Birthday Wishes

** Happy Birthday to Danny!**

Too Many Good-Byes in One Week

Yesterday was a day full of anecdotal adventures and I'll take this opportunity to remember Dave while he flies - as I type - across Canada with his girlfriend to start a new life in Vancouver. I got up at 6:00 am yesterday morning to go to their farewell breakfast at "Chez Cora's" downtown. Afterward, Melissa and her girls went shopping and Dave had time to kill so we kept each other company for the day. After taking care of some business at school and making some purchases at the SAQ, we sat in Tim Hortons for over 2 hours, talking about anything and everything. And watching the people walking by outside. At one point, I saw my old co-worker from the office so I ran outside like a crazy person and accosted her on the sidewalk. Naturally, I scared her but even so, she joined us at Timmy Ho's for her lunch. And she told me all of the latest office gossip and confirmed that everyone is getting screwed around and people are getting really pissed off. Maybe I'm lucky I don't have to deal with it! Anyway, after she left we continued people-watching and noticed a man with a poodle walk by about six times and a guy spit bright yellow onto the sidewalk! We also saw a flipped-over van on de Maisonneuve. Downtown, you always see the most exciting things!

It Is ON!!!

The job hunt officially started yesterday. I realized, though, that I might have some problems finding a suitable job because of my availability. I figured that before I started accepting interviews I should figure out my school schedule so I would be sure of when I will be available to work. Much to my dismay, I discovered that I will most likely have to take a class in August: 3 weeks long, Monday - Friday, 9:00 - 5:00. That's a three week chunk where I will not be able to work! Who wants to hire someone who has to take 3 weeks off after a month of working?? Anyway, I've discovered a couple of possibilities and I'm currently looking into them. If worst comes to worst, I suppose I can always beg the good people at the BGC for my old waitressing job back. But the idea really does not appeal to me. I'll avoid it if I can.

CRAP

I just lost my job due to financial problems and restructuring.

Again.

I din't even get any proper notice. My last day is tomorrow.

After that, I'll have to find some other way to pay for my tuition.

This is not amusing.

Now that I have calmed down a little, I think this may be a blessing in disguise (am I too much of a naive optimist to actually think this?). After all, once I find a new job, I will be working full-time and making a lot more money. And I won't have to worry about my finances any longer since I've been working only part-time. This is assuming I find a new job and QUICK!

My only problem is that I don't know what my school schedule is going to be like in the fall. I have to know my availability before I can start accepting any job offers. So I'll have to straighten that out first.

Ack, I don't want to have to deal with this right now! But I don't really have a choice, do I?

The Final Product

It's been a while since I've written, hasn't it? Oops. Actually, I started writing yesterday, but my keyboard went completely crazy and was putting in the wrong letters. I would type 'A' and get 'Q' and I would type 'm' and get ','... etc. Strange!

Well, my CD compilation is finished! I got the addresses in my e-mail yestrerday and so I'm sending them out today; one to the UK and the other to Hong Kong! I wonder where my CD's will be coming from? Anyway, he's the final track listing I finally came up with:

1. The Boys of Summer - The Ataris
2. Summer Wind - Michael Bublé
3. Build Me Up Buttercup - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
4. Where's Summer B.? - Ben Folds Five
5. California Love - Tupac and Dr. Dre
6. Summer in the City - Loving Spoonful
7. Cruel Summer - Bananarama
8. Seven Sunny Days in June - Jamiroquai
9. Surfing USA - Pennywise
10. Wipeout - The Surfaris
11. Tropicalia - Beck
12. Could You Be Loved - Bob Marley
13. Starry Eyed Surprise - Paul Oakenfold
14. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson
15. Summertime - The Sundays
16. Santeria - Sublime
17. Surf Wax America - Weezer
18. Popcorn - Mad Caddies
19. Rock Lobster - B-52's
20. T-Shirt Suntan - Stereophonics

It's a pretty eclectic mix, I know... but that's what makes it fun!

Birthday Wishes

** Happy Birthday to my little brother!**

He's 22 today... that makes me feel pretty old!

Help Me Feel the Burn! Give Me Suggestions!

I got an interesting e-mail this morning from an old friend I know from school. It was about the annual "Summer Burn" CD-trade, an activity I had never heard of before. Essentially, what happens is this: you sign up and then make a CD compilation of songs of your choice - songs that make you think of summer. Then, on June 21, you get an e-mail with two other participants' addresses and you send them each a copy of the CD you made. At the same time, two others receive your address and send you THEIR compilations, so you get two new compilations! Anyhow, I thought it sounded like fun and thought I'd like to participate. All that to say, I was wondering if anyone had some fun suggestions of summer-inspired songs to put on my CD... Come on, I know there are some real music connoisseurs out there!

