Outlining an Essay

My mind wonders pretty regularly, sometimes I get ideas I want to discuss but there's no one around to discuss them with. So I discuss them with myself and on occasion can think of some robust concepts. It seems like a decent idea to start keeping track of some of these ideas, as any time I do get to typing them out they turn into essays anyway, and actually write something decent on a topic. I've recently re-played the Metal Gear Solid series in release order and, as I'm sure Nick will relent as he recalls my 'brief thoughts on MGS2' that turned into its own essay, the way the mechanics evolve through the series is fascinating. I've also recently started playing Dark Souls, which may have some of the most sound game mechanics of anything released this generation, at least that I've played. So I want to write a piece on game mechanics and their importance. I've got a few ideas, but knowing how my mind works it won't really start to come together until I really get into it. I also haven't written anything proper since I was in university and even then I never wrote more than a rough draft that I would hand in a few days later. So this will be a bit of a dual exercise, both in refining my long-form writing, and hopefully in objectively analyzing my long loved hobby of gaming without ruining it for myself.

So onward. I've got a few rough ideas, but most importantly for now and where I'll leave off for now, my rough thesis;

More so than sound art direction and graphical fidelity, or plot, theme, and good writing, what sets apart truly lasting and revered games is their mechanics. Without solid, well executed, and most importantly enjoyable mechanics, a game will not stand up over time.

Now, I don't know if this will ever actually be finished, but I'm hoping that by getting this bit down and out there I'll have something to build off of, and at least a couple people to prod me to keep writing, or maybe even hold a public forum on the topic. As I think more on the subject I'll try and post my drafts and outlines for not only myself to keep track of my progress, but for anyone else who is interested.

So, what are your thoughts on game mechanics? Can a game transcend having poor mechanics if it's good looking and the plot is interesting? Can good game mechanics save an ugly game with no story and cement it in the hearts of millions?

Eritonik Dialogues - On Work

20. March

08:46

It’s awesome that you have a field that you know you want to work in.

Well someone else planted the seeds, I'm just sowing them

LOL FIELD PUNS HA

I dunno, I think there's two ways to look at working in the Western world

One is that your career is who you are, it's what you want to do and you make a living from it. The other is that your career and what you do has nothing to do with who you are, it just enables you to do what you want to do.

Either has just as much potential to lead a fulfilling lifestyle

I'm also immature and idealistic so take anything I ever say with a spoon of rock salt

But I'd like to think that it's more important to determine what makes you happy as an individual, and find ways to enable that. Be by pursuing a long career, or funding it by working.

That’s not wrong. But eventually there is a point where work gets in the way of your fulfillment

Especially when work sucks donkey nuts

I can't disagree with that, I've definitely been there.

Corey always tried to tell me how lucky I am that I have the ability to work in a field that I really enjoy, and I don'

I don't agree with him.

I think it's fortunate that I can enjoy the work I do when I do work in that field, but outside of that I never have much else I'm working towards in a fulfilling way

When I was working at the University I was basically just killing time until I could go back into the office and keep doing what I liked doing.

So I was pretty happy and fulfilled at work, but pretty bored and unfulfilled in my 'personal' time

For many people it's reversed, their work life is unfulfilling and they're just killing time at their job so they can get home and do what they really like

So I suppose in my experience I've always just flopped between the two. Unfulfilling personal time working towards fulfilling work, or unfulfilling work leading towards fulfilling personal time

But as long as you have that aspect of fulfillment in one or the other, you're okay

But if you lose grasp of fulfillment wherever you were finding it, that's when you start to slip into the ruts

Looking forward to 2013

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

         - Marianne Williamson

2013 is close aproaching, so before the clock strikes midnight, I'd light to get down a few things I'm hoping to work towards as 2013 marches on. There were a lot of things that happened in 2012, some good, some a bit less good. Some awesome, some not as awesome. But, as most people looking towards 2013, I've got a few, and I hesitate to say it, resolutions. I hesitate because New Years resolutions seem like the kind of things we say we'd like to do because it makes us feel good to do them, but then we never actually get around to doing.
So I guess these are my goals for the coming year. Not New Years resolutions, but the goals I'll be actively working towards as the year marches on. Is it the same thing? Probably. But I like it my way. this is Burger Kind, after all.

• Keep doing stuff. Keep meeting people, keep participating in things
Produce. Make stuff, be it lego, pixel beads, computers, videos, photos. Have something on the go. Then I'll always have something to do when there's nothing to do
• Talk to girls. It's time, you're ready. Ish. Just get the devil out there and talk to them. If stuff happens, cool. If not, meh. It seems like I've about mastered the 'art' of making friends with women, it's time to move on to the next logical step; find my best friend.
• Keep climbing. Think seriously about also running. Couch to 5k. Get on that. You're young, start acting like it. (Actually I started the first day of Couch to 5k last week, so step 1 is already done. Just keep at it!) Everyone says the best time to start getting in shape is NOW, no matter what time now is. I already get to the PAC three times a week, let's keep running a part of that.
• Get your ass to Mars Europe. Do shit. Meet people. Visit your family. Have a goddamn adventure and be assertive for once in your goddamn life. This right now is my number one priority above all else. If I don't do it this year, it's only going to become harder and harder to do. Do it, do it NOW. Get your financial management skills under control, and go to Europe. For the first time in your life you're actually trying to instigate change. Don't lose sight of it.
• Get your ass to Mars school. Knock it out of the park, and get a job doing what you love and what you're good at. No more procrastinating. Or procrasturbating. This is my top priority after going to Europe and actually experiencing a small part of the world that isn't my own.

That's pretty much all I want to do in the coming year. Keep doing the positive things I'm already doing, meeting people, hopefully meet someone (and actually have the gaul to tell them how I feel and make something of it instead doing what I always do and shun someone who could potentially make you very happy in the way you crave into a friendship that, while you'll always cherish  neither of you may ever be completely satisfied with.) Grow. Some Balls. Take. A. Risk.

So that's what I hope I can make out of 2013. Which mostly  boils down to keep doing the awesome things I'm doing, and push myself to do the awesome things I want to do beyond those. Which, I think, is a pretty good outlook on the future no matter where you are. 

Happy New Years, my friends. And, as always, DFTBA.

Looking back at 2012

To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favourite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen.

