans

2. A Beautiful Summer on the Hill

SFU is always so bleak and grim from September to April. (With a few respites that still makes it worth living here, however.) The summer, though, is something totally different. I was living in Townhouses again, and was with Laura and Tulga--and a whole crew of fellow rezzies who all seemed to be outgoing and interesting. We had a lovely time enjoying summer...

From The Summer of 2008!

3. The Arrival of Luke

At long last, that Aussie of mine made his way from Sydney to Europe to Vancouver. It was about damn time--he arrived on July 26, just in time for us to head to Revelstoke for the long weekend and to enjoy a mild August in Vancouver.

From The Summer of 2008!

4. Scrapbooking

It's a time for me to be introspective and creative. It's arts and crafts with a glass of wine and a good movie. What's there not to like? I've done a LOT of scrapbooking recently; my Australia collection is now complete (within a year of coming home, too!), and I'm hard at work on other projects as well.

From The Summer of 2008!

5. Another New Job and Fun Projects

I became a CA (Community Advisor) this year in Townhouses, and while it's been challenging at some points, I've gotten to bond with a group of ten really great people. Plus, our team retreat up to Whistler was a lot of fun.

From "C" to the "A" Adventures!

6. Friends

From Kate coming home from Newfoundland to Ola coming back from Australia to Alaina and Ashton from France, spending time dreaming and writing with Deanne, to long walks with Yngve and bus conversations with James, these people keep me grounded and in good humour. It's a blessing, truly.

7. And let's not forget family!

This is pretty self-explanatory. Mum and dad are always there for me, and while their "coaching" can sometimes get on my nerves--I know they're just trying to pass on their knowledge.

Ah, the more I think about it, the more things I find to write about here--but I shall leave it at seven points, and give an honourable mention to poetry classes, relaxing time, meeting new people, trips to nearby cities, and reuniting with my camp memories. It's time for me to be asleep, too... the coyotes are beginning to howl (I wonder how they're dealing with the good two feet of snow we have right now?), so it truly is time to drift off. Bonsoir...

meanders in montreal

2008-05-11T14:49:00.002-07:00

I'm back from another cross-Canada trip, and actually managed to go from coast to coast in one day--though I do feel like I cheated a little bit since I didn't actually go from Victoria to St. John's, which would have been a bit more "coast to coast" than Vancouver to St. John's. Oh well.

I just got all my pictures up onto Picasa Web; as always, they can be found in all their glory right here. The "Eastern Tour Lite" is on Facebook with only 120 pictures between two albums for both Newfoundland and Montreal--a more extensive set is on Picasa Web.

I was also fiddling with placing some pictures on the Google maps in Picasa Web--also a nifty feature, though I really don't think enough people use Picasa Web yet for anyone to realize what's really going on. For some reason I'm now getting visions of Google buying Facebook and integrating all of these technologies together--it's a little mind-boggling.

I'll put up a few of the best pictures in here with proper captions soon--in the meantime, enjoy this little slideshow!

stuck in the middle with you

2008-04-12T17:27:00.002-07:00

Well, I've got one more paper to finish, and then I'm done for the semester! I can't believe it's gone by this quickly. As a brain break though, here are some random photos from recent days...

the filming of "The Day the Earth Stood Still"

we were a training academy?

so, I guess campus does look a little like a space ship

bahaha...

easter at the family's!

our platter of meat at Memphis Blues for Kate's birthday... yuuuum...

also, some crazy sushi a few weeks later; quail egg on tobiko

surprisingly yummy!

at the Railway singalong

"sweet caroline... ba-ba-baaa!"

march endeavours

2008-03-12T00:27:00.003-07:00

free food brings them queueing!

Tracy came to visit!

waiting for the bus... it's what we do!

at the executives debate -- JJ, Wisam, Natalie, and Maegan

a walk in the park

2008-02-24T15:12:00.002-08:00

Life's just trucking along up on the mountain... school's keeping me busy, as is job hunting and keeping up with friends. (And scrapbooking. But ssh, you didn't hear that from me.)

Making plans can be a difficult process sometimes. As I mentioned to Deanne last night, we're not suffering from a lack of opportunity--but simply too many choices, too many options, too many great things headed our way. The list of "could do" seems to be endless, all of it suspiciously possible, just depending on how much you want to pay, and on how you want your life to look. In grade 10, I remember my English teacher saying how he had to take time in his life to very specifically contemplate what he wanted to do, and that it was worth every moment. I've got to agree. Some things, you just know--like that I wanted to come to SFU, or go to Australia. You can't really remember deciding, but you did and it's a decision that doesn't need questioning. Other things, though--jobs, trips, plans, commitments--require a little more consideration.

Well, I guess the best thing to do is to keep all doors and windows open, breathe a little fresh air, and take things one step at a time. It's all one realistically can do, after all!

harbour centre

Ali, moi, Melissa, & Kate before heading out to Plush... yay free cover!

sunset from Burnaby Mountain Park

life's a beach... life's a mountain... just when I decide on one, something changes my mind...

eh heh heh heh...

good times at the Foggy Dew!

sheesh...

2008-02-13T14:12:00.001-08:00

1. Thank goodness for sunshine.

2. Boo on Shakespeare. While it's "easy" to churn out 1500 words on love in Twelfth Night, it's somehow depressing to know that you ain't saying a thing that hasn't already been said, and that it's virtually impossible to get something new from the play. The man's a literary genius, I won't deny it, but I just don't see the point in writing something that anyone else could have. Besides that... yaaawn.

3. I had to give SFSS positions another thought upon hearing that they pay about $1500 a month. That's not bad money, to be opinionated. And then I read another Peak article about leaked CFS documents where--gasp!--they're planning on doing a pro-CFS campaign during the referendum. Oh. My. God. Stop the presses. You mean they want to keep one of their main constituencies and are willing to put up some posters and make some phone calls to do so? Criminal, I say! I guess from here on in, all lobbyists, publicists, and politicians should be shot. That's what they're doing, isn't it? ("They hire their favourites," says past SFU anti-CFS rep Titus Gregory, who is now working for the anti-CFS student society at Kwantlen. "Pro-CFS councils are hiring pro-CFS people." I paraphrase, but you get the point. Geez.)

4. With the onset of student elections, and with friends in the thick of both sides, all I really want to do is to tell people to calm down, stop bitching, and to actually think about what would be good for the university and daily student life. "Student politicians" shouldn't exist. "Student representatives" should. If you want to be in politics, fine, be in politics, but keep it out of the university. Witch hunts and name calling get so, so, so, so tiring and redundant after a while.

5. I wonder what happened to make me go from activist to an irritated bystander...

janvier

2008-01-29T15:20:00.000-08:00

sunsets!

Joni & Joan

(requisite foot photo!)

Joan, Ali, moi, & Kate

on the dancefloor!

hey, photos are fun!

at the end of the night

the winter wonderland that is currently sfoo... more to come when I get our snow adventure photos from the girls!

back on the hill

2008-01-23T15:21:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a long time since I updated--so I won't try and catch up on everything! Suffice it to say that the last few weeks in Australia simply whizzed by, and were amazing in ways I can't describe. From finishing classes to exploring new corners in Sydney to the Blue Mountains and up to Cairns, December was unforgettable. Coming home, too, was a welcome respite; and now, I'm back at SFU, in McTaggart-Cowan Hall, and back to the normal daily grind of university life. I realized on Monday that we're already in the third week of classes, which is kind of mind blowing... and also as of Monday, I've been home for more than a month. That was a shock and a half, especially when so many memories remain incredibly vivid.

Anyway, a few photos, just to save me a couple thousand words!

on our way from Cairns to Port Douglas and the Daintree--Michael, moi, Jeremy, and Ola

aww :)

lunch at the Sydney Tower... rotating restaurants are the bomb!

the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransisco, as seen on my flight home to Canada

Lake Shushwap, driving to Vancouver

happy 2008!

my new room, "before"

the "after"

the girls, out for the sing-along at the Railway; Joan, Ali, and Kate (Joan and Kate are from the east coast, and I may be living with Ali next year!)

out for dinner at Nyala African Cuisine for Deanne's 21st

sunsets are basically honest in ways most other spectators are not - Barbra Adler

And of course, I've been catching up on my scrapbooking! Fiji is already finished, click the link below to see the other pages:

From Scrapbook Pages

rolicking and roadtripping

2007-11-21T04:58:00.000-08:00

I think that getting home from a trip is almost as fun as being on the trip; for a couple hours, you get to sort through pictures and reminisce about all the cool things you were doing just yesterday, and don't yet have to worry too much about "real life" things. It's like that Dido, "Sand in My Shoes" song...

Two weeks away it feels like the world should've changed
But I'm home now
And things still look the same
I think I'll leave it to tomorrow till unpack
Try to forget for one more night
That I'm back in my flat on the road
Where the cars never stop going through the night
To real life where I can't watch sunset
I don't have time

Ah, lyrics. Part of the fun of sorting pictures is then getting to write blog posts about them; and believe me, between Picasa, Facebook, Blogger, LJ, and eventually, my own scrapbook--these pictures get combed over a lot. Probably good though, as the collection gets smaller and smaller every time.

Anyway--as you can tell, we've made it back safe and sound from our Byron Bay road trip! It was lots of fun, a lot of driving, but good food, good friends, good music, beaches, and wineries will make up for just about anything. We left here early Saturday morning to pick up Sarah from the airport, however, her flight out of Cairns was delayed due to cyclonic weather. We didn't actually get on the road to Byron Bay until about 1:30 pm, and drove straight until about 10:30. Of course, we were so well organized and knew exactly where we were going (not), but things worked out and we got to the Arts Factory (recommended to us by Ignacio & co.) and our tent up in short order. How Luke and I figured out our large and weird tent with only one flashlight and after having been awake since 8 am, I'm not too sure, but hey... not complaining!

