another one has come to an end.
new years last year was a big party in a basement in surrey with friends of old and asiago and artichoke dip.


matt and drew on new years 2005
four days later, jan 4, i left you all guessing with this post:

has anything ever happened to you that just blows your mind?...like you keep pinching yourself to see if you're dreaming...

i'm spending everyday wondering when i'm going to finally wake up...

and i did wake up. yes, it was about kristin and getting back together with her and how great and happy i was about it at the time. anyways, it was shortlived.


what a night! the earls staff party in january, me and kaitlyn and leah...
in january, i stepped down from my position as bar leader at earls. it wasn't a job that i wanted. i wasn't going to be a lifer and i didn't want to put the effort or time into it. i kind of miss it now, a bit, but that time in my life has passed.


the beach outside our cabin on galiano island
in february, spent a couple of days on galiano. hiked the mountain, drank wine, sat in a hottub and watched the sunset over the gulf islands in the distance. it was exactly what i needed.


sarah and leah with ben lee
in march, i went to see ben lee at richards on richards. it was an amazing show, small and intimate and i spent it with friends.

in may, i got dumped and it sucked. it was also my birthday and we had an amazing time. it also just happened to be my last day of work at earls, for what will probably be forever. yes, it was the end of an era...nine years.

then came the summer. it wasn't as much fun as i had planned it to be. i had no job for almost three months. walked around the city, took pictures, smoked and drank coffee and drank way too much.


hilarious times in the bush
went camping with the boys in june. away in the forest looking at trees and drinking beer and eating way too many hotdogs.


me in my gear at porteau cove
in july and through august i took scuba lessons. now, i'm a certified advanced open water diver. can't wait to get out in the ocean again when the weather and time permits!

in early august, i moved from downtown back to my hood, south granville.


at the redbull flugtag with amanda
later in august, i started working again. i was ready for it. i was tired of sitting around and doing nothing. i met amanda again. but, that too, was to be shortlived.

in september, i started school again. bcit, forensic science technology. it was good to be doing something academic again. i was more ready for school than i had ever been...

october came and i got a second job, bartending just around the corner from my house. i love it.

then november and tara came into my life...and again, that was shortlived. but it was fun while it lasted, she taught me a lot about myself, i guess, and i'll miss hanging out with her.

<
winter on my street
and december...school finished, final exams...and now my trip to sunpeaks for new years tomorrow!

a good year, a bad year. this was my life in 2006.

and who am i now? i guess i'll find out next year. it's been fun talking to you.

ps: happy birthday lao-ocean girl!

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maybe saddam is dead.

this week has been busy and exhausting. i worked at figmint all week, long hours, long days. new years is coming up too. i didn't think i'd be doing anything too exciting, but now i'm going to sunpeaks in kamploops with jaime and dominika. we've got a hotel and a hot-tub from the 31st to the 3rd. i'm not a skier or a snowboarder, but i'm looking forward to getting away from the city and spending some time doing nothing and sleeping in. i'll take pictures, drink, eat good food and it'll be fun hanging out with those two girls. i spent new years on koh tao with jaime in 2004. maybe it'll be as messy as that night was. i'm also taking a vacation from yoga for a week. i deserve it.


matt drove me to surrey...


my mom made ginger scones...


decorations on the table...


my sister and her boyfriend drove me to abbotsford...


the christmas table...


roasted potatoes, my sister's favourite...


my parents having a good time...


chester the cat...

and that was christmas.

Labels: christmas pictures

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christmas again. i don't know if it's the whole end of the year thing, the feeling that there's all a lot of oysters but no pearls, the mass consumerism or the in-your-face silly religiousness of it that makes me dislike it so much, but it's something.

i'm in surrey now, at my parent's house. i got here early yesterday and basically sat around. my sister was at her boyfriend's parent's house, so it was just me and mom and dad. they went to church at 8 and i watched seinfeld and drank a sol while it rained outside and the cats ignored me, not knowing who i was anymore.

i finally got to bed and slept through until 10, which isn't that late but a lot later than usual. i think this is the one of the only days of the year where i actually get to sleep in...where i don't feel like i have to get up and do something...

my sister and her boyfriend showed up and we all opened presents. i drove up to 7-11 to get away from it all for a bit, bought some smokes and beef jerky, went to the park and listened to the cows mooing behind the trees and watched little sikh men with canes chatter around the picnic benches.

we're off to abbotsford in a few hours for dinner and then i'm heading back to vancouver. i work tomorrow morning at 8am.

my dad just came in the room to tell me to put my plate in the dishwasher.

hope everyone's having a great christmas. i miss all the people i wish i could be spending this time with now. you know who you are, all of you, wherever you are.

hmmm...i wish i felt different about it...

