2010 - Best. Year. Ever.

New Year's Eve –noun
[noo yeers eev]
1. the night of December 31, often celebrated with merrymaking to usher in the new year at midnight

From volunteering at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, to seeing many great shows and music festivals, as well as inventing a new music festival device and becoming a member of the Canadian Ski Patrol, 2010 has easily been the Best. Year. Ever.

Sure there were a few lows along the way, but the highs have definitely outweighed any lows that I have encountered. I've become a better and stronger person and will be able to tackle any challenges that present themselves in 2011 with confidence and clarity.

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's Eve and are happy and content with the outcome of 2010. Just remember, things are never as bad as they seem. Patience and persistence will see you through any challenge.

For myself the New Year will be a year of some pretty big changes and as apprehensive as I may be I'm still excited to see where this new adventure will take me.

Cheers!

Chasing Distractions' Bucket List

buck·et list –noun
[buhk-it list]
1. a series of things you would like to accomplish before you die. Comes from the term "kicked the bucket".

I recently stumbled across a show on MTV that is about four young guys travelling around North America ticking off things on their Bucket List. The show is called the Buried Life and is produced my MTV. I didn't watch the entire episode, but I did take the time to look them up on the internet. Here is what Wikipedia had to say about the show:

The series focuses on four friends (Ben, Jonnie, Duncan, and Dave) as they travel across North America in a purple transit bus they named "Penelope" to complete a list of "100 things to do before you die." For every item they try to complete on their list, they help a stranger achieve one of their dreams and encourage others to go after their own lists. Everywhere they go they ask the question: "What do you want to do before you die?"

I'm not sure I can come up with '100 things to do before I die' right now, but I thought I would start my list anyway. In no particular order here it is:

1. Adopt a puppy
2. Become fluent in at least one other language
3. Build a house
4. Build an igloo
5. Discover Nunavut
6. Discover an underwater shipwreck
7. Do a tour of the Galapagos Islands
8. Do an over night horse back riding adventure
9. Do Chuck Palahniuk's tour of Portland, Oregon, visiting sites from his novel Fugitives and Refugees
10. Experience Manitoba  - check! - (Sept. 2011)
11. Explore the Northwest Territories
12. Go white water kayaking - check! - (June 2011)
13. Get married
14. Go whale watching
15. Grow my own food
16. Hike up to Machu-Picchu
17. Learn to fly a helicopter
18. Learn to play guitar
19. Learn to play the trumpet
20. Learn to scuba dive
21. Learn to sing
22. Learn to surf
23. Live with a local nomadic family in Mongolia for at least one season
24. Live in Thailand for at least 1 year
25. Live in a cabin in the woods
26. Make babies
27. Pay off my debt - check! - (Back In Black! Jan. 2013)
28. Perform a song in front of a live audience live - check! (well if karaoke counts that is)
29. Rent a really fast car and drive across the desert
30. Survive a zombie apocalypse
31. Swim with the dolphins
32. Take a ride in a hot air balloon
33. Take an adventure in the Yukon
34. Travel around Saskatchewan - check! - (Sept. 2011)
35. Travel into space
36. Visit Newfoundland
37. Visit Iceland and swim in the Blue Lagoon
38. Volunteer my services to impoverished areas
39. Walk along the Great Wall of China
40. Win big in the lottery
41. Work on a fishing boat for at least one day
42. Write a novel and have it published
43. Write a song
44. Act in a commercial
45. Be an extra in a movie - check! (Ming - 2012)
46. Drive across the country - check! (Ottawa to PEI 2008 & Ottawa to Victoria, BC 2011)

Well 46 things to do before I die isn't a bad start, and since I plan on living forever I guess I'll have time to add to the list.

What are some of the things that are on your list?

Where'd ya go CD?

MIA -noun
[ěm'ī-ā']
1. A member of the armed services who is reported missing following a combat mission and whose status as to injury, capture, or death is unknown

So I've been away for some time, neglecting this poor blog, for that I do apologize to both you Dear Reader and to you poor blog.

So lets play some catch up shall we?

