Biggest Annoyance in the World in my Opinion

I think the one thing in the world that enrages me more than anything else...and there's plenty out there to be pissed about...is the fact that it's necessary to have an EU passport to work in Europe, or the fact that there are so many ridiculous visa restrictions out there. Anyone who knows me knows why I feel so passionate about this. This past summer I endured the incredible frustration of losing a fabulous job because of a visa hangup. Personally, as a Canadian citizen, I don't understand why I need a visa to work in the United Kingdom. Here's the thing, Canada is still part of the Commonwealth. The Queen is still our sovereign, still on our stamps, our money, has hotels and hospitals named after her, she and her family visit Canada, fuck, she even has representatives in every province and territory in Canada as well as the Governor General of Canada which is her direct rep. I'm getting worked up just thinking about this. When I originally tried to move overseas a couple of years ago, I thought maybe I could get some kind of EU passport based on my lineage. My Mom's family is Dutch and Irish. So the Dutch came to the US back during the revolution and the Irish moved to Canada several generations back. Shit. As for my Dad's family, the Frenchies have been in Canada since they were fur trappers and as for the English side, well, I'm not sure when the arrived, but this was my one ray of hope. My Nana was born in Newfoundland when it was still part of the United Kingdom. It didn't become part of Canada until 1949. I searched online to find out if I qualified for a passport. My Nana does, my Dad could potentially, but I'm too far removed. Dude. This is beyond frustrating. If the Queen can't do anything for us good Canadian citizens, they why the hell is she still such a big part of our country? What the hell good are ya and what have ya done for me lately? I understand people being denied visas for criminal pasts or terror threats, but I'm just a middle class girl from the East coast of Canada. I'm harmless! I had a couple of temp jobs while I was living in Dublin and the topic of my soon to expire working holiday visa was a constant among co-workers. Most people agreed that since Canada (and many other countries) took many, many Irish immigrants years ago, then Ireland should take the same amount back from said country. Plus, I think if someone from your family immigrated from Ireland, then they shouldn't hesitate to take you. Maybe when I own my own country this will happen. Until then...

The Slater Family

Alright, so I only started watching EastEnders last October when I arrived in Dublin, so I'm not exactly a long time fan, but my flatmate Karen was kind enough to fill me in on any juicy back story. I was kind of disappointed last night when I sat down to watch two episodes on PBS, only to discover that they were from December 2001. Pat is still married to Roy, it's the day before Lynn and Gary's wedding and some guy with a goatee just professed his love to Lynn in the Vic and they went back to his place to shag. Kat is still living at the Slater house and poor Jamie is still alive. Martin is still acting like a prat and Sonia is fatter than ever. Oh yeah, and Trevor is still terrorising Little Mo. Considering I started watching in 2005, I suppose I've got a couple of years to catch up on. I did miss the colloquial charm of the locals though. "You wha?", "Ta", "Nosy cow!". When I lived in Osaka I learned that the local dialect was called Osaka ben. I guess this is East end ben. Not to be confused with Phil Mitchell's son, Ben. Oh well, if I've confused you, just tune in.

These Shoes...

Here's a fantastic job opportunity for someone looking for "interesting" work in Toronto. Too bad it's not my kind of thing. http://toronto.craigslist.org/tfr/268481222.html

Shopper's Paradise

Oh America, your shopping just kills me! The sales, the ridiculous savings, it's all too much for a poor Canadian girl used to scrimping and saving and only managing to purchase a few measly items. I hit several stores today and came out with a couple of outfits I never would have been able to purchase for the amount I paid today. I felt euphoric, but it's almost depressing knowing that when I head back up North, the savings, variety and shopping thrills will end. Must stock up now...

All right, bruv?

Holy shit! After reading a random article on www.digitalspy.co.uk I discovered that PBS airs episodes of EastEnders on Saturdays. How did I not know this? I'm been dying for some Albert Square action and to think I've been here, wasting my time away wondering what the Mitchells are up to in Walford when I could have been watching two back-to-back episodes every weekend! Arrrgh! I know on CBC in Canada you can watch episodes of Coronation Street but they're something like six months behind. I tried to watch it when I was briefly back home last year but I just don't want to see Mike Baldwin die again. I had more people than I could keep track of wanting me to watch Corrie and report back to them weekly when they heard I was moving to Dublin. Corrie was that show as a kid in Canada that I absolutely hated. It was always on Sunday morning when I wanted to watch cartoons. It looked like the most boring, mundane adult program on the planet. Oh, how wrong I was. I tried to hold off on jumping in while in Dublin, but whenever my flatmate was watching it I always managed to get trapped and couldn't walk away. By the end of last summer I was glued to Emmerdale and the never-ending King family drama. God, how I miss UK TV.

Little Man Jack

This is my little cousin Jack. He's almost three months old. He's very wee.

Animation Weirdness

If you're up for some bizarre animation viewing, go to www.fat-pie.com, click on Cartoons on the left column and select the Salad Fingers cartoons. It's bizarre storytelling but still amusing. I started watching these when I was in Osaka, seeing even weirder things on my way to work, it's toss-up between my first day of work when a guy tired to show me his "business" or the time a guy offered me money for sex at the bank. Tough call. Anyhow, check out Salad Fingers and his tummy box. Watch and you'll get it. Let me know who you enjoy watching more, Marjory Stewart-Baxter, Hubert Cumberdale or Jeremy Fisher. You've got to start with the first episode though, otherwise you'll probably get creeped out.

Yoshitomo Nara

"Marshall" by Yoshitomo Nara.












This is my current favourite artist, Yoshitomo Nara. Check out the link http://www.linzercola.com/nara
to learn more about him. His painting and sculptures are so simple but also have a depth to them that I find really interesting and refreshing.

