Ch-ch changes

Time to be a different man... or woman as the case may be. So my last post was pretty brief and didn't really explain much of my life situation at the moment. I currently live in a sketchy downtown apartment, work a pretty good mall job if there ever was such a thing, and spend a lot of time hanging out alone. But please don't get too worried, it has only taken a few months in this lifestyle to realize it is not what I want. So bring on the change, I will do my best to prepare myself for it. also apologies for this post once again being late. It was almost ready to go when I was uprooted into my sister's boyfriend's house for a game night. This seems to happen almost daily so...
In the next month or so I will be moving. Into a house, with other people, and hopefully if all works out as planned I will be a much happier person. Having the power to up and move and do things differently for myself is really nice. I can't help but think "hey this isn't working."and now that leaves me with well fuck DO something about it. It also means I will get to enjoy board game night every night.

I am still unsure as to how much longer I will stay in this city but if things are looking good it may be a while. If I can get myself a government job with a more sizable and more stable paycheck it might not be such a long while. I really am trying to get myself all figured out but how can you know what really works without trying a few different things first. So I guess you can consider me in life-limbo for now. And coming up on my 21st birthday I'm gonna have to be lame and "Hallmarky" Live in the moment people dwelling really does suck.

xoxo

Bec

Ps aren't scattered thoughts fun? Sorry for writing this post in essentially 2 parts. I much prefer getting everything out in one shot so my thoughts, words, ideas are semi-congruent. Whatever.

future reference

So I have been fairly busy these past few months. Mainly working lots at a job I am not overly thrilled with, but such is life.

I am expecting some major changes on the horizon and will try to keep things updated. We all know how good I am at that :S.

Stay tuned for an update on some of those future plans... I will try to have something up by the end of this week.

Cheers!

Remember me?

So after a not so brief hiatus, I return. Failblog is a pretty fitting name for me, but obviously is already taken. These past few months haven't really been too exciting or groundbreaking. I've been working, lots. Don't worry this isn't a bitter lament just a comment as to where I have been.

Renovations at work are done and the new store is all shiny pretty. The girls are all good and my sister is happy that I have started to hang out with them when I have time off. All that aside, let's get to the good stuff. When not working I have managed to get some great shows in the mix as well.

My summer concert series:

I kicked things off with a killer show at the Horseshoe Tavern and Born Ruffians CD Launch.

St. Catharines does a one day festival hosting 140 bands in 15 venues, so I took on The Rumble Devils, The Lucky Ones, The Strange, Sea of Burgundy and Gold and a few others before the night was through. I was stuck at work for most of the day but a free pass with a free beer attached(thanks to my neighbour Mark) was not an offer to turn down.

As per usual caught a ton of great acts at Ottawa Bluesfest (unfortunately I was only there for 3 of the 12 days). They are as follows: The Moody Blues(briefly), Andrew Bird, B-52's. This was day one I finally managed to drag Alison from Party of 3 out to the fest. How someone could live in Ottawa so long and not make an appearance is beyond me.

Day two included an unforgettable set by John Butler Trio (in the rain, *swoon*). Then I popped over to catch The Tragically Hip's Gord Downie with his new back up group the Country of Miracles. Hole of Courtney Love fame was somewhat underwhelming so I hung around Babe Ruth and Marc Cohn until it was time for Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.

Saturday was my last day in Ottawa before I had to take the overnight bus back to St. Catharines in order to work Sunday morning. I made sure to arrive in the afternoon and take in as much as possible. Kings go Forth had some fun beats but nothing like that of Caravan Palace. Jumping from stage to stage I took in Bear in Heaven and then Basia Bulat. Then I was off to see Metric's main stage set(four times in one year! Starting and ending in the capital). 7:45 called for Carolyn Wonderland, if you like bluesy women she is a must see. It was no surprise to see the Texas Horns up on stage with her as they are festival regulars. 8:00Pm hit and it was time for Rodger Hodgson. That man still has it. I watched out the end of his set before jumping over to Passion Pit. Although they were putting together a solid set, The Flaming Lips were calling my name. Wayne Coyne (the lead singer) did not disappoint when he started the show by crowd surfing in a giant hamster ball. All in all it was a pretty great weekend closing out with roughly 30,000 people singing Do You Realize? the lips most recognizable tune.

That fantastic weekend didn't close out my summer of shows although as usual it was definitely the highlight. Ribfest brought out The Cavenders, a surprisingly solid Beatles cover band. I danced on a stool in front of the Rumble Devils in the best shoes an adult with tiny feet could (Did I mention they light up?) when they opened for The Strange at their Cd release party. Late August brought another trip to Toronto this time to see Crosby, Stills and Nash open for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Just in case you thought what next? I failed to mention my short jaunt to Hamilton for Festival of Friends a free concerts in the park weekend where I was lucky enough to see the man who opened Woodstock, Richie Havens!! Buckwheat Zydeco played too.