Our second day, we drove a little ways out to Nimbin, Australia's hippy capital. I felt like I was in Nelson, really, just a little more intense. It was a really cute little town though, with some nice markets and cafes and the like... the drive was gorgeous too. :) That afternoon we spent at the beach, we had some yummy sausages for dinner at the campground, and then enjoyed our free drink at the Arts Factory's bar and went downtown to do some dancing. The next day, we relaxed a bit in the morning and did some shopping (postcards, new bathing suit for Ola, me spotting a good Supre sale, you know), and then drove that afternoon to Port Macquarie. Found that campground, set up the tent quickly again, and found ourselves some pizza downtown for dinner--while Byron Bay was buzzing pretty much every night due to schoolies week (aka, all the school kids who are 18 go partying somewhere to celebrate graduation), Port Macquarie was really quiet, much as small towns tend to be on a Monday night. (Whodathunk, really.) Our third day was spent at the beach for the morning, followed by a more leisurely drive down to the Central Coast. We stopped at the Innes Lake Winery close to Port Mac, and a little bit later at Bago Vineyards. Next summer, we are so doing a wine tasting trip in the Okanagan!

Our last night was spent at Pearl Beach at Luke's grandparents' vacation house there. It's a cute little thing, much like Jeremy's place at Oberon, and it was nice at that point to have a TV with movies and a real bed (and our lovely bottles of wine from earlier in the day!). We got some beach time in today, followed by a quick drive back into Sydney so I could meet Jeremy and his parents to see Miss Saigon. (Which was amazing. I definitely cried at the end.) Busy few days? Heck yes. Awesome few days? Duh!

Now, for some photos. As normal, this is just a handful; all 50 can be found in their respective Google Album.

clear skies, open road, and good tunes! road trip time!

an early pit stop

enjoying our first cuppa at the Arts Factory

a lizard of some sort that were around in a couple places... I'm surprised the bush turkeys didn't try to eat them!

oh, Nimbin...

on our way to the beach!

beachy beach time in Byron

a group shot at Innes Lake Winery

cheers!

the ladies :)

kangaroos along the way... this is Australia, afterall!

Luke's family's place, "Bure Marau"

Pearl Beach (or part of it)

Sydney this afternoon... always so beautiful!

aussie in aussieland

2007-11-13T03:49:00.000-08:00

Jeremy's sister gave birth to a very healthy baby boy, now named Lukas Riley. Woohoo!

Just a couple photos from earlier in the month when we went to a rower's get together at Luke's house... for once, we were hanging out with Australians!

millionth and one photo like this...

talking with one of Luke's very good friends over Skype, as he's currently in Harvard!

the crew! Alex, Ola, Adam, Tom, Abby, & Alisa

Jeremy and I before going to the movies last Tuesday... yes we're excited for Hairspray!

some fellow exchange students we ran into on the bus--Anna, Israel, and Claus

photo million and two...

photo million and three... we really do love Darling Harbour :)

I just realized that all my photos from November are pretty much just people. I'll make a point to get more landscape photos over the next couple weeks... of campus, of Sydney, and of our trips! Oh the things to look forward to...

babies!

2007-11-06T05:30:00.000-08:00

Eeek! Jeremy was just informed that his sister, Phoebe, is in labour with her second baby as we speak. He's driving down tomorrow morning to Canberra to take care of Dylan, and to be the first Medlock to welcome the new baby into the world. I've got my bets that it's a girl, as Phoebe said she was carrying it differently when we were at Oberon... but then again, I wouldn't be surprised if they said it was a boy. Guess I'm not very good at guessing. ;)

Keep your thoughts with Phoebe, the baby, Brian, and Dylan. Jeremy's parents are just about to get on their plane home, too... oh the suspense! And strangely, this is the first time that I've been informed that someone I know is in labour with their baby. Craaaa-zy!

hello november!

2007-11-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

Well, this November certainly looks different from last. I like the difference, though. I think I'll blog a bit more later, for now I kind of just feel like putting up photos. And randomly--I miss scrapbooking, a lot, which is unsurprising considering how much I did in 2 months before coming overseas. The funny thing too is that scrapbooking supplies at Big W are so cheap in comparison to stuff back home, even at WalMart. I can't buy cool paper for fear of it getting squished on the way home, but I may invest in some good stickers.

Yup. That was blog-worthy. :)

Macquarie lawns

now that there are actually leaves on the trees, our campus is very pretty and shady!

a cloudy day at Manly

a very yummy Aussie ice cream that Luke got for us!

sunset at Manly Wharf

Ernie came for a visit!

a pretty awesome lightning storm a while ago--the sky was green in some places, and it was almost night even though it was the afternoon. I was standing near an electrical pole for a while, until I realized that wasn't such a good idea when there aren't any mountains to draw away the lightning. heh.

but, it cleared up again :)

Ian, my roomie, lookin' cool

Ed and Ash, also my roommates (well, Ed may as well be), cooking dinner in typical fashion

the girls, all dressed up for a night on the town!

tired and on our way home from said night on the town

les garcons... Luke, Mat, Ian, Johnson

moi & Luke, before dressing up for Halloween! more photos to come...

through a new lens

2007-10-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I went and did it--bought myself a new camera. Everyone please say hello to my brand new, Pentax Optio E40, 8.1 megapixels, which works beautifully and almost exactly the same as my old Pentax, just better. It was relatively cheap, too--$172 AUD, which transfers over to a slim $153 CAD. Exchange rates are my friend--and it's rather nice that the American dollar is about on par (or less than!) the Canadian. Or at least, it was on Saturday.

October has been a lovely month so far, with beautiful weather and plenty of opportunities for getting out and about in Sydney. Between Thanksgiving, the Red Kite evening, and some beach days, I'm a happy and relaxed girl. Yet again I was talking with Alaina and Ashton on Skype last night, and they've been dealing with all sorts of annoying French debacles; Alaina's trying to get her paperwork sorted out (between visas and citizenship and the French loving their procedures, she's not a happy girl), their power has been off for the last 12 days and it's 10 C and autumn there, and Ashton sounds like he's still learning the language and trying to find a job that he likes. They sound busy, stressed, and a bit defeated--but then again, they've got rail passes for all of Europe and holidays coming up, so they'll pull out of it soon, and it helps that they're newlyweds and living together for the first time. Anyway--in comparison, I'm wonderfully relaxed and at peace with the world. Have I ever mentioned that I <3 Sydney?

Another thing that makes Sydney special is that the people here are here because they want to be, and they wouldn't want to be anywhere else. (Exceptions for folks retiring to Brisbane or Gold Coast or something, but no one in Sydney really wishes that they were in Melbourne or Perth, because really... Melbourne? Perth? Yeah...) This might be a city of 4 million people, but it's all within reach--or not, if you don't want it to be. Most of downtown Sydney is within walking distance of itself, but the suburbs are spread out and separated by so many little national parks that finding a place of one's own isn't difficult at all.

It sounds like I'm convincing myself to live here. I might be--this is a wonderful country. But we'll leave these decisions for later... for now, some photos, some stories. :)

the first photo on my new camera!

Julian, Anne, and Sarah outside at the Ranch

Sarah and Andres had a bet based around a swimming race--Andres lost, Sarah got to shave his head... hehe

Luke and I went on an adventure to the northern beaches, and took a ferry out to the Central Coast--what a beautiful, beautiful area! there aren't any more pictures from the rest of the day simply because I was too entranced to remember to take them. aw.

the beginning of the Red Kite Fundraiser--Jessie (Jeremy's neighbour, coworker, and school friend) and I were Jeremy's entourage, as Phoebe was too pregnant to come...

the ladies!

Jem and I

inside at the fundraiser--this is at the Sydney Convention Centre (aka a 2 minute walk from Jeremy's), and was also where APEC was held. I had to look at the carpet and go, "OMG Stephen Harper was here!" and then remind myself that I have, in fact, been to the Canadian Parliament, and that plenty of interesting people have been there, too.

Jessie and I inside...

the trio! our table was right at the very front--we were the "High Flyers" for quiz night

Merrick and Craig, asking the first round of quiz questions--Merrick is a well-known radio personality, and Craig is on a popular ABC TV show, "The Chaser," which is the Aussie equivalent of the Royal Canadian Air Farce... only funnier. =D they were the ones that made that fake motorcade to get into APEC, actually.

I was overwhelmed by trying to imagine what kind of planning and fundraising it took just to get the gala to this scale. providing dinner for 700 of Sydney's top corporate representatives? whoo...

Jeremy, giving his speech! he told his story about having cancer, and how Red Kite helped him and his family through it--I was so impressed! he's developed some wonderful public speaking skills, that boy. :)

I had to sneak around and get some cool angles...

Jem with Merrick and Craig... who were really very friendly. we (he) made lots of connections!

I was really there, I swear...

us with Craig...

demonstrating Alan's "LA Red Carpet" smile--don't we look like we're having the time of our lives? LOL

dead tired after a good 5 hours of schmoozing... but we met some newscasters and producers from the top media stations in Sydney (hea-ven for a media student like me), invites for rides in traffic helicopters (note the dark haired guy in the photo above, he's the traffic reporter for Channel 10), promises for tickets to see the Chaser in studio and maybe get backstage, and an invitation to go backstage at Channel 10 when they're doing the news... repeat after me: HECK. YES. the fundraiser was a complete success, too: Red Kite raised $360,000 to support families and children going through cancer.

the next day, Tsehaye and Ola came downtown and we meandered about and took some random photos. fun fun. ;)

100!

2007-10-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

Put up the balloons and streamers, light some sparklers, and bust out the bubbly--we're at post 100! Whodathunk this little photo blog of mine would last so long... and oh, the places we've been, the things we've seen! This may in fact mark the end of an era, however; tomorrow I'm going to go take a look at new digital cameras at the shopping centre, as my poor Pentax Optio30 is... well, dead. And after 6276 photos and nearly three years (having received in Christmas '04), it may very well deserve its rest. However, the camera I spotted to replace it is simply the newer Pentax Optio model that still takes AA batteries and SD memory cards--hey, old habits die hard, okay? Plus, I have all these snazzy battery chargers for various continents that I might as well keep using.