         - Conan O'Brien

I'd like to say that 2012 will standout as on of the key years that helped define the years that would follow it. I don't know if it will, or won't, but if feels like it might. 2012 started out fairly interestingly. Shortly before Christmas, my first (albeit short) relationship in long than I'd like ended. New Years wasn't exciting. I broke my hand in a fit of frustration as previous events culminated with the shattering of a simple mug that, when filled with tea, reminded me of nothing but my Opa, as nothing else did. Things didn't exactly start off on the highest of notes, and for a few months it didn't seem like they would start looking up.

Then spring came along. Thinking back it's actually hard to keep track of what happened in spring. I started going to Tonight It's Poetry more frequently. D&D became much more regular. Nick popped up for St. Patrick's Day (I think). Things got more social. They were looking up. Will was gearing up to go to China, Steph was gearing up to go to South America. Tony was gearing up to go back to Ontario (even though he was in BC and it wouldn't actually effect how much we hung out). People all around me were DOING things. And it was exciting! Thinking of all my friends going off on adventures! The places they'd go! The people they'd see! The things they'd do! The STORIES they'd tell! I couldn't WAIT for them to go! I even went on a tiny adventure of my own and took the Jeep to Winnipeg to visit Rachel and get my fill of sister hangouts. Later, I made a giant rice crispy square (and it was DELICIOUS).

And as I was becoming more and more excited for everyone around me to start their adventures... They were suddenly gone. All the time I spent helping them get ready to leave, I never actually thought that they would really be leaving, and what I would do without them. With Steph gone, who would spark spontaneous adventure? With Will gone, who would keep on my case to keep me off my own case? To keep my head in the game? Who would do dishes with me in our underwear on webcam for all of Reddit to see?

And all at once I was lost.

All at once I didn't know what I was doing anymore.

All at once I realized I knew exactly what I was doing. I was doing nothing.

I didn't know what to do.

Project Steve365, mostly live!

A new YouTube Channel, and a new video to go along with it! I can't believe how much more work this was then I originally thought it would be. I tried editing the video I captured using iMovie, but apparenly iMovie doesn't let you impose images over top of video like I wanted to do. So I had to move to Final Cut Express and figure out how that works. So the first video is out at least a week later than I expected it would be, and I'm still working kinks out of the entire process. But now that the ball is rolling it will be a lot easier to actually keep on schedule for these. I'm going to try and get last week's video shot and up before Sunday when I want to do THIS week's video and get it up for Monday, and hopefully keep a Sunday shoot, Monday upload schedule. We'll see what happens.

Anyway, here's the new channel, and check out the video below.

Project Steve: 365

I've just got out of the shower and was struck by a brilliant idea. Don't the best ideas come from the shower? I think so.

Project Steve: 365

My dear friend Katie has been telling me to start vlogging for... Ever, really. And I've continually been apprehensive about it, because I really don't know what I'd talk about and I don't consider myself a very interesting person. I also shy away of making a vlog that is a video journal, partly because I'm bad enough as it is at keeping a standard journal, and also because I don't know if I would really want to share those videos that would come of it.

But this morning (and by morning, I mean I was out of bed at the crack of noon) while in the shower I got a brilliant idea: combine vlogging with my already ongoing Project 365 that I share with my friends on Facebook.

Project 365, for anyone unaware, is where I take one photo every day at around 5:30PM, wherever I am, write a short caption, and post it to Facebook so that all of my adoring friends can see where I was or what I was up to that day with a quick photo. Sometimes they're really interesting and have great stories behind them, and other times they're pictures of my mom's dog, or my computer desk, or just a picture of myself being a rather boring.

But here's where the brilliant part comes in; what if every day, I made a short vlog video about the photo that I took? That I think could be rather interesting, not only to myself but to others as well. It gets me vlogging a little bit, it's a new thing to do (which I've been searching for, these days. I like projects), and it gets me doing something new, which is also a little fantastic.

So here's what I plan on doing:
Every day, I'll take my photo, just like I always do. Then, later that night, I'll record a short video about the photo. I need to sit down and figure out how to actually edit video, so the first entry will either be tonight or, more likely, tomorrow. I think there's going to be a good photo tonight. Assuming I actually keep up with this, I think it will be fantastic. It took me a while to get Project 365 in full swing, but it's been going great all this year, so I'm up to the challenge.

New skills, AHOY!

Monday, Monday, MONDAY!

Another week another recap!

Things are getting pretty slow at work right now. If there isn't anything for me to really chew on tomorrow I'm going to get John to find something for me. With my luck it's going to be something terrifying.

We had a farewell potluck for Bob today. He's resigning as the associate director of IT at the end of this month. Bob is pretty awesome, so I hope I see him around. He's still super involved with the Jazz Festival, so I'm sure I'll see him there. The potluck was pretty amazing today, people really stepped up. Well except for Quentin and I. We totally dropped the ball. So I ended up bringing plates and cutlery from the cabinet and he went with John and got more plates and pop or something. But everyone else was wicked awesome. I can't even begin to list what was made. I ate waaay too much. As always with the potlucks. I think the best part is always the food brought by our fine friends from the middle east. They know how to eat. Spices! I could seriously eat that all the time, it's no wonder they've become so known for their cuisine.

And of course Chelsea and I exchanged more ridiculous emails throughout the day. Makes it go by super fast. Until she had to leave early at 3:30, then I was left to my own devices. Testing a machine role is only so interesting.

Taught Will how to drive stick some more this evening. But first we went over to my parents place to give mom back her knives that Will had sharpened for her, he's good at that, and I gave her our damage cheque since she paid the whole thing at our old place. Also looked at some of the bikes my parents still had and did a little work on my dad's old bike and brought it home so I can start biking to work soon. I should be able to leave the house later in the morning and I'll be getting exercise. It's win win.

I tried taking Will to the exhibition grounds to practice driving stick, but they were all locked up. So we started out by Diefenbaker instead. Drove around there a bit, gave him some pointers, and got him to start smoothing out. He's getting a lot better pretty quickly. We hit the streets and he was doing super good. Only a couple stalls! Still needs more practice shifting, but he's pretty much got the ideas down. We stopped in at Dave's because we were in the area and I forgot my earbuds there on Friday. We ended up watching the end of Fright Night with him and Rhiannon, and then watched an episode of Hoarders. I'm not so bad.

Not much after that. Saw some epic lightning inside a giant cloud in the distance, so I dug out my rain coat. I tried finding it this morning but failed. Found it tonight, though, so that's awesome. Now I'll be prepared for the worse. Well except I forgot to make lunch again. Damnit. Gotta get on that.