There are a handful of shows good, great and reasonable that have come and gone and all I can say is I wouldn't have it any other way. Also, "hey fall, what's up?"

To those unfamiliar with some, any or all of these acts, if "all" get your head checked, I suggest you check 'em out via youtube, grooveshark or whatever outlet you have.

Cheers for now,

Becca

Sorry!

I have been extremely absent as of late. Oops! I will try to make a conscious effort to update on a more regular basis. I need to write a piece about my trip to Ottawa and the various bands and shows of varying degrees of excellence I saw while there. I will let "you all" (are there enough people that read my blog to be referred to as all?) know a bit about my job and how that is going too. For now I merely ask forgiveness at my inability to do exciting things, or write about them for you to read :D

Cheers!

Jekyll and Hyde

My sister gets unnecessarily frustrated with people and life in general sometimes. When she does her explanations are often humorous. Earlier today she came out with something along the lines of:
You know those people who are always cracking jokes, having a good time, playing sports? You know them... the happy ones.

One of things she gets angered about is other people's happiness, which I can get. But here is the thing, I was that happy-go-lucky athlete in high school. So you may not find it surprising that her aggravation is often delivered towards me. Our friends think we a re both mean to each other. We both think we get along pretty well. All siblings bicker right?

SO in my attempt to become one of them again; I present to you a list of things that make me happy/keep me sane!


HAPPY SANE LIST:

1. Refreshing beverages

2. Relaxing with some good tunes

3. The Rubbermaid bin that has been converted into an ice bath for my feet. It sits in front of the living room couch!(I know another stroke of genius)

4. Fresh flowers

5. Board Games


What does it for you?

Tim Travels the Distance

So I guess I want to provide a little more background into why I started a blog. I have a couple of family members who blog as well, and it helps me to keep up to date with their lives, without having to see or talk to them all the time. Wow, that sounds terrible. I am in no way opposed to talking with or spending time with my family; hell I just moved in with my sister. But, as you probably know, things aren't usually that easy to schedule. Especially when your family lives a 7-8 hour drive away, and you don't own a vehicle. So ya, if you are still on track, blogging or rather frequenting my family's blogs has helped me to stay in the loop.

My aunt Alison's blog Party of 3 provides hilarious stories about her life with my two cousins aged seven and ten. She somewhat recently posted about her older daughter finding a spider in the basement and naming him Tim. I suggest you read the aforementioned post and some of her others as well, you'll be in stitches.

So after that somewhat lengthy and unplanned plug, I'll get to the point. Big and terrifying Tim came to live in my room. We aren't/weren't friends, unless my sheer terror came across as friendly..? One morning I woke up and there was a pretty big spider on my wall. I cowered and shook in the corner on my bed for a bit before deciding I couldn't stay in the room. My somewhat faltered logic suggested that I grab everything I need and close the door. Hopefully by the time I got home Tim would be gone.

That evening when I went home I checked my room and Tim appeared to be gone. I was still somewhat frightened, and with good reason. I wake up the next morning and he's back(same Tim, or otherwise his identical twin). This time Tim is low enough on the wall that I decide to be extra brave and attack. I grabbed a sturdy shoe and slowly advanced. I get close and swing, WHAM! my shoe hits the wall and Tim jumps. Yep, Tim is a jumping spider and I am shaking and doing some sort of seizure dance. I sleep on the couch. I know super lame. But honestly, tell me that eight legs aren't too many. The extra two legs increase the creepy crawly quotient by a significant amount. I can handle flies and ants, fish, frogs, and snakes, just not spiders, squid, or anything with lots of, frankly unnecessary, appendages.

Sorry, off on a tangent again. Before I curled up on the couch, I made sure to open my window extra wide, hoping Tim would here the call of the wild and leave in what I can only assume was the way he entered.

IT WORKED!! I am, in fact, on occasion, a genius. The morning after I slept on the couch I noticed Tim was outside my bedroom window. I promptly slammed my windows shut and am somewhat embarrassed to admit I haven't opened them since. I can't bring myself to risk the return of Tim.

This morning, my sister asked to sleep in my room because having the windows open makes it cooler at night. I don't know how to respond. She is totally welcome to sleep there, but Tim was a pretty traumatic experience. It might take years off my life if it happens again.

P.S If you are feeling courageous, look up the bold jumping spider and you will have a better understanding of how scary Tim really was.