Oh yeah, and if you want to look into the Summer Burn CD exchange for yourself, just click here!

Birthday Wishes

** Happy Birthday, Steph!!!**

Steph is turning 23 today! She's also having a pool party tomorrow to celebrate. It's supposed to rain and the forcasted high for the day is 14 degrees. Let's hope by some miracle the weather gets better!

OK, So THAT'S Done

I went to convocation on Monday. It wasn't so much a celebration for all of the graduates then it was a tribute to the departing President of the university. The ceremony was also very long; it was supposed to be 2 hours long but ended up being closer to 3 1/2. The social scene was pretty good though, I got to see many old friends I hadn't seen in a long time. Mom was also kind enough to accompany me and make an attempt in taking some pictures of the ceremony. An attempt that failed entirely, due to a bunch of extremely blurry photos! Once the ceremony had ended and everyone surged out of the auditorium, there was a huge crush of humanity, people pushing through the crowds. It made it pretty difficult to talk to people and to locate others. All in all, convocation was really not all that exciting and it's going to take some convincing to make me do it again in a year! The only cool part about my next convocation would be that I'll be wearing a green hood rather than a blue one... is that incentive enough? We'll have to see!

Adventures with Fruit Salad in the Park

Today was a fun day! I took up the invitation for croquet and therefore made my way to Parc Lafontaine for an afternoon of fun in the (very hot) sun! I met up with some old friends, made some new ones, and tried my darndest at croquet! Played three games, and I came in second on the last round, so I guess I did pretty good! During my first game, I played really well, but so did everybody else, so that didn't help! My friend who had organized the afternoon had also brought a book of "Scooby Doo" Mad-Libs, which also resulted in some giggles. For example; "One afternoon, Scooby and Shaggy discovered they were ethnic, and so they decided to go and get some snacks..." Ha ha. There was also a large bowl of fruit salad and a profusion of forks so we all happily got in on the free snack. At one point, a guy came by, walking his bicycle. "Hey, can I have a piece of fruit?" he asked. We obliged and he grabbed some from our bowl. As he was walking away, someone said "You can get as much fruit as you want when you're in the Village!" Anyone familiar with Montreal's "Village" will surely get the pun. I swear, some people are so quick! How do they get so clever? Moving on. While we were still munching on our fruit salad, I looked behind me at one point and I suddenly felt something land in my lap. I looked down to my crossed legs and saw a piece of watermelon had somehow landed on my white pants. "How did that get there?" I asked. This girl that I had never met before, who was sitting about five feet away from me said "I just launched a watermelon at you." I don't know how she managed to do that, but somehow it had landed in my lap and left a large pink smear on the leg. I was kind of annoyed because I have worn those pants 4 times now, and 3 of those times they had gotten stained. The first time, I wore them out to dinner and the waitress scared me when she came up behind me and I got cranberry juice on them. The second time, a popscicle dripped on them. Three's a charm and nothing happened. Then there was the strange girl throwing fruit at me. "These pants get stained every time I wear them." I said. "Yeah, that's because they're white." she answered. Huh. She could at least have said she was sorry... whoever she was.

It's All coming Together

Graduation is quickly approaching! Convocation is on Monday afternoon so preparations are under way. I went to register for convocation on Wednesday and I also picked up my gown and hood and got my photo taken (for free!). I'll be getting proofs in the mail next week. While I was waiting in line for photos, there was this guy in front of me who is finishing up his Master's in French. The photographer's aide gave him a robe and the hood with a metallic blue trim. As she was straightening the hood across his shoulder he said, "Is there another colour besides blue? It doesn't make a very nice picture." The woman then tried to explain to him that the colours of the hoods represent the faculty you are graduating from and you're not supposed to wear a hood of a different colour. Said man continued to subtely complain so the woman relented. She showed him the different coloured hoods. In the end he selected an orange hood, giving the impresion that he is getting a Master's in Engineering! Is that allowed? I don't know, it doesn't seem right to me! Well, I stuck to my own blue hood... yay Arts and Science!

