Nothing Lasts Forever Anymore

Ever thought of getting a tattoo? Gettin' ink yo? Burning some shitty image into your body for old time's sake?

Ya, me too.

The only thing I've ever considered getting put on me was a Canadian flag.


And I'm not exactly patriotic, or a mindless cheerleader or anything like that, but I am damn proud to be a Canadian in this world. Plus everyone loves Canada; the great arbitrator and peace-monger in times of war and trouble. Especially the Dutch. Mint you Holland, mint you.

But like most tattoos, it would likely end up being yet another regret to add to the list. When you're 43 years old and married to a boring husband or wife, looking down at your bellybutton to see the name Stacy or Tommy staring back at you just won't hold the same meaning as it did when you were 22... Back in the days when you could look past that tattoo and see the top of your lover's head busily moving around down there. God-damn those were the days!
Not anymore though. Passion gets sucked out of you as you get older. I dread that.

But when you have something on your body that you can't get off, there's definite potential for disaster in the future. Imagine a gang member who gets branded, but grows up to be a law-abiding citizen. Then one day his old rival group recognizes his marks and busts a cap in his ass. Hardly fair, don't ya think?

And the same thing could happen with our country someday. You never know what the future holds.

This election we had last week is a perfect example. Imagine Canada becomes the mutt on America's leash (moreso than we are now), and the rest of the world starts to hate us like they hate the States. Odds are we wouldn't be wearing our flag-labelled backpacks around the globe without fear anymore. A symbol that once elicited friendly smiles could soon lead to a gun being pointed in your face, depending on your choice of vaction spot.

And it's not out of the question by any means. Canada's new leader looks like a rapist on the prowl for his next victim. I find it very unsettling, as I imagine many other people do. And have you ever seen that mortherfucker smile? Yeah... yeah... neither have I.

I'd rather have Mike Ricci represent our country at global meetings. At least other world leaders would just say, "My God is he ugly!" rather than, "Tom, pack the kids into the minvan and take them to my sister's cottage in the North country until this Harper guy gets on the plane for home!"


















In all seriousness, I have real concerns about this new government. A few weeks back I stumbled upon an article in Now Magazine regarding the potential cabinet that the Tories will form. They described it in a single word: scary

To quote the staff of Now:

"Some of the names offered - Jim Flaherty, John Baird, and Carl DeFaria -are enough to turn off thousands of voters who remember what it was like to live under Mike Harris' vicious Nonsense Revolution.

Flaherty, whose record includes disparaging comments about the homeless and native people, was a dud as finance minister, inheriting a $1.9 billion surplus and leaving Ontarians with a $5.5 billion deficit.

Baird, who served as Community and Social Services Minister, was point man for the massive cuts to social services and drug testing for welfare recipients under Iron Mike.

DeFaria, meanwhile, is famous for issuing a pamphlet of Christmas songs to constituents in 2002 - as Citizen Minister, no less - that included Stephen Foster's Way Down Upon the Swanee River, which refers to black people as "darkies".

Ottawa-area Tory MP Gordon O'Connor, also mentioned as a possible cabinet minister, is a former paid lobbyist for the defence industry who has on at least two occasions publicly pushed military equipment of former clients. Let's hope he isn't bucking for Defence Minister."

The article continues, but I think that quote made the point. Granted, Now has a clear bias towards the left of the political spectrum, and exaggeration is inevitable. Don't believe everything that you read, kids. That might lead you to vote Conservative next time 'round. It's a shame so many people voted Right this time, but at least it's only a minority hold on the government.

The problem lies in the fact that Canada doesn't want to hear the word "election" again for a very long time. So we're gonna have to settle into blue and white for now. And I'm not talking about the Maple Leafs, they blow dead bears. Stupid hosers.



Moral of the story: Don't get a tattoo unless it's something neutral. Then again, someday your pretty little flower or butterfly might be your least favourite part of your body.

Probably not, I'm just talking out of my ass now.