Post 100 also marks a curious rite of passage for the North American woman; namely, cooking your first turkey dinner. I seem to be making a bit of a fuss over this 'rite of passage' thing, but when religious customs and cultural traditions are few and far between (if they exist at all in any moderately uncommodified fashion), the few that do surface must be recognized and appreciated accordingly. I also suspect that this is a bit of a throwback to the domestic woman, the Angel of the House, the 'can she bake a cherry pie' expectation--but you know what? 1) Screw you feminist theory, I like turkey. 2) I can vote. I can express my opinion in any form I like. I am free to do and choose what I like... and I chose to cook a dinner for my friends! 3) I've seen more cooking initiative in my male friends over the past five or so years than in my female friends, and we ought to keep the scales balanced. (Couldn't decide which direction to take that argument, so you get all three.) Or maybe I'm just a traditionalist enough to care about these things--and to insist that the men carve the turkey? Hmm. This all brings back memories of the long table in Aaron's dining room with the high school crew carving up turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes. Yum!

I digress. Moral of the story: Cooking a turkey and providing the staples for a 14 person Thanksgiving dinner isn't lacking in stress, and Katie and I had a magnificent day drinking wine and doing our best to interpret and do justice to our family recipes.

Katie and I had the turkey roasting in the oven by 2:30, just on schedule. three hours later it was juicy and ready to be carved up--Luke obliged by doing the honours. :)

at last--candles lit, glass of Yellow Tail Merlot in hand, other peoples' contributions unveiled, and Thanksgiving dinner was ready to go!

to make this pumpkin pie, we had to roast our own freakin' pumpkin... ye gods. at least we didn't end up using pumpkin baby food as we feared we may have to. I guess I'm a little ridiculously proud of my pumpkin pies, but then again, pumpkin pie alone makes me waaaaay too excited. ;)

with full stomachs, we retire to the roof to enjoy the Sydney lights--moi, Luke, & Katie

some of us spent the night, and the next day we three (and Jeremy) went over to Paddy's Markets in Darling Harbour... it was a beautiful, sunny day and the perfect relaxing end to our Thanksgiving extravaganza!

the last of our fijian fantasy

2007-10-14T04:37:00.000-07:00

Post number 99... exciting!

This is my final installment of Fiji photos... for this year, anyway. ;) And for the next little while it's going to be others' photos again, as my camera is still out of commission. I'm going to have to dismantle the thing and see what I can do to get it going again--and failing that, I may have to actually get a new camera. Grr. Fortunately though, I saw the "next generation" of my Pentax on sale in the mall for $180--and if I can make a 3.2 megapixel camera do what I need it to, I'm sure that a 7.0 will do just as fine. So... here's hoping!

hermit crab races!

aww...

the ladies on our last night on Mana Island

we had quite the dance party!

I noticed this poster on the wall by reception... the same poster that Mrs. MacLean, my high school social studies teacher, had on her wall... and it was always the one I zoned out at when Canadian history got too exciting. and then to see it in Fiji? craaaaaaazy.

our last morning, waiting for the boat...

Sarah and some of our hostesses!

farewell Ratu Kini and Mana Island... :(

Ola's photo looking over at Adam and I in the other boat on our way back to Nadi--check out the choppy water that made a 45 minute ride into 2.5 hours...

downtown Nadi

so sad to be leaving Fiji! not fun...

on the other hand, we're happy because we're going back to Sydney--yes, our lives are just so horrible!

paradisal afternoons

2007-10-05T23:41:00.000-07:00

It's actually a cool, cloudy afternoon here in Sydney... which means I can concentrate on paper writing. Thank goodness.

As a small break, here are a couple more photos from Fiji! They're all from Ola's camera, though I did take some of them...

I just <3 this photo... we're all so cute! moi, Jonas, Ola, and Sarah

hot, guys... just hot. Adam, Neela (I think?), and Pierre. despite being British, I think Adam's life hero is Don Cherry. they get Hockey Night in Canada in Britain but we don't get the Rugby World Cup in Canada... go figure!

can anyone say: "paradise"?

the view from one of Mana's hills

looking back at our beach--Ratu Kini is just in that bit of beach you can't quite see

Sarah needed a good stretch

you can't see them, but our bare feet are there!

some tea and biscuits on a rainy afternoon

more excellent fijian scenery

2007-10-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of procrastination, I feel like putting up a couple photos... Ola's transferring them to me in thirds, so here's a handful from the first third of her photos! More to be found in the Google Album too.

mm, hammocks!

also on the boat going over to Mana Island... I swear, we are NOT twins...

one of the fire dancers (aka one of the guys that worked at the hostel, fire dancer by night)... pretty good scenery at Ratu Kini, eh?

an evening view from the deck... looking over at the pier (which was lots of fun to jump off of!)

the deck, where we spent copious amounts of time ;)

a flip cup competition--apparently this is an American drinking game, and is in essence a relay race; everyone has a shot of beer in their cup, and has to drink their beer and flip their cup upside down from the edge of the table before the next person can go... it gets pretty intense!

some of our new friends... Oliver, Pierre, and Jonas (all British or Scandinavian, figures)

two of our new Canadian friends, Tristan and Ginny from New Brunswick--they're in New Zealand for a year and might pop over to Sydney to say hi!

greenie, being green!

fiji time!

2007-09-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

Aight! Time to write about our amazing Fijian adventures. I'm going to start with our week laid out in point form, just to save myself tens of pages of typing. :)

September 21, Friday
- got up at the crack of dawn to take a taxi to the Sydney airport from Jeremy's house
- flew into Nadi, arriving 2:10 pm local time
- checked into our hostel, went for a walk to the beach, went downtown to get some groceries and see what we could see
- chilled at the hostel, enjoying the pool and a wonderful mozzarella pizza and a couple drinks, kinda early to bed

September 22, Saturday
- got up earlyish to hit up the free breakfast and to make travel plans in time for checkout at 10 am
- on the advice of our Quebecois roommates, we booked a spot on a boat to go to Mana Island and stay at the Ratu Kini hostel
- went on another (chauffeured) trip downtown to get money, then waited for the boat which, as always, arrived on "Fiji time"
- had a lovely 45 minute ride over to Mana, where we ditched our stuff and spent the rest of the day frolicking in white sand and turquoise waters!
- went on a midnight swim, then stayed up playing cards and drinking beer with our German roommates who'd also been on the same plane as us

September 23, Sunday
- beachy time in the morning!
- we three ladies walked most of the way around Mana Island, though as we ended up having to swim partway my camera got wet and has yet to work... I need to get the salt out of it and then she should be better though, hopefully!
- a wonderful happy hour and evening with everyone, learned how to play flip cup, "Team Canada" rocked up quiz night

September 24, Monday
- more beachy time because we are beach bums and we love the beach! also because it was too stinkin' hot to really do too much else, one had to be in and out of the water pretty much constantly... hard life, I know...
- made some coconut jewelry!
- it rained that evening... still very warm though, so we went swimming to enjoy being completely surrounded by water
- there was a kid's performance that night, lots of song and dance and leis, then we just chilled with the guys as it was their last night

September 25, Tuesday
- lots of our boys all left! very sad... but this also precipitated us having to make new friends, which worked out just as well in the long run
- Ola and I went snorkeling a couple times, which was AWESOME... and literally five steps off our hostel's porch were some fantastic coral reefs... this would've been about 9 am Monday morning in North America, making us feel very smug =D
- had a nice chill dinner and happy hour, as always
- our evening was spent entirely with Europeans, mostly Brits and the occasional German! cards came out, beer was shared Fiji-style, and it was a great night of staying up late talking about everything

September 26, Wednesday
- went for a walk with the girls in the morning, we climbed barefoot to the top of one of the hills on Mana... the views were absolutely stunning!
- meant to go kayaking in the afternoon, but the tide was low and we ended up taking a nap... then it started to rain so all of our plans were shite anyway. Ola and I shared some tea and biscuits instead and we all read our books on the deck til dinner
- hermit crab races were that night, which were vastly entertaining! then we played more flip cup and had a fabulous dance party... then went for another swim, only this time we all went and jumped off the pier until the security guards told us to get lost... hehe...
- upon returning to the hostel however, we were told that someone had been into our stuff in our room and that we should check if everything was there. my stuff was okay, but then Ola discovered her phone was gone and Jess' camera had disappeared too--which catapulted us into an entire evening of those two girls freaking out, the guys trying to help in various ways, eventually finding the stuff (after the thief got punched out cold right in front of us by the other locals... yes, interesting times!). Ola was totally freaked out, the whole thing was just kinda weird, but I guess that all's well that ends well, because they got their stuff back.

September 27, Thursday
- our last day at Mana... which we actually spent doing nothing, since we were waiting for the boat to come all freakin' day. it was supposed to leave at 11:30, but then didn't get there until 12:30, and then they had to wait for another boat because there were more people and the water was really choppy. all in all we didn't get out of Mana til 3 pm, and didn't get to our hostel until about 5.
- goodbyes were very sad... but Tristan and Ginny and Ash and Tim ended up coming to Horizons with us for the night, so we had a lovely time eating pizza and going for walks with them, then it was early to bed for all

September 28, Friday
- up early again, packed and checked out, went to downtown Nadi to do some souvenir shopping, then got to the airport to fly home
- lovely flight home, though Sarah ended up sitting a couple rows behind us
- transiting home from the Sydney airport was great; we missed our train stop, there was quite the layover at Central and we were starving, but eventually we all made it back to our wonderful Sydney beds in one piece... and more or less, that concludes the grand Fijian adventure...

Fiji is a little igneous cluster of islands in the South Pacific that most people refer to only as a mysterious place of white beaches, palm trees, warm water, and very very far away. It's not a developed country--Nadi, the city with the largest international airport, has only 180,000 people and not a single building more than maybe four or five storeys. Houses are usually some combination of plywood and corrugated metal painted in bright, though not well-maintained colours. While not in the downtown core, it's pretty easy to spot cows and chickens and stray cats and dogs all over the place... I want to say "third world," but really shouldn't, since there are places with much worse poverty. Fiji isn't developed, but it isn't impoverished. Still, the hot weather and humidity and the noise and bustle and different customs were enough to dismay us three ladies a couple times, which wasn't aided by people warning us to be careful at pretty much every turn. The warnings only served to make us overly paranoid of a culture that is--I feel--more friendly and outgoing than our own. On the other hand, taxi drivers are damn aggressive, and we constantly had them coming up to us asking if we needed to go somewhere. It was kind of crazy.

