Canadian girl out and aboot

I am home and for some reason, I'm not asleep yet. The plane ride back was okay. I definitely prefer flying Westjet and the plane to GP was a tiny, shaky, noisy little thing.

I didn't do anything touristy this trip. Yesterday [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] and I went to Chapters, where I bought a few things, and Jacob, where I bought a cute shirt. Since it was about plus 22, we went and sat on a patio and ate Asian style noodley food. Then we walked through the U of T area, which was pretty interesting and into Chinatown so I could get a traditional style bun.

Later that evening I went over to Forest Hill to visit [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] and [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com].

Even though I thought I was being lazy, I did get to a variety of neighbourhoods; Little India, Queen St West, St. Clair, Chinatown, U of T, Kensington market, Forest Hill, Bay and Bloor and I did a lot of visiting too.

I had a great time seeing friends and exploring TO. Even though I get lonely up in GP sometimes, it's comforting for me to know and think about how many good people I do have in my life... wherever they may be.

I'm in Toronto right now.

Dymph and I took an early morning flight, which meant we had to get up at 5:30 in the morning, which blew. I arrived in TO at 2:30, then had to wait around for my mom to arrive on a plane an hour later. Her flight was supremely late and only got in at 5:00 due to some sort of medical emergency on the plane. After that, we took a cab downtown where I was delivered to the casa of [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]. We ate thai food and vegged and I babbled in my state of exhaustation.

Today is the actual launch, launch and I need to find something to do before then. I might just do nothing and then head over to that area early. We shall see.

I haven't been to TO in 7 years.

So I'm in Calgary. The book was launched last night. It was honestly one of the most surreal experiences I have ever had in my life.

I flew into Calgary on Wednesday afternoon. My friend Heather, who has been a good friend for 20 years, picked me up at the airport and took me out to supper at a vegetarian place called "The Coup." I sat around in the hipster restaurant and chatted with Heather and thought about how much I love bigger cities. Love, love, love them!

After this, Heather's good friend joined us and we went to her house where I discovered that I have a love of Strongbow.

****
Yesterday morning, Mom and Dad and family friend Duane came and picked me up and we walked down to Chinatown and went for dim sum so I could satisfy my cravings. Then we walked to Pages on Kensington where I took dorky photos of my book in the window of the store and on the shelf in the store and all sorts of other things. I then went to Heather's and got ready for book launch activities.
***
The launch was held at the Memorial Park library, which was the first library in the province, built in 1912. It was gorgeous! We got there early and I got to meet my publishers for the first time. I wandered around feeling sort of lost for the whole beginning. Then someone asked me to sign a book for them, and I fumbled around because I didn't have a pen! It was really embarassing. I ended up grabbing one. My reading was first and everyone said nice things about me and the book and the reading went well. Dymphny read next and then we had intermission. My fellow author Patria, whose first book that I loved, told me she loved the book and that I had a profile like a Greek goddess. I think that's one of the nicest things that's ever been said to me.

Anyway, I signed about 30 books for people and met people and talked to them and they told me how they were touched by various poems etc, etc, which was surreal as hell. The whole night was good, but I was exhausted afterward, so Heather and I went home and watched CSI, which I'd never seen before. I have a big old crush on Archie Kao.

The launch rocked, but oh my god, it was surreal and strange.

So I had my first full day of work, which was good, except for the fact that my office is freezing. At one point the woman who was training me told me to get my jacket, because my lips were turning blue. Ugh. I think I'll have to wear a parka.

Good things about the office building- We have a sun deck, Ballet British Columbia practices in the studio, there's a dance therapist.
Sometimes I can hear tap dancers hoofing above my office. It seems like it'll be a good place to be for the next while.


We flew out to Los Angeles yesterday. Our flight was completely uneventful, and we made it to the Radisson in Culver City. The weather is nice here, sunny but not blisteringly hot. We were letting the sun soak into our Vancouver deprived skins yesterday. We hung out in the hotel yesterday, waiting for everyone to gather.

Then [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] and [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] came to pick me up at the hotel. We went to a raw food place, where we were rather unimpressed with the guacomole, the environment and the extremely stoned guy who served us. So after I'd finished my coconut drink (that was exciting!), and [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] showed up, we went to Pann's. Pann's is the diner used in Pulp Fiction, and it looks completely the same as it does in the movie. We ate diner food and chatted for hours. It was fantastic. Thanks, ladies!

Then I came back to the hotel, and B* and I went to bed early so he could get his beauty rest. Now I have to get ready to head out.

One of yesterday's outings was a trip to the Mendel art gallery. My favourite annual exhibit, CoolArt, (formerly SchoolArt) is currently on display. This is the exhibit where kids from schools all over Saskatoon submit their art to the collection and it's on display for a few months. It's one of the most creative exhibits each year.

In another section of the gallery, there was a special retrospective on Joni Mitchell's childhood, prepared by her mother, Myrtle. Joni was born in Alberta, and moved to Saskatoon at age 11. She considers Saskatoon to be her hometown. The exhibit consisted of old drawings, poems, photographs and report cards. Joni didn't do well in math and most of her teachers wrote, "Joan should pay attention to subjects other than art." By the time she got to high school, she was quite beautiful. In high school, her classmates voted her the most fashionable and joked in the yearbook that she was never on time for anything.