Hali Trip

Two weeks ago today, I took off for a weekend in Halifax to visit a friend from who had transferred from Western out to Dal after 1st year.
I'd never been out east, and I figured that the start of the semester would be the best time, as to avoid exams and assignments.
As it turns out, it was the perfect weekend to go because the weather was so good. It only rained a bit on my last night in town. We even had one day of 10 degree weather with sunny skies. That kind of shit never happens in the middle of January in Halifax; they're usually digging cars out of 4 foot snowbanks.
So my worries of flight cancellations were put to rest with the good forecast. Not to say the flights weren't interesting themselves though. It was my first flight in about 5 years I guess, and the first plane I'd ever been on alone.



So I wrote this little bit of tripe on the outbound plane:

As the plane taxied down the runway today I had a strange feeling. It wasn't quite panic, but something close.
My feeling was more like worry, I suppose. And it's not that I have any fear of flying at all; I actually have fun during the turbulent parts (Unlike my candy-assed brother who draws nearer and nearer to puking with every little bump. Pussy). And I wasn't worried about crashing and dying either, as I'm not one to really fear death in the first place.
What worried me was the things I've never said and done in live, but should've.
All the people who mean the most to me, and all the assholes who mean the least; I worry that they have no idea what I truly think of them. If this plane were to crash in 5 minutes, I'd hate to think of all the time I had wasted in the past.
Honestly, how hard is it to write an email to an old friend to let them know you still care how things are going and what's new in their lives? And think of how easy it would be to tell off that annoying friend-of-a-friend you've always hated.


If only it was that easy.
Imagine that next Wednesday was "say everything day". A day that you just told everyone you know the complete and total truth of what you saw in them.
I'd wager a guess that you'd probably build a few bridges if you did that.
Then again, you'd probably also make a fair share of enemies.
Funny how we live, isn't it? Some days you feel like screaming from the rooftops, but just quietly walk down the streets. Afterall, that's what everyone expects of us in our day-to-day lives. Don't stir the pot.
But imagine if everyone did tell the truth, all of the time. It would be like that Seinfeld episode, but on a massive scale.
Or that part in Almost Famous when their airplane is about to crash and everyone's darkest secrets get blurted out. How strange it would be...
Alas, the pilot's told us to buckle up for a bumpy landing. Wish I had more time to write, but its time to lay down the pen.

That landing was bumpy as fuck, let me tell you. It was by far the most fun I've had on a plane. The thing was rotating on all axes as it came in lower to earth, mainly because of the strong wind on the ground. I bet the pilot helped out with the turbulence, trying to fuck with us. Hahahaha, those nutty fuckers. Anyway, it just seemed like we were a brick that was twisting and falling as it came down to the runway. Very entertaining.

That night, after getting settled in at Andrea's place, I went to her boyfriend Geoff's house for dinner. I met his roommates, all of whom play in a band, Geoff included. So they just jammed all around the house while Andrea and I were catching up with all the shit we've missed in the past few months. Geoff and I biked to the store for some beer, which we drank at his place. Andrea and I went back to her place for a little Family Guy, with bong in hand. There's some pretty ridiculous shit in that new season, especially if you're stoned out of your skull.

The next day I got up and went to a boring Science Writing Class with her, then we toured the campus and took a few pics. To me it was a foreign setup for a school, with houses right across the street from huge buildings on campus. The whole thing was much smaller than Western too, but I liked the atmosphere there.

Later that day Andrea and I wandered the streets of downtown, checking out music stores and other places of interest. I found a CD that I've been looking for for about 5 years, which was sweet. We ended up having a nice dinner at this wicked little pub. I wish I could remember the name of it, but it escapes me. Then we went home for another evening of drinking, followed by a trip out to a bar for the night.

The bar we went to was connected to a few other ones in a strange fashion, and we had to chill in this one little Cougar bar called "Cheers" until the "Attic" opened for the musical entertainment of the night. One of my highlights of the trip was hearing a local bar band play Outkast's "Hey Ya" in Cheers. It was so fucking East Coast style, which was funny as shit.

The main band we saw upstairs was called "Slowcoaster" and as far as I remember they were good. I gotta admit, I was pretty damn wasted that night. I even found myself on the dancefloor, which is a rarity. Geoff's roomie Dave and his girlfriend were dancing up a fucking storm, Dave in particular. That night we all crashed at Geoff's place after hitting up a pizza joint for some post-bar grub.

