Sunday 28 September 2008

Aldergrove Rockstar Sangiovese '08

listening to Sam Roberts - Love at the End of the World (album)

I've come to a point where it's not worth my money to keep X. There's a certain amount of insurance money that I could get back and taking the bus is cheaper than paying for gas. The only problem is that I can't seem to part with X. I feel like a father who's going to sell his child because he can't afford to keep him. That just feels heartless, you have no idea.
Last week I emailed in one of the best pieces I've ever written. It was Monday night and I decided that I was going to pull an all-nighter and finish it, because I was already late. I went out and bought a 12 pack of Rockstar for the fridge and plowed my way through it. If any of you know the way that I study, you'll know that it's the worst possible way. Before I actually write a word I will do everything else that it's possible to do, and then, if I'm still awake, I'll buckle down and do what I need to do. Well, it turns out you can do a lot in one night (have you ever heard of the band Cibo Matto). Eventually, however, I started typing. I actually had a really good story lined up to write, that any other day i would have enjoyed typing, but the fact that i had to do it made it really hard. I only drank 4 of the Rockstars (I found out later that it was about double the amount that an adult can usually consume without feeling the side effects (I don't think I was doing that bad (then again, I was shaking all over on my way to school))), but at 6:15 in the morning, right before I left, I emailed in my short story. And it was brilliant. I don't like to brag about my stuff, but this was straight up good. Anyways, the point is that I am living proof that all-nighters work (although the next day I didn't wake up until both my classes were over).

Park Ranger

Wednesday 24 September 2008

RADIANT

I am radiant
a lone beacon in a dirty underground
I am radiant
white heat on the road to nowhere
flashbulb underwater
a torch in a room full of stale air
let it shine
burning bush in the desert night
I am radiant
cold reflection of shiny and bright
I am radiant

warm fire at the top of the mountain climb

lonely lighthouse
not going away with the summertime
swampwater firefly
this little light aint a candle, but I flicker and burn
I twist when the wind blows, in the tunnels I turn
runnning out of control on a highway, my high beams
slow down traffic, like burning matches slow my heartbeat
a little slow tonight for my daydreams,
but little do I know I'm like a mirror
or a nickle on the pavement
reflecting what you're saying
I am radiant


pipe smoking professor

Wednesday 17 September 2008

X bites the dust

So the day before yesterday Sam f-books me about paintballing, and he asks me about the X-tra Cab. I take a day to respond, and yesterday morning I reply that it's doing well and there are no problems with it. Nice Will, real nice. So after my last class of the day I start it up and everything is tickety-boo. I notice that I've traveled a ridiculous amount on $20 worth of fuel, so I decide to tank up. When I'm at the pump, however, my resolve weakens at the thought of paying $1.47/litre and I decide to put only $20 in again. Good thing. I sit in the parking lot for a while, eating my disgusting white spot burger and fries, and when I pull out there is a strong scent of gas. However, I'm in a gas station and I just put gas in X, so it makes sense. A ways down the road, X just isn't driving quite right, the smell of gas is still present, and i have a bad feeling. However, I somehow made it all the way to the Kwantlen campus in Langley. I stop to buy a textbook at the bookstore there and when I get back to X I realize that there's a trail of gas running behind it and a little puddle sitting under the passenger side. Not good. I don't have any mechanical skills, or even any tools, so I do my best to try and find out where the leak is coming from. I can't really find it. This sucks. From there it's only 22 km to my house so I figure I can make it back and find out what's wrong once I'm there. Not true. I make it about as far as 216th and Fraser Highway before my plans really collapse. X is having serious trouble so I stop at the gas station to see what's wrong with it. I put some oil in, even though there's an 'acceptable' amount already in there. Still the same. Then I decide that there's really nothing for it but to try and make it home in any shape. I make it as far as the gas station across the street. X is having problems with throttle control, and those are problems I'm not qualified to treat. Fortunately I have the number of Clover Towing in my wallet from my last adventure in Langley. X gets towed. I am sad. I have to take the bus this morning and turn up half an hour late for class. It's like my life has been a constant downward spiral ever since Sam asked me how X was doing. People say I'm lucky, I say 'if it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all'.

Park Ranger

Friday 5 September 2008

Irregularily Published News Edition Presented in Glorious Monotone

You know what the first thing I felt when I got my cast off was? Relieved... and then scared. Of course I felt relieved because I had put up with the stupid thing for a good month at least and I was finally free, but I felt scared because I felt powerless. The lower half of my leg and my foot were so weak that it was hard walking on them, my heel had lost most of its flesh so I was stepping directly on the bone which made it painful to walk. Running was out of the question and is still pretty hard. As I walked to the highway to hitchhike back to Summerland I realized that I had just lost the ability to do a whole catalogue of things associated with youthful athleticism, I felt destined to grow into a bitter old man well before my time. It was completely irrational, but it scared me.
It took me a while and I went through a series of misadventures, but I've finally made it to the coast. Driving down in the X-tra Cab proved more difficult than I thought. It was the first time I had really driven standard, I had only driven around the block a couple of times a few months back, so it felt like I was jumping into the deep end making the trip. I'm pretty sure that I've stalled it a few thousand times already, trying to get it into first. The other problem with coming down in the x-tra cab was that the alternator doesn't really work that well (I wouldn't say it's completely fried because so far it hasn't died while driving during the day). The battery died about 13 km outside of Princeton so I stood by the side of the road with my hazards on in the middle of the night and waited for about half an hour before someone stopped. It turns out they were a transmission mechanic and had a shop in town so they loaned me an extra battery and put my dead battery on charge. I spent the night in the ridiculously expensive Deers Head motel. I guess I may be spoiled having stayed in hostels, but $60 seemed pretty expensive for just one night. I should have just stayed in the truck. In the morning I bought an extra battery from the transmission mechanic and completed the trip with relatively few incidents.
I've already registered for all my courses, but I've missed the first week of classes. Not a good start, but it's not too serious of a blow and I should get back into the swing of things fairly quickly. The house is pretty cool, it's just a basement suite and my room is pretty small, but I've got enough room, it's pretty clean, fairly new, and so far I get along pretty well with my house mate.
That's pretty much the news edition of this blog, presented in glorious monotone (I never realized it was possible to type in monotone, but apparently it is). Tune in next time for more exciting adventures in the life of the
pipe smoking professor