Will's going to run me tomorrow. He's going to help me start eating better and exercise more. He runs so he's going to help me on that, and now that I've got a temporary bike that'll help also. We're going to sit down at some point and come up with some meals that I'll ALWAYS be able to make, and a grocery list to go with it. Set up a meal plan and try and stick with it so I always know what I can eat and have the stuff to make it with. I think it's a good step int he right direction. It isn't even about losing weight or looking better for me. It's about feeling good. I don't feel good these days, I don't have a lot of energy, and I can't do things for the length of time I feel I should. I need to reverse that before it gets too difficult. I should be in my prime but instead I'm just sitting about. A fix is at hand. I'm dreading it, but I know I need it. This is going to really suck...

Skype date with Tabi tomorrow! Excited! I'm passing through Calgary on Thursday, but I'll be missing her then. Hopefully we can meet up on Friday on the way back through. Nick and I still haven't worked out our details yet, all that's for sure is that I'm driving to Revvy on Thursday and we'll probably figure things out from there. Erik is super excited and so am I. I can't wait to see him and Liz and Tony. I miss those guys. I'm also hoping to have a visit with the family out in Calgary while I'm in town, too. Lunch probably won't work out since it's Thursday afternoon, but maybe Friday night or Saturday morning. Saturday morning would be pretty sweet. I'll have to give them a call soon.

That's all for now. Time to take a quick look at the internet and then get some sleep for tomorrow. For it's another day!

Another week, more missed dates

So I guess this will cover Friday and the weekend. Prepare for a long one! (That's what she said)

Friday
Everybody's working for the weekend! Well most of us, anyway. Friday was pretty incident free at work. Worked on a user's computer that needed to be rebuilt after a possible intrusion, and sent many a ridiculous email. The biggest thing of note was probably all the rain that appeared that I was in no way prepared for. I checked the weather before I left and it said it was about 12 degrees, so I put on a bunnyhug before leaving. At lunch, however, things took a sudden turn: downpour! Epic downpour. I ran from Geology to FMD and was pretty soaked. It took all afternoon for my pants to dry, and my bunnyhug still wasn't dry by the end of the day. Luckily for me, Chelsea, one of the girls working in sustainability this summer, took pitty upon me and offered me a ride home. Score! She also stole my Zune transmitter. Less score. But I can't really use it very often anyway, the stereo in the Jeep is pretty much broken. Plus if it lets another Zune user enjoy awesome tunes in the best way possible, I'm all for it. Though I forgot it at home today soooo....

I was looking forward to Friday night pretty much all day. Midnight screening of the original Ninja Turtles movie! No rain on that parade. Or WAS there? More in a moment. Through our ridiculous email I convinced Chelsea to come to see it with me. So more score. Now for the rain part.

Will sent me a text from work around 7ish because they lost power and were closing the restaurant soon. They're right next to the Broadway Theatre, which had also lost power. They ended up closing and I went to pickup Will and that entire block on Broadway was completely offline. There was a sign on the Theatre door saying that the 7pm screening was cancelled but their 9:30 was still on. I gave the theatre a call around 10 to see what was up but there was no answer. So Chelsea and I took our chances and, after going on a smartie safari, which was a complete success, we went down the Broadway Theatre and it was awesomely lit up. Super score. Get some tickets, sit down, and watch some shenanigans in the theatre before the movies starts. So many Ninja Turtles in the audience. We sat next to a guy dressed as April O'Neil. And the movie was awesome. It was a weird cut that I've never seen before, though. There were a couple extended scenes, but there were little things missing. Like Mikey's nun-chuck battle, and Splinter's epic final line before killing the Shredder. Chelsea had never seen it before, but these omissions are cause for a rewatch soon.

Saturday
Saturday we were trying to have a LAN party. Corey Will and I all moved out towers into the dining room and got an epic setup going. And that's pretty much it. Only Nate and David came, and neither had a computer to bring. So there was a lot of Marvel vs Capcom being played while 3 people at a time played Starcraft and I played Battlefield by myself when Corey and Nate played 2v2. It wasn't a failure in that we still had a lot of fun, but it was pretty fail as far as the epic part went. We're going to try again sometime, but this time I'm not going to plan it. No one ever comes when I plan things. So that's Saturday. We played computer games in the dining room. It was fun. We drank some drinks.

Sunday
Sunday was father's day. I went and got some groceries because I wanted to make Lamb kabobs for dad cause I'm awesome that way. I needed boneless lamb legs. The closest thing I could find was lamb shank. Frozen. On the bone. So I spent an hour, with Will's most appreciated help, cutting meat off of bone. Which I've never really done before, and I'm not sure I want to do again. But it was an adventure. The rest of it was pretty easy and in the end the scheduling of things wasn't that pushed back. Marinated the lamb with peppers in some awesome marinade I made. Took everything over to mom and dad's, skewered meat and lemons, grilled to perfection. I was really surprised how good it was. Not that I doubted myself, but it was pretty amazing. Normally if you ask my dad how something was, he'll say "not bad" if it was alright. I asked him if he liked his father's day kebabs and he said "You know what? That was pretty good! I've never really had lamb before, but that was pretty good". Translation: "Wow. That was awesome". So that's pretty sweet and made me feel pretty awesome too.

I think that about sums up the weekend.

OOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHO. OH.

I'm driving to Revelstoke on Thursday to pick up Nick!!! That's super exciting. I'm going to pick him up in Revvy, then we'll go to Calgary, both visit people, and then we'll come to Saskatoon! SO excited. SO EXCITED.

That is all.

Thursday already?

I can't believe how fast time is passing by right now. It's already Thursday, and it's already the middle of June. Blows my mind.

Today I spent almost all of my day at work trying extract bookmark information from a database file for Google Chrome for a user who installed Chrome without authorization and had been working in it for quite a while and had all his work bookmarks in it. We effectively blacklisted Chrome yesterday after discovering that it was the gateway to the root of all our spam issues and comprimised users. Users have apparently been installing Chrome without authorization into their profiles, and because they don't have admin privileges, it won't patch. Unpatched Chrome = Bad news bears. Anyway, I had to try and get his bookmarks out of the Chrome database file so he could do his job. Long story short, it didn't even matter in the end because he had synced them with his home computer. Waste of time.

Other than that it was pretty routine. I rebuilt Bob's computer for him, rebuilt a comprimised computer, and hurried the day along with countless ridiculous emails. Subway for lunch. Pretty much standard fair.