Another thing about Fiji is "Fiji time," which is basically a slower, relaxed, informal schedule... people in stores can seem reticent to help, but it's really just because they're moving at a slower pace than we're used to. Fiji time means that a boat is supposed to leave at 11 am will really leave at 12:30, or any point therein. Fiji time came to mean a lot of things by the end of the week, and they were all good. And randomly, Fijians say "Bula!" for hello, and will say it to any random person they pass by. We said bula a lot that week. ;)

We met some really cool people... I'm very glad that there were three of us travelling together, because one of us was always up to something or meeting someone. The first night we met a Canadian couple from Montreal, then at Ratu Kini there was 20-50 people around all the time to mingle with in some form or another. There were our roommates in the dorm, four German guys and an American girl who were on our flight, then the Scandinavians, a whole lot of Brits, a few other Germans, and a good handful of Americans and Canadians to boot. I don't think any Australians, though the majority of us were studying in Australia and on holiday anyway. Let's see... our roommates were Greg, Thomas, Shay, Felco, and Jess; then there was Jonas (Swedish) and Pierre (Danish), the Canadians Tristan and Ginny, Colin from Hawaii (aka Dolphin), and the Brits--Nick and Sam, Adam, Thom, Kelly, Tim and Ash, Emmy, and so many more whose names we never actually learned. And then there were the locals who worked at the hostel--Jerry x2, Rocky, Ringa, Moses, and Joe... they put on shows for us every evening, they cooked for us, told us random Fijian things, drank beer with everyone, ah... it was great. Everyone was out to have fun and make friends, and with only a few days to do it in, everyone became fast friends instantaneously.

Having been on week-long travel experiences before, I can now say that doing it yourself (and with friends) is way better than being part of a scheduled group, a la summer camp or school trip style. Structured activities are great for kids, but... I guess I'm not a kid anymore? Heh. Fancy that. I was thrown back a lot to previous experiences--between camping with mum and dad, summer camp, and Quebec, I felt I was prepared for a lot of the things we had to deal with, for which I'm grateful. Even if it was something like being used to really bad bathroom facilities--or none at all--I'm glad I know how to deal with that. We were a long shot away from "roughing it" in Fiji (and when we were camping), but I've come to the conclusion that I'm pretty damn talented at washing my hair in a sink. A very random, but useful, skill.

Here's another sampling of photos from Fiji--the rest can be viewed in their Google Album, like the camping photos. Once I get Ola's, I'll put up a couple more as well. :)

our flight to Nadi!

the blondes... and I swear, all the trip people kept asking if we were twins, or sisters, or related in some way... weird!

we found this totally cool function on my camera that takes four consecutive photos... so Sarah made funny faces and I photographed them ;)

over the Pacific, once again

chicks on a plane! picture courtesy of Felco...

our first glimpse of Fiji

driving past the school, heading into Nadi

the less-than-beautiful beaches in Nadi, right down the road from our hostel

a Fijian bus

on the Morning Breeze heading to Mana Island

this is the hill that we climbed to the top of... barefoot!

snorkeling, anyone?

the view from the deck... looks like home

beachy time!

on our walk around the island--this is the part we didn't swim

Sarah's walking on water?!

and this is where the photos end! more to come though, once I get Ola's...

camping in kangaroo land

2007-09-29T22:42:00.001-07:00

Crikey! Almost a whole month with no updates? Shameful, shameful. I certainly have my work cut out for me, to properly chronicle the past two weeks... they were phenomenal!

The real excitement begins on Friday, September 14th with Macquarie's annual celebration of Conception Day. As far as I'm aware, this is the "conception" of the university. Naturally, it's become a giant outdoor concert and drinking fest that over 6000 people show up to. In short: awesome! Bright colours, beer, sunshine, live music, dancing, and tonnes of people... can't go wrong with that. We started the day over at Ola's backyard--I trekked across campus with all my camping gear and Mat and Ian, then we chilled in the sun for a couple hours before heading over to the lawns to see the main event. We mingled all afternoon, did a bit of dancing, had a sausage sizzle or two, and enjoyed our beer. We spent some time talking with Ignacio, one of my neighbours who opened the music (he's a fantastic guitar player!), ran into our badminton coach Mark, some of the rugby guys, and roommates of roommates and friends and neighbours. I spent the night at Ola's in their spare room, so as to be up on time for camping the next day.

Annabel and Nicki outside of Ola's

Ian and Mat just chillin...

myself and Anna, one of Ola's Swiss neighbours

me and Ian inside Conception Day!

random crowd shot...

mm, beer

Ola and I with Ignacio, the fantastic Chilean guitar player =D

oh the clappy hands...

demonstrating how my new shirt allows me to camouflage into Ola's watermelon walls... hehe!

And then... camping! We were up at 6 am, out the door at 7 am, and then it was a series of buses, trains, and vans until we got to our campground at Pebbly Beach in Murramurrang National Park, about 150 km south of Sydney. The campground was pretty average--flush toilets but only cold showers, dirt tent pads, etc.--but the beach was amazing... and all ours! The wildlife was endlessly entertaining, too; wild kangaroos who let you pet them and their joeys, parrots of ten varieties, birds, wallabies, possums, and even a sand goanna meandered by us on the beach. They were all pretty intent on stealing our food, so we had to get a little aggressive in defending it... thinking of an instance where we had to poke a king parrot with a fork to keep it out of our peanut butter! And an attempt at a midnight raid of our food by a mummy possum... tsk. They kept us on our toes!

We had about four days camping; two were spent in transit, one day we (Sarah, Ola, and I) spent at the beach doing our own thing, and the other we went on a 15 km trek to a nearby town, lake, and shortish hiking trail. It was absolutely beautiful scenery!

For the sake of bandwidth (and my sanity), this is just a selection of my photos from camping... you can check out the rest in my Google Album. I love Picasa!

on the train!

a king parrot perched on our tent

our very own beach!

Ola cooking on my glorious fire...

the forest around our campsite

our "fearless" leader stopping for directions

Lake Durras

the group! moi, Ola, Sarah, Dari, Jaun, Joy, Andrea, and Matt... just missing Vivienne, who's taking the photo

still tree hugging in Australia!

I felt like I was walking through the Amazon Trail computer game...

a biiiiiig gum tree

lobster, anyone?

on our way home...

swimmingly

2007-09-08T22:11:00.000-07:00

Just a couple new pictures because I actually need to get going to badminton. :) I know, the pressure, the pressure...

On Thursday Ola and I voyaged downtown to see what we could see of APEC. We didn't see much, though as we had to cut right by the conference centre to get to Jeremy's house, we had the distinct impression of not being able to joke about terrorist acts. Really, the closest any of us got to the action of APEC was Sarah and Ryan mooning people as part of a protest, and us watching press conferences between John Howard and George Bush. And seeing a couple more police downtown. It was kind of anticlimactic, if I do say so myself. Still, it was a good excuse to go downtown and chill at Jeremy's! Then, last night we went for very very yummy sushi over in Epping, because of Ian's birthday and a general craving for raw fish. Mm, sushi.

Waterloo Road, right next to the Village

downtown at Darling Harbour, looking at the conference centre where APEC was held

we were there!

boats at the maritime museum

more Darling Harbour and downtown Sydney

it may be a bit blurry... but it's picture #6000 on my camera! who says I don't get my money's worth out of digital products?

Tsehaye and I at dinner last night

roommates and so forth (aka, "the crew") out for Japanese--Tsehaye, me, Sarah, Anne, Harry, Julian, Ryan, Edgar, and Mat!

peachy beachy

2007-09-04T00:21:00.000-07:00

So, I emailed SFU yesterday about what kind of things I would need to do to stay at Macquarie for another semester--what paperwork, who to contact, etc. Ola was telling me the other day that when we first met, I said that a semester would be the perfect amount of time abroad--and oh, how wrong I was! Time is zipping by too quickly!

I must say that we had a marvelous weekend. I was up at 6:30 on Friday to finish off my REM paper, but then had the rest of the day off to hang out with the girls and to help Jeremy set up for the party at his place to celebrate his parents' departure to Europe for three months. That night we had a lot of fun doing a sausage sizzle on their rooftop garden and hanging out with all of his friends. Sarah, Ola, Tsehaye, and Ryan were all there as well--and together, we've come to the decision that we need to spend more time with Australians in Australia. (I know, novel concept, eh?) Being exchange students, we tend to stick with exchange students... which needs to change. Now just to contrive how! Anyway, on Saturday we meandered around Darling Harbour a little bit, did a bit of tourist shopping, and admired the two metre-high fences that are being put up around the conference centre for APEC. Ola and I are actually going to head down there on Friday to see what we can see; well, to be specific we're going down on Thursday and enjoying an evening in the city without having to transit home (Jeremy's apartment is just too convenient!). Hopefully we won't get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time... like in a protest or something. Oy vey.

I'm getting sidetracked. On Sunday Ola and I went over to Manly Beach for the afternoon, to soak up some rays and splash in the surf. The day wasn't anywhere as warm as it should have been (considering Thursday and Friday of last week were 27-28 C), but we still managed to lie out in our bathing suits and coax ourselves into the water. Being Canadian, however, we were able to handle the cold water quite well... and I think it was my first time swimming in the ocean that I can remember. (Hawaii and Florida when I was 3 and 5 respectively don't count.) Pictures!

