Trafalgar Street Madness!!

Ladies and germs, I have a room of my own! After years of roaming the planet in search of a my place, I have found it. And what's even better, is that I'm slowly making it mine! I've already got a bed, WITH bedding(!), and over the next week I hope to pick up a desk and chair to complete the look. I might even look for an end table!

Look out Vancouver, I'm moving up in life!!

Yesterday two of my housemates, James and Dave, and myself did the Grouse Grind hike in North Vancouver. It was great to get out there and get some serious cardiovascular exercise, and the view at the top of Grouse Mountain was excellent. After a day of reflection, I'm surprised that my legs aren't sore. I'd like to try and get up and do the Grind every couple weeks, maybe working up to doing it once a week. Definitely a good slog up that hill...

Big Champions League footie match today, with Liverpool hosting Chelsea. Should be a good'un.

The hand of God.

Well, two days ago I dropped off my portfolio with my school of choice, Capilano College. Now I sit back and wait. In the end, I'm actually pretty pleased with how things turned out, and would be pretty disappointed if I didn't AT LEAST get a call to come in for an interview. They said I should hear by the end of next week. Now the waiting game...

Tomorrow a friend and I have mildly planned on doing an apparently strenuous walk called the "Grouse Grind". Unfortunately the MAN is calling for rain for the next three days, which means that the Grind might be called off in favour of sitting around, watching movies, and gorging on ice cream and sweets. It's all about extremes.

Ciao for now.

Crap Crap Crap!

I just called Capilano College to ask about my portfolio submission and when it has to be in by, and found out that I can't submit it on disk, which was my original plan. It seems I have to have a physical folder-type portfolio, which means having to go out, spend $25 on a folder, another $10 on print outs that need to be done, and then petrol to drive it down to the college by the due date next wednesday.

Shit.

On the plus side it's a real kick in the pants to get it done and in order, which I suppose is a good thing. I feel like I've been a bit complacent lately, and not being as (mentally) active as I could be. Hopefully this is the boost I need.

In a van, down by the river, no more!

Well it seems that dreams DO sometimes come true.

The good folk at 2309 Trafalgar Avenue in Kitsilano have decided, after sifting through some 90 emails and interviewing a dozen or so downtrodden souls, that I am the chosen one. I will be Dave, James, and Narelle's newest (and, without being too modest, bestest) roommate. I'm very excited. I move in May 1th. Beers are on me tonight, guys!

I've ordered some cheques from the bank so that I can pay rent, and tomorrow i'm going to H&R Block to get my taxes done. Please please please deem me worthy of a return! My visa isn't going to pay ITSELF off, you know!

Game four of the Canucks/Stars first round playoff tonight. Should be a good'un.

It was the best of time...

What a beautiful day it was yesterday here in springtime Vancouver. Bright sun, little wind, a few clouds speckling the sky... And there I was, walking around in SHORTS in the middle of APRIL, while eastern Canada and the USandA gets pounded by a freak spring storm. Sorry guys, but I think I made the right choice in moving out here.

Today, though, it's raining. It's been raining since this morning, and isn't showing signs of letting up for the rest of the day. Hey, as long as I get those nice beautiful days where people come out of the woodwork to sit on cafe patios, wearing sunglasses and summer gear, I'm happy. This rain makes those sorts of days THAT much sweeter.

So I've joined Facebook. I bought in and I think I can see myself getting hooked. I stayed away for so long, and now I'm a convert. Saying that, it could still be what I predicted before: something I'll get into for a couple months, then forget about. Only time will tell.

I've got an appointment to do my taxes with the good folk at H&R Block on wednesday at 2pm. Hopefully it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg, and DOUBLE hopefully I won't have to pay anything back. 'Cause that would suck. Lots.

The Big City, part 1.

Upon arrival to my new hometown, I got stuck in traffic for an hour. This was still 35kms outside the city! Quite a change from small town life in the mountains, where the population is less than the number of people at the bar I went to the other night. Crazy stuff...

Anyway, it's an exciting time to be here. The Canucks are in the playoffs, and the first night I was here was game one of the series. I met up with a friend of mine and we went out to drink some beer, eat some food, and join in the revelry. Good times, aside from the next morning, that is.

This is a beautiful place, and to shake off our hangovers we went down to the Kitsilano beach and walked the dogs. I couldn't believe I was in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, walking on a beach beside the ocean with the city skyline and glorious mountains in the background. What a scene.

Surprise surprise, it's raining today. Two days of nice weather here, though, and it's supposed to be a great weekend. Happy times!

Game Over. Adios.

The Winter Of Adam is over. Begin The Summer Of Adam.