Around mid April I was given notice that my contract would be ending on May 31st, it's been two whole weeks now that I've been underemployed, and a whole month since I have gotten a pay cheque. For a guy that unfortunately lives hand to mouth, this friends is not a good situation to be in. On the plus side I have managed to get a couple of writing jobs and am still slowly working on my Freelance Writer website.

On May 1st I headed back to Golden BC for a few weeks to visit with the most amazing girl. It was a bittersweet visit however, as I do not think I will ever get a chance to see her again.

After that I came back to Capital City for a week, then headed off to the Muskoka's to hang out at a cottage and clear my mind. I did some visiting back in Hometown and returned once again to Capital City. In my downtime, while looking for some means of gainful employment I put together a little blog network, which I have called My Big List Of Blogs. I'm not sure what I am going to do with it, but hopefully I'll get a little traffic and gain some much needed income with this pet project of mine.

So where does Chasing Distractions go from here?

I should be putting my efforts into finding some work, getting my life back together, but my ever-muddled mind still has the urge to chase distractions. Lately I've been focusing that energy on entering contests, you all know how I love winning stuff. Yesterday I won a ride in the Bluesfest limo, got treated to a Subway lunch and was handed 4 day passes for the festival. Today I put my efforts into winning some NXNE passes, but sadly I didn't win. But never fear Dear Reader, this story does have a happy ending, fellow CBC Radio3 blogger MoniSki graciously offered me one of her own NXNE passes. How awesome is that?

On Thursday morning I plan on taking what little funds I have, jumping into my Granpa mobile and heading down to the Big Smoke for one last weekend of music and excitement. Maybe I'll even run into The Details again.

Oh speaking of The Details, in an old post I mentioned testing out recording audio with my digital handheld recorder, it worked and the quality was much better. So I'll leave you with a video from that show back in March.




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I'm Back!

re·al·i·ty –noun
[ree-al-i-tee]
1.the state or quality of being real

After a month away I am now back in Capital City. I spent the last four weeks or so in beautiful British Columbia.

Where I went to volunteer at the 2010 Winter Olympics with the aerial crew.

And got to see some great sites in and around Vancouver.

Including going to see a couple of great shows, like:
Elliott Brood


and We Were Promised Jetpacks.


I also got a chance to do a little snowboarding at Whistler and Kicking Horse.

Where I met the most amazing girl.

And got to see her band, Jiva Tree, perform.


Over breakfast I realized where I want to spend the rest of my days.

But for now it's back to reality, back to my one room apartment and my work from home job. Back to trying to make ends meat and remain sane and happy all at the same time.

One thing I'm going to take from my trip is that I am going to attempt to bring a little bit of that Vacation Persona that we all have into my everyday life.

I'm going to get out more and try new things.
I'm not going to be afraid to talk to strangers anymore.
I'm pretty much going to go against everything I ever learned as a kid, except maybe that whole look both ways before you cross the street thing, that could still prove to be important.

My first step in this 'New Me' transformation is to upgrade to a Big Boy Bed, and from there the sky is the limit.


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Chasing Distractions Turns 1!

birth⋅day –noun
[burth-dey]
1. a day marking or commemorating the origin, founding, or beginning of something

Well it is official, I have been writing this blog for over a year now, off and on of course. The year began off on a bad note; I was suffering from a case of depression or some sort of quarter/mid-life crisis. I had just turned 30, broke up with my girlfriend, cut myself off from friends and family and suffered from a bad case of insomnia. It took awhile but I clawed myself back from the brink with the help of many distractions.

Now a year later I’m not sure much has changed. I’m still lonely, I’m still broke, but I have learned something from this all, and that is I get everything I ever want. And I mean everything. All I have to do is ask for it and the universe provides, from careers, to friends to girls to trips and prizes and all the highs and lows that come with it all. I have asked for all of it. The question then remains, why I am I still unhappy sometimes?

Originally I set out to write this post explaining that this blog had a good run, but I’m generally happy now and I have nothing to complain about anymore. Because really, that’s what blogging is all about right? Complaining?

I don't know, maybe I'll just stick around for a little longer.