Ola on the bus first thing in the morning

there was an hour and a half of bus to fill up...

random Sydney view

my expression for most of the ride... just imagine me chanting, "beach beach beach BEACH BEACH beach beach beach beach beach beach BEACH!!" to go along with the grin... Ola hated it at first and then she got into it. mwahaha.

arriving at Manly

we contrived to have one of the most delicious and satisfying lunches ever. crackers, yummy yummy olives, and a half-round of creamy brie cheese. it fulfilled cravings we didn't even know we had!

mmm....

in the water!

it's the Pacific!

this was before we got owned by the waves...

looking north from Manly

looking south

Ola, post-waves

also post-waves

a nice guy took a picture for us :)

(requisite foot photo)

to finish off our delicious lunch we had Tim-Tam Balls. seriously, how does it get any better than this? even if they did melt and get sand in the gooey chocolate... but then, what didn't get sand in it...

looking south at around 4 pm

north!

back in Manly

bracelet love!

we went on an adventure to find tea (Ola had no voice by this point, weirdly similar to how I sounded a few weeks ago)... and discovered that Australians don't know how to make London Fogs... woe!

our $2 dinner which we almost missed the bus for... heh.

and last but not least, I'd like to share a picture of the newest member of our household! his name is Ernie, and of course we're not supposed to have him, but Mat's breaking the rules anyway. yes, his feathers are a little mangled at the moment--the bird he was sharing his cage with previously plucked out his tail feathers, and his wings are clipped. but in a few months he'll be beautiful again. Ernie is probably around 6 months old, and is still a bit shy and moody around us--but he's bonding with Mat and will with me, too. lorikeets are wild here, and there are plenty around the Village, so we've been able to see what the wild ones eat and have been bringing him flowers daily. we <3 Ernie! (and how cool is it that my dream of having a parrot has finally been realized? it's only been--what--a decade? hah!)

staring kangaroos in the eye

2007-08-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

Having been in Australia for over a month, I've settled into a few good routines and have experienced lots of things to make me feel that being here is comfortable and fun. Sydney is already so much like Vancouver that it took very little for me to get settled into the city's swing, and making friends as an exchange student has been very easy, thanks to my roommates and Ola's, and I suppose my own tendency to be friendly to random people. In the last week or so, I've even wondered if I've become too comfortable here, as thoughts of returning to a rainy and cold spring semester at SFU are more than a little discouraging.

Today, however, I got Ian's webcam setup on my computer, and stumbled across Ashton on Skype after getting home from class--and realized, while I spoke to him, that being Down Under has been (and will continue to be) a truly fantastic experience. Sure, he and Alaina had dinner at the Louvre the other night and are negotiating their way through a city of 12 million with one of the richest cultures on earth--and learning French to boot, which I definitely miss!--but I get to stare kangaroos in the eye and relax on grass in the sun and feel perfectly at peace. What I love about Canada--the space, the culture, the simple and breathtaking natural beauty--is prevalent here too, and it's all new. There are still so many things to be discovered and done, and being out of my comfort zone makes me far more driven to get to all of them. Would I dream of going out three times a week back in Vancouver, of doing four day camping trips on beaches, of going to Fiji for a week, of squeezing new opportunities and activities out of every week? (Which includes a biweekly date with Ola to play badminton, something I've always wanted to do on a regular basis... so why Macquarie and not Simon Fraser?)

No, when I look at it, Vancouver seems too habitual and mundane; like I've underestimated the city and have let it pass me by. I know that's not true to a very large degree, but at this distance and at this time in my life, I can't help but wonder... why can't I live every day like this? At the rugby game last weekend, I had a few moments to appreciate being able to go out with a group of friends on a Saturday night, to sit and drink beer, eat hot dogs, cheer for teams and a game we knew nothing about, and afterwards celebrate the Rooster's loss by dancing in Irish pubs to live rock bands--and not worry about jobs, about spouses, about kids, about rent or whatever. Of course, those worries are there (because I do need a job, or a vastly improved credit limit on Visa, or to win the lottery), but it's easy to forget about on a Saturday night after a beer and in the middle of a rugby game. We're lucky, to be twenty and to be enjoying life as we are.

That said, there's a lot to do before August is done, and in September too. I'm going to let myself pursue the idea of staying a little longer, of making the necessary inquiries to see what kind of paperwork needs to be done and what it would take for everything to go smoothly. I'm going to write this @#%&!#%(*! paper for Friday, I'm going to go for a run tomorrow, I'm going to maybe go on a date on Wednesday, enjoy a cocktail party on Friday night at Jeremy's, and then stroll around Darling Harbour on Saturday morning and bask in the joy of being finished papers. Then, Sunday we shall perhaps go to the beach (it was 27C today, warum nichts?), play badminton, watch America's Next Top Model and Australian Idol, and next Monday I'll do it all over again.

That said, we went skating this evening over at the mall, which was (as always) vastly entertaining. In between nursing our ankles from really poorly made skates (they were more like ski boots!), Ola and I went in circles talking about Canadian and Australian politics... eventually deciding that we need to learn a lot more before we can discuss them properly. I wish I was in her POL 300 class, "Media Politics." It sounds darn interesting.

skating this evening!

Sarah and I a couple weeks ago at the Art House

some house party-ness at Ola's

the girls! Crystal, Anne, a Norwegian girl, Ashley my roomie, Monica, moi, Sarah, and Ola

Ashley and I--my first female roomie!

just down the street from Jeremy's, out for dinner at a really yummy bistro pre-Priscilla

partying it up hippy-style at Wesley College for Westock

downtown at the Queen Victoria Building, our hub of all transit needs

Ola and I at the luau hosted at my place last weekend

Sarah decided to climb our (truly magnificent) palm tree

Ryan, moi, Ola, and two of Ryan's roomies

our marvellous leis--which took us hours to find at the mall!

lions and tigers and komodo dragons, oh my!

2007-08-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

More photo catch up! These pictures are from my birthday--I took a bus downtown (waaay too early in the morning) to meet up with the Medlocks for a day at the Turonga Zoo. We took a ferry there, which was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Having just been to the Cleveland Zoo and Featherdale Wildlife Park, I hope you'll forgive me for not taking umpteen pictures of sleepy animals.

Highlights of this trip, though? The Komodo Dragon, without a doubt. They're so much bigger and more impressive when you see them "for real." Also, the lions and tigers were awake for feeding time when we were in their area, and they're equally impressive. The giraffes, too, never fail to impress me... their view was pretty impressive, too!

Jeremy, on our way from Darling Harbour to the zoo

the Harbour Bridge... naturally!

the Sydney Opera House

downtown Sydney

komodo dragons are pretty much the coolest animals!

I wonder if the giraffes know how great their view is?

I call this my "zoo look"...

Dylan was the star of the show though, let's not pretend otherwise. ;)

over in oberon

2007-08-21T00:27:00.000-07:00

This is another post from me, getting caught up on pictures! This is my weekend in Oberon with Jeremy and his family: Peter and Jennie, his parents; Phoebe and Brian, his sister and brother-in-law; Dylan, their two-year-old; Bella, Kairu, Tex, and Cooper, the family's four dogs. Jeremy picked me up on a rainy Friday afternoon (which turned into sunshine, see below) on August 3rd, and we were up there until Sunday afternoon.

The weekend was a lovely respite from metropolitan Sydney. It was bloody cold--probably around 4 C most of the weekend, with some rain and wind on Saturday--but bundling up and walking made it all quite bearable. We happily pulled on as many layers as we could, and ended up in some rather entertaining mixes (again, see below). A trip into Oberon to see the Big Trout (it's biiiiig) and to eat at Pete's Cafe rounded the trip out perfectly. :) Oberon's definitely the 1000-person version of William's Lake.

Not to mention! I saw plenty of wild kangaroos (much to my amusement), and we saw a platypus--something that is very rare and very special. Platypi are very shy, though curious animals. We were in the right place at the right time, I suppose!

heading out of Sydney on a beautiful afternoon...

heading into in the mountains...

Bella and I spent lots of time like this!

at the property

true Australian bush!

the Medlock's property

a wallaby we saw driving into Oberon

Jeremy's dad took me for a ride on the motorbike :)

there was a large spider on the wall... so I caught it... and then learned it was a tarantula!

the inside of the house

properties near the Medlocks'

wombat hole!

the creek where we saw the platypus

looking from the house to the dam

Phoebe and I... after I proved my amazing Canadian fire-building skills!

Dylan, Phoebe's son

I asked Jeremy to get me a hat... and well, this is what happened!

then Bella and Kairu jumped on Jeremy's bed...

and Tex and Cooper snuggled with Brian..

maccas on the way home... yum!

Harbour Bridge in the day...

Joni's on the bridge!

back in the city

priscilla, queen of the desert!

2007-08-14T17:06:00.001-07:00

Jeremy took me to see Priscilla, Queen of the Desert as my birthday gift. It was, without a doubt, one of the best musicals I've ever seen, and will ever see--the songs were all amazing, the actors phenomenal, the sets and costumes delightful every time. Oh my.

The basic premise of Priscilla is based around three drag queens from Sydney trooping out to the Alice to take care of some family issues--and to be the first drag queens to sing on top of Ayer's Rock in full regalia. I'll leave it there, you can imagine the rest!

As Bernadette said in the movie, "A cock in a frock on a rock." Heh heh.

terra australis incognita

2007-08-12T05:35:00.000-07:00

And so, I find myself sitting up on a Sunday evening playing with photos once again. This is the first installment of a couple more to come; I like to call it, "How Joni Got to Australia and Her First Few Days There." Pretty imaginative, non?

Now that I've been here for a couple of weeks and feel pretty settled in, I'm going to have to start blogging a bit more--I admit that I've been horribly mute on that point. Not any longer, however! The minutae of terra australis shall be recorded in full. For tonight, however, we're going to start with the photos--a good picture is, after all, worth a thousand words!

a typical Vancouver farewell... and greeting...

flying into Los Angeles at sunset

Sean, who I met randomly in the security lineup after going to two wrong terminals in LA

Katie, a fellow Canadian, was also on our flight!

sunrise over the Pacific

almost there!

Esben, my Danish seatmate. we drank champagne together and watched each other drool and snore for 13 hours. fantastic bonding experience, let me tell you!

our first glimpse of Australia!

circling to land...

downtown Sydney; note the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House just past it!

my first glimpse of Sydney out of the airport... it was raining, of all things!

this & next few are views from Jeremy's rooftop garden right in downtown Sydney

the rooftop garden, which was featured a week or two later in a show about cool backyards!

driving over the Harbour Bridge for the first time

eek!

out for dinner at Darling Harbour

Jeremy & I!

