Surreality

There are certain moments in one's life that are memorable because of their symbolism, the physicality they bring to aging.

Getting your driver's license. Drinking your first beer (legally...). Moving out.

And now, signing the lease to your first apartment.

That last one just happened to me this past week, and I couldn't be more excited. I'm jumping in sight-unseen, aside from the photos provided by the current tenants, but I have zero anxiety. Only excitement. The place is basically everything I ever dreamed of: bright rooms, modern finishes, a touch of old Montreal flair, close to amenities, and in a gentrifying ethnic neighbourhood.

I could go on an on about this apartment despite having never set foot in it! And that lends a bit of surreality* to this whole thing. It's weird to think, and even more weird to say, that I have an apartment. "My apartment in Montreal." I've never even been to that city! How can I have a slice of real estate there?

Suffice to say, now that I have a place locked down, I'm no longer obsessively checking the "For Rent" sections of Kijiji and Craihslist. I've moved on to the IKEA website, furniture listings, and McGill's "Free and For Sale" page.

This could get dangerous.

*Yes, "surreality" is a word. It comes from the French surréalité. Which is fitting.

photo from the original apartment listing on Kijiji

Momentous Occasions are Momentous

I bring tidings of great joy, and I come bearing gifts! No, it's not Christmas all over again (although there's still snow on the ground in Banff), it's the return of my blog!

Well, sort of.

I won't promise on making regular posts again, but so much has happened in the last little while that an appearance became necessary. We're gonna do this in numbered format to make things more interesting and easy to follow, savvy?

1. I've been accepted to McGill University's Urban Planning programme for 2013! I'll be moving to Montreal at the end of August, where I'll be living for about two years. After that I want to head back to British Columbia, but two years ago I would have laughed at you had you told me I'd be living in Banff in the near future, so we'll see what happens.

2. I actually finished something accomplished a predetermined goal on Protagonize! Over the last few days I've posted both a new chapter and the epilogue to the rough draft of my story Red King Chronicles. It is by no means a finished story, though, hence I amended my above statement to say I reached a goal. Close to the beginning of the year I decided that I needed to do a complete rewrite of the story: new intro, new back story for Jason, new sequence of events, new a lot of things. However, I told myself that I wouldn't start the editing process until after I brought the current draft full circle to the prologue. I have now done that and am looking for critique. So, have at 'er!

3. After a year and a half of collection dust, there's finally a new chapter in Elsie! I had to reread the entire story myself before continuing on, but my the fires of my inspiration have been stoked. I drafted a chapter outline for the latest chapter and the following chapter, possibly two following chapters. I've got the conflict sorted out, so now I just need to figure out how to resolve said conflict and eventually bring the story to a close. I'm being optimistic about this one, for once.

4. Caramel Tim Tams were in stock at the grocery store so I'm doing Caramel Tim Tam Slams! Be excited for me.

5. I still feel that lists should contain multiples of five, so...

And that's all!

photo by me

2012, a Year in Review

January put me back in Kelowna for my final semester at the University of British Columbia. Within a few days I was experiencing a temperature difference of 50 degrees Celsius compared to Singapore, but it was good to be back among old friends.

In February I rediscovered the joy of being a coffee shop regular. Out here in Banff you can often find me in Starbucks, but back in Kelowna I staked out the Blenz downtown a few times every week. I would write papers there, chapters for Protagonize, meet up with friends, and sometimes just pop in to say Hi to the baristas I knew. Seriously.

With the arrival of "spring" in March, I did some online cleaning. This blog was completely redone, as was my Tumblr. Since then I've changed the background of my blog again, and have made even more changes to my Tumblr account. I now run two "tumblogs:" one of random things that catch my interest, and the other full of quotes and pictures of cities. Check it out!

In April I finished my time with UBC Okanagan and prepared to go a year without school. So far, so good, but I must say I miss the university life. To give you a taste of what I enjoyed in Kelowna, I shared a video promoting UBC Okanagan.

May proved that summer starts early in the Okanagan, Canada's only desert. I made my first summer playlist of 2012 and let you in on one of the musicians who made plenty of appearances on that list. Writing this now, in the winter, I long for another summer playlist but know that only wintery music can satisfy me. I'm an odd one like that.

I turned 23 in June and celebrated on the Island with a Janelle Monae concert, visit to the petting zoo, and gallivanting about Vancouver. I also found out I'd be writing bi-monthly blog posts for the Grid, which kept me engaged with urban issues in Kelowna. It was a tentative application, but in hindsight I'm very glad to have participated in that internship.

In July I was more than happy to enjoy my first summer in the Okanagan. Kelowna is a beach town, so I spent quite a bit of time at the edge of the water. I played beach volleyball, walked the boardwalk, fell asleep on the warm sand, and probably ate too much ice cream.

On impulse, I decided to move to Banff in August. I quickly fell in love with the mountain setting, and I'm still awed daily by the sight of Mt Rundle and Cascade Mountain. Everything has worked out well for me since arriving: I have good room mates and cheap rent, a well paid job I enjoy, a volunteer position with the Town of Banff, and all the fresh mountain air I could ever need. I know that I'm only going to be spending a year in Banff, but I know that I'll miss it once I leave.

September brought a small, but meaningful, milestone. I received my first ever public library card! Since September I've taken out a few books to read, some CDs, a Japanese film adaptation of "King Lear," and some books for story research. Yup, I definitely enjoy having a library card!

In October I became a little bit more Canadian by learning to curl. It's definitely a lot more fun to do than to watch, though I never got a chance to sweep. Unfortunately I haven't had a second try in the hacks since then, but I've continued to add winter achievements to my Canada resume.

In November I hitched a ride with a friend all the way to Calgary to see "Skyfall" in IMAX 3D. Yes, this is enough of an event to merit a post in my Year in Review.

I stopped blogging completely in December, with the exception of a single Music Monday post at the end of the year. However, I didn't blog because I was doing too much to sit down and write about it! I work retail, so everything was a lead up to Christmas. Luckily, I was able to nab a few days off before the big event to go snowshoeing with some friends. We staying in a log hut overnight, had steak for dinner, played lots of UNO. It was a good time!

And that's it for my Year in Review. 'Twas a good one, hope 2013 brings even more excitement and growth!