Saturday morning Geoff, Andrea and I all went down to the city market, which is right at the Keith's Brewery. It was a maze of undergound passages and rooms, but it was really cool. People were selling all kinds of stuff, and I got a famous cinnamon bun from the bakery. Unfortunately Andrea was hung over as shit, so we didn't stay for too long. That day was foggy as hell too, so I didn't get a chance to look across Halifax Harbour. Oh well.

We chilled at Andrea's place for the day, and went down to the Marquee to see Feist play. I wanted Andrea's roommate Erika to come (She was pretty cute and cool; real girlfriend material.), but she had other plans. I think about 7 or 8 of us went to the concert, but only Geoff had a ticket. So what he did was go into the place, come out with a stamp on his hand, and then we'd copy the stamp onto our hands with markers that his friend had. It worked like a charm, and we all got it. The show was pretty good, and I really liked the venue. We got drunk/stoned at the concert too, but not as bad as the previous night.

And the next day I packed up my shit and headed home. That was a damn long day of travels, and I was glad to be home in London to relax and recover.

All said it was a dynamite trip. I was glad all the plans went off without a hitch. The only thing I wish I did was hook up with Erika... hahaha

Better luck next time eh?

So this is the new year, and I don't feel any different

As strange as it may seem, it doesn't even feel like Christmas yet. Maybe it's all the warm eather we've been getting lately, but more than likely it's my mindset that's out of whack. It seems that every time Christmas rolls around it holds less and less meaning.

We just go throught the same old paces:
- see you family and exchange gifts for the sake of spending money on one another
- hang out with old friends while avoiding idiots from highschool
- booze through another overrated new year's party
- return to normal life with resolutions that last about a week and a half

But despite my disenchantment with the holiday season I was able to come up with a few things I'd like to strive for this year.

1) Never go to bed hungry - I hate that feeling, plus I could use a few lbs.

2) Commit more time to school work - the lazy days have gotta stop a.s.a.p.

3) Visit friends around town more often, and keep better contact with people at other schools - last year I was complete shit at keeping up with people ona regular basis.

4) Read some books to entertain, not just text books to learn shit from - my mind is full of too much science and I need some variety to stay sane.

5) Write more often - a number of people have told me I'm a good writer and they like reading my stuff, so why not do it more often? I have alot to say, and people should have the privledge of reading my shite.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Maybe I'll look back in December to see if I kept up with my goals. Time will tell I guess.

p.s. this was the most fucking boring post ever.

Bowl of Oranges

The rain, it started tapping on the window near my bed.
There was a loophole in my dreaming, so I got out of it.
And to my surprise my eyes were wide and already open.
Just my nightstand and my dresser where those nightmares had just been.
So I dressed myself and left then, out into the gray streets.
But everything seemed different and completely new to me.
The sky, the trees, houses, buildings, even my own body.
And each person I encountered, I couldn't wait to meet.

And I came upon a doctor who appeared in quite poor health.
I said "There is nothing that I can do for you you can't do for yourself."
He said "Oh yes you can. Just hold my hand. I think that would help."
So I sat with him a while and then I asked him how he felt.
He said, "I think I'm cured. No, in fact, I'm sure of it.
Thank you Stranger, for your therapeutic smile."

So that is how I learned the lesson that everyone is alone.
And your eyes must do some raining if you are ever going to grow.
But when crying don't help and you can't compose yourself.
It is best to compose a poem, an honest verse of longing or simple song of hope.
That is why I'm singing... Baby don't worry cause now I got your back.
And every time you feel like crying, I'm gonna try and make you laugh.
And if I can't, if it just hurts too bad, then we will wait for it to pass,
And I will keep you company through those days so long and black.

And we'll keep working on the problem we know we'll never solve,
Of Love's uneven remainders, our lives are fractions of a whole.
But if the world could remain within a frame like a painting on a wall.
Then I think we would see the beauty. Then we would stand staring in awe,
At our still lives posed like a bowl of oranges,
Like a story told by the fault lines and the soil.