Jeremy and his parents, Peter and Jennie Medlock

moi, contemplating my (still) blank wall

the new Macquarie fitness centre, which I walk past every day on my way to class

one of the main thoroughfares at uni

sunset in the village as seen from my desk window

rise of the full moon...

downtown Sydney as seen from the Queen Victoria Building... that guy in the toque (oh wait, 'beanie') is my roomie, Mat

Darling Harbour from a different angle on a different night

the Art House Hotel... it was too cool!

me & some new friends: Ola (the other girl from SFU), Monica (a friend of my roommate's), and Ryan (a friend of Ola's roomie)

Until next time... I believe pictures from Featherdale and Oberon shall follow, then my birthday and miscellaneous things. Stay tuned!

sunset mountains

2007-07-09T00:38:00.000-07:00

With Canadian flags sewn onto all my pieces of luggage (or at least, SFU patches!) and with clothes strewn across my floor, the packing for Chilliwack, Vancouver, and Australia has begun. It doesn't look like a lot right now, but as I've been mostly fussing with things for the last few days, that saves me a lot of time for tomorrow's final push--now it's just putting it all into the bags, and finding a way to make it all fit. (How, I don't know, but I'll find a way!)

It doesn't feel strange to be leaving Revelstoke. I've done it enough over the last two years to know that when I come back, my friends will be here and not much will have changed. We'll have done more and none of us will really live here anymore, but together, we won't have changed. The Columbia valley is reassuring in its constance.

What does feel strange is that less than a week from now, I'll be standing with one of my best friends as she promises the rest of her future to her fiance. Little Alaina is going to be a wife, married, and on her way to France! And so young, too, at the tender age of 20--it would worry me, except that across from her will be Ashton, and it makes my heart swell to know that two such wonderful people have decided to share their lives together. They deserve each other, they've earned each other. I already know that the day will be exciting and breathtaking--and not just because we're also going whitewater rafting. Hehe.

I'm surprised at how many loose ends I'm not leaving behind. My to-do list has dwindled into completely mundane things like, "get chapstick," and I can now pack without worrying about living out of a suitcase for a weekend. Gifts have been bought for weddings and Aussies, plans have been laid to see friends for one final evening, and I'm making myself not worry about logistics for bachelorette parties and weddings. Soon, mum and I will be in the car and off to the Coquihalla once again.

To say farewell to the mountains, Eric and I ate dessert at 5000 ft tonight, on Mt. Revelstoke. Chocolate sauce and strawberries? Yum. (We also saw Transformers, which was surprisingly good!)

oh, how I go

2007-06-12T20:24:00.000-07:00

the seattle airport

cincinnati at 6 am

megan and I, first morning in ohio, after showers and the like

requisite foot photo!

the bridesmaids and our shiny new purses

canadians in america

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
-- R. Frost

for some reason we thought swimming first thing in the morning was a stellar idea... and it was!

tree kangaroo

taryn oggles the cheetahs

prep for the bachelorette party

meri with a martini!

the night before the wedding saw us drinking champagne in the jacuzzi... ah, twas the life!

the 5000th photo

meri, moi, taryn, and donna

flowers!

rain and hail pre-wedding

the bride arrives!

a melange of mike & taryn

vancouver sunset

over british columbia once again

disembarking in kelowna... fiiiiinally!

see the rest of the photos in their facebook album, here!

bird's eye view

2007-06-02T13:50:00.001-07:00

My soon-to-be future home: Macquarie University in Sydney. The top-left corner shows the townhouse complex where I'll be living--and the bottom right corner is the mall where I will likely be doing most of my grocery shopping. Ah, what a wondrous thing Google Earth is!

kelowna roadtrip

2007-05-30T23:10:00.002-07:00

After much mumbling and irritation because I seem to have lost my USB camera cord, and with a few tips from our local photography expert, I've been able to restore my camera to an operational status and to see the photos I took from our road trip to Kelowna. It's the simple things in life, people!

driving through Eagle Pass

Eric!

red, convertible Miatas make me a happy girl...

drinks at the Cactus Club

looking north from Knox Mountain

say hello to a squally Vernon!

spring evening

2007-05-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

home sweet home

looks like april

2007-04-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

"we're getting married!"

tired from studying & exams...

dining hall reunion!

the crew from old times: Yngve, Deanne, Kelvin, Alaina, moi, & Dave

Alaina is 20!

invitation making

okay, so they were a little worried about my compulsive photo-taking

apres le "sleepover"

we're well-rested... heh heh...

Deanne studying...

smiles

2007-04-07T00:47:00.000-07:00

Not much going on over here, as there is no camera, and little time to use one even if I did. Either way, I've been able to hijack others' cameras, and a couple from Facebook, so here's a glimpse of what's been going on.

as a sailor for the Anza Club!

St. Paddy's Day in Kamloops

relaxing in the AQ before finishing off papers... weary and tired... but still smiling!

this is what the future looks like

2007-02-21T22:12:00.001-08:00

Haha, how I love the PR industry.

not with a bang but a protest

2007-02-08T00:55:00.000-08:00

and the campaign begins...

SFU this morning

"raise tents, not tuition"

Robin and Dan on the way down to the Art Gallery

the crowd!

Deanne and Brianna don't like student debt!

I think I was hitting Deanne with the sign... ahem...

Deanne being interviewed by the guy from Global

marching in downtown Vancouver

Brianna calls her parents from the march

"ah, the places you will go..."

we three ladies!

oh, vancouver

2007-02-02T22:48:00.000-08:00

Deanne's 20th - hanging in my living room - me still recovering from being sick, sigh...

singing happy birthday!

the pretty freakin' fabulous cake that Megan and I made...

the group, sans Yngve and Ashton

breakout after the photo - some tears, some laughter...

Joni & Bianca at White Spot - Riviere-du-Loup reunion!

townhouses at 8 am

fog over the Lions Gate last Thursday

heading towards the North Shore

papers, done! sunlight, shining! beer, awaiting!

best photo of us EVER!

(a random photo shoot)

home sweet home

2007-01-13T14:51:00.000-08:00

winter transmission

2006-12-10T14:58:00.000-08:00

stranded at SFU and tired from studying... yes!

a typical paper writing party at my place.

sick of papers... as always... and that's Britney Spears on the iPod. tsk.

the snow started like this...

...kind of looked like this...

(I made cookies)

...and sorta turned into this...

...and this...

and now the snow is gone. sigh.

Vic, Joni, and Marcus on the dance floor at the last pub night.

execs at the wrap-up social of the SF NDP club! (Andrew and Natalie, co-chairs)

martini night

2006-11-19T16:05:00.000-08:00

habitual

2006-11-18T00:11:00.000-08:00

the cast: (from left to right) Morgan, Marcus' friend; Marcus himself; Emanda (the pirate in front), Mike's girlfriend; and Mike in the black hat. Marcus and Mike being my roommates, of course. dunno the other people... from Halloween, obviously!

haha... Andrew brought over Starbucks stickers way back in September, and I had to frolick in them. it just took a while to get this photo off of Jared's camera.

putting up christmas lights--and the matching outfits were accidental! it's the exact same shirt, too, mine's just a bit newer.

she got a little excited about christmas lights :)

hmm

2006-11-14T23:16:00.000-08:00

This sounds familiar, for some reason. Haha...

lights and colours

2006-11-11T02:51:00.000-08:00

blargh. messy room. must deal with that tomorrow.

my christmas lights are up, though! now I can take pretty photos like this...

...and artsy ones like this. lights! yes! love!

victorian dreams

2006-11-06T00:03:00.000-08:00

the voyage begins! setting off to Deanne's on Friday night. damn the SFU busses only starting at 6:45 am...

waiting to get on the bus at roughly 7:20 am... this after getting up at 5 am to transit downtown.

Delta.

Deanne and Basil in front of the legislative buildings.

the girls!

Deanne, Basil, and Maria (his girlfriend) at the house.

oh, how madly we love the UVic bunnies!

(rabbit foot for luck)

at the end of the trip--relaxed and content with life. arriving at Pacific Central felt like coming home--a nice circular journey from that time, so long ago, when I stepped off that bus all alone for the first time.

also, christmas lights are up in my room, now. they're pretty.

exit and entrance

2006-11-03T14:14:00.000-08:00

This is what it looks like outside right now.

This is Revelstoke, as of this morning.

Ahh, November. :)

More photos from recent events:

Deanne was a BANANA for Halloween!

Megan was a Fairy Princess.

A sunny Halloween view from the English Department.

A bit of the costume contest in the Dining Hall.

A Halloween sunset, walking home.

our weapons were our instruments

2006-10-29T12:05:00.000-08:00

Matt, Megan, and I, pre-concert.

Hailey Sales, the opening band.

Matt and Adham, our escorts!

The girls being beautiful, of course!

And um, Matt being beautiful too.

(requisite foot photo)

I don't know why we both look kind of glum, probably because it took FOREVER for the Cat Empire to get on stage.

Oh well. I put a happy face on anyway.

Funny lights, as produced by my camera.

Harry, taking the stage.

Felix, singin' away.

Felix again, with lights.

The Cat Empire! It was amazing. Such talent, such enthusiasm, just--wow. I hope that the next time I see them, there's a bit more room for dancing.

Our weapons were our instruments
made from timber and steel
we never yielded to conformity
but stood like kings
in a chariot that's riding on a
record wheel...

perhaps a collaborative effort

2006-10-22T14:09:00.000-07:00

Deanne and Dave, Alaina and Jean

The evening didn't quite go as planned, but we had fun getting ready and then eating yummy food at Steamworks Pub. We shall meet again, Blarney Stone!

dilbert wisdom

2006-10-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

This is a philosophy for life that university students can really identify with. Mm. Coffee.

a charmed life, pt. II

2006-10-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

(requisite foot photo)

Shrumbowl at Thunderbird Stadium--which we lost... but I still went to a football game and ate a hot dog!

a charmed life

2006-10-09T02:04:00.000-07:00

Greg & Deanne at the Mountain Shadow for wings night.

Convocation at SFU, with our award winning bagpipe band!

Out for dinner at the Himilayan Peak in honour of Yngve's 20th.

The birthday boy & Ashton!

Alaina, Deanne, et moi before heading out to Cirque...

The joys of public transit.

Blogger seems to hate me right now, so further photos will be forthcoming tomorrow. :)

kids will be kids

2006-10-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

My mum sent me these photos of four young black bears in Anchorage, Alaska, playing on a newly installed backyard playground. Their mum was hanging out in the bushes nearby.

simulate

2006-09-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

Yeah... so if I ever get hurt, I'm in good hands. (Note Jared front & in bright orange.)

the view from here

2006-09-25T23:58:00.000-07:00

isn't it hot? man... what an episode that was!