Last night, [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com], our friend Scotty and I went to see an old Jack Nicholson movie at the Broadway. The movie is called "The Passenger" and it's a movie from 1973, in which Nicholson, a reporter, steals the identity of an arms trader. However, it's a post-modern movie and so he never trades any arms and the whole thing is incredibly slow, with these really weird drawn out shots, no score or sound, and very little dialogue. All three of us found it to be a bit long. The only thing that it really had going for it were great cinematography and bad 70s fashion.

I'm back. I like Seattle. I like vacations.

We left on the train on Friday night. At customs, the agent asked me how long I was in Indonesia, where I'd worked and who I had been working for. I was a little stunned by the questioning, but just gave the answers even though I was quite nervous.

Our train was a bit late getting in. Apparently the train traffic had been slowed from mud slides along the route earlier that day. I noticed that people really like to booze it up on the train as there were a lot of people drinking.

The Seattle train station is one of the most dingiest train stations that I've ever been in in my life. It's downright ugly and has apparently been under renovation for years.

My cousin and his wife picked us up and ferried us over to their home in Phinney Ridge. For some reason, I'd reasoned that they lived in Capitol Hill, since everyone else I know lives there. They actually live a few blocks away from the zoo, in a nice house with lots of hardwood and a loft, which I would use for my writing if the house was mine.

We got to sleep in a down filled feather bed, which was comfy and cozy and very hard to get out of.

On Saturday, Cousin P and L took us to Seattle Centre, where we walked around for a bit before we met up with [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] to visit the Science Fiction Museum. If you're a fan of science fiction or pop culture, I highly recommend this museum. The different levels are decorated to look like the insides of space ships and there are a variety of interesting displays including one on science fiction themes throughout history, a Sci Fi hall of fame, spotlights on Mars, robots and creatures and all kinds of fascinating things. There's an actual model of the Death Star and a "life-size" statue of the Queen from Alien, which was sort of scary. You can also see Star Trek and Star Wars memorabilia and all sorts of books and movie memorabilia. Excellent.

I thought of [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] in the gift shop, because they were selling unis that read, "Jedi in Training pants." Very, very cute.

After this, we were quite exhausted from info overload, so we went back to Capitol Hill to Victrola Coffee shop for a rest before walking up to the Seattle Asian Art museum.

Once again, I arrived at the museum one hour before closing, but we decided not to rush through the museum. My priority was seeing the Buddhist art, which was quite enjoyable. The exhibit included a lot of Japanese Buddhist art, which was new for me because I'm more familiar with Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist art. After resting for a while, we went back downtown to wander around and eat at the Pike Street Pub. We hit Barnes and Noble before taking the bus home, where I collasped almost immediately.

On Sunday, I had to do an interview with Asian-American writer Lensey Namioka . Lensey is 77 and has published 23 books. She is of Chinese descent, but is married to a Japanese man and so she writes about modern and historical stories about Chinese and Japanese characters. She writes picture books, books for young children and teenagers. We had a great talk and she was both interesting and funny.

After this, I met up with [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]. We went for a three hour long lunch, during which we caught up and talked about all kinds of things. She dropped me off at home after taking me by the Troll that lives under the bridge. Seattle puts a lot of money into public art and so there's some great pieces, like this mythical troll that's rising out of the ground, and a statue of Jimi Hendrix.

I visited with my cousin and L for a while before the four of us went out to Typhoon for Thai food. We came back home, watched part of the Olympic closing ceremonies and went to bed.

B* and I caught the train back today. It was delayed again, but wasn't particularly unpleasant. I got to watch "Elizabethtown", which was a great movie to watch on the train, because it wasn't very good. I alternated between watching the movie, and looking out the window at the beach and the ocean.

Now I'm home, relaxed and trying to figure out what I have to accomplish this week. I really like Seattle; it's a nice, mellow and laidback city. For some reason, it feels a lot smaller than Vancouver, even though I think they're about the same size.

Do you know that feeling when someone finds something you'd lost and it makes you so amazingly happy?

I had that last night. B* found this picture, which amuses me every time I see it. I don't remember exactly what I was doing, but it looks like the baby camel and I are having a little show down. Some of you have already seen this a few years ago, but for the rest of you, here's a stand off in the Mongolian desert

Today was my first full day off in 7 days. I celebrated by staying in my pyjamas and watching 2.5 hours of Season 2 Degrassi. Then I ate a lot of Cheezies.

Tomorrow I'm going on a retreat with "The Colouring Book project." The Colouring Book is a group of mixed race and people of colour in their 20s and 30s etc who are coming together to make a book about our experiences. The book will be used to as a teaching tool for youth of colour in high schools. The initial organizer of the project, Gabrielle Martin, works with SAFETEEN, a group that teaches anti-racism, anti-sexism and anti-homophobia in schools.

I learned about the project through Ricepaper, and got onboard. It has introduced me to a wonderful group of artistic, activist, like minded people.

Our weekend retreat is going to be held at Chehalis, a reserve located about 2 hours away from Vancouver. We will be staying in cabins with showers and will have a large room for all our activities. We are operating as a collective, so groups of people will be running workshops on topics such as "Race and Class", "Body and Sexuality" and "Oral Story telling." We are also going to have a no-talent show,and a dance party. The weekend should involve a lot of writing.

As you can probably guess, I'm looking forward to it, even though I have to get up at 5:30 tomorrow to be out at the space by 8:00. Most of the group left today, but several of us are going up tomorrow. I had planned to stay in town and work today, but through a series of events, I only have to attend a meeting for volunteering at the film festival this evening.