Went to Dave's after work to play some Citadels. I never win. But it's still fun. We also went to Super 8 tonight, which was pretty fantastic. I think it's the best movie I've seen all year. I say that a lot. This time I mean it. I also say that a lot. This time I mean it. End logic loop.

Yeah, it was really good. Well done, well acted, fun, interesting. I'm sure the meta reviews will do a better job describing why. All I can really say is that it was a great time and a great movie.

hit up The Yard after that, and now I'm home recanting my tale.

Ninja Turtles tomorrow. Stoked for that. Hopefully more ridiculous emails.

That's it for now. Sleep time. Ciao.

HSIOW

Wow, second day and I already forgot. I'm a champ. Alright, let's just pretend it's Wednesday...

Today was pretty decent. Was not recovering from my time hanging out with Mr. Jack Daniels, so that was a plus. Had to redo some of the work we did on Tuesday because Q missed some and mislabelled other, and then there was just a bunch of ones we didn't do because we didn't think we had to but we really did. Also we spent all morning dealing with spam because of of the store keeper's email was compromised. Between trying to figure out how and dealing with scared users and users who wanted to give us a friendly word up, it was fun juggling. Nothing too bad though and it's all back in order. We're awesome.

I can't remember what I did all afternoon anymore. That's why it's important I do these on time... Lots of silly emails all day long, though. Purposely silly. Super awesome fun time. It made the whole day go by super fast, so that was a definite plus. Then right at the end of the day one of our sustainability officers (I swear sustainability just likes making trouble for me. You know who you are....) had a seemingly simple issue sending an email that turned into a total rebuild just to cover our bases to make sure her machine wasn't compromised. I don't know how people are installing some of this software. We had to set up a specific policy to prevent Chrome from launching because all these security issues we've been having are directly rooted in people installing Chrome without authorization in their local profiles. So we brought the hammer down on that.

The evening was pretty good, too. Made perigees and fried them with onions all proper like. Very super tasty. Then I got on the phone with Tabi again to help her set up her emails on her new iPhone. Which was interesting. The account I thought would be easy was hard and doesn't work yet, and the one I thought would be hard ended up setting itself up. So neat? I also got her to download Tiny Wings because it's the most fun I've had with an iPhone game and it's also the most adorable thing ever. I don't know how anyone could not love it. For real. Best thing ever.

I also don't remember what I wrote about yesterday so if I repeat.... Meh!

Might be going to Calgary next week to pick up Nick on his journey back to Saskatoon to visit. I'm pretty excited about that. Erik wants me to just keep driving through to Revy since it's only an extra 4 hours. Not out of the question. Drive to Calgary, visit Tabi and anyone else who wants to have lunch or something, then just keeeeep on going. Could be fun. Haven't decided the details yet. Just going to Calgary and meeting up with people for lunch and bringing Nick home would also be fine. Nick and I are supposed to get online now that he's got internet again and figure it out. We'll see what happens.

There's a midnight screening of Ninja Turtles at the Broadway Theatre this Friday. Definitely going to make it for that. Will is down, I'll see if I can form a small posse. I'm pretty excited. The first Ninja Turtles movie is one of my favourite movies of all time. Like actually. And I'm not ashamed of it in the least. Screw you guys who think otherwise. I'm awesome.

Then battlefield and bed. Things got pretty boring when I got off the phone with Tabi. So nothing to really report there.

Well I did get all caught up watching Red vs Blue. Watched all 8 seasons over the past couple weeks, and the first episode of season 9 this morning. Still pretty funny, and also got kind of epic and interesting at the same time. It's like the Matrix but without all that confusing eastern philosophy BS.

Yeah I think that's about it. I'll do better to keep on top of these things so I don't fall behind. Tonight I'll probably talk about how I had to do yesterdays today. We'll see.

I don't remember how I signed off last time, so I'll just say tah tah for now.

Edit:

Oh, it rained and thundered and hailed too. I got a couple pictures that I was going to use in this but I'm not on my laptop right now so I'll do it later.

In which our hero tries starting something new

Alright. I don't blog NEARLY enough, as evident by my last post being from January, and I can't remember all the cool things I do because, well, I suck at remembering things. So what I'm going to try and start doing is this;

Every night, after I get into bed and open my laptop to read the last of the Internet news for the night, I'm going to write what I did that day. No matter how boring or mundane. I'll do it. Alright. Here I go!

Actually today wasn't all that bad. Considering I was hanging out with Mr. Jack Daniels last night. Yesterday was Nick's birthday, so we had to celebrate, even if he's in Vancouver. Jack and Cheerios for breakfast, Nick on the phone at 613. Awesome. Anyways, long story short, 613 party all evening, woke up again at 6 this morning for work. Suuuuuper fun. So drained, brain fried. The bus ride was terrible, bumpy and sway....y... I didn't think I'd make it for a while. But I'm a trooper. Well not really but I'm trying. Luckily there wasn't anything super tough at work today, so it balanced out. I made it to lunch somehow, but it was raining. And I only had a T-shirt. So I decided to stop in at The North 40 and get a new bunnyhug, cause I kinda need one and I've wanted to get one of those ones with the definition of bunnyhug on them for a long while now.

So I got one, and then we got pizza because that was the special in Ag today. Man. Good pizza. I felt better almost right away. Still not awesome but definitely doing better. Got back to the office and the bunnyhug I got was waay too big. I don't know why I thought XL was a good idea. Or why I didn't try it on. So I'll exchange it tomorrow because I didn't have time at lunch and they close the same time FMD shuts down. Oh well. The afternoon was pretty mundane as far as I can remember right now so I'll skip ahead.

I was going to go to the German Club with Mom and Oma this evening, it's the reopening of the Lounge. Buuuuut I was in no shape for a lounge. Sad face. But now it's open so hey, future dates!

Got a haircut! I know, right? Jacie and I were finally able to line up right and she made me all handsome. I said short and gave her full control to make me awesome as she saw fit. Ironically she gave me a Caesar, because they're always sexy, and is also the same cut I used to get all the time before I started growing it out. Guess I was just ahead of the curve. Get it. A head. NVM.

I got home and was talking to Braden but he hadn't looked at me, then he turned and said "AH! It's high school Steve!". That was funny. Will thinks it looks good, so we'll see what the ladies think soon enough. Maybe I'll finally get good at them. Here's to hoping. No alcohol though, I'm on vacation from it for a while.