It's all over now, baby blue. In twelve hours I'll be leaving Rossland via the 3b highway to Kamloops. A further 36 hours and I'll be in Vancouver, dining at one of it's many fine restaurants.

So long, and thanks for all the fish, Rossland.

I love you (you know who).

53 to 49 for a day.

Welcome to post number 99! Or as I like to call it, the "Wayne".

Things are definitely coming to an end here, folks. April 5th, I'm afraid to say, and in a few days I'll be leaving Rossland. I wouldn't say forEVER, but for now at least. I'm looking forward to getting to Vancouver, the big city, and sorting out this school business. I've also got to do my taxes. Sheesh...

Yesterday a group of seven of us got together and drove down to a ski hill in Washington State called 49North. It was a good day, although we had some trouble getting across the border. Those damned Australians and their visa issues! The hill was nice and cruisy, and the drive was great. The only down side was finishing the day at a barn of a casino filled with smoking fatties and mulleted women. All in all, though, I'll remember the good times and not the fatties.

Bring on the summer of Adam!

Good news!

Good news, everyone! I went to the post office today and got a letter from Thompson Rivers University, in Kamloops, about my application. It turns out that I can transfer over 18 credits from my days back in Fanshawe College! Pretty good, eh? Of course, this is all contingent on if I get in to Thompson Rivers University. The program I applied for there is called Digital Art & Design, or DAAD for short. This is pretty encouraging news, especially as DAAD is my second choice program behind Capilano College's IDEA program.

Things are moving along, and my portfolio is done. I just have to type up some words to accompany it and I'll be off to the races! Next stop educationville!

Jollywood.

While running errands yesterday I popped down to the local video rental store to see if there were any "previously viewed" dvds for sale. They usually have some pretty good deals, and this time was no exception. "BUY TWO, GET TWO FREE", read the sign, so I started my search. In the end I picked up Spiderman2, Fast Food (a snowboarding video), Thunderstruck (an Australian film somewhat about AC/DC), and Zatoichi (a Japanese film about a blind swordsman).

Last night I watched Zatoichi, and really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I'd never really seen anything like it before. Why, you ask? Well, it was good. Don't get me wrong. Lots of great swordplay and action, as well as some funny bits. But the thing that got me was the dancing. I mean, it was wierd. Interspersed with all the action scenes and regular acting was dancing, where the extras would be doing "Stomp" routines to the movie sountrack. Then, the last scene in the movie had the entire cast (I'm pretty sure I saw a crew member in there somewhere, too...) doing a Stomp/tap routine.

I know that Bollywood movies very often have dancing in their movies, and it's usually expected, but this is a Japanese samurai movie! I didn't know that samurai had such amazing tap dancing abilities! What is this, Jollywood?

Nearing the Century. Sorry.

Hi there! Welcome back! Good to see you again. It sure has been a while...

I'm saying this more to myself than anyone, really. It's been a few weeks since I was last on here, and to be honest not that much has happened. It seems like time is sort of standing still here for the moment. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm having a good time... It's just that not much of note has happened since last I was on.

Okay, I had a great night at our staff party last week, where I got really drunk, laughed a lot, and had a great night. Okay, so the weather is really warming up here and today I got a bit of sun on my "Robert Smith" face. Okay, so I've sent away all my transcripts for school and am working hard at getting my portfolio together...

Hmm. Seems there's been a bit more going on than I thought. Sorry. I'll try to be a little bit more diligent here. Sorry blogger. Sorry blogger readers (if there's any still out there).

I'm off to an early spring barbeque, so I've got to cut this short. Sorry. This is post #96 for me. Only four more until I hit the century mark. Keep your eyes pealed...

Independance is MINE! MWUAHAHA!!

That's right, folks, I'm hitting on all four cylinders! I've just finished driving some four hundred kilometres in my new/old GMC Sonoma truck, white, with matching canopy, extra set of tires, and cd player. All for the low, low price of... Yeah right. Did you actually think I was going to tell you? Forget it.

Vancouver was good. The weather was outstanding, aside from one day, and I'm even more excited about schools than before. In particular I went to visit Capilano College and the IDEA program, and it looks good. Damn good. I also think my chances of getting in are pretty good... Especially after seeing some of the other potential students' portfolios. I mean, come on. If for some amazingly extraterrestrial reason I DON'T get in, I'd be shocked, appalled, and disgusted.

Keep the words of encouragement and advice pouring in. I'm on a high right now and want this train to keep on a-rollin'!

Zzzz...

Isn't it wierd how shitty you feel when you only get three hours of sleep?

Check it off the list!