If you’d like to give Chasing Distractions a birthday present, why not leave some comments, promote my Help Me Volunteer At The Olympics post, or simply donate to my ‘Get Me To The Olympics’ fund.



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Barney’s Version – The Novel

ur⋅ban leg⋅end –noun
[ur-buhn lej-uhnd]
1. a modern story of obscure origin and with little or no supporting evidence that spreads spontaneously in varying forms and often has elements of humour, moralizing, or horror
A few weeks ago I finished reading a humorous, yet somewhat sad tale called Barney’s Version, written by Canadian author Mordeecai Richler.

In a response to a book of memoirs, written by his sworn enemy Terry McIver, protagonist Barney Panofsky decides to give the true version of his life, as McIver’s memoirs paint Panofsky in a very bad light. Panofsky, an old man, recants his time spent in Paris as a young man, how he became a widow, divorced twice, the father of three children, a television producer in Quebec and the suspected murderer of his best friend. Throughout the novel the reoccurring themes are dealing with loss, with guilt, loneliness and the ability a person has to rewrite their memories as to make them more bearable.

The moment I read the last word I scribbled down this note:

Barney’s Version makes me flash forward on my own life, I don’t want to grow old alone

To date I continue my ever-lasting battle with loneliness and each day that goes by I get a little older and a little more certain that this funk is here to stay. In just six short days I will be the ripe old age of 31 and since I started writing this blog nothing has changed for me. I’m still alone. I’m still broke. And I’m still…

Next on the list Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller.



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Gray Days Make Me Feel Blue

im⋅pul⋅sive –adjective
[im-puhl-siv]
1. actuated or swayed by emotional or involuntary impulses
These overcast gray days always make me feel blue. I can’t help but look at my life on these days and feel sorry for myself. I guess I need more vitamin D.

Speaking of gray, the other day I found not one, but three gray hairs. It’s a sad state of affairs when you realize you are getting old and there is nothing you can do about it…

It is these type of days I mourn for my wasted life – being broke, lonely, and growing older by the minute I decided to give online dating one more shot.

This time things went well. Maybe it was luck of the draw, my slimmed down profile, or new profile picture, who knows, but I received many more contacts than I did before, from people that actually seemed pretty decent too.

I started a 2-week long correspondence via email with one of the people I connected with and a few days ago we met up for a date. In my mind it went well. Great conversation and laughs, I felt I was just charming enough and that there was some chemistry between us, but in the end I was wrong.

Maybe I blew the ending by not sealing the deal with a goodnight kiss, I didn’t want to be presumptuous, I am a gentleman after all. Or it could have been the text messages I sent not 10 minutes after the date stating what a good time I had. It might also have had something to do with me adding her to Facebook the next day, (she never did accept my friend request) whatever it was I never heard from her again.

What can I say, I’m impulsive, and in her I saw everything I wanted in a relationship. Came on too strong, or just not right for the dating world?

Whatever it is I better figure it out soon because I’m getting tired of doing everything alone and pretending to myself that everything is going to be okay. It’s exhausting.



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The Folly With Facebook

ad⋅dic⋅tion –noun
[uh-dik-shuhn]
1. the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma
Other than the most notable problems, those concerning privacy issues especially in Canada, Facebook has become to be known as the root of all evil. There are stories of people being fired, not landing a job, students getting expelled from school, and relationships ending in ruin all because of Facebook.

Before social networking websites the only times these things could happen is if someone close to you, whether it be your co-workers, your references, your teachers of your friends and family dropped the ball and put your character in a bad light. Now anyone can tag you in an embarrassing photo, video or note for the world to see.

Granted there are steps you can take to protect yourself, and many of the potential problems can be avoided if you use social networking responsibly. However this is a relatively new technology and the problems have never had to be dealt with before. Many people will require some education on how to responsibly use social networking. Especially the younger people, it’s scary for me to think that they will be the first generation where their entire life is documented digitally, never to be permanently erased.

Thankfully for myself, my highschool years are comprised of a few memories in people’s heads and a couple of pictures, most of which have been lost or destroyed.