This could be a low budget slasher film

One of the things I like to do in a new place is to get my bearings as soon as possible. Learn bus routes, major hubs, street names, places to go etc. You get the idea. Well yesterday, late afternoon/early evening I ended up a little bit frazzled. I got a call just before 5 pm for an interview at 6:30, that is correct about an hour and a half prep time not including travel. Awesome! So i ran around my house got ready figured out where I had to go and set out the door.

Evening buses only run once every hour here, so I found myself way earlier than necessary. I also found myself in what appeared to be the warehouse district. I was a little unnerved but made my way down the street looking for somewhere to kill a bit of time. No surprise there wasn't a whole lot around so I sat down at a closed for the night chip stand in unfamiliar territory. I was just hoping that the interview wasn't too traumatizing. The posting wasn't overly descriptive.

It was starting to rain lightly and I made my way back to the interview even though I knew I would still be pretty early. I walked in, sat down, and filled out the application. There were a handful of other people there too, and the interview ended up being one-on-two. It was a pretty basic interview and i knew I had it. Always a good feeling. So today, Friday and Saturday I have my training.

What is this new job I have you might ask? I am a knife salesperson. And I think this could end up working out really well for me. It is super flexible (important because it means Bluesfest will be no problem). The money is pretty good too.

So, if you find yourself in need of some high quality kitchen knives or gardening tools, talk to me. I'll see what we can figure out.

Cheers!

May is the new July

So this post is going to be super short. But I figured that my discomfort needed an outlet, so here we are. It is shortly after 10 PM and the outside temperature is 25 degrees Celsius. Under normal circumstances I would say "Fantastic!" (not in the annoying Cash for Life way) But I do like summer time.

It is May. And mid-twenties over night does nothing to cool off my un-air conditioned apartment.
I don't even particularly like air conditioning but I'm not sure how much longer I can put up with this heat. And although I live with my sister, I'm not sure either of us are ready to handle the sincere possibility of becoming nudists.

Cheers to cold beer that if not present in my fridge is just down the stairs.


And now for your viewing pleasure: Talk To Me, Dance With Me

Graduating from my Training Wheels

For the past week I have been spending everyday at the bike shop just up the street. Apparently I don't like to stray far from home. Cycling is awesome, but at the moment I don't own a bike. That is not why I have been there though.

I just finished a sporting goods business program; part of the program requirements for practical knowledge comes from completing placement hours. I am completing mine at (insert plug here) Rapid City Cycle.

It's a group of pretty good guys, and while they know every little intricacy and part for any bike ever made, I know almost nothing. So here is the good & bad on the situation.

GOOD:

• I am learning a bunch of stuff, about bikes and business
• I have very little responsibility (it's nice)
• I will hopefully get a good deal on a bike at the end of this

• I have been offered a variety of furniture, and people to move it for me

BAD:

• Customers ask me questions and I rarely know the answer.
  
• I often feel foolish and not overly useful
• On the flip to having little responsibility, I also have little to do.

QUESTIONABLE:

• The french guy who comes in a few times a day and always asks for my help even though he is aware of how little I know about bikes.
  

Multiple times a day I find myself saying, " Uh, I honestly don't know. Let me grab one of the guys to help you out." Or, alternatively, "Hmm, give me one sec and I'll check with George." I mean I think the honesty wins me some points, but its kind of difficult to be successful in a specialty store with only basic product knowledge.

At the end of today, I am happy, well-fed, and well accepted into an unfamiliar environment. I think I am doing alright.

More or Less Me

I feel that the first order of business should really be a little tidbit about me. How else are you to know whether or not you want to continue reading this blog in the future? So lets get acquainted and go from there!

I have recently come to discover that I am basically the female version of Paul Rudd's character in "I Love You, Man." I use awkward and outdated slang which usually leads to blank stares and longer than desired gaps in conversation. You may at this moment find yourself hanging your head, staring at the floor because you can't quite bring yourself to make eye contact. It's all good; I have become accustomed to that kind of response too.

Besides, despite my sometimes unsure or uncomfortable demeanor, I know that I am pretty awesome. Not to sound cocky or over-the-top, but I like who I am. And to me, that is noteworthy, so you get to read about it.

If you have interesting taste in music, we should be friends. If you are also somewhat socially awkward, that could work, although our conversations may be weird and involve a handful of impromptu face-making to fill the inevitable lulls on my side of communications. Just as a heads-up.

To finish up, I'll leave you with what I expect to be talking about most often on this blog:
Awesome & Awkward moments
Music
Shoes
How the world is a scary and fascinating place
My family is smarter than yours

So please feel free to drop me a message if you think we could be future chums. Or if you have an interest in my opinion on a matter, let me know and I will get back to you.

Cheers,

Rebecca