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Let's Go Boys Part II

I have never been to a Toronto Maple Leafs game.

Not in Toronto.

Not anywhere else.

I have never put a blue jersey on and yelled "Let's go boys."

For that matter, I have never even been to the Air Canada Centre.
GM Place, well that's another kettle of orca all together.

You see, my mom gets great tickets to see the Canucks. So great that I have been to two Canuck/Flames games in the last year.

There is a nice atmosphere there- when people start yelling "Calgary Sucks!"  I just roll up the sleeves of whatever red top I happen to be wearing, secure my Flames hat and start yelling "Stanley Cup!"

As in, we at least have one.

And since I figure half the people in there are from Saskatchewan (or even Ontario)  they won't mind me reminding them the Canucks have never won Lord Stanley's Cup.

Or maybe they do mind, but since this is Canada, everyone is too polite to say anything.

Or they were too busy laughing when they decided to sling shot the Orca mascot into some bowling pins.

Rain, Rain, I'm going away...

Leaving Vancouver is incredibly bittersweet for me. Don't get me wrong- I love Toronto more than I ever thought I would, and I am really looking forward to going back, moving into my new place and catching up with my old friends.

The problem is no matter how hard I try, I cannot be in two places at once. I've tried to invent a teleporter, well, as much as someone who didn't take physics in high school can try that, but to no avail.

I'll miss my family- and even though I didn't get to Calgary as much as I would have liked- knowing I could go whenever I wanted was really nice. Ditto skiing, I'll miss looking at the mountains and skiing on them.

There are very few moments of natural beauty in Toronto. On a sunny day, Vancouver is beautiful. On a rainy day- or say 40 of them in a row- living here is hard. And having the kind of life I like in Vancouver is harder than in Toronto- spontaneous dance parties don't just happen here- you have to make them happen: you have to double confirm everyone, hope for good weather, and expect less than half the people you invited will show up.

You don't discover great restaurants, you have to seek them out. You don't fall into a great group of friends you have to gather them.

It's funny that in a place where almost everything grows wild, you have to carefully cultivate so much here.

When I first got to Vancouver- I wrote a list of things I wanted to do: things like sailing, kayaking, Tofino, Salt Spring, Bowen Island, eagle counting, the opera, zulu records, skating lessons (so I can learn to skate backwards but since there is no outdoor ice here-it may have been a bad idea...)

And here's what I did do:

Spent time with Rosa's son Andrew- the sweetest baby in the West, skied with my step dad and my ski friends, traveled to East Africa and the Dominican Republic, went to Prince Rupert three times, where I would never have gone once if it weren't for my job, spent a lot of time with my parents, and said goodbye to my dog.

I took my first water taxi, ate my first (and second, third, fourth) lamb popsicle, tried hot yoga, ate a tonne of sushi, good pizza, laughed a lot,  never climbed the grouse grind like I promised I wouldn't, trash talked some thugs on the sky-train, drank about a hundred Slurpee's, went to see some great music and most importantly developed and rekindled some really great friendships.

When I came to Vancouver to work in November, part of my decision was because I wanted to know if I belonged here or in Toronto. I'm not sure I am any closer to knowing where I belong so much as they are both great cities.

I just hope I will try as hard in Toronto to live my life to the fullest, savor all the city has to offer and finally learn to skate backwards.

The house sitting gig that doesn't suck

Where I am house sitting doesn't suck:

Here's the view- a little nicer than the view at my new place in Toronto.
When I leave here- I am off to Africa. I am pretty sure the view from there won't suck either.

Snow in Vancouver

Snowdrop flowers that is...
For the last little while I have been loving Vancouver.
It's been sunny and warm and I think we are through winter.
People keep looking at me funny because I can't stop smiling.
It is so beautiful when it's sunny here- and it's practically summer like in my back yard. Here is the evidence.
(Oh God, I have become one of those people who brags about the weather in Vancouver and sends pictures of the flowers in February.)

Goin' with the Flo

One of the things I truly love about Vancouver is being so close to Calgary.

You see, almost my whole family (with the exception of my parents and my brother) live in or around Calgary. I love being able to fly there for the weekend, go to the Ship  with my friends and hang with my Grandma Florence.