For my own experience with Facebook I found it had become an obsession. Working from home, alone, I have been cut off from any type of social interaction. Facebook filled that void. But when my habit became checking the News Page every 20 minutes I knew I was addicted. I kicked the habit cold turkey in the winter of 2008. And like any addiction I actually went through withdrawal.

After a few months of being Facebook free I went back to that monkey and placed him on my back. It’s been 2 months now, sensibly using. I think this time I might have it beat.

Hmm, I wonder if anyone has written anything new on my Wall…

For more reading on the Folly of Facebook check out the top 10 reasons why Facebook is Evil.



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NxNE – Day 5

de⋅feat –verb
[di-feet]
1. to eliminate or deprive of something expected
The Boat cruise took a lot out of me, so after getting up and eating some garbage food from McDonalds, I decided to blow off the last day of NxNE and make the long drive back to Capital City. Three out of Five is not bad, right?

We'll see if I can do any better on my home turf when the 12 days of Bluesfest comes along in July. Wish me luck.



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The Big Boy Bed

sin⋅gle bed –noun
[sing-guhl bed]
1. a bed for one occupant

Since I was about 19 years old I have been rocking the single bed – in fact it is the same bed I had in college – my grandparents bought it for me in my second year when I moved into an apartment. For 11 years I’ve slept on this narrow bed, which as of late has grown uncomfortable with its springs that have now become sprung. Yet, financial issues aside, I can’t bring myself to upgrade just yet. It’s not a form of nostalgic attachment to some lost love, or a gift from my grandparents. It just seems to suit me, single bed, single me.

I’ve taken quite the ribbing from many people when they find out that I still have a single bed. Friends usually shake their head and tell me it’s time for me to buy a ‘Big Boy Bed’ or ask “How can you even bring a girl home?” or some variation of that question. Although sleeping can sometimes be difficult, I like the closeness my single bed affords, and the limited space has also been know to inspire creativity wink-wink, nudge-nudge.

Besides, I take solace in knowing that there was probably only one other guy in the whole world that didn't mind having a single bed:

”I wanna love you every day and every night:
We'll be together with a roof right over our heads;
We'll share the shelter of my single bed; “



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Foot In Mouth Disease

blun⋅der –verb
[bluhn-der]
1. to make a gross or stupid mistake, esp. through carelessness or mental confusion

"You can't even open your mouth without putting your foot in it."
I recently went on a first date – it was my first first date in a very long time, so I was a little out of practice. My last few relationships I completely bypassed the uncomfortable dating portion and got right to the fun stuff, which could very well have been my downfall. Here are four samples of the conversation on my recent date:

Me: “So, are you originally from Capital City? Do you have family here?”
Her: “Yes I am, in fact that is why I moved back, my Dad is very sick…”
Me: “Oh…?”
Her: “Yeah he has cancer and is on chemo right now.”
Me (thinking): ‘Looks like I won’t go out for that smoke’

Me: “Do you have any siblings?”
Her: “Yeah, well I did. I had a younger brother who died a few years ago,”
Me: “I’m sorry…”

Me (speaking about driving long distances): “It was such a long drive, and I was exhausted. I got to the point where I was like hallucinating and struggling to stay awake. So I was going to get a motel for the night and realized I was only 50km from Capital City, so I kept going.”
Her: “I’m the same way on long drives, so I try to break them up so it doesn’t happen to me. I should know better you know, after all my brother did die in a car accident.”
Me (thinking): ‘Of course he did.’

Me (speaking about getting older): “I found my 30th birthday was really hard to except. I was at my Nana’s and when they brought the cake out with that flaming 3-0 on it I thought ‘If I blow these out it makes it real’.”
Her: “I didn’t find 30 that bad. 25 was the big one for me.”
Me: “Really?”
Her: “Yeah, 25 was definitely the hardest one.”
Me: “That’s funny, a friend of mine always reminds me that when I was younger I used to say by the time you’re 25 you are pretty much dead anyway.”
Her: “Yeah, my brother died when he was 24.”
Me (thinking): ‘Of course he did, of course he did’

I guess first dates are like interviews. The more you have, the better you get at them. I’ll just have to see a doctor about this case of Foot In Mouth Disease I have.

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Life Can Sometimes Be Exhausting

mel⋅an⋅chol⋅y –noun
[mel-uhn-kol-ee]
1. a gloomy state of mind, esp. when habitual or prolonged; depression
2. sober thoughtfulness; pensiveness

Like many stories in my life, today’s reflection involves a girl; well in fact it is a build up of a series of events, all of which involve a girl. Without getting into all of the events in this post, as I hope to share the stories at a later date, today I have discovered one thing about myself – I love to be loved.

I am beginning to think that the many years I have spent alone have not been good for me. As David Leavitt writes in his story ‘Chips is Here’ from his collections of short stories ‘A Place I’ve Never Been’ his character remarks, “I am a pathetic and desperate man”.

I like the idea of someone liking me, and without being able to control it I will fully pursue a relationship with that person, even if my better instinct or gut judgement tell me otherwise. This latest fiasco lasted a total of 11 days, from initial attraction to final realization of my true feelings – if anything I guess I am getting better at it.

Either way, life can sometimes be exhausting.



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How To Be Lame In Ottawa

bor⋅ing –adjective
[bawr-ing, bohr-]
1. causing or marked by boredom

Over the last three weeks I have had three different friends from Hometown come visit, staying from six days to a weekend. I’ve now been living in Capital City for just under five years and you don’t realize how lame your life can be until you have someone come visit and you are expected to be their tour guide. It’s at the point when you are thinking of what to do with your guest that you realize `Hey I don’t really do anything, I’m pretty lame`.

Last night, around dusk, to chase away the ghosts I went for a long walk, which ended up being around ten kilometres. I would normally cross over the Rideau River and head towards the Market and stroll around, but last night I decided to walk along the Rideau River path, something I have never done in all the `just under five years` that I have been living here. It was very peaceful, away from the bulk of the traffic, listening to the sounds of trickling water and songs of different types of birds. I even stumbled upon some sort of ceremonial aboriginal dance. I wanted to stop and have a look but felt like I would be intruding.

On my three hour walk around parts of Capital City that I was just discovering for the first time, I took some time to reflect on the last five years of my life, specifically here in Ottawa. Understanding my lameness, I realized I could sum up my whole experience here in ten occurrences or less. So here it goes:


The TopOnly Ten Things I Have Experienced In Ottawa

1. When I first moved to Capital City I was a driving instructor, in fact that is the reason I moved here, I was transferred. The job only lasted eight months before I was laid off, but if anything I got to learn the city streets pretty well and hopefully taught a handful of kids how to drive safely.
2. The first two weeks that I was living here I walked around downtown and in the Market alone, going to bars and pubs by myself to check out the nightlife. On my very first outing I met a girl, and proceeded to never call her again. I thought to myself `Wow, if it’s this easy to meet girls…` Don’t worry karma taught me a lesson, and I didn’t meet another girl for 8 months, around the same time I lost my job, where in quick succession I met three girls and they all returned the favour by never calling me again.
3. At this point, an ex-girlfriend came back into my life for a brief period of time. When she would come to visit we would do some tourist type activities. We took a boat tour of the Ottawa River, we saw the Pompeii exhibit at the Museum of Civilizations, and took a walking tour around Parliament. I also took the Parliament tour twice, once with my Uncle who works in Centre Block and the latest time when a Hometown friend came to visit for six days.
4. After being a retired driving instructor for a few months I soon accepted a contract to work with the Ottawa Chamber Music Society and got a chance hear a lot of really amazing live classical music in many of the churches around Capital City. I also met the Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean at one event. It was my responsibility to send out the letter to ask her to take part in our Christmas concert, where we wanted her to narrate the story of the Nutcracker. It was this contract that inevitably led me to my current line of work.
5. After my contract was up I took a job with a popular courier company, worked part-time at a local pub and started my foray into the world of freelance writing. If you haven’t noticed yet, other than the occasional night out at the bars, and the brief time I spent as a tourist with an ex-girlfriend I haven’t really done much in the terms of seeing anything in Ottawa. The last five will be pretty short.
6. I’ve been zip lining – although it is on the Quebec side.
7. I’ve been to one Ottawa Senators hockey game.
8. I’ve been to a handful of indie rock concerts and two Bluesfest.
9. I’ve hiked Gatineau Park approximately five times, two of them being on the most recent visits from Hometown friends. Again on the Quebec side, so I’m not sure if it counts.
10. For two and half hours I went snowboarding at Camp Fortune… once.

That about sums up my past five years in Capital City, other than dining out at some really good (and some really bad) restaurants, spending numerous times in the pubs and clubs, and attending the occasional BBQ, house or cottage party, that’s about it.

This my friends, is How To Be Lame In Ottawa.






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The Tree

hope –noun
[hohp]
1. the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best

A picture I took in Costa Rica

When my Uncle was a young boy, around eight or nine years old, he came home one day with an average looking branch. My Nana asked what he was going to do with it, his plan, to plant it in the backyard and grow a tree. Well sure enough that branch did grow into a huge tree, big enough that the roots ended up causing some damage to the foundation years later.

Now is he just born with a green thumb, or was it a child’s hope that turned a branch into a tree?
I’ve decided to take on a project and turn an unused portion of my backyard into a summer oasis where I can do my work. So far all I have done is clean the garden area and already there are tulips and some other sort of plants flourishing.

Here’s to hoping that the green thumb is a genetic trait.

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The Weekend Dad

tra⋅di⋅tion –noun
[truh-dish-uhn]
1. a long-established or inherited way of thinking or acting
2. a customary or characteristic method or manner
I went to the local diner this morning for breakfast. Usually I enter to find like-minded individuals seeking a simple greasy breakfast to soak up the previous evenings beverages. This morning however I was three to four hours earlier then the regular afternoon brunch crowd, so upon entering I found a whole new group of individuals sitting in the cracked vinyl booths and keeping vigil on the old time chrome stools that surround the Formica counter. Early Sunday morning is apparently the time for the Weekend Dad to take his kids to breakfast.

Seeing all these groups of fathers with their younger children took me back to my weekends growing up. The weekend Dad is a predicable creature. He follows a similar pattern that has somehow been passed down through generations of weekend Dads. The Weekend Dad can be found taking his young children to a greasy spoon diner for breakfast, followed by a trip to a barbershop and maybe a stop over at the ice-cream shop before it is time to go back to weekday Mom’s house. There must be some club where the rules are discussed, guidelines are outlined and agendas are drawn up.

God forbid I ever become a Weekend Dad, (or a Dad for that matter) but if I ever do I am breaking the mould. I’m setting up some new routines. Although when I think of my Dad the memories that first come to mind are the weekend breakfasts, getting my haircut alongside him and going for an ice cream on a Sunday afternoon. In fact many years later, at the age of three decades, I still enjoy doing those things with my Dad… so maybe the traditions should remain the same after all.






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Making Ends Meat

con⋅fu⋅sion –noun
[kuhn-fyoo-zhuhn]
1. the act of confusing
2. the state of being confused
When I was younger my Nana was trying to explain to me that sometimes in life it is hard to make ends meet. My young, very literal mind imagined this dish, much like a meatloaf or some kind of tasty Christmas cake - at the time I think I thought about mincemeat, something I had also heard about but never had the chance of tasting. I found myself wishing we were a little poorer at the time so I could have the benefit of trying this Ends Meat I heard so much about.

I am not sure how long it took me to figure out that Ends Meat was not a tasty dish for the poor, but in fact was a phrase about struggling to survive. In fact as I grew older and learned how hard it can be to make ends meet sometimes, I found it is not very often that one can afford to eat meat, in any form, either the end or the middle.

In ways I am still a very literal person – I was that kid after all who thought, for more years than I wish to admit, that a Dump Truck was called a Dumb Truck. Even after being lambasted by childhood friends for calling their toy truck dumb, it still took awhile for me to clue in to the proper name.

If you have ever spoken to me in person, you may have noticed that some of the words or phrases that come out of my mouth make no sense. I am probably just confused, and may have been for sometime. So please, do me a favour, correct my vocabulary, trust me, I will not mind.







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A Complete History of My Sexual Failures – The Documentary

re⋅al⋅i⋅za⋅tion –noun
[ree-uh-luh-zey-shuhn]
1. the act of realizing or the state of being realized
2. an instance or result of realizing
After a rash of failures and too many late nights I decided to spend the afternoon in bed watching movies and generally feeling sorry for my hopelessness when it comes to the dating scene. Thankfully I found a kindred spirit in Chris Waitt and his documentary A Complete History of My Sexual Failures.

Of course the title immediately caught my eye, frankly how couldn’t it, and within 89 minutes I was given a view, of what could essentially be my life, into the life a love loser.

After his most recent break-up, Waitt goes on a quest to interview all his past girlfriends, of which, as he reports, they have all dumped him for one reason or another. Along the way he experiments with Viagara and S&M, trying to understand what’s wrong with himself, why he is flawed when it comes to relationships.

If you are failing in the dating game, this may not be a bad approach. Contact all your ex’s, well the ones that will talk to you anyway, and find out your flaws. Get some constructive criticism, and work on your weaknesses.
Or just keep making the same old mistakes.

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The Chameleon

mul⋅ti⋅fac⋅et⋅ed –adjective
[muhl-tee-fas-i-tid]
1. having many facets
2. having many aspects or phases
I am pretty sure no one I really know reads this blog (excluding the African Accent), in fact I am surprised anyone actually reads it, but I am once again feeling reflective and thought I would share my thoughts.

A chameleon has the ability to change colour and blend in with their surroundings. To use the word as a descriptive word for humans, I think a chameleon has the ability to blend in with their social surroundings. In short, taking on the personality that fits the moment.

I myself feel I have chameleon qualities. I am not going to get into the whats, whens, wheres and hows, but leave you with this – I feel for my fellow human beings, and will, if the need arises, adapt myself to the situation where a perceived outcome is attainable by said fellow human beings.

To make myself more understandable, if I feel you need some help to obtain a social goal, I will adapt a personification, which leads you to that goal. As every person is different, and is motivated in different ways, I am truly a chameleon in which I will become that personality that stimulates you into action.

So not to ruin the magic, if you know me personally, but my attitude may just be adjusted because I am helping you to achieve your goal. Don’t take my personality to heart, as I said, I am a chameleon and can wear many guises.
The true me, well I am not really sure who that is yet, but this blog helps to give me a little understanding into my own mind.



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Things I'm Not Going To Do

jinx –verb
[jingks]
1. to bring bad luck to; place a jinx on
2. to destroy the point of Without fail, whenever I mention something that I am planning to do in the near future, whether it is in the next few hours, days, weeks, months or even a year, it never comes to fruition.

I am becoming superstitious to a point where I no longer want to talk about any upcoming plans. Case in point, the last two weekends I mentioned my plans to someone, they fell apart. The only time things ever seem to happen is when the discussion occurs only with the group that is involved.

Here are some recent things that I have talked about doing, which if the trend is correct, should never come to fruition:

• Apply for a yearlong holiday work visa for Australia


• Volunteering for the 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver


• Going to Portland, Oregon for a two-week vacation


• Visiting Iceland


• Travelling around Newfoundland & Labrador this summer

Anytime something falls apart I become very despondent. It’s a feeling of never being able to win. As if some greater force wants to ruin anything I set out to do. But I think I have finally figured it out. The greater force only becomes informed when I start talking about my plans to people. So therefore, logically all I have to do is stop talking about my plans, and everything should fall into place.

Well I’m up early, so today I’m going to… oh wait a minute, nevermind.

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Earth Hour

for⋅get –verb
[fer-get]
1. to cease or fail to remember; be unable to recall

Yesterday was a whirlwind of activities, from getting lost in the woods, having drinks on the roof of a high-rise and sitting around a fire cooking sausages and hotdogs. Amongst many beverages I completely forgot about Earth Hour. I guess there is always next year...

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