Regressing

I don't do a lot of volunteering any more.  It's just not feasible between work, work, and actually trying to have some time for myself.  Tonight was an interesting experience, going back into the role of underling.  What makes it even more interesting was getting to watch some of our former volunteers working as team leaders.  While I can't claim much in terms of how they got there, I also can't help but feel a swell of pride that they are doing so well and really representing the program at the Art Institute.  Hopefully more on this tomorrow.  Right now, I've got to go end the night right with a poutine at Fritz =)

Happy Un-Birthday!

What better way to spend a Friday than by celebrating Un-Birthdays around the world?  This all started when my friend Patrick decided to conduct an experiment on Facebook.  Apparently, he read an article that claims many birthday greetings on the site are computer generated, therefore impersonal and disingenuous.  Putting all his online friends to the test, Patrick changed his birthday to today and waited to see what kind of comments would get posted.  Obviously quite a few people posted birthday greetings, but not all of us were fooled.

Apologies for the gigantic photo, but screen shots can be tricky for the inexperienced to display properly.  I'm happy to say that I'm part of the few who got it right =) Either way, there's nothing wrong with basking in a bit of online love, even if you didn't quite deserve it.  A very merry un-birthday to all today - unless of course it is actually your birthday today.  You'll just have to make do with a proper birthday greeting; Happy Birthday!

Scared Silly

Lots of people have irrational fears, myself included. However, what do you do when your fears have the potential to actually come true? There is only so much you can plan and prepare for in this world full of unknowns. I've become a firm believer that if there isn't any fear involved, it's probably not the right choice. Those things that cause you the most anxiety and that you risk the most for usually have the best rewards. The big problem is gathering the courage to take that leap and throw caution to the wind. If anyone figures out the easiest way to do this, feel free to let the rest of us know!

Progress

Life hasn't felt very exciting lately.  Between bi-polar weather, work, people moving away, and more work, the height of summer has been a bit bland.  However, it is a new month and things are picking up around here.  The sun is out for consecutive days, plans are being made, and I'm one step closer to where I want to be =)

It's official - I've just signed a new six month, full time contract with The Finer Details (TFD) as an Event Coordinator!  Working as a contractor during this first year post-graduation has really helped me appreciate the stability of full-time, long-term deals.  The prospect of not finding another contract is pretty scary (and likely!), and the continual job search (especially for those dream jobs you aren't quite qualified for) can really wear you down.

I'm so excited to be contributing to TFD full time and even more stoked to be working on the Ghost Train and Bright Nights projects at Stanley Park!  I'm sure I won't be as excited at the end of October and December after spending most of my time working rainy nights in the park but chances are I'll actually love it more =) 

I know work isn't something you expect people to get so excited about, but when you love what you do, it's not really work is it?  While writing blogs for TFD (and for fun) was a nice step forward, today's contract feels more like a leap than anything else.  Hopefully by the end of the next six months, I'll be ready for another jump forward =)

Summer Planning Update

About a month ago I wrote a post on all the things I'd like to try and do this summer.  Looking back, I would have to say that it was a tad ambitious especially with just a month to go.  Here's an update on what's happened so far and what will have to be trimmed to actually get through this list properly (Notes are in italics, green = done, blue = modified, strikethrough = scrapped):

1. Watch a performance at Bard on the Beach/Theatre Under the Stars
2. Theatre Under the Stars (FYI: these get expensive!)
3. Sailing (The boat and it's Captain have moved away so this will probably have to wait)
4. Bike around Stanley Park
5. Visit every gelato shop in Vancouver =)
6. Watch at least 2 outdoor movies in the parks
7. Watch a movie at the drive in
8. Watch the last Harry Potter!
9. Visit the Island or Washington
10. Visit Washington
11. Watch a Vancouver Canadians/Vancouver Whitecaps/BC Lions game (See note under #2 re: $$)
12. Watch a Vancouver Whitecaps game
13. Watch a BC Lions game
14. Watch at least one concert or show

Just slight adjustments - nothing too extreme...

Ok, I'm obviously lying here since I've now trimmed about half of the original list, but desperate times call for desperate measures!  Although, if we stretch summer to include September (since it took so long to really arrive), I might get through more of the original list than I thought.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see how the rest of the month goes.  Let me know if you want to help me work through some of these activities =)

Low Points

Do you feel bad for this kitty?
It's waiting for you to keep it
company on the blog! =)

It would be foolish to think I could make it through a year of writing without a couple of low points.

Summer readership coupled with lackluster posts was always going to translate into less views.  Truthfully, I'm pretty surprised it took until the end of July (the 29th to be precise) to finally feature a day with zero page views.  To make matters worse (for myself), July also recorded a new low in page views, clocking in with an abysmal 153 views.

Some people might be inclined to presume I'm lying about this being the first day with no views, but anyone who reads regularly knows I'm a bit obsessive compulsive about checking on my blog stats.  Clearly, if I was going to lie about lame stats, I'd pad them so they don't look as pathetic! Oh well, at least the silver lining to this story is that we can only go up (hopefully) from here =)

Melting

Some days are just made for sitting in the sun and doing absolutely nothing. Welcome to my BC Day =)

Obviously with this being a long weekend, the rest of my week will feel out of sorts but it's totally worth it when the week starts with a day like today.

L-O-V-E

It's a simple four letter word but there's nothing simple about it.  Off to watch yet another movie about this particular subject.  Hopefully it will be as good as the previews make it out to be.  I know I've fallen behind with all the reviews but fingers crossed I get a chance to catch up tomorrow!  Happy Long Weekend to all my fellow BCers =)