Deanne likes her muffin...

what, didn't you miss photos of my messy room?

my beloved roommate, Jared... don't worry, he's gay! ;)

a return

2006-09-19T23:37:00.000-07:00

move-in day! though I don't live in that room anymore...

reuniting with Kelvin and Tyler at Safeway!

(requisite foot photo)

"being nerdy"

"downwards dog" --> downtown scavenger hunt for orientation!

Catherine & Greg

Joni, Steph, Kate, & Heather

I didn't even recognize Alaina... though I found Adham alright...

chilliwackers enjoying some afternoon music in Victory Square

more to come, it's been a busy month!

what i learned today

2006-09-12T21:26:00.000-07:00

If you study Communications, you know what's not funny about this comic.

In fact, they have whole books about it right now. I'm reading "Captains of Consciousness: Advertsing and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture," and this is exactly what it speaks to.

Oh, commodity fetishism, how you rule the world.

asulkan

2006-08-14T14:47:00.000-07:00

The view from the Asulkan Cabin.

Looking up at the Asulkan Glacier.

From the cabin...

Alec, in there for scale.

Requisite foot photo on the way down--my legs!

valley life channels
sore feet and weak knees
cracking of glaciers a dull despair
every mountain has a valley
every glacier, a moraine
every summer, an end.

fire's burning

2006-08-09T22:57:00.000-07:00

It's creeping towards town, slowly but surely, but so's winter. The fire ain't going anywhere. A lot of tourists are coming in and are creeped out by the fact that it's been burning for a couple weeks, now--and my tone is so nonchalant, so uncaring, to the point of almost sounding glad that it's smoking up the valley. Because I am--because these forests need to burn now before the mother of all forest fires rips through and burns down everything. It could happen, it will happen, and to more places than just Barriere and Kelowna. Prince George, William's Lake, Prince Rupert, ad infinitum... fire's burning, fire's burning, draw nearer.

it's been a while

2006-08-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

The 2816 engine, The Empress, at 8:00 am on July 16th.

Look! We got on the train!

Our fabulous, un-airconditioned car.

Following the Illecilliwaet River up to Rogers Pass - that's Mt. Sir Donald.

Joni, smiling despite a headache!

Patti & Mas, celebrating their anniversary.

On the other side of the Pass - the view from Stony Creek Bridge.

The Columbia River, Golden style.

The requisite foot photo. :)

Field, my first hometown.

Passing another CPR train...

Just before Vermillion Lakes, heading into Banff - that's Castle Mountain.

25 hours until adulthood - 18 days until SFU - take that world!

nothing better

2006-07-09T23:41:00.000-07:00

Can you find the road? Neither can I.

(requisite foot photo)

Just below the confluence of Battle Brook and the Incommepleux River.

I feel I must interject here
You're getting carried away
Feeling sorry for yourself
With this revisions,
And gaps in history
So let me help you remember
I've made charts and graphs
That should finally make it clear
I've prepared a lecture,
On why I have to leave...

no more june

2006-07-02T13:38:00.000-07:00

Pat is a drunkard!

Rachael, Lynda, & Kathryn at Lynda's house.

Ah, days at the beach.

Mhmm.

My new haircut!

took a trip to kelowna

2006-06-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

I took a trip to Kelowna and this is what happened.

First, I got up at 3:45 am so I could sit on a bus for four hours.

Then, I got to reunite with Jared for a few hours and sit with him in the backseat of Tracy's car.

Tracy actually let me take a photo of her. OMG WHAT HAS KELOWNA DONE??????
I kid. *waves to Tracy*

After a long day of beaches (*shakes fist at Pat for deleting a good beach photo*) we had supper at BP's and Alec joined us.

Then, I sat on a bus for four more hours in the dark.

[addendum]
A few more photos that Pat sent me.

I can't remember why I was confused, but... heh.

Tracy & moi.

sweet sweet sunlight

2006-06-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

the sweetness of summer is a taste I have missed

butterflies in my stomach

2006-06-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

(i kicked some ass)

(even Aaron said so)

(don't feed the wildlife, they bite)

ever feel like your camera can't keep up? i want to fast forward my lens.

slow

2006-06-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

Life has been slow--just work, just writing, just hanging out and minding my own business. I'm excited for life to move again... to meet new and interesting people (who have, actually, been popping up in Revelstoke from time to time--grad students are my friends), to go out to new places and do new things. Ahh, life as an idealistic student--do I ever have to give this up?

cabin carried me home

2006-06-06T22:40:00.001-07:00

the cabin

this moth was actually alive, and playing a very convincing dead... creepy

the local loon

return to summer

2006-05-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

-- return to summer --

Say hello to Marc Kielburger, one of the founders of Free the Children and a co-author of Me to We. I feel very privileged to have heard him speak, and I can't wait until we can host him & Craig at SFU. As with guest speakers in English, it's a hudred times more potent to hear words from the lips the composed them. (Also--picture #4000.)

The Trooper

2006-04-30T14:13:00.000-07:00

Farewell, Trooper, and thank you. <3 May you have many more trips into the mountains.

Last Day

2006-04-27T16:36:00.000-07:00

A little road just off of Commercial Drive that we found while looking for a parking spot.

Sunset at Kitsilano Beach.

Goodnight, Vancouver.

Out we go...

2006-04-27T16:26:00.000-07:00

My room before packing.

Digging crap out from under my bed...

Lita had to pack, too!

Watching our last movie together in the hallway... on our CA's couch!

My room after packing...

Last but not least, Yngve finally gets a mattress cover. =D

W.A.D.E. (we are done exams)

2006-04-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

Honestly, I'm just holding James' beer while he takes the picture.

The 3800th photo on my camera.

An Easter in Chilliwack

2006-04-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

Le Kelvin.

Alaina's backyard.

Cultus Lake.

Ashton's sticking out his tongue?

A pretty creek...

Some weather we drove into....

Fun with weather!

Alainakins needed a nap. :)

Sunny Days in Vancouver

2006-04-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

The AQ on a sunny day.

Joni & Deanne & hot chocolate after puddle jumping.

Denman Street and English Bay.

Alaina and Dave at her birthday brunch--note Dave's spiffy suit! This is also the 3700th picture that my camera has taken. *pats it*

Joni and Alaina at her birthday brunch.

Fun on Robson Street!

A fabulous red dress from Zara!

a brush with fame

2006-04-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

The girls!

The boys!

Robin Williams! (second from left)

Yep. Twas a good film festival.

return to scene of the crime

2006-04-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

Your hand, the dark percussion
of steel strings and creaky old wood
pencil can be erased.

These chords sing—
of hope, possibility, taking me up
on wings of diamond glass, brittle.

These thunderclouds have silver linings
if our bodies survive the ice and electricity
cleansed by the storm.

Silky voice, don’t stop
I’m too high to come down
Vancouver pavement still too hard.

words that rhyme

2006-03-30T11:37:00.000-08:00

We are le superstars.

6 months. <3

My building, as seen from our fire escape.

Looking south.

Ben and I on Friday night. We're happy.

Some of the res boys--Tim (and his room), James-who-has-now-cut-his-hair, and Drew. Oh, and Jared's leg.

Drew-Drew Drew drew Drew-Drew Drew.
totally beats
Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

...that's what I said.

Happy families!

2006-03-20T16:52:00.000-08:00

I met Kelvin's dad last weekend. We had a really nice day on 4th Ave in Kitsilano, and went for a nice stroll on the beach. Mm, family. In these pictures is Tassillie (Kelvin's aunt, the older woman), Kelvin's dad, Rhonda (the one in the light blue jacket, also Kelvin's aunt), Jen (Rhonda's roommate), Kelvin himself, and moi.

Am I a brand whore?

2006-03-12T22:39:00.000-08:00

I'm hypocritical now that I own a pair of LuLu Lemon pants. I admit it. I've always scoffed at the girls who prance by in their LuLu pants, Puma shoes and "gym" bag (which, weirdly enough, has two flimsy business textbooks and an oversized Baby Phat wallet inside instead of gym clothes), and a DKNY sweater. Now I own the pants.

Though if it makes a difference, I do not own and will never own anything Puma, DKNY, or Baby Phat. HAH.

These pants are glorious. I'm glad they come in multiple colours, 'cause otherwise, I would never have been able to make a decision.

Snow!

2006-03-09T19:52:00.000-08:00

It snowed. In March. Sigh.

reach inside

2006-03-09T01:03:00.000-08:00

7th Floor Secret; mine

2006-03-06T21:58:00.000-08:00

High above the mountain
my feet float on
concrete
--a thousand billion tonnes it took to chisel this place--
These words, your words
--echo--
of a transparent world,
where the clouds and the river
mean rain and a bridge
nuisances. This window does not open.
This is our soaring cathedral
of red cedar, cottonwood, douglas' fir
that scrape and claw at the sky
swaying reminders
of that which cannot be tamed;
Only contained, retained, inflamed
with the sores of
too much oxygen.
--A broken taperecorder
why are you so big? covering the whole desk
whose words have you heard, whose genius
where did your plastic parts come from?
how these books did not start here, though
--the lines were printed by a man in his late forties right where I'm sitting--
when robins and flickers and warblers scream
what do you know about this paper that
creates these tomes around you?
Only one clearcut, and that for recreation
clouds, hills, trees, water
all transparent to you
--you can only see the concrete, the steel tubes, painted fake wood--
And you curse! Curse the walls the floor the roof the table the chair the filing cabinet
and you wonder, who what where why when how
can you have become this
--trembling monster, who cries in the dark--
Craving, without knowing,
--without ever having a hope of understanding--
That it is the darkened twilight of the living forest
with the silent fauna and singing flora
That we mourn.

From February

2006-03-05T16:30:00.000-08:00

Don't worry, March will be a much cleaner month. :)

Of voting, films, and Winnipeg...

2006-03-03T15:46:00.000-08:00

Support your fellow SFU students!

...by voting for Kelvin's movie on www.movieola.ca. All you gotta do is click on the left-hand link saying "Vote Here," and then cast your vote for the Violent Comedy. Whee!