The thing is, she would be mortified if she knew I was calling her Florence on my web-site. But since I am pretty certain she will never learn to use a computer, or know how to find my site even if she did, I feel comfortable I can call her this.

When I call her Florence to her face, she says, "My name is not Florence, it's Grandma."

I say, "Does it say 'Grandma' on your drivers license."

"I don't have a driver's license. My name is Grandma."

I will, however respect her request not to show anyone the photo I took of her because the hairdresser at her home has quit and she hasn't had a perm in ages. But let me tell you, my grandma is cute. Adorable. Little. And funny when she doesn't even mean to be.

Like when I took her to see King Arthur and it was a little too violent for her.

She said, "Jeez Jenny, this movie is going to give me nightmares."

"Sorry Grandma, I thought it would be more romance and less decapitation."

"That's okay. I'll just go to sleep."

And she did.

I took her to see Pride and Prejudice today and she clapped during the ball-dances, laughed in all the right places and stayed awake for the whole thing.  She liked it.

Why I haven't been blogging lately

Here's what I have been doing...

Download DSCN0728.MOV

Here's where I have been doing it:
Mount Baker, Washington.
How I love you (and skiing) and how I love you are as close as Whistler, but cooler.
They say snowboarding was invented here- and the skiing is fantastic too.

Tinseltown

I went to see Brokeback Mountain tonight at Tinseltown Cinemas.
First stop was Tacotime. I love Tacotime, not as much as I love Sev, but close.
They don't have Tacotime in Toronto, but there were a bunch of hosers around on their way to the World Junior Championships, so I didn't want to risk taking a picture.
Ahhh, Tinseltown- not only was it only $7.50 to get it, but there were NO COMMERCIALS.
That's right, there were previews, but there were no commercials before the film.
It was the first time in a long time I could actually remember what movie I was seeing by the time it started.
By the way, I think the film was really good, although I am not sure what it says about our society when it takes seven years to make a film that is really just a love story.

A Surprising Trip To The Sev.

While on the way to the YWCA tonight- I ran into an old friend
The 7-Eleven.
Those of you from the prairies will understand, slurpees, while nothing but frozen syrup to some, are a mainstay of the prairie diet. Strangely, especially in winter.

I love them. I usually put the straight straw into the spoon straw so that when the frozen stuff is gone, I can slurp up every last drop of syrupy goodness from the bottom of the cup. Yum.

I was also reminded that in Vancouver, they have parking meters- instead of the machines. This always makes more sense to me: get out of your car, put your money in, walk away. As opposed to the much more complicated lock car, put money in machine, walk back to car, unlock car, put ticket on dash, lock car, walk away in Toronto. Of course, most people don't do the whole lock, unlock thing, but living in Vancouver- where not even a quarter in the ashtray is safe- I am probably paranoid. And I don't even HAVE a car.

                           
Here is a better shot of the Sev.

The problem was I couldn't get the flash on the camera to turn off. So I stood trying to work the camera, in the rain, for a while, and then gave up.

Here's the drama part of this story:
As I was walking away, a guy wearing baggy jeans, a durag, a tank top and parka (open) came up to me and our conversation went something like this.
"Hey hey, don't worry, I'm not sketched out but I gotta ask you something."
"What? [Guy tries to grab my arm] Don't touch me."
"Why you taking pictures of the 7-11? You gonna blow it up and put it on your wall?"
"No, I just moved here from Toronto and my friends don't get how much I love Sev."
"Well, I'm not sketched out, but you gotta be careful, you know, gotta be careful and here you are taking all these snaps of the 7-11...Why you doin' that?"
"I never said you were sketched out and you aren't in any of my pictures."
"I don't care what's in your pictures, you can do what you want, it just seems really stupid. To me."
"I don't ask you what you take pictures of"
"Naked girls."
"Well, there are lots of naked girls on the newsstand at the Sev. Maybe you should go look at some there."
"I'm waiting for a girl now. She's coming from up the street, she's gonna..."
[I start walking away.] "See you later."
"Okay, peace."

That guy made a liar of me.
If you look really closely you can see him- he's the one blending in with the pillar in the first picture- and guarding the door in the second.
Maybe I should stick to scenery.

Temperature +10
Light Rain