Then just some Starcraft with Will and Cheap, and now here I am. Tabi got a new iPhone, which is awesome, but now I'm all tech jealous and feel inadequate by comparison. I looked up how to set up her MRU e-mail on it and the new settings for Live mail accounts, so as soon as she calls me again we can get that set up. And she FINALLY got around to putting me on her my-5, so now we can call eachother whenever and it won't cost her anything. Not that I set that up like 3 years ago or anything... Holy shit, I've known Tabi for more than 4 years now. That's mind blowing. I guess it makes sense, though, I started University over 4 years ago. YAY! I don't want to grow up....

It always blows my mind when I think how long I've known my friends. Nick and Braden and Corey and Tony, countess others I've known you guys for 10 years. That's absolutely ridiculous. I guess it happens, I've just never really had it happen before. Sorry Will, you get the young end of the stick, but pending final approval of your application and you'll be on the right road soon enough. Still thinking wow about that.

I've held onto some really great friends. With everyone else that I've weeded out, lost track of, or just pushed away, I think I've made out better than I ever expected I would. With so many awesome people around, more than I could even try and name right now so I won't (though you'll all know who you are anyway), it's hard to think I still feel so lonely sometimes. But I think that's just a void that friends can't fill. It's on the list though. Thanks, everyone, you're all awesome. Let's hang out.



And then our hero ended he recant, posted his post, and fell asleep so he can get up early enough to make coffee and maybe eat some cheerios. Tomorrow is another day, and another story.

Resolutions of 2011 - Oh hai thar, cliche!

This is a repost of the Facebook note I wrote at the beginning of the year. I love reposts. They're warm.

I've no problem perpetuating the cliche of New Years resolutions. Taking a look back at the past year and thinking critically of what you'd like to change moving forward is a good personal task, and can be very difficult. Looking back at 2010 there's no doubt that it was one of the greatest years ever. I had a great time with some of the greatest people I've known, and that's not something I'm going to change for 2011. There are, however, some things I do want to change moving forward. Lets have a look.

1. Take better care of myself

I could have taken much better care of myself this past year, and moving forward into 2011 I'm going to do a much better job of it, body mind and spirit. This can encompass many things, from working out to reducing stress, but I'm bunching them all up together. The body is a temple, and it needs to be taken care of in many ways.

2. Be more financially responsible

Coming into 2011 I'm legitimately upset at the state of my expenses. I need to be much more conscious of that I do with my money. I'm working hard to focus on school this year, and part of that means not working two jobs and leaving myself with no time to take care of business, and I need to be more mindful of that. Working less means making less, and this year that's going to mean spending less. A LOT less. I'm going to be making a much greater effort to keep track of my budget and make sure I'm not making unnecessary purchases. Sorry, Dave, I won't be playing much poker for a while.

3. Do my best

This one is a little weird. But honestly, I don't try very hard most of the time. I'm going to make a greater effort in 2011, school is one of the important things I need to do my best at and I'm glad I got off to a good start in September. Doing my best applies to everything though, at both the above mentioned goals, and anything I come across as the year goes on. No more half-assing, 2011 is going to see Steve running on more cylinders and doing his best all year long.

4. Keep organized

Here's a holdover from last year. In 2010 I kept more organized than in 2009, but 2011 is going to see see further improvements, and it's going to be a big part of making sure my other goals don't get neglected.

5. Get to know myself

One of my resolutions from last year was to find someone to do everything in 2010 with. In many ways I found a lot of people do make that happen, but not in the way I was looking for. But over the course of 2010 I realized that it's going to be hard to get to know someone who I want to get to know me if I'm not very sure of who I am to begin with. For 2011 I want to get to know myself better, and become more comfortable with who I am. It's not about finding the best version of myself, but combining all the versions of myself into one person that I have a grasp on being. This one might be the most difficult of all, but I think that more than my other goals for 2011, it may be the most important and also most rewarding. And I'm sure there will be many people to come along on this journey with me.

So those are my resolutions for 2011. Of course there are other things I'd like to get done this year. I still want to travel, I still want to write, I still want to experience things. But above are what I'm considering the most boiled down resolutions I have, and by the time 2012 rolls around I hope to be and improved person, inside and out, and I'm sure I'll resolve to improve upon what I'll do this year.

I look forward to spending time with you all in 2011, there's definitely some of you I want to see more. Until then, happy new year, lets all make it the best yet.

The films that shape us

I remember being a kid and seeing a lot of different movies on TV, and watching home-taped VHS tapes that my dad made for me. I remember watching Beethoven 15 minutes at a time every morning before school when I was in early elementary. I remember renting Rock A Doodle Doo from Blockbuster, watching it so many times before it was due back that my dad connected two VCR's together and copied the tape for me (Looking back, I think he's one of my greatest influences when it comes to my skills of... Acquiring things) behind the original Batman movie he taped off of the Superchannel preview one holiday season, making a double-feature VHS for me. Movies like The Last Starfighter and The Navigator were a staple of the Family Channel holiday preview. I remember staying up late, hiding on the stairs, watching Star Trek. I remember seeing part of Star Wars on TV and asking my mom what movie it was. She told me what it was and was then shocked I didn't know (She doesn't remember this, but I sure do), then taking me to rent the original trology on VHS and watching through them all (almost in one sitting!) with me.

Indiana Jones. Jurrasic Park. The Jungle Book. 101 Dalmations. Ninja Turtles. WarGames.

There are a number of VHS tapes at my parents house that are barely watchable because I used them so much. A big collection of home-recorded movies (thanks dad), both from rentals and tv boradcast.

The movies we watch as kids shape the movies we love as adults. To this day, more than anything, I love adventure and science fiction. The thrill of adventure and the wonder of science fiction. My imagination was filled with possibilities.

I don't remember how old I was at the time, and I really didn't know what I had seen until I saw it again many years later as an adult, but I remember seeing part of a movie that was like nothing else. Glowing people inside a digital environment. I saw part of TRON, and it light up my mind like nothing else. I didn't know what to think, I didn't even know what I had seen. It wasn't the whole movie, maybe only 30 minutes of it, but it was one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen. It's a shame to say, but I only saw TRON for the first time in its entirety a few years ago, but it instantly went on my list of favourite movies alongside Star Wars and Shawshank. The sense of wonder in me it created is something that I'm not sure I can explain, but I'm sure many people can relate to. In hindsight, TRON helped spark an interest in computers and technology that permanently shaped who I am today. I think all of my friends would like to thank the producers for that inspiration.