Labels: christmas

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i've been going to yoga at least twice a week now. for awhile, i could only fit in one class a week, what with two jobs and school. they say i should be doing at least 3, probably 4 or even 7 classes a week. that would kill me. i go as often as i can though.


half-moon pose
anyways, i really enjoy it. at least afterwards. class begins with deep breathing exercises and stretching of the core muscles. i'm already sweating after two minutes. from that we go straight into 'half-moon' pose (ardha chandrasana), stretching and flexing the spine laterally, then front and back...

most of the standing poses that follow, stretch and flex the spine opposingly. it almost brings me to tears, i cry out as i push myself further and further, i sweat until it pours off me, soaks my shorts, forms pools on my chest and back, until my hands slip and slide as i stretch my legs.


tree pose
one of my favourite standing poses (and there aren't many) is 'tree-pose' (tadasana). standing straight up, one leg flexed, the other bent with my foot resting on my pelvis and my hands in prayer. twisting my legs and chest in opposite directions to align my joints. my eyes focused downward at a spot four feet in front of me. one minute like this, in meditation, and i feel like buddha. the second stage of the pose is to actually bend your locked out standing leg and sit down so that the standing leg thigh is now parallel to the ground. this is near impossible for me at this point. i haven't even been able to sit cross-legged in over 20 years, but i'm getting there.


standing head to knee pose
i can now lock out the leg i'm holding in the 'standing head-to-knee pose' (dandayamana). this took me about 8 classes and some serious pulling...tears in my eyes, but i can now do it and balance fairly comfortably. i can't bring my head to my knee yet.


dead body pose
there are several other standing poses, which act to warm up the body. we finish the standing poses with a two minute 'dead body pose' (savasana). savasana is my favourite, not just because it's a resting pose, but because it makes me feel the most energized. we lie there focusing on a point on the ceiling, completely relaxed, concentrating on our breathing, in meditation. i forget all my troubles.

then it's straight to "real" yoga, or the hatha series of sitting poses. we start with 'wind removing pose' which helps to regulate the digestive system. interesting...wind removing? in this pose we use our legs, while lying on our back, to put pressure on the ascending and descending colon.

cobra pose
my favourite of this series of poses has to be 'cobra pose' (bhujangasana). i feel the stretch in my back, the tension in my lower back, the strength required to not use my arms in raising my chest. it's a good pose for me, i can complete it properly.

if you're interested, you can see all 26 bikram's yoga postures here, with photos.

so, bikram's has been good. sometimes i have to force myself to go, it's hard to find two hours, two or three times a week to go and voluntarily kick my ass, but i really enjoy it afterwards. the heat stays with me long after class and i usually walk the ten blocks home, in winter weather, in a t-shirt. i'm awake, i'm more focused, i feel energized.

during the meditations, when thoughts are supposed to be ignored, mine are, i don't think about all the shitty things that happen. actually, sometimes i do, but i look at them objectively, like i'm watching my life go by in a parade and commenting on it. it's too bad i can only do it in the evenings. the energy would go a long way to helping me through my days at work.

Labels: bikram, yoga

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i had a strange dream last night. i was working in a hotel restaurant bar, like i do in real life. i wasn't able to make the drinks that were being ordered because we kept on running out of stuff, or i was always being distracted somehow. my boss was yelling at me. the dining room was full of customers and suddenly there was a deep booming sound, and the windows went black and the building shook. there were bolts of electricity outside and loud crackling noises. the blackness cleared and i could see outside only to find that the city around the hotel had been destroyed and was covered in ash. soot was raining down from the sky. i went outside and picked up small pieces of broken rock and ash to look at them. everyone in the hotel was okay. i remember being confused and scared while it was happening, but afterwards i was calm and collected and was making sure the customers and people in the hotel were okay.

i'm guessing it was a volcanic explosion. i looked it up and this signifies a couple things.

1. An erupting volcano signifies we are not in control of our emotions of which there may be a hurtful release. If the explosion is more prominent, this signifies anger.

