2011
Life Changes
Life has a funny way of taking you by storm. It surprises you, it shocks you, and it makes you remember that there’s something very powerful worth living for. Life is good, it’s looking up from where I was for a while, and I’m full of hope and desire. For a while, I haven’t been in a good place… it sucks to admit, but it’s the truth. I was a down person, alone, quietly making my way thru existence wondering what actually lay in store for me. That’s completely changed as of December.
For those who haven’t heard, I’m in the process of moving across the continent, to Canada, to start my life a new. It came out of nowhere, and it’s an opportunity I’d be a complete fool to pass up. I won’t make that mistake again, I’m grabbing life by the horns, and doing this. Tickets are purchased, I’ll be flying out for a visit in the beginning of April, and then attempting to make the move sometime there after. I can honestly say I’ve never wanted anything more in my life. It excites me, fills me with energy, and gives me reason to fight thru each day with a smile on my face and a passion in my soul.
While I’m there, you can be sure this site will be filled with photos, experiences, and memories I wish to share with the public. My Canon PowerShot SX20 IS will be taking the trek with me, and I’ll be snapping many many pictures of the new area. It’ll be my first venture living outside the northwest, and I look forward to the different experiences it will bring me. Moreover, since I’ll be moving out of the country, it’ll be even more entertaining, let me tell you what… the process of immigrating is not one I wish on anyone. E-gads.
I guess I’m writing this to catch up, to say yes, I’m alive and well now. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this, thinking about what might happen, and I’m ready for it. There’s more to tell, so much more, but for now I’d like to close this one, and save those stories for another day.
My inner muse has returned in part, so you should be seeing more frequent updates from me on this site. I hope everyone is well, and if you want to, drop a line in the comments! I’d love to hear from ya’ll.
Til then.
2010
On a Good Day
Today I got to do one of my absolutely most favourite things in the world. It snowed this morning up here in Coeur d’Alene, and even though as I look out my window now the brief bit of sun we’ve gotten has dissolved most of it, I got a chance to enjoy it. Pouring a hot cup of tea, taking an old chair out back, and just watching it fall. It was peaceful, it was reflective, and it reminds me that the simple things are the most important things.
As a society, we spend too much time running around, not taking time to treasure the moments that allow us to just enjoy the moment for what it is and not worry about what the next will bring. I urge you, take the time this week to just sit down and enjoy a moment. You’ll thank yourself. Hell, grab a friend, and go get your Buy 1 Get 1 Free deal from Starbucks this weekend on their holiday drinks.
In other news, I learned a couple of things… Evidently the gas gauge in my car is off a bit, and I let it get a bit low. Mental note to self: Quarter of a tank == refill. Car wouldn’t start this morning. Oh well, I’m sure it’s happened to more people than just me.
I also learned of this amazing website… Simply entitled: youparklikeanasshole.com. I’m gonna print out a few of these and see how many I can get away with posting on people’s vehicles. Cause damn… I don’t know about where you live, but up here a lot of red-necks with their F-350s that don’t seem to understand there are white lines that separate parking spots. Who knows, maybe they’ll listen, maybe they’ll get offended, but either way, I’ll feel like I’m doing my Boy Scout “Good deed daily” by letting them know they’re being an asshole.
At any rate, today has been a good day thus far, lets hope for many more in the future. I hope everyone out there is ramping up for a great holiday season, and I’ll definitely be posting more as it goes along. I’ve got a lot on my mind.
Til then.
2010
Never give up…
I’ll admit it, I’d had some crap go wrong in my life of late, and I had in some ways given up hope on humanity. It both scared me and saddened me that things had gone the way they had, and I didn’t know if I had it in me to recover from it. I’ve always been one that people seem to feel comfortable coming and talking to, but there are few people who I feel I can really go to when I need to get something off my chest. And one of those people shocked the hell out of me yesterday.