Well, I've just now finished applying to all the schools I'm looking at here in BC. For five schools it cost me a measly $185.00 for them to simply review my applications and decide if they want me to attend an interview and portfolio review. THEN I might get in. Geez, what a process!

Oh, but it's not actually finished... I still have to gather and send off my HIGH SCHOOL transcripts to each school, which I think is a bit ridiculous considering I've been out of high school for ten years. Apparently my college transcripts aren't enough, and even that I graduated almost seven years ago. Oh well.

Now I just have to get my portfolio in tip top shape. I'm sure I'll be asked to send off portfolios to each school, so that's going to be my goal for the next two months or so.

I got drunk on my own last night and made chocolate chip and banana pancakes for breakfast this morning. They were delicious!

One Month In...

Again, my apologies. I've been slacking off with my weblog, and I'm sorry.

So January is basically over, and it's been a pretty good month. We haven't had any new snow here in quite a while, so people are getting pretty anxious for the skies to open, but it will come. We can't really complain, though, when we look east to Ontario and Quebec and the winter they've had... I'm just happy to be out there and enjoying the winter weather.

In just over two weeks I'm off to Vancouver to meet my parents who will be flying over for a visit. I'm looking forward to this, and having some time away. The past week or so for me has been, well, interesting. I'm sorry, but I can't really get into it. Again, my apologies.

Some pretty big news here for you all: within the next week I will hopefully have all my school applications in the mail. Awesome, eh? I'm pretty excited to get these done with, so I can focus on my portfolio. For those not in the know, I'm applying for courses in Graphic Design and one in Professional Photography. Good times!

Keep your fingers crossed for me...

Ass-numbingly Cold in BC!

It's been on average -17celcius here for the past week. No call for a break until Thursday at the earliest. Oh, and no new snow for snowboarding in over a week, either. I guess I shouldn't really complain, actually, since Blue Mountain in Ontario recently had to lay-off almost their entire workforce. Ouch.

I'm making plans for a bit of a break in February, as my folks are coming out to Vancouver for a week. I'll be flying out to meet them, visit a couple schools, eat some delicious food, do a little shopping, look at buying a car... You know, the usual.

"Don't take your guns to town, son".

...And three days in...

Happy New Year to you all... wherever you may have celebrated, and with whomever you celebrated, I hope that it was a joyous occassion. Congratulations to everyone for making it through another year, and may the next 365 days (now 362) bring prosperity and happiness to you.

Cheers!

Three days to go!

It's beginning to look a lot like Xmas, wouldn't you say? We just had three cents worth of snow last night, a nice little touch of powdery white stuff. Probably just enough for Santa and his Reindeer to come sliding on all the rooftops.

I was just thinking how nice it would be if there actually was a big round man who traveled the world and stuffed gifts down everyones' chimneys... Wierd, but nice. It would be especially nice for people that aren't with their families, or for people that actually DO need those new socks or package of toothpaste.

Me, well, I'll be working Xmas day. It should be alright, I guess. A little bonus money in my pocket, and bright happy faces all around as they "shoosh" down the hill. I've been invited to a pot luck dinner in the evening, with a secret Santa give away.

You know what I say: Ho, Ho, Ho and a bottle of rum!

I'm a baaaad man...

I've been told that I don't update my weblog frequently enough, so I'm going to try and focus on that a little more. Hopefully I will be able to add more photos, too. I will try for one new photo a week, and see if that pleases the masses (by "masses" I mean the four or five people that actually follow this)...

So the job up at Red Mountain Resort is going well. This past Saturday I had my first shift as a bartender in the Rafters bar, and it was pretty good. I was only there for a couple hours, but by the end of it I felt like I had most of the basics down. I like working in bars, and have worked a couple before, so I'm sure this one won't be any different. Hopefully all the American tourists that come up for weekends are good tippers!

What else? Xmas is coming up thick and fast, and I feel bad because I haven't had a chance to send off my presents to my family yet. I'm sure I'll get them in the mail this week though, no worries...

Right now it's snowing like a biyatch here in Rossland. It's very pretty, but can be hard on the back. Apparently it's meant to snow all night and all day tomorrow... probably another 30cms or so... When it dumps, it damn-well-dumps here!

Have a great day!

Work is such... Work!

But when you've got views like this all around you, somehow it's all worth it...

So far everything is going well, except for this constant pain in my entire body. I think it will be a good winter. Snowboarding is fun and SO relaxing. When I'm out there I'm not thinking of anything else, and it's great. The job itself should be alright, and the people seem pretty nice and very friendly. Everyone is there to have a good time and have a laugh.

More images later!