Chester Baby

Today my sister Sarah gave "The Nanny", Fran Drescher, a facial at the Celebrity Ski Challenge at the Banff Springs Hotel. How amusing. Apparently she was really nice. Sarah was too shy to ask her for a photo, but is slowly but surely building up her celeb repertoire. First Alec Baldwin's girlfriend's feet, now The Nanny. I begged her to ask The Nanny how Mr Sheffield was doing but no dice. Even Sarah's not that bold, and she's pretty freaking ballsy on a good day!

Celebs Hangin'

This weekend is the Celebrity Ski Challenge at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel where my sister works and I (briefly) did. Last year she gave Alec Baldwin's girlfriend a pedicure. That's totally Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon! Anyhow, he's the host of the event this year and she keeps calling us with updates of who's arrived and who she's seen. Her boyfriend has already seen Christie Brinkley, but Sarah has only seen Gord Downie from the Tragically Hip. Big deal. She has an interesting appointment scheduled with one of the celebs on the weekend. Keep checking back here for that update. It'll be hilarious, fawh shuah!

Ring My Bell

Here's how I spent my Friday night.

We've been dealing with a few Spanish prank callers for the last few months. Occasionally someone will call up speaking Spanish and I know that it's just a random wrong number, but for the last few months a man has called almost daily asking for a Mr Lopez. Mom usually answers and when she tells him he has the wrong number, he usually asks her what her name is and then if she has a husband. She hangs up at this point. We laugh at this and every time the phone rings, wonder if it's Mr Lopez calling.

Well, we have a new crank caller who calls, says something in Spanish, keeps speaking Spanish after we say he has the wrong number and no one speaks Spanish and then calls back at least once more after we hang up. It always comes up UNKNOWN NUMBER on the phone too. It's starting to really make us nervous so I went online tonight and translated what we needed to say if he called back. This is what I wrote and it's on our fridge:

WHEN ANYONE SPANISH CALLS, PLEASE REPEAT:

Nadie aquí habla español. Usted ha marcado un número incorrecto. El llamar o yo por favor de la parada tendrá que entrar en contacto con al policía.

TRANSLATION:

No one here speaks Spanish. You have dialled a wrong number. Please stop calling or I will have to contact the police.

With my French language background, I think I can fake a pretty good Spanish accent, and I can at least pronounce the words properly. He called three times on Friday. The first time I intended to say no one speaks Spanish but panicked and accidentally said "No habla anglais", laughing hysterically as I hung up at my gaff. The second time I just hung up and the third time he called, I repeated the above. There was silence for a second and then he hung up. Yay! Hopefully he got the message. I'm starting to get freaked out though since there's a tonne of crime here, especially home invasions and murders. There's way too much drama in Gotham and no Batman to be seen. Actually I'd settle for Robin at this point.

Next Please

Since I'm only a visitor to the US, I don't have to go through the long drawn out struggles my Mom has been going through to get her social security number, ID card that allows her to work and today, finally after six months, her driver's license. It was exactly like the DMV in Halifax, but the downtrodden expressions on those waiting and constant scream of crying children reminded me of the day I spent queuing to get my ID card in Dublin. The waiting room was full of people from almost every country in the world. It was literally a who's who of cultures. I'd been warned about the wait, but didn't count on it taking seven hours. I think my friends Sarah and Loren actually slept outside the building overnight to get their IDs! When I got my ticket, the numbers being called were in the 100s and mine was in the 500s. I took off, sat in an Internet cafe for an hour or so, did some window shopping and had lunch at McDonalds. I met a girl at McDs who was also waiting to apply for her card. We had the same name, which was weird, but she was in Ireland for a term at the University of College Dublin whereas I was there to work. Much later in the day when my number was finally called, I'd been blown about since it was yet another blustery day so my photo is to say the least, less attractive than I would have hoped. However, the entire application process took about five minutes, leaving me to make my way to the nearby DART station and wonder where my day went. Mom thought she had everything she needed in the way of paperwork today, but it wasn't until she got to the counter that she was informed she was missing one last crucial piece of documentation which we had to go home to collect. Good times. And if you haven't been in a while, the DMV is still the "happiest place on earth". Take that Disneyland.

Exactly

What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from.

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

~T.S. Elliot

God Save America

I saw The Good Shepperd yesterday. It was pretty good, but was another example of how warped this country can be. While driving home, I passed an old pickup truck with a massive American flag covering it's rear window. Just below the window, in bold letters was written, "Don't like my American flag? Just call 1-800-LEAVE-USA". Yikes. The guy driving the truck was no less terrifying, he looked like a member of ZZ Top, complete with hat and sunglasses. Double yikes. I've gotta get out of here. I've enjoyed a lot of things about living in the US, but when I see crap like that, I get nervous. The whole idea of us vs. them is a bit exhausting. Not that Canada is perfect, but man, if anyone had that kind of bumper sticker in Canada, they'd just get laughed at. (This photo isn't of the vehicle I saw, but how ironic that it's also on a truck. Hmmm....)

Homesick

Maybe the only two things I miss about Canada...Alexander Keith's beer and South Shore Nova Scotian Seafood Chowder.

New Year's Blow-Out?

As beautiful and warm and historical Richmond is, it is the shittiest city I've EVER lived in when it comes to nightlife!! There are only a handful of bars downtown and almost all of them have TVs showing football games and people playing pool. Not my idea of a classy night out. We made the most of it though and rung in the new year with champagne and noisemakers. My favourite part of the evening was going to the washroom and witnessing several girls on their phones, crying to their boyfriends. Hmmm. Where were these guys? Probably rockin