Last night I saw TRON: Legacy, and it's the closest thing I've seen that's come close to creating that same sense of childlike wonder I experienced so long ago. Legacy is easily the most visually stunning movie I've seen in a long time, recaptured my imagination, and made me really hate reality. I absolutely loved seeing it, and would see it again in a heartbeat.

I'll be the first to say I've got a terrible memory. Trying to think back at the movies that helped shape who I've grown to be is an impossible task, I'll never think of them all. But as I watch old movies, I remember the ones I've seen and the ones I've loved. So many terrible movies from my childhood and I will watch over and over again. Nostalgia creates thick goggles, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

And I'm curious, what movies do you remember from childhood really shaped your tastes and who you are now? I wish I could remember back through the fog of my mind, maybe you can do better.

And for anyone who's wondering, a light cycle for Christmas would be radical.

November 17th, in which Steve had a sinus headache, watched a documemntary about Yoga, and thought about what he's doing.

In which he sits at home and wonders where to go and what to do. Not this evening or tomorrow or even on the weekend. In which he sits at home and wonders where to go and what to do, to assert himself and become great, or to stay at a level of being where he does not input more energy that it takes to walk. In which he sits at home and imagines what he may become, or what he may continue to be. In which he sits at home and hopes instead of taking action. In which he sits at home and wonders what could be and what has been. In which he sits at home and thinks of what has passed him by. In which he sits at home and has curiosity of the world around him which he has yet to explore. In which he sits at home and thinks of more reasons why he hasn't done thing than there are thing he hasn't done. In which he sits at home and thinks.

In which he sits at home.

The map to Adventure

Here's what I'm thinking. Saskatoon to Revvy: Like 13 hours. Revvy to Salmo: Like 4 hours. Epic road trip to Shambhalla that includes a visit with Erik and Liz: Timeless.


View The road to Shambhalla in a larger map

Had a dream

I had a dream last night and I keep remembering parts of it as I see things today. Here's what I've got so far:

I think we were camping, in a big trailer, I'm not sure where. Nick, Braden, Will, Tony, Corey, Cheap, pretty much all of 613 and their girls. And Ryan too. The trailer was really long and kinda wide, almost like one from a trailer park, but in the woods. Maybe we were at the lake. I think that makes sense. Before I was in the trailer I was outside, on my cell phone, I had a new iPhone 4. I was talking to Tabi and she kept commenting on how clear I sounded, and I did the same. I'm not sure what we talked about. After I hung up I went inside the trailer, and everyone was sitting down about to eat lunch. I remember Kraft Dinner and hash browns. I sat down on the floor for some reason, and then I heard Stacey's voice. I stood up, and saw the Aussies. I yelled something and they looked my way, then Sarah ran towards me and I gave her a gigantic hug. We all talked, though I'm again not sure what about, and then we all went outside without eating anything. There was music, I don't know what kind, just that there was music, then there was a white light and that's it.

I could feel overwhelming happiness the entire time. There was absolutely no negative energy the entire time, I felt great. Everyone was excited and happy, and it was just amplifying how I felt. It was amazing.

That's all I've got for now, if I remember anything else I'll try and update it.

Diet experiment, March 2010 (Preview)

As many of my friends already know, I've been doing a little diet experiment through the month of March. Well, there's only three days left, so I'll be trying to do a writup on it when it's finished. I'll say right now that it's so far so good! I'll have a full premis and outcome written up, with all of my misadventures and keen discoveries. Until then, ciaoabunga!

An activity pledge to myself

I'm taking this from the Facebook note I wrote yesterday and slapping it here for prosperity sake. Enjoy!




Well, it's the new year, and I'm sure lots of people have made resolutions for 2010. One of my resolutions for this year is to be a lot more active, and get myself back to a practible level of fitness. I don't want to run a marathon or lift obscene amounts of weight, I just want to be healthy and be able to do what I used to be able to do without hesitation; bike for more than 5 minutes, run for more than 2, and lift myself more than a foot. Biking and climbing were my bread and butter when I was a kid, and I want to get back to that.

So, I'm pledging to myself to be more active this year, and I've tried to come up with a little regime to be able to do that. I've wanted to start running again for a while now, and going climbing with Jill ans Ann and Dan the other day really brought that back into my mind, I forgot how much I liked climbing. Anyways, this is what I've come up with for myself.

I'm on campus 5 days a week, and I've been wasting away the PAC membership we all have this school year, so I'm going to try and use it every day.

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays will be cardio and endurance training. Running, rowing, cycling, and maybe some low-weight lifting. I need to strengthen up my cardio system so my muscles can actually recouperate when I'm lifting my heavy self up. And as it stands right now, I get a kittle winded walking up the Arts ramp on campus, and that's just not good.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are going to be strength days. I've never been into weight lifting, I don't know how to target muscle groups, and I've always found watching myself in the mirror to be way to self indulgent and superficial for my tastes. So, with inspiration from Jill and Ann the other day, I want to use wall climbing as a full body strength and endurance training workout. I like it for two reasons; first, I'm kindof heavy right now, so lifing myself around will be a great form of natural resistance.
Second, I'm a big fan of practical exercise. I think focusing on one or two muscles at a time is a little silly, and not really all that helpful in the real world. Climbing not only works most of my body at once, but it works it in useful ways, ways I can actually use in the world. Also, it's just down right fun.

I also want to start playing squash again, but I need a new squash partner. Graham isn't going to school this year so i'm down an opponent. I can also use squash as one of my cardio/endurance days, lots of running involved. Plus it's super fun, I think. Any kind of sport would be great, really.

Right now the only thing I need to do is take the climbing safety orientation at the PAC so I can start climbing at school, and maybe a partner to climb with would be handy too.

So that's step one to a happier Steve in 2010, the rest of the steps will take a little more work, but hopefully they shape up well. Overall I'm really looking forward to this year, it started great and has been going strong ever since. I hope everyone is looking forward to a great year as well, and will help me keep the good times rolling.

Mood: happy :)
Listening to: Hot Hot Heat on Sirius Alt Nation [can't find my Zune for work today :( ]
State of mind: forward thinking and excited

Revel...Stoke?

