It's official folks! In the paper here the other day it stated that 2010 is officially the hottest summer in Toronto's history!!! I saw that and immediately thought..why am I here again?? So, needless to say it's been ridiculous basically everyday. There hasn't been a day since May when I actually NEEDED a sweater. There have been a couple times I wore one, just to remember how it felt, and I now can't sleep without my fan on my face. Interestingly enough, back at home I guess San Francisco hasn't really had a summer! It's been like the coldest summer in SF since like the 70s! Global Warming anyone? This stuff is super crazy, and scares me a tad bit that everything is so drastic, weather wise.
Exciting news though, is that I just got my own bike! I have one at home, but I clearly can't get it here. All my roomies have bikes and bike to work and everywhere else. I finally got to borrow my roomie's extra bike, and am now officially hooked. We have a great hill (that's only great on the way down) that leads downtown, and we went to the bars one night and all rode down and then rode back after. It was great because the wind kept you from getting too hot on the way back home. Yes, at 2am I was still sweating. So our handy roommate Andy..handy Andy..fixed up the extra bike and it's all mine!!! Thanks bunches Andy!
Also, even BIGGER news...I'm coming home for a week in September!!! I'm very very excited. I get to see the rest of my family after 6 months of being away! It'll be great to be in my comfort zone again. Being in a different place by myself for 5 months now has been very exciting and also isolating. I didn't have great friends or family to lean on, but it forced me to make friends that I know I will have for a while. As you may or may not know, I studied abroad for a year, about 2 years ago in England. That was an amazing experience and one that made me grow in many ways. Before I made this move to Toronto, I kept comparing that experience and saying, if I can do England I can do Canada. But the major difference was that in England I quickly gained a group of fellow exchange students that were going through the same thing, and so even though there were moments of feeling alone and missing family, I was with many people who were going through the same thing and they became my surrogate family. This trip was made totally solo, and my nearest great friend was about 5 hrs away by bus. I've learned a lot already, and can assume that I'll learn a lot more as the months pass. BUT, to get back on track, I miss my home..California, and cannot wait to be back!
Until that time (less than a month away) I am kickin butt and takin sponsorships at work! It's been a whirlwind, and I've learned a lot. I get to work during the film festival, and I know it's gonna be an amazing experience, one that I can't wait for! Come October I probably won't be able to write much, as festival preparations will take over most of my time, seeing as there are very few employees we will all be doing a lot to get it going.
Until next time,
Hugs not Drugs!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
I forgot I had a blog...
It's been almost a month since my last post, and normally I'd call that super lazy. BUT, since I have a full-time job now, and have been gone the past 4 weekends, I'm gonna call it busy. Definitely a different kind of busy than just school or school and work.
My brother and dad visited 2 weeks ago, which was awesome and I've pretty much seen all of Toronto now. It was great to finally be around family, from constantly Skype-ing. If this move has taught me anything, it's definitely something along the lines of "absence makes the heart grow fonder," minus the romantic undertones of that saying. This photo is Trev and I on Toronto Island in front of the TO skyline.
I do miss California a lot, and a bit more every time someone finds out it's where I'm from, because they always ask, why did you move here?? I guess California is a somewhat exotic, foreign place to these landlocked, half-English, half-midwesterners. Just based on the crazy humidity (I'm told this is the warmest summer they have in recent years) and silly words they sometimes use, I would agree that California has a foreign feel. My brother did catch me saying "eh?" a couple times, but it doesn't feel natural so I think it was forced.
The weekend after SOME of my family visited (I'm talking to you, Mom) I went with some great new friends to a music festival in the Canadian countryside called the Hillside Music Festival. I had only heard of a couple of bands, but figured it was a great way to get out of the city and appreciate some Canadian music. Well, I was right. It was absolutely amazing, aside from the crazy ant bites Alia and I got from pitching our tent on an ant hill..we're guessing we did, because neither of the other tent inhabitants got our amount of bites. There were some big Canadian acts that were really interesting to watch because I swear I was THE only one who didn't know the words to any of the songs. The festival had a folksy, bluegrassy feel to it, and I discovered some great new artists to add to my music collection. Just being back in nature was great, seeing as it's been mainly city and pavement for a good 4 months. I've met many people who either like the country OR the city. They are meant to be in one, and don't care too much for the other. I think that's something from my childhood that I really treasure, since I grew up in the mountains, I consider that home, but the city still holds an intriguing mystery about it. This is a photo of the evening sky out in the countryside at the festival:
The next weekend I went to the Osheaga Festival in Montreal, Quebec with my friends Helena and Peps. We were supposed to have a 4th person but that fell through, so it was the 3 of us, and we had a blast! We saw some great acts including the Gaslight Anthem and The Black Keys, who are my new favorite band. The only thing I will say about Osheaga is the amount of smoking that went on was RIDICULOUS. I swear, anyone who smoked smoked at least 3 cigarettes during the course of the day at the festival. I have many friends who smoke, but there are unspoken rules about smoking. Like being courteous since obviously many people don't smoke and don't want to smell like it. Not to mention that second hand smoke has been proven to be harmful in its own right. When you're in a tight group of people and the only place to let out smoke is directly on the back of someone's head, or right in their face, it's courteous to wait and smoke in a more open area. Anyway, that's my rant for this post.
This weekend I was east again, this time to Ottawa to again see Helena and Peps, but also VANESSA. Who, if you didn't know, has been in Bosnia all summer long. So this is a great reunion for the 3 of us who haven't all been together since they visited me in San Fran almost 2 years ago!! That being said, I've logged in some major bus rides recently which has given me a lot of time to think about things…mainly personal things that I hadn't been able to get over until now. It's a liberating feeling when you finally realize you're over something and can let it go and stop agonizing over it anymore. This is how I feel now. On a side note, these bus rides made me pay more attention to song lyrics, and I've realized how certain songs come on that you can relate to. It's weird, but also reassuring in a way.
My brother and dad visited 2 weeks ago, which was awesome and I've pretty much seen all of Toronto now. It was great to finally be around family, from constantly Skype-ing. If this move has taught me anything, it's definitely something along the lines of "absence makes the heart grow fonder," minus the romantic undertones of that saying. This photo is Trev and I on Toronto Island in front of the TO skyline.
I do miss California a lot, and a bit more every time someone finds out it's where I'm from, because they always ask, why did you move here?? I guess California is a somewhat exotic, foreign place to these landlocked, half-English, half-midwesterners. Just based on the crazy humidity (I'm told this is the warmest summer they have in recent years) and silly words they sometimes use, I would agree that California has a foreign feel. My brother did catch me saying "eh?" a couple times, but it doesn't feel natural so I think it was forced.
The weekend after SOME of my family visited (I'm talking to you, Mom) I went with some great new friends to a music festival in the Canadian countryside called the Hillside Music Festival. I had only heard of a couple of bands, but figured it was a great way to get out of the city and appreciate some Canadian music. Well, I was right. It was absolutely amazing, aside from the crazy ant bites Alia and I got from pitching our tent on an ant hill..we're guessing we did, because neither of the other tent inhabitants got our amount of bites. There were some big Canadian acts that were really interesting to watch because I swear I was THE only one who didn't know the words to any of the songs. The festival had a folksy, bluegrassy feel to it, and I discovered some great new artists to add to my music collection. Just being back in nature was great, seeing as it's been mainly city and pavement for a good 4 months. I've met many people who either like the country OR the city. They are meant to be in one, and don't care too much for the other. I think that's something from my childhood that I really treasure, since I grew up in the mountains, I consider that home, but the city still holds an intriguing mystery about it. This is a photo of the evening sky out in the countryside at the festival:
The next weekend I went to the Osheaga Festival in Montreal, Quebec with my friends Helena and Peps. We were supposed to have a 4th person but that fell through, so it was the 3 of us, and we had a blast! We saw some great acts including the Gaslight Anthem and The Black Keys, who are my new favorite band. The only thing I will say about Osheaga is the amount of smoking that went on was RIDICULOUS. I swear, anyone who smoked smoked at least 3 cigarettes during the course of the day at the festival. I have many friends who smoke, but there are unspoken rules about smoking. Like being courteous since obviously many people don't smoke and don't want to smell like it. Not to mention that second hand smoke has been proven to be harmful in its own right. When you're in a tight group of people and the only place to let out smoke is directly on the back of someone's head, or right in their face, it's courteous to wait and smoke in a more open area. Anyway, that's my rant for this post.
This weekend I was east again, this time to Ottawa to again see Helena and Peps, but also VANESSA. Who, if you didn't know, has been in Bosnia all summer long. So this is a great reunion for the 3 of us who haven't all been together since they visited me in San Fran almost 2 years ago!! That being said, I've logged in some major bus rides recently which has given me a lot of time to think about things…mainly personal things that I hadn't been able to get over until now. It's a liberating feeling when you finally realize you're over something and can let it go and stop agonizing over it anymore. This is how I feel now. On a side note, these bus rides made me pay more attention to song lyrics, and I've realized how certain songs come on that you can relate to. It's weird, but also reassuring in a way.
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