Monday night, I open my door only to find a “We missed you” card from the post office. It listed for a parcel, and I hadn’t exactly ordered anything, so my mind started running thru the gambit of things it could potentially and logically be. Wrong address? Doubtful, I live in Idaho for petes sake, I mean really now… Package from family? Well a) it’s a bit early in the season for that, and b) it was marked with delivery confirmation, which no one in my family would typically do, so nope, not that. Well what else could it be? I was totally stumped. Oh well I figured, I’ll just go check it tomorrow, and figure it out.
Sure enough, 10:30am and I was down at the Coeur d’Alene Post Office to pick up my mystery package and finally put an end to this confusion. And then I got the biggest shock of all. A friend, a very good friend, who is one of the people I can talk to things about, decided I needed a bit of a pick me up and sent me a care package. I was … to put it mildly … in shock. I don’t typically get such things, and I honestly had no way to know how to react. Irony is, I’ve sent quite a few of them myself, and I’ve often wondered how people take getting such a thing, but it’s never stopped me in the past. Now as I sat there with box in hand, I realised exactly how that felt, and you know what? As I lay here unable to get back to sleep, I now know that simple gesture turned around my faith in humanity.
It’s the little things that make the biggest difference, and as we head forward into the holiday season, I’d like everyone to remember that. It’s not about what we’re expected to do, it’s not about what we’re planning to do, it’s the little things that happen each and every day, the little surprises that happen every once in a blue moon, it’s those things that keep us remembering that this is a life worth living and enjoying to it’s fullest each and every day. If you take nothing else from the ramblings of this red headed wacko, take that with you, please, and share it.
And to that person, I just want to say yet again. Thank you.
2010
Hello, Mother Nature
"You find a big spider in your bedroom. Your next move is to..."
Well, assuming Bishop hasn't already gotten it cornered and proceeding to torture the damn thing to death... I supposed I'd grab a rolled up magazine and dispose of the creepy crawly. I don't have much patience for uninvited things invading my living space.
Though, conversely, if I invite it in, I'm completely cool with it. For instance, I could have pet snakes without any issue. Hell, I'd be more likely to kill a fish than a snake, and let me tell you, my house has been the graveyard for many a fish over the years.
But yea, the uninvited need removed by force. And we've got enough of them outdoors that adding to their ranks only means they'll return indoors faster, so I'm helping by means of natural selection. Walk into a dangerous situation, and get a dangerous result.
2010
Halloween
Celebrate Halloween? Are you mad? Of COURSE I celebrate Halloween. It's literally my favourite holiday of the year. And it's funny how it's evolved for me over the years.
Back in grade school, it was all about the trick or treating. You know how it goes, head out, get the candy, come back home, be sick the following day. It completely saddens me that kids don't really seem to do that any more for their parents fear that they'll get something bad. Now a days, the trendy thing to do is a Halloween party or going to the mall for trick or treating. (In the few remaining places where a mall even exists!) I take special pride in the fact that if kids come to my door on Halloween these days, I make sure they get something special, because I want them to know that the spirit of the holiday is still alive in me.
From there it evolved into a few parties as I grew into my teens. Few friends would get together, and have a movie night or something. Games, whatever, it was that awkward stage of "I get mocked by people if I go trick or treating, so I'm gonna do this instead".
Going forward to college, oh man... first year in the dorms, it was Scream on the bigscreen in the dorms. I was seeing someone at the time, and it was the first time I'd ever been to a horror movie with someone like that. Totally good times, even though I've never been a fan of the traditional horror flick, it was totally an awesome experience.
The following years, we started to develop a ritual. Halloween night consisted of staying home, dressing up for the kids who came to the door, watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show, drinking a bottle of Spumante, and having a good meal.
I still do most of that to this day, with a couple other additions I've made. Like hey, who says strings of lights are only to be reserved for Christmas? Not in this house they're not. Orange and Purple lights shine bright every year now, and they'll continue too.
I guess to me, Halloween is the better of the holidays where we get a completely valid excuse to let our inner kid show thru brightly. It's Halloween and the Fourth of July (Cause seriously, who doesn't like blowing things up?) that really get me going like that. I get to be whoever I want to be for a day, and you can't stop me. So neener neener neener!