Okay, so this one'll be two days in one. Partly because I didn't type anything up last night, and partly because there wasn't a whole lot to write about, until the evening anyways. Yesterday we left Victoria at around 11, I think, and while we were waiting to board the ferry I checked Facebook, and noticed that Nick had written on our friend Eriks wall, saying he was going to be in Revelstoke. I didn't have a whole lot to do while we waited so I was looking at my maps and realized we would be going right through Revelstoke! Now, I was at least a day behind on my Facebook updates reading, so I thought that Nick was going to be through Revelstoke the next day, and thought it would be really cool if we stopped in Revelstoke the same time Nick was passing though. After some logistical planning, we decided to drive straight through to Revelstoke that day, so we wouldn't lose too much time getting to Calgary on Thursday. That's when the 'not much' kinda took over. Got on the ferry. Took pictures on the Ferry. Got off the ferry. Oh, I played Star Wars Trilogy Arcade on the ferry, that was pretty sweet. But it was rather uneventful. We basically were just driving from there. I did some navigational awesomery to make sure we got on the Coquihalla this time, instead of going around it.

We pretty much drove in a strait line for a while, cell coverage going in and out the whole time. When we were a couple hours away from Revelstoke, I started trying to get ahold of Liz and Erik. All hail Facebook, I was able to get Liz's number and start texting her to try and meet up with them in town. Ah, text tag. After a little bit of back and forth, we got at least a few things worked out, an extra phone number, and some awesome planned out. More strait lines... And then we were almost in Revelstoke! Got mom a hotel room at the hotel Liz works at, and the woman at the counter called her on the radio and then gave me the walkie, and I called Liz to the foyer, that was pretty funny. Got mom settled, got ahold of Erik and he and his friend, who was visiting him from Ontario, make their way to mom's hotel room. Introductions ensued, and before long we were walking downtown to get some supper, we went to an Indian restaurant that also serves German food. Talk about a strange combination :P But it was really good. We took it back to the hotel room, and had to do a little improvising to get enough chairs set up for all of us. Sebastian and I constructed a bench out of two luggage racks and an ironing board. It actually worked really good, oddly enough. Again, goood food. I think I'm starting to grow a good liking to butter chicken.

After supper, we did some figuring and decided that I'd stay at Liz and Eriks for the night. It would give mom a chance to relax a bit, and give me a chance to hang out more, and let the former couch surfers become the couch surfed. Erik had to work during the night, he works the graveyard shift at the front desk of the super expensive hotel at the base of the ski hill, so I hung out with Liz and one of their friends, and Sebastien too when he got home again. We walked around town a bit, and tried checking out the meteor shower. Not much luck on my part, but Liz saw a few meteors in the sky. A good time was had. I think we got home and went to bed at around 3am, a big change from the rest of the trip so far, but it was a lot of fun. Erik got home at 7:30 the next morning, and we started getting out of bed at about 9ish. I'll say this: Liz and Erik have a really comfy couch. It is to be tried. After some more morning hangouts and some pretty great nostalgic video game conversations, we headed back to mom's hotel so we could check her out and get on the road again. We checked out at about 11, and decided to get some quick breakfast at Denny's.

Quick breakfast at Denny's is not what we got. I swear, it took an hour and a half to get breakfast at Denny's from the time we got there to the time we were eating. Erik and I had several rounds of table Jenga, and by the time our food actually came, it was rather disheartening that it was pretty crappy. We weren't exactly impressed. Long wait, poor food. Worse Denny's ever. Avoid it. Plus it put us that much longer behind schedule. So after breakfast, lots of goodbyes were said, and on the road again we were. I think I skimped out on a lot of the details from the Revelstoke hangout, but I'm trying to get two days in this post. Let me just reinforce that it was awesome, and Erik and Liz rule. I hope they read that :P But on the road again we were. And it kinda sucked today. About 20 minutes out of Revelstoke, I lost all cell reception, and we hit construction. We were driving through construction from Revelstoke to Banff. It was supposed to take 5 hours, we left at about noonish. We didn't get into Calgary until about 10 to 7 tonight. Construction all the way. You know what the worst part about being in a construction zone that long is? Not the slow and boring pace (That's actually alright for picture taking), not how behind schedule you get, not anything related to that at all. There's no place you can pull over and go to the bathroom. Anywhere. From Revelstoke to Banff. I'll tell you this much, by the time we were able to stop in Banff, I was racing like a piss horse. Tabi warned me about the construction before Banff but I didn't believe her, I guess I learned my lesson :P

But after Banff the road got pretty good. And then it started raining. Pretty good too. I guess that's my payback for saying to Tabi that at least it wasn't raining when she had car trouble coming into Saskatoon last week. Karma... It wasn't really all that bad, not once we hit the bathrooms, and it was a pretty straightforward drive to Calgary. The only problem is that the reason I wanted to get into Calgary at a decent time on Thursday was to try and hang out with Mike, but we didn't actually start trying to work out hangouts until I was almost in the city. Hindsight is 20/20 though, we'll put some actual effort into it next time. It sucks, but I guess it happens. So we got into Calgary, and after some re navigation (Sheila didn't take us to the right adress for my Aunt and Uncle, so I had to get us to their house the old fashioned way), we arived safe and sound at Aunty Brenda and Uncle Michael's house, just in time for some Chinese food.

And that's more or less the last two days. I'm sure I'll think of little tidbit stories as I talk to people, so ask me! For now it's time to relax a bit, take a look at some computers (There's always an issue for me to figure out wherever I go :P ), and get ready for tomorrow. Tabi and I are going to drive to Dumheller tomorrow, the weather is a little crappy for the Calgary Zoo, so dinosaurs will make a nice substitution. I need to empty my cameras and charge my batteries. Other then that, I'm going to try and get a good nights sleep, probaby on another couch. But oh well, this couch isn't too bad. So I don't mind too much. That's all for now then, hopefully I'll have some more awesome stories tomorrow to recall, I'm looking forward to the day. Tah tah for now.

Victoria, Victoria

Well, today was our day in Victoria. I'd say it was a pretty good day. We started off having a quick bit of breakfast in the morning, mostly just some toast and juice. I like toast and juice. And raspberry jam. I had apple jelly though, haha. The first thing we did as part of the actual day after breakfast was to go visit Aunty Bea. Well, my great great aunt I think, mom's great aunt... Something like that. She's 103 years old this year, oldest person on my family I think. I don't think I've actually seen her since I was but a wee tike, so it was pretty cool to see her now. I can't honestly believe how well she looks, for 103. You look around at most elderly people these days and about 90% of them are completely senile. Not Bea, she's completely with it. She may not be as able bodied as she used to, but if she isn't doing well for her age I don't know who is. It some ways I'd never want to live to be that old, but there's lots of ways I'd really like to. Can you imagine all she's seen since 1906? Talk about someone who'll know their history. I can't even think of what it would have been like to experience every major event of the century first hand. It blows my mind.

