Bombay Bicycle Club

Heading out tonight to see Bombay Bicycle Club! Yay!

The Devil's On Vacation

The Beast is on vacation from the Hell Mouth, as of today. The Beast is of course, my insane boss, and the Hell Mouth, well, it's been my fond nickname for my place of employment for a long while. Words cannot describe how much less tension there is when she is not around. Her office is directly behind mine, and there is a window. She of course has blinds that she can close any time she chooses, which is never, so pretty much everyday I feel like I'm in a little glass box for her to keep an eye on. Since she's not here, I figured I can find better use for my time than work. (It's really slow today.) It sucks that anybody has to be here today at all, as yesterday was Canada Day (a stat holiday). We have to come in for one day before the weekend. Unless your're the Beast. She's in Shanghai.

I've been having difficulties with being social again. Well, truthfully, it didn't really get any easier, but I was kind of on a roll, you know? It's so easy to just slip back into a loner-rut. My co-worker wanted to do something yesterday for the holiday, but I didn't text her like I said I would, so we didn't do anything. The best part of my day yesterday (other than not being here at work)was going for authentic pizza. Oh my Goddess. It was so delicious. The thin crust, the homemade pizza sauce made with fresh tomatoes, the sizzling and spicy Italian meat. Heaven. I will definately have to eat there again.

Other than that, it was kind of a dud. We didn't take in any of the festivities. Not even the fireworks. Guess I'm just not that patriotic.

Tonight I'm supposed to see a band at my favourite music venue because a co-worker is the drummer. I've tried to obtain something resembling a commitment from my significant other as to what we will do tonight, but he has not given me his answer yet. I don't really feel up to going, but I know if I do not, I will end up having a really boring, guilt-ridden night. Guilt-ridden because, in my head, I will use my writing as an excuse to stay home, (hopefully alone), but in reality I will eat junk food, watch Stargate Atlantis, and possibly end the night early by falling asleep on the couch with my contacts in.

So yeah. Guess I'm going out tonight. Look at that, I just made a decision.

The Social Experiment Continues

The MP3 Experiment was...interesting. Good wholesome family fun. I think it would have been more enjoyable if I had been drunk. Or at least a little tipsy. But I would definitely be interested in doing something like that again. It was this improv group that was involved with the Public Library, in an effort to recruit more patrons I guess. We had Edward the Omnipotent voice on our MP3 players giving us strange instructions. We did it in the Square and it was a lot of pretending to be a statue and shaking hands with strangers and the like. It was funny. It would have been funnier if we had spread out around town so that we could encounter people who had know idea what in the Hell we were doing. But, it was a fun hour or so.

The same person who conned me into the MP3 Experiment, B, has me going paddling with her next week. Can't wait. I know my arms are going to want to fall off afterwards because I am so out of shape. It's not that I'm not trying. It's just the universe always seems to want to mess with me. I get into the working out thing, and then I get sick for two and a half weeks, or my boyfriend's insane family comes to visit and stays forever...then I'm out of my routine and it feels like starting all over again. Speaking of, I'm on Day 2 of starting all over again.

So, on April 26, I went to Band of Skulls. It was amazing. I love these guys. I mean really love them. I may have a girl crush on the bass player. She rocks. Opening for Band of Skulls was Saint Hotel and Silver Starling. Both were pretty great, though I favoured the latter. And it just makes it all the better that they apparently are connected to Arcade Fire. Yay! I love Arcade Fire. According to the paper, "Frontman Marcus Paquin engineered and mastered albums for the band, and his wife, Marika Anthony-Shaw — Silver Starling’s keyboardist/violinist — played viola on Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible tour." I had so much fun that night. I was a little worried my mood wouldn't make way for the awesomeness that is Band of Skulls, but by the second opening act, my mood had greatly improved, and by the time BOS got on stage, I was all smiles. Literally. I couldn't remove the giant grin from my face. I was pretty giddy. Too bad for me it was a Monday. Work the next day was Hell.

Next on the Social Experiment agenda:Paddling with B on Tuesday, then my friend from university days is coming to town and staying with me for a couple of days starting Thursday. I hope to drag her to an event on Friday, called Funky vs Fresh, as someone I use to work with is going to be playing there with his band.

Book Update: I have made a little more progress on my second draft. I am now on page 53. Out of 318 pages.

Check out Silver Starling, my title links to "Ghosts".

The Social Experiment

Today I puked just before leaving for work. I decided to call in and say I'm not feeling well just in case it happens again. So here I am at home, making playlists that remind me of my story and writing. The title of the blog links to my latest playlist.

I am happy to say that the last couple of days I have been working on the second draft of my book. The down side is, I'm on page 16 out of 318 pages, and it took me hours to get that far. Oh well, at least I feel like I'm making progress. I decided to work on the stuff that doesn't stress me out and overwhelm me first. Then at least it will be more coherent before I start really dissecting it.

On Friday I went to my sorta friend's place and stayed the night there with her and her four year old son. I was worried that it would feel really awkward because we have only hung out once and it was because we had a mutual friend who came to visit from Toronto. But it actually wasn't that bad. I'm not really that comfortable around kids, so I was also worried about that, but this little guy was such a charmer. It was a relaxing time. I came over after work and supper was ready for me. We had a pasta and vegan sausage. We went for a walk and went out for ice cream then we watched Dr. Horrible because I'm obsessed and will eventually be able recite the entire three acts. We had a couple of glasses of red wine and discussed how crazy we are. In the morning she made organic vegan orange poppy-seed pancakes with sunflower seeds. Yum. We went for a long walk and then I was on my way home.

On Saturday we had a friend and his daughter over for supper. It was the first time we lit up the BBQ this year. Nothing is better than the smell of BBQ. I love it. It's funny, I think it probably has the same effect on a lot of people. Like everyone has at least one happy memory associated with a barbecue, and this feeling is conjured whenever we smell sizzling meat. I find it comforting.

This upcoming Friday I am taking part in something called the MP3 Experiment. Should be a good time. I heard it was something that started in New York? Basically, everyone involved downloads an MP3 off this website and we're not allowed to listen to it until a certain time on Friday. Then in a public place at a specific time, everyone listens to the MP3 with earphones and has to do whatever it says. Should be pretty funny. The co-worker I took to see Matthew Barber sucked me into it. She's always involved in these funny little projects. It's my first time.

So that's where I'm at right now. Still taking part in the social experiment. Trying to spend time with actual humans, trying to have fun, trying to make some sort of progress. Not sure what to think of it all right now.

I'm going to do some editing on my book, and then if I'm feeling better I will go to work. I swear it. Seriously.