No pressure

It's kind of nice to be posting to my weblog without pressure. I really did enjoy the Blogathon and I hope to do it again next year. I almost made 400 bucks this year for the Humane Society of Canada, which is great, but I hope next year to do better. Maybe a different charity, too. I really would have liked to do it for the local shelter, but they have no online donation form, so that made it impossible according to the rules of Blogathon. Oh well.

We were interviewing today for the Internship position with the Gallery. We had thought (hoped?) that we'd have had a clear leader in the candidates, but following the interviews, we were kind of hard-pressed to decide. This is why we ask for references, I guess. Anyway, all the shortlisted candidates really have something going for them.

Anyway, I don't actually have a lot to say, but I thought I'd better post an entry or I might lose interest again, and I really don't want that to happen. I've been writing in the blog since October 2001. It seems so long ago; certainly it is a lifetime ago, based on where I was then, and what I was doing at the time.

So, what was I doing? I was attending Seneca's digital media school doing computer animation. I had hopes of a career in video games or film. I'm still in touch with one of the students, Brian, and he managed to score the job, working at Bioware. I was not, however, living at home and rent-free so I couldn't devote all my time to creating mods with him. I had to work and an apartment to pay for.

Today, after work, I went shopping and found wild pink salmon on the store shelves. Once in a while, living in Whitehorse has its perks. I barbecued the little pink steaks, made a white/wild rice base and salad and finished it all up with a fresh fruit salad that included the strawberries I'm growing on my porch. Yummy. And, sure, rent is still a struggle, but a lot less of one, and I own a new car and pay my bills myself, mostly without the help of my mother. Ya, I guess I've come a ways since 2001.

B:45 The End !

This is my last post for Blogathon 2007. I'm pretty impressed with myself, I must admit.

My total? 15 pledges for $376.04 !! You have until Tuesday to pledge for me and the Humane Society of Canada if you haven't already, but wanted to. You can contact me or click this link.

As it stands now, I'd like to thank:

Claire
Liz
Al & Carrie
Lucy
Kelly
Pat
Hosh
Scott
Aislinn
Shecky
Didier
Tammy
Dodo
Megan

THANK YOU ALL !!!

And would I do it again? Hell yes. See you next year, Blogathon !! And Goodnight !

B:43 All-Nighter

When I was in university residence, the cafeteria staff always knew when I'd been up all night. Those were the only mornings I made it for breakfast. I loved those breakfasts. Back then, I usually was up all night writing essays. Only occasionally did I stay up all night doing the party thing. I didn't drink at all in my first year. In my second, I started drinking, but still, I usually stayed up all night only to write papers. Social activity and clubbing was best followed-up by a good lie-in the following morning.

When I was basically addicted to playing Realms of Despair (a pretty fabulous text-based roleplaying game), I willingly pulled all-nighters to roleplay all night (go Drow Elves, yeah !). Hell, I'd mastered the Drow dictionary, even. That's some serious involvement. And there were also the all night parties now and then. Then, around the age of 25, I suddenly found it really hard to do it. I suddenly hit a wall around 4am and had to go to sleep. I've discovered that this is not unusual and lots of people suddenly can't pull it off come their mid to late twenties.

This all-nighter, for the Blogathon, is the first all-nighter I've willingly pulled in probably about four years. It's been fun, too, in a strange sort of way. There's no way I could do this regularly, though. But dancing around in my living room has decided me on getting physically active again, so there you go. Go Blogathon !

B:37

Oooh, another Blogathon game. This one is the "I Hate That Song" game. There aren't a lot of songs I actively hate. There are some genres that get up my nose, but hate is a strong word.

However, after thinking about this for a few minutes, I can name two songs that get up my nose sufficiently that, under the circumstances, I can probably say I dislike them intensely.

Patio Lanterns, by Kim Mitchell, is perhaps one of my most disliked songs. One summer, when I worked for the Ontario Government, it literally haunted me. Everywhere I was, it was played, or it seemed that way. Just the mention of 'patio lanterns' as objects make me shudder.

The other song is a little harder to nail down, but I really dislike The Macarena. I mean, really. I tend to eschew songs with dances attached to them at the best of times (anyone else remember the Achy-Breaky dance?), unless it's the chicken dance, because that's just silly.