Anyway, while I was waiting in line, I also saw an old friend from CEGEP, and that's always fun! Turns out we have the same convocation (he's graduating from Bio Chem), so that'll mean another person to clap for! And that's good, because clapping for strangers gets kind of boring! So while we were chatting we walked over to a table where they were giving out boxes of free stuff for graduating students (toothpaste, Dr. Pepper, a can of tuna [?!], instant coffee, Juicy Fruit gum, carabiner, shampoo samples, body wash samples, etc.). And, sure enough, standing at the table was another old friend, one of the COOLEST people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I hadn't seen her in a long time because she was bombing around Europe with her band, being all famous and stuff! So we were able to catch up for a while and then she invited me over to play croquet on the weekend! We'll have to see how the weather is, I think it's supposed to rain. Anyway, she helped me pick out a diploma frame. I chose the mid-range diploma out of 5 choices. Even so, it set me back $155! Ouch!

The Time has Come

Oky doky folks, the Cuba journal is finally ready! Go and check it out, I posted a link below, with all of my other links. It's going to need a little fine-tuning, but essentially it's ready for viewing! Enjoy!

I Love JUICE!!!

I'm finally getting around to writing about my weekend! What day is it now... Wednesday? Oh well! It was a great weekend, we finally had some nice weather! Saturday was spent at the beer fest, which was a lot of fun! We got there at around 12:30, tried out a couple drinks, all very nice and then the place began to really fill up around 2:00. Mike ran into some of his friends from McGill and I ran into some old Concordia friends who subsequently invited us over for a BBQ in the evening. And so went went there and had some fun just like old times!

Some of the notable beers we experienced at beer fest (in no particular order):

1. Cidre de Glace by Domaine Pinnacle. Okay, this one isn't beer, it's apple cider. But only the best apple cider I've ever tried. And it sparkles, too!
2. Noire Soeur by Microbrasserie Le Grimoire. Nice pun. The darkest beer I've ever encountered, it's completely opaque but so smooth and mild!
3. L'Amourette by Brasserie Artisanale Bon Dieu du Ciel. Didn't even taste like beer. Bright red, sour with a raspberry flavour. Very refreshing!
4. Mouche Noir by same as above. Smooth, no aftertaste.
5. Carib by Le Group Bruce Ashley. I'll admit, I wasn't a fan of this one, but all of the guys really liked it.
6. Poppers Cran Ice by Broue Alliance Inc. Simply yummy!

Most of you will probably note that my favourites are fruity flavoured!

Anyway, on to Saturday: Chrissy, Kim and I made the drive to CEGEP St. Laurent (and got a little misplaced along the way) to attend the annual Aerobikidz dance show in support of Steph. I have to say it, "Studio A" has come a long way since I "retired". The show was amazing to watch; much more professional than when I was there. However, the dance school's "darlings". the supposed best-of-the-best were fairly nauseating with their own special video-set-to-music personal montage featuring clips of performances, headshots and a group photo. I swear, these girls get more and more egotistical every year and the director encourages it. Gimme a break! Despite the evident self-flattery, the show was really good, Steph absolutely ROCKED and I was inspired enough to decide to get back into dancing in the fall. I've been wanting to do a little jazz and I realized at the show that Aerobikidz now offers jazz lessons... and Steph says she plans on taking a class as well. Anyway, I'll have to see of my new school schedule leaves me time for extracurricular activities. Apparently, most of my classes will be in the evenings, so... we'll see!

I'M GOING TO GRAD SCHOOL!!!

It's official: I've been accepted into the Environmental Impact Assessment Diploma Program at Concordia! I'm going to be a Grad student! My acceptance is conditional upon the successful completion of my undergraduate degree and that was confirmed yesterday, so I'm all set! WOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Sierra Tango Uniform Foxtrot Foxtrot

So I finally started transferring the journal I kept in Cuba to web-site format. The only thing is building web pages = time consuming! It's actually not that bad; web page building has come a long way since the dark ages, when I made my first web page. The first time, I had to learn HTML and everything was made in raw HTML format. Now, building web pages is more like writing blogs and you can switch between editors and using HTML whenever you want. Anyway, I opted to use Freewebs, mostly because I didn't know where else to go, it's free and Caio uses it for his page. So I thought: "Why not"? Once there's more posted, I'll include a link so that anyone that's interested can take a look at it.

Last week, the program director at the office left. He didn't renew his contract and he found work elsewhere... I wish him the best of luck! He was a nice guy and we'll miss him around the office. Especially since, as the receptionist, I have to break the bad news to everyone when they call looking for him!

Another annoying thing about people phoning: I get people calling from all over the world and talking over the phone is quite difficult at times, considering lag time and scratchy lines. Even worse is when these people ask for e-mail or web addresses. Then I find myself reciting "... Juliet Oscar Hotel November Mike Oscar Lima Sierra Oscar November..." It's a good thing I know my phonetic alphabet!