On Emerson

2006-02-20T20:24:00.000-08:00

*bangs head against desk*

No way in hell is my Conservative MP back home in Revelstoke going to support an NDP motion. What the heck is Antoinette thinking? She's not going to get any good results if she doesn't allow for him to give her any good results. This is not how you get people to do what you want, by writing them snarky letters that they have no hope of acting on.

Besides that, Stephen Harper appointed Davide Emerson to become Minister of International Trade because he's qualified for the job. Do you honestly think that the bloody Prime Minister of Canada would appoint someone from outside of his own party if he didn't have a damn good reason to do so? I give you David Emerson:

"David Emerson was first elected to the House of Commons in 2004 and was named Minister of Industry in July 2004. He was re-elected in 2006.

In 1975, Mr. Emerson joined the Government of British Columbia, becoming the province’s Deputy Minister of Finance in 1984. In 1986, Mr. Emerson left government to become President and CEO of the Western and Pacific Bank of Canada. Four years later, he returned to the provincial government as Deputy Minister of Finance, then Deputy Minister to the Premier, and later President of B.C. Trade Development Corporation.

In 1992, Mr. Emerson was appointed to lead the newly created Vancouver International Airport Authority. In 1998, he was appointed President and CEO of Canfor Corporation.

Mr. Emerson attended the University of Alberta and obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics. He then went on to Queen’s University where he received his doctorate in economics."

He's the most qualified person to kick the United States' butt in the softwood lumber industry, which is exactly what he's going to do. Stephen Harper knows this. I might not like the man's policies, but he ain't stupid and he might know a thing or two about some of the issues affecting the west. What? Oh yeah. Take a look at what the softwood lumber issue has done to Revelstoke. Now think--this is a man that is going to change international trade that will help the riding. Oops, I apologize: help it by gaining well-deserved and much-needed wages (capital). And you're left-wing. Well wake up and smell the flowers, because we're a Western country and capitalism will not stop being our dominant ideology; however, more people with high wages means more people paying taxes and less welfare needed. Which means more money to things like education, environment, health care, public transport, etc. Which, as far as I recall, having sat through three days of NDPers patting each other on the back and grand-standing, are pretty important to the party.

*twitches*

Emerson got elected in a very left riding, and now he's on the right hand of the political spectrum. Well. Morally, I don't agree--but let's face it, the right hand side of Canadian politics would be considered left in... um... oh, right, basically anywhere but in communist states. *snorts* Sometimes I love Canadian politics, sometimes I feel like throttling it and saying it's a load of bullshit anyway. Now is one of those times.

Moving On (is a hard thing to do)

2006-02-19T18:27:00.000-08:00

Yep, I broke my ski boot in half. My dad, Mr. Mountaineer, has never seen the like of it. I was simply walking back up to the car after a good day on the hill, and the thing cracked right in half. Who'd've thunk it?

Last weekend was spent in Revelstoke visiting with Pat, who got back from Spain early. We went to Halcyon Hot Springs--'twas great. And skiing. I got some sun. :)

This weekend was spent with mum and the extended Vancouver relatives--shopping, going for supper with cousins and boyfriends and friends, and the ladies birthday party today, which was ripe with its own family drama and quirkiness. We're human, I guess.

Now it's off to bid farewell to one of my best friends and influences; she decided to leave the site. Time will tell how this works out in the end... I'm going to miss her, even if we haven't seen eye to eye on everything in the past.

Home

2006-02-11T21:22:00.000-08:00

I'm at home in Revelstoke... it's sunny and there's snow on the mountains. But no pictures, because my laptop is at home and this computer has no SD drive. Sad, huh?

I want to go back to Vancouver. -3 has become far too cold for me.

Control Arms

2006-02-06T13:27:00.000-08:00

Lack of controls on the arms trade is fuelling conflict, poverty and human rights abuses worldwide. Every government is responsible. The Control Arms campaign is asking governments to toughen up controls on the arms trade.

Our Million Faces petition is collecting photos and self portraits from around the world to reach our goal of one million faces by June 2006. We will use these faces to send a powerful, global message of support to the world's governments for an International Arms Trade Treaty.

Be one in a million. Add your face to the campaign.

Masquerade, paper faces on parade...

2006-01-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

Step 1: Curl hair.

Step 2: Pose fantastically for camera.

Step 3: Put on dresses and continue curling hair.

Step 4: Observe hair-fixing process.

Cat, Katie, and I on our way to the Masquerade Formal. I love this photo.

Deanne, myself, and Alaina at the formal.

Alaina and Loraina (our CA) at the formal.

Sarah and I. So I look a little demonic.

Alaina, me, and Sean (one of the twins), and a random guy in the background.

Me after the formal, tired and ready for bed. Quelle nuit!

Hodgepodge

2006-01-18T17:01:00.000-08:00

Deanne in MY dress.

My room now smells pretty.

Deanne & Bryce at Earl's for Kelvin's birthday!

Le Kelvin et moi.

Le Kelvin and his apple pie.

ME, hard at work on our FTC poster.

Staring into a brighter future... brighter because of my poster...

HOW does my desk get so messy??!!?

Deanne's birthday in the dining hall! (The streamers are still up.)

Also go here: http://www.sfu.ca/~jem2/joni-deanne.AVI.
Yngve was having fun with his camera.

Excitement! Deanne and I can go to CMNSU meetings now that they're on Wednesdays. Meetings! Fellow Communicators! I am happy.

The Do Something 2006 conference is going to be a blast, too.

At Home and New Years

2006-01-03T14:43:00.000-08:00

More or less, this is the view that Kimmiq has of the kitchen.

Hanging out at our brand new Tim Horton's!

Aaron at Timmy's.

This is the 3200th picture my camera has taken. I call it "View from Scotland Yard".

A "general" snapshot of New Years at Callie's. (She's the one in pink.)

Eric (aka Richard), Miranda, and Callie.

Danielle and I... sadly my hair was curly, and it flopped, but I still managed to salvage it not so badly.

Janine and Aaron.

TJ, Tracy, and Marisa.

Currently, this is how much snow we have. I took this picture about half an hour ago.

This is how much snow we had last January.

Behold the chaos of wires that is our office!

C'est moi, enjoying my new wireless internet.

Welcome to my Christmas tree!

2005-12-24T21:29:00.000-08:00

Our christmas tree when all is dark.

Our christmas tree when all is light.

Our christmas tree when some is light.

A happy tomato.

My dog, Kimmiq. He's nine, but looks about... oh, 3 months. You just can't see his grey chin. ;) I've missed him lots.

G-noming it up!

2005-12-24T21:11:00.000-08:00

These are our G-nomes.

They belong in traditional Christmas activities, such as bringing the Baby Jesus insence, gold, and myrrh.

They also make good tree-ornaments.

D-nome and J-nome like cookies.

Joni also likes her D-nome.

Stay tuned for further adventures of the G-nomes!

Views of December

2005-12-07T23:47:00.000-08:00

Our common room is fabulous after this bout of decorating.

French class: probably the only time you will ever see me even touch something G-Unit.

Lecture ought to be included. Only the great Stephan Collis.

This is what December at SFU can often look like; giant octapus and all. =D

I got a little tired of the gross winter weather and decided to pretend I was going on a cruise.

Eventually I gave up and went and got that new blazer from Jacob that I liked, and knitted myself a scarf. ;)

The year is tiptoeing through December, but it's not escaping unnoticed.

15th Annual Straw Festival

2005-12-04T16:11:00.000-08:00

'Nuff said in the title.

November rocks my socks!

2005-11-30T15:56:00.000-08:00

November arrived at SFU very unassumingly. It's leaving with a bang. Everything that anyone has ever told me about this campus has been wrong, for they didn't describe the unrelenting beauty of the place.

Tracy-ness!

2005-11-29T17:00:00.000-08:00

I was talking with Tracy a night or two ago, and she sent me some pictures. The first two are from us at Thanksgiving at the hockey game with Jen--and man, what the heck did we do to ourselves? We're hot! Mental note to self: do that again. The last one is of her at Halloween, as a bunny. I never thought I'd see the day when Tracy, of all people, would dress up like a rabbit. Huh.

I <3 the SFU Campus

2005-11-27T16:20:00.000-08:00

I woke up around 6:40 am yesterday morning, rather bleary and irritated with the world. I was walking to the shower when, much to my dismay, I looked outside and everything was white--and that won't happen very often this winter. I usually notice when it's snowed, either via the lighting or the sound, but I didn't notice a thing--probably because I thought the splashy noises were from someone in the shower. Meh.

It was rainy all morning, but by mid-afternoon, cleared up and was sunny. The majority of the snow melted, but there's still enough around to remind us that hey, this is Canada. (Even if it's a wimpy version.) The day finished with a glorious sunset. Nowhere else in Vancouver got snow yesterday, and very few others will have gotten to see that sunset for real. Just us... and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, like nature is letting us witness something glorious and secretive--and she's bringing us together with that beauty.

Convention Glory

2005-11-27T14:43:00.000-08:00

What, huh? Yeah, that's Jack Layton. I shook his hand.

Classic NDPers. I think half of them are / were hippies.

Kind of. Mostly, it can be figured out if you have some common sense & pay attention. But sssh, I didn't say that.

About half of the convention room--biiiig. For BC, anyway.

Columbia River - Revelstoke represent! I look really happy. Sssh. The tall guy is our MLA, Norm McDonald.

My parents went to the cabin...

2005-11-25T00:33:00.000-08:00

Rain and fog make me depressed--but oh, how quickly that gets reversed. My parents went to the cabin last weekend, and this is what they saw. I'm so jealous... what I would give to get away from the 2.4 million people around me. What I would give to spend an entire day not having a harmful impact on the environment.

Today, I have:

eaten two meals out of disposable containers; only one of which was recyclable
purchased $40 worth of groceries, all of which will eventually end up in landfills or in sewage treatment plants
drank a cup of coffee out of a disposable cup
thrown out three pieces of paper because they were printed crooked
ridden on a gasoline bus

Maybe not the worst day in history, but I hate that there's so few positive things I can do--other than educate myself, that is. Education is sometimes so futile.

Anyway. Photos.

My dad, standing on the lake.

Also my dad, cutting down a tree that was threatening to fall on the cabin. Gotta love Mountain Pine Beetle.

I wish I was there.