2. A volcano signifies a deeply held spiritual belief, which can erupt with frightening results.


also, i had another celebrity encounter last week (i've been on a roll). i was doing some christmas shopping downtown and was walking down granville from robson. i was just in front of the commodore when i noticed some 'granville kids' hassling someone. they were crowded around him and touching his shoulder and saying things like, "i love you," and "you really inspire me to do great things." no...it wasn't mother teresa (and if it was, that would've been a ghostly celebrity encounter), but it was 'the great one' himself, #99, wayne gretzky. he was rushed off to a waiting limo after signing some autographs. he looked tired and was being sort of quiet.

yesterday was my real christmas shopping day. i've only got a few of people to buy for, thankfully, my parents and my sister and her boyfriend. it was a long day of walking up and down south granville, then to the futureshop on broadway, where i had some cool things done with some of my photos as gifts, and then down to granville island. i'll say it again, i love granville island. it's such a cool place down there, the market is great, and the water and the boats and the industrial artsy buildings and sculptures.

last night, i hung out with dustin and we went to hennessey on broadway to see a friend who's working there. it was packed, not an empty seat in sight, and everyone was watching some guy in a toque and sunglasses on screen, like some sort of canadian al jazeera - al quaeda video - and laughing. and then someone said "can you shut the door please?" as i stood there somewhat dumbfounded. i did, and we left. we went to the rugby club on broadway instead. a restaurant i used to hang out at all the time before i left on my trip and hadn't been back to since. the drinks are cheap-cheap and the food was great, i had homous with pita and lime pesto, bbq rib tenderloins and indian spiced pakoras with yogurt sauce. our server sucked though. his opening line was a mishmash, hodgepodge of mumbling crap which neither of us understood. he forgot: what drink i ordered, what appetizer i ordered and what entree side i ordered and had to return on three separate trips to re-ask me. whatever. after that it was to the usual, ouisi, for spicy ceasars into the wee hours of the morning.

Labels: dream, hennessey, ouisi, rugby club, volcano, wayne gretzky

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it is cold and windy in vancouver today.

i went to my first funeral. yes, my first ever funeral. i didn't know him. i was just accompanying a friend. his name was peter mcintee 1968-2006. he was a bartender at bridges and at library square downtown. he committed suicide by jumping from a 13th storey window while fighting with his girlfriend.

it was weird. i didn't like it and felt uncomfortable. it was sad too. i don't know, i don't like funerals.

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I wrote my final final exam on Tuesday. I'm pretty sure I did really well and was able to walk out of the room after only 45 minutes. Sweet! I came home, got some Subway and a bottle of wine, sat on the couch and watched TV.

But 15 minutes into my relaxing, someone stopped by and my night turned out a little differently. And that's all I should say.

Yesterday, I had the day off and had made an appointment for ear candling. I've always had problems with my sinuses and my ears have been getting crackly and poppy recently. I had a few problems equalizing when diving in the summer and I just thought I should try it out. I've heard all the skepticisim.

After a careful internet search of fifteen minutes, I was able to locate the closest and cheapest ear candler in the city! A little beauty salon down in the Fairview Slopes just a few blocks from my house.



I showed up about five minutes late, but it was okay because the ear candler lady was busy with another client. I sat and waited, I filled out a "New Client" form, I listened to moans and groans of pain or ecstasy from the room next door. A woman's groans of pain and ecstasy. I guess she was having some sort of massage. I was pretty sure this wasn't a rub-n-tug deal.

The little Chinese lady came out of the room, washed her hands and showed me into my room. It was pretty small with only enough room for the massage table-bed thing and a few cupboards. I lay down (fully clothed) and was covered in blankets and tucked in like a wee baby.

I heard the sound of flutes, and trickling water, birds in the forest, maybe bamboo leaves rustling and the ocean. It smelt like clean. The lights were low. I lay on my right side.

She lit a candle and stuck the pointed end in my ear, with a tinfoil-covered pan to catch the wax. And time ticked by. I could actually feel something going on, crackling in my ear, moving in my ear as she massaged my face and jaw. After about 30 minutes, we switched to the other side and did the same thing. It was entirely relaxing being in there, not talking, listening to the music around me, in the dark...I almost fell asleep.

After a vigorous head and shoulder massage, the little Chinese lady cut open the candles to reveal what had been in my head for so very...very...long. Hard balls of disgusting wax and other grossness mixed with ash. I felt invigorated. For $35 you can't go wrong. I feel like a new man.



And Soutthida, you'll love my recent Celebrity Encounter. Not more than 20 minutes ago, walking home, I spied Carson Kressley, Fashion Savant host of Bravo's Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, pointing out architecture in a haute couture velvet suit, bags under his arm, to a friend, and making their way out of Bacci's at Granville and 12th.



In addition, just yesterday, I spotted Anna Walner (on the right), of W Network's The Shopping Bags, buying cosmetics at Shopper's Drug Mart at Granville and 13th.

Labels: anna walner, carson kressley, ear candling, final exam

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