When I get married, I have two rules for the DJ: 1) under no circumstance is he to play White Wedding because it is NOT A HAPPY MARRIAGE SONG and, 2) his life is forfeit if he plays The Macarena. Uhg.

B:12

Edit, edit, edit. I'm now editing my Blogathon posts to reflect ... well, to give them titles.

Yes, I've actually put a title field in my template, now. Shocking.

B: 9

Okay, this one's gonna be a bit early and the next post will prolly be a bit late, because, dude, I need to eat and I firmly believe in eating real food. Also in being clean, which I'll do after eating.

Cats are still sleeping curled on the bed... I'll be moving into the kitchen and living room, though, so they may follow. It's nice that my cats like to hang out with me. :)

B:6

Okay, I don't know what happened to my apostrophes in my last post. Oh well. I'm not bothering to fix them.

Since I'm blogging for the Humane Society of Canada, I should mention that my cats are lying on my bed beside me, mutually grooming and purring loudly. They are great.

Stay tuned - I'll talk about the movies soon. And other stuff. For real.

B:5 The HOSH

I cannot believe I am up at this hour on a Saturday. It must be for a good cause – oh ya, it’s because I’m raising money for the Humane Society of Canada by participating in Blogathon 2007.

Go me !

Alright, so let me tell you about the films I watched at Andrew’s last night. I should take a moment to explain who Andrew is, maybe. Andrew Hoshkiw is a freelance reporter and really excellent documentary photographer up here in Whitehorse. He, like me, is from Southern Ontario, but unlike me, he came up here for kicks and stayed. He’s lived in the Northwest Territories and Prince Rupert, BC and he’s been working for newspapers along the way.

Andrew was pointed out to me as the “really quiet reporter – it’s weird, he doesn’t talk”. This was at the first Exhibit Opening I was around for when I first arrived in Whitehorse. The people who pointed him out to me are judgemental and I didn’t like the way they wrote Andrew off for being weirdly quiet. I decided I’d go up to him and introduce myself.

So I did.

What I found was that Andrew was a very nice, if shy, guy. I figured he liked reporting because it gave him a shield or rationale for talking to people, which he might not otherwise do. He and I became friends and that’s that. He tells great stories. I don’t regret introducing myself for a minute.

Except when he threatens to change to another movie right in the middle of the one we’re watching. It makes me want to throttle him.

Okay, I’ll talk about the movies in another post. This ended up being about Andrew. Oh, and his website is: www.hoshq.com.

B:4 Thinking about the CBC

Hmmm, my internet died there for a while. That was exciting. And not unusual. I thought that might be a problem. Well, I shall make this a lengthier post.

I am listening to the radio. CBC to be exact. It's what I pretty much listen to, all the time. I've been listening to the CBC since I was a kid. For Americans, it's kind of like NPR, or in Britain, it's kind of like the BBC.

I like the CBC, but I like CBC Yukon less than the other regions I've listened to. It tends to play much crappier music - more crappy rock, for instance, and never any thing classical. I also can't stand a couple of the hosts. I wonder if some of they actually have real training, or if, like many of the reporters up north, they just fell into the positions through happenstance.

Anyway, I'm a devout CBC listener and there aren't that many choices for radio here in Whitehorse, so I try to tailor my listening to avoid the more, uhhh, colloquial shows. The exception is the Mom Show (that's its very abbreviated name), but I guess it is a CBC North show, not specifically Yukon, and I love listening to all the truckers call in with their requests.

That'll do for now. I won't shut my laptop so hopefully my signal won't go kaput.

B:Three

I was, unfortunately, out late last night at Andrew's. We watched a pair of truly amazing work. More later.

B:One

Blogathon: first post !

It's at times like this (6am) when I wonder what the Hell was I thinking?

Choco is besid me, purring loudly for no reason, and Twee is chirruping on the floor, waiting for breakfast to be served. They don't know how lucky they are. So many animals are mistreated up here in the Yukon: dogs left outside on chains with no chance for social doggy behaviour and cats, dumped where ever, just because they're cats and "they can fend for themselves". You should see the frostbite damage so many animals have. It's gross.

Yes, Choco and Twee are lucky. And I'm very lucky to have such wonderful cats.