After our visit with Aunty Bea, Dode dropped us off in downtown Victoria, near the parliament building. The first thing we did was walk to the Royal Museum, they've got a big showing right now with a tonne of stuff from the British Museum. We took a look at some of the more modern exhibits first, though, which I found pretty boring to be quite honest. I'm not really into modern stuff, the Industrial Revolution is where I start to glaze over. But then we went down a floor and checked out the Treasures exhibit, where they had all the stuff from the British Museum. That is what I'm interested in. They had stuff from every part of the world, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Oceania, North America. Everywhere. All the really good stuff too. Perhaps the coolest thing is what I looked at right away, a full sized cast of the Rosetta Stone. I'd never seen it in person before (I guess I still haven't, but this is pretty close), only in pictures, and I didn't think it was that big. It's amazingly large. I was pretty taken away. I've always kinda liked museums, but I've never actually felt so close to a piece of history. There was a lot of other cool stuff on display too, a mummy, sarcophagus, typical ancient Egypt stuff. It was all pretty rad too. The other rooms of the exhibit had their own bits of flair; some cool stuff from Mesopotamia, some ancient Islamic artifacts, Greek and Roman statues and bronze work, some neat stuff from China and Japan, artifacts from Oceanic civilizations. That's about where it started falling apart though. Once it got to the North American stuff it didn't really hold up too well. There was even some things from the "modern" era, which was essentially a chair made out of assault rifles, and some high heeled boots with gemstones on them to look like Chucks.

We checked out the gift shops a bit, but that was about it for the museum by then. We went past the Empress Hotel to take a look at it. We originally wanted to go there for tea, but we found out before we left that it's ridiculously expensive, so I took some pictures instead. Oh, that reminds me. We weren't aloud to take any pictures of the British Museum stuff. At all. Not just no flash photography like the rest of the museum, absolutely NO photography. LAME.

But anyways, we walked past the Empress down Government St (I think), and made our way to Murchie's tea shop. Jen said it was an awesome place to get great tea from, so I wanted to check it out. I got three teas there today, some of their Earl Grey, some Darjeeling tea, and some Ceylon tea. The Darjeeling and Ceylon teas have specific names, but I can't really remember them right now, and want to leave that as a surprise for my fellow tea drinkers anyway; hopefully you'll share a pot with me. We also had lunch at Murchies, they have a cafe in their shop just next to the tea store. It was really really good. We both had panini sandwiches, which were absolutely fantastic. I've had panini's in Saskatoon before. These were nothing like them. I don't know if I can really go back to the Saskatoon ones now. We also had some cheese cake for dessert. <3 strawberry cheese cake. We also took another look at the tea wears at Murchies, and I ended up buying a nice new teapot with a built-in infuser. Only $14 so I'm super pleased with it. Makes an awesome pot of tea, too.

After lunch we walked back down the street toward the wharf, and stopped in at a hemp shop. It kinda threw me off when mom suggested we go in, I thought I would be the one to suggest it. But we went in, and I looked at some really nice hemp bunnyhugs and shirts, and mom checked out some earings. I ended up not getting anything, but she ended up chatting pretty good with the folks working there, and picking out some nice earings. From there we went a bit farther down the sgtreet and went into an Irish import store. There, I did buy a bunnyhug. A really awesomely nice green Guinness bunnyhug (don't act surprised). I really like it a lot. (Typing this paragraph, I just noticed that Firefox wants me to spell check bunnyhug to hoodie. Not happening) When we finally made out way down to the wharf, I was starting to get a little tired of walking around. We sat down for a bit and watched one of those live statue performer things. That was pretty neat, I think. He was pretty good. Didn't get a photo, though, too many people getting in the way. We made out way around the docks and back to the parliament building, where we sat down and waited for mom's cousin Christy to come pick us up. Before we sat down we got some fresh juice from a street vendor. Nothing beats fresh squeezed orange juice, with a splash of lime juice, on a sunny day. I spent the rest of the time we were waiting snapping pictures of everything around us. My inner shutter bug was having a field day :P

Once Christy picked us up and brought us back to Dode's, the rest of the family from the area started congrigating at her place. And let me tell you, these ladies were having a great time just hanging out and catching up. And hilarity ensued. So many stories, so many hands pinching my cheaks.... Haha, well not really. We took a swing down to the liquor store though; mom, Beth and I, to see if we could get some Dude Beer. No such luck, the closest place on the Island is in Nanaimo, so we won't be making it up there. I'm going to try again in Kamloops. But I did grab a new beer to try. It's an Irish Ale, called Red something. The bottles are in the kitchen right now and I'm laying in bed typing this, so I won't check now. But let me tell you, it's fantastic. I'm going to pick up a couple more sixers of it tomorrow before we leave so I can share it when I get home.

Back at Dode's, festivities were in full swing. And by that, I mean dinner cooking. It's one of those times where almost everyone is in the kitchen, hanging out, and helping with dinner. I loved it. I haven't had corn on the cob since I got braces in grade 8, but tonight made me miss it. And to add to it, I think everyone was buzzed. Even Dode and Peg, and they're in their 70's (I think anyway. I remember being told they're the same age as Oma.) What a great time. Eating dinner was even more fun. Corn on the cob, and beef dip sandwiches. I can't imagine anything much messier. What a riot that was. After supper we all sat in the living room, just visiting. I'd say there were at least 5 conversations going on at any given time. What fun, I really enjoyed talking about so much to everyone. Stories from when they were kids, when I was a kid, how things are changing, how they're staying the same, what they've all been up to. All sorts of different things. Smiles and laughter, all the way through.

Eventually things started dieing down, and everyone started to disperse. Lots of goodbyes, lots of hugs. I swear, it was like in a movie, where the family all gets together once a year and are completely over joyed to see eachother. I didn't think it really happened like that in real life, exactly like in a movie. But it does, I've seen it.

I think I'm cutting this short right now, mostly because I'm really really tired, and have been typing for about 30 minutes now. I actually climbed into bed early because I was tired. I'll try and expand on this more tomorrow, but for now I'm going to get some sleep. We're leaving tomorrow morning and heading to Kamloops, and to Calgary from there, so I don't want to have a hard time getting up in the morning. Also, the neighbours wi-fi is being a pain right now, and I want to make sure I can publish this tonight. So that's all for now, I'm sure I'll remember a couple more things to add in tomorrow. Tah tah for now, and wish me luck on the way home!