On the Road Again

Halfway to Orange Beach, AL and the trip is off to a great start. All six passengers have been fed throughout the trip on a healthy supply of wasabi soy nuts, Nibs, peanut M&Ms, rice cakes, and even Tim Tams (supplied by Michelle)!

Besides a few quick stops (including a Burger King), we’ve spent the entire 11 hours on the road. We started in Ontario, picking up Kathleen’s boyfriend, Lee, along the way, made it into Detroit, MI via the bridge. There we stopped for some goods, including a brand new cologne for myself. Then it was through Ohio and into Kentucky.

Tomorrow it’s a 7:30 am start to ensure a quick visit to the Louisville Slugger Museum. After that it will be another 10 hour drive (or more) to the condo.

The People We Meet

Today you met someone. Today I met someone. Did I meet you? Maybe you met me? Maybe we’ll meet tomorrow, or maybe we won’t.

The reality that isn’t before us, behind us, or between us is also the reality we can choose to deal with constantly. We can choose to accept our happenstance of constant encounters with one another as simply that, or as something more.

Whether in fact these encounters are something more is totally dependent on our actions in the moment. Did you smile at me today? Maybe I smiled back. Maybe you didn’t smile, but I can tell you I definitely did.

The Passenger List

It’s 11:47pm on Sunday night. I’m sitting on the train that takes me from Downtown Toronto to Whitby and I’m thinking, “How did I end up here?” Now, I’m not thinking this in any literal sense but rather, I’m contemplating the long list of passengers I’ve encountered on the night’s journey.

I’ll start with the fellow I met on the platform. There is me, back against the wall reading The Walrus and he decides to “light up” beside me....in a public space....under an semi-enclosed train platform. I move down a few meters and watch the train arrive in-front of me. Passenger #2 is standing beside me eating McDonald’s in such a loud and obnoxious way that his fries are actually hitting me! First on the shoulder, then on the foot. At this point I was so exhausted and disillusioned I couldn’t even muster the words to exclaim my astonishment when he hurled the empty container underneath the now parked train.

Once on the train matters got worse. Most of the seats were occupied with the attendants of the night’s Nickelback concert which proved to be the most uncolored, disrespectful people to ride a train with. Let me explain.

First I go to sit in a seat only occupied by a woman’s feet. Rather than moving for the additional passengers, her and her husband lay asleep taking extra space. I finally found a spot and soon realized I was adjacent to a women so intoxicated she was first lying on-top of her friends, and then spread across the train floor. Matters got worse as she proceeded to take a picture of her breasts, suggests posting them on Facebook, finally ending the coup-de-finesse by chastising her 8-year-old son for looking up just the same content on YouTube. Then I finally get to end my night by listening to the syncronized cell-phones of two fans blarring obnoxious music over the train.

The Fair

Last night I indulged in the calamity that is spring fairs. Local hotspots for the misguided and pent-up urges of teenagers, these fairs create an ecocentre unto themselves that is simply enjoyable to observe. Like a sociologist on a profound study of sexuality, frenzy, and inhibition, I dove into the Brooklin Spring Fair like so many before me.

At $5 to enter, I started the night asking, "What exactly am I paying for?" Was it the pointlessness of tractor pulls, the additional cost of rides, the fried food or the massive line to the beer tent that made me question my recent entrance fee? Despite all that I focused on trying to have a good time.

I got the ball rolling with 3 dozen mini-doughnuts. Despite the temporary distraction they would provide, from my petulant neighbors in line and the mass of second hand smoke, those balls of fried dough and sugar became a mass of indigestion quite quickly.

I spent the rest of the night amusing myself with the drunk antics of those around me. From numerous beer-cup towers, to an over-abundance of bleach blonde hair, the escape was delightful.

I left the fair with a frisbee in hand, some doughnuts for breakfast, and a general feeling of over-exhaustion. All-in-all the entire thing seemed a lot like re-living a moment of nostalgia. You have the stomach-aches from the ride, the indignation from observing your immature ways through wiser eyes, and a souvenir to remember it all.

In a year...

One year ago I was leaving my home of 4 years to return to Ontario. After completing an undergrad in Business and Philosophy at StFX I was ready to take on the world. I had decided to stray from my foundation in Accounting to pursue my passion, Radio.

So today, 1 year from my graduation, it seems natural to do an evaluation of where I am. At this point it is hard to not focus on some of my successes, despite not being a national radio star on CBC. However, I have made progress into a lot of unexpected avenues, and I have to be happy about that.

Since graduating I have landed a challenging and rewarding job teaching people at a popular computer/technology retailer. I am in the middle of both a grant application with the Canada Council for the Arts and a Masters application with Ryerson University, in hopes of making my work on Well Versed a full-time career. I also write for Talent Egg and have been featured multiple times on Brazen Careerist. Now I am working hard on promoting a really interesting book, The Hidden Game.

So, you can see how it would be hard to complain. I stopped trying to force things awhile ago and just decided to do my best with what was presented to me. So far it seems to be working.

Vagina Monologues

Last night I went to see the Vagina Monologues. This play originally conceived by Eve Ensler re-creates monologues delivered by women of all-ages and backgrounds talking about their vaginas. The play is magically powerful in its honest delivery of not only the diverse meaning of vaginas but also femininity in general. 

Lat night, amidst the serious, sad, humorous, powerful accounts I realized something. As I watched this collective of women come together like so many other collectives of women come together around the world to deliver this play, I witnessed pure, honest, and surreal feminine power. Then it hit me, this rarely happens in the real world. Rarely do I see women on the subway collectively joining in praise of themselves and their womanhood. Rarely do I watch women in a club stand-up for the women being discriminated, objectified, or assaulted. Rarely do I see or hear women in the real world telling the world's oppression to "back off." 

So, while I watched the magic of the Vagina Monologues take over me, the realization that this power was something only to be left within the play walls crippled me. I saw how positively empowering this performance, no this collection of honest womanhood, could be for all women and personhood. I imagined women standing up for each other, celebrating themselves and their power, taking their rightful place in this world from the multitude of oppressive states. 

Every day I hope to wake to this reality, and when it doesn't come I cry a little inside.

Bad Boys

If you've ever heard of the movie Bad Boys you probably think of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. That movie was released in 1995, and what you may not know is there is another Bad Boys released in 1983.

The Bad Boys film I am talking about stars a young Sean Penn as Mick O'Brien, a 17 year old youth deviant caught in a world of crime. The movie follows Mick from the path of petty crimes to some serious "mistakes" that land him in a juvenile detention centre.

Director Rick Rosenthal tells a compelling and sophisticated story of misguided youth. From the hierarchy of inmates, to the psychotic motivations of revenge, each character shows a unique combination of youth vigor and innocence with adult fury.

As the story progresses the viewer becomes more intertwined in the politics of inmates and the rehabilitative attempts of the councilors trying to help O'Brien and his fellow convicts.

The adult themes, the exuberance of emotion and life, and the raw violence and rage in this film tell a truly passionate story that leaves viewers shocked and touched.