Off To See The Wizard
28 October 2005 - 21:34.
It's the Hallowe'en weekend, and my girlfriend is the self-professed Queen of Costumes (actually, I've seen pics, and they're really damn good costumes). So what are we doing for the weekend?
We're going to Victoria. So I can sell boats.
Hallowe'en is her favourite holiday, and she decided she'd rather come over to Vic City with me, than to stay here and go to one of any number of parties that she'd been invited to. No costumes (as far as I know), and not even much of an idea as to what she'll do all day, both days (I'll be set up at the head of the Gorge Waterway Saturday, and at Elk Lake on Sunday).
Damn, this woman is great.
Point And Counterpoint
24 October 2005 - 23:45.
Dichotomies can be fun things. Case in point - this last week. Tuesday was Hockey Night at Matt's place. He has the pay-per-view package, and the admittance fee is food to share. Great time, as always. thanks Matt.
Thursday was more hockey (sensing a theme here?) as the work folks gave me tickets to see the canucks spank the coyotes. Nice reward for some of the long hours I've put in.
The counterpoint to a sport-filled week was going to see Turandot by Giacomo Puccini, this year's Vancouver Opera season opener. While the performance was (I thought) only mediocre, the atmosphere was rather good. Until some nimrod started shouting "Brava!!" during the curtain call... for about 5 minutes. Dude... it wasn't that good, okay?
Stress And Salvation
14 October 2005 - 21:33.
Yeah, I've been writing a lot about work lately. However, work has been (almost) the all-consuming event for me lately. The work we've been doing will culminate this weekend, and we find out at last if I'm a god or a goat. I still suspect the truth will lie somewhere in between.
My saving grace these past couple weeks has been Amy. She's so grounded and down-to-earth that I can't help but keep things in perspective around her. She helps me keep things real, and help me appreciate the simple things that sometimes get lost in the day to day minutia. Yet another reason I love her so much...
Thanks very much Amy.
The Love of a Good Woman
06 October 2005 - 21:31.
How does one know when they have a keeper? Is it the warm fuzzies whenever you think of them? Is it the patience and tolerance they display? Maybe it's simply the way they curl up next to you when you're falling asleep together at night, and the sigh of contentment as the other person's body (and your own) perceptibly relaxes.
Maybe it's the way they make you laugh, or they hold you. Maybe it's how they smile, and laugh themselves. Maybe they challenge you to grow, to push your own boundaries, and to explore a differrent way of being, yet not demand that the change be made - simply explored.
Maybe it's all of these and more. Maybe it's none of them. I dunno.
But I know that I'm keeping Amy. As much as I may have a facility with words, I can't really describe how she makes me feel. It just goes so far beyond description.......
On Popularity
03 October 2005 - 14:47.
Popularity is really an odd thing. We spend our lives craving it, seeking it, and crying when we don't get it. Yet for a small number of us, it's almost something we shun.
Case in point - the rowing club. I have (apparently) some nasty-ass reputation there. I'm seen as a loud, confrontational, brash boor, with womanizing tendancies and a penchant for being a shit-disturber (the shit-disturber part is true). I was recently referred to as a pompous ass by someone in authority at the club, based on a nickname I use at a blog I frequent (the person in authority didn't know the story behind the nickname). Someone else in the rowing world, also in a position of authority, said that I'm too blunt and forward.
Why is it then, that when people talk among themselves, they proselytize about a lack of mind-games and double-speak/ double-entendre? And when faced with that which they claim to crave, they shun it? The world claims to prefer plain speakers, yet will reject them when faced with that which they claim to seek. Huh? Did I miss something?
And if I'm such a pompous ass (note that I'm not denying it), why is it that I'm such a good rowing coach? And why is it that my teams will bend over backwards for me? If I'm such a dick, why do they buy me really expensive bottles of scotch, as a thank you gift?
Y'know what? I'll take the people who can *accept* me for who I am, faults and all. They faults are there, I know - the gods know I'm far from perfect. But it's people like my rowing classes (all of them) that can look past the pretension, and see the truth of what lies beneath... someone who cares about others, lives extremely passionately, and at the same time is confident enough to not care about winning some popularity contest.