A to Z

When I see something that makes me stop or hear something that strikes the right chord, I instantly wish I had been blessed with a fraction of that talent.  To be able to capture a perfect moment on film, or evoke emotions from a simple brush stroke, or explain life's mysteries in a verse leaves me in awe. 

I hope you don't view me as egotistical or narcissistic when I say I know I have talents.  Everyone does and they all come into play at different times of our lives.  I can play the piano, follow a recipe while still making it my own, and organize an event like a pro (at least I think I can!).  I used to write questionable stories and poetry and am currently enthralled by antiques and interior design.  However, the prospect of creating for a living is, and I suspect will always be, the ultimate dream.

I can't even begin to count how many times I've talked about this very idea in the blog so far but that's the kick about writing - you can only honestly write what you know.  Do I think I could write something meaningful at the age of 28?  No.  I'm sure I could produce some cookie-cutter fluff about college years or the struggles of the early 20's and finding oneself, but is that what I want to do?  Absolutely not (even though that is the kind of stuff I not-so-secretly love to read). 

What I want to write about are adventures in cities I've never explored, and characters I have yet to meet.  I want to write about not only the selfishness of my 20's, but also the struggle of the 30's, the familiarity of your 40's, the wonder of 50-plus, and the knowledge of all the ages after.  I want to write about love, happiness, heartbreak, tragedy, and everything in between. 

In short, I want to write about the life I have yet to live so I guess what I really want is to go live it.

Simple

Sometimes, the best nights are those I get to spend with a bunch of kids who aren't so little anymore. It's a simple thing to sit and watch a movie together but there's nowhere else I'd rather be =)

Eat Your Heart Out

Dining Out for Life has been raising money for HIV/AIDS care and services for over 16 years in Vancouver.  Tonight saw a record breaking amount of restaurants donating 25% of their food sales to A Loving Spoonful and the Vancouver Friends for Life Society, both of which provide food and services to people living with terminal illnesses such as HIV & AIDS. 

Volunteers, led by The Finer Details crew were scattered around town helping spread the word.  I got to cover Cambie, South Granville, Kits, North Van and West Van which had just over 60 restaurants for me to drop in on in four hours.  Between driving/walking between restaurants and chatting up staff, volunteers, and patrons alike, time was short and my list shrunk down from 40 to 23 at the end of my shift at 9:30.

I closed out the night at Society with some appies, boozy Oreo milkshake, and one perfect jalapeno mac & cheese ball.  If you haven't been, add it to your list! This brings me to 3 minutes to midnight, reaching for something else to say as my brain turns into mush so I'll leave this with me hoping for more days of eating out for good causes =)

EDS

Sometimes coffee isn't enough

If you're like me, you suffer from at least one type of sleep disorder like narcolepsy, insomnia, or apnea.  If you're extremely unlucky (like me), you suffer from all three of the disorders I've already listed.  To clarify, I've never actually been officially diagnosed with any of these because I didn't think it was necessary. 

Insomnia seemed pretty self explanatory and would usually strike during periods of stress and/or increased caffeine intake.  I had short bouts of it in high school and throughout university, with frequency increasing as I slowly reached the end of my academic rope.  These days I'm usually too exhausted to stay up late as evident on Monday when I failed to post.  I passed out after sitting down in bed after working an 11 hour day but I was still ahead in posts so it was all good (as per my agreement) unless someone actually missed having something random to read!

These days, I fall more towards the narcoleptic end of the sleep disorder scale. While this can prove to be even more inconvenient than insomnia, it is also significantly scarier (now that I've actually done some research).  I used to think that narcolepsy meant you could fall asleep anywhere at any time.  Can you see the appeal for someone who suffers from insomnia?  The most common symptoms of narcolepsy (as listed on the PubMed Health website) are:

1) Periods of extreme drowsiness every 3-4 hours during the day - also known as EDS (extreme daytime sleepiness), or sleep attacks (short naps) that can happen at ANY time, occurring most often after eating

2) Dream-like hallucinations during the stage between sleep and wakefulness

3) Sleep paralysis - when you are unable to move when you first wake up or when you first become drowsy

4) Cataplexy - a sudden loss of muscle tone while awake, resulting in the inability to move for less than 30 seconds or as long as several minutes.


This looks cute/funny but what
about passing out while driving?



Freaking out yet?  I did when I realized I have the first two symptoms!  I had to think about the sleep paralysis one because I'm extremely lazy about getting out of bed and do tend to just lay there as my brain slowly wakes up which is a voluntary decision (or so I'm continuing to tell myself).  Aside from drugs that can keep you awake or put you to sleep, there is no cure for sleep disorders.  All you can really do is climb into bed and hope for the best - which is exactly what I'm going to do tonight!

Dreaming

It's been a hot topic in the hockey world over the past couple of days, and I figured it was only a matter of time before I threw down my two cents on the topic.  For those of you who don't follow hockey, one of our top players in Vancouver, Manny Malhotra, has been sidelined with a serious eye injury after being struck in the face by a deflected puck. 

The Vancouver Canucks released a brief statement yesterday to announce that Manny would miss the remainder of the regular season as well as the playoffs.  Obviously everyone's main concern is Manny's health but most people can't help but wonder what this means for the team.  Personally, as much as I am invested in this team and its success, this incident makes me wonder about much more than our chances of getting to the Stanley Cup finals.  It makes me wonder, what happens when you're living out your dream and it's snatched out from under you?

It's difficult to imagine because you never really know how you'll react until you're actually in that situation.  You can only hope you won't pull a Costanza when that defining moment comes.  Would you throw in the towel and give up or would you fight to get it all back?  Other than what I learn through team released interviews, I don't know Manny Malhotra at all.  Nevertheless, I think he'll do whatever it takes to come back from this injury and hopefully get back on the ice one day. 

Promise Me

Yesterday's late night post may have seem cryptic but I assure you that wasn't the intention.  I was simply stating that not all promises are meant to be kept.  Some simply become outdated, while others are just impossible to uphold. 

Personally, if I make a promise, I tend to keep it no matter what.  However, there are some promises I make to myself that my friends take on as a challenge to undermine.  I'm not sure if I love or loath them for this, but it is a fine line so it really just depends on what promise they are trying to ruin.

Promises can create new opportunities, spark adventures, break hearts, and bind people together forever.  Promise me you'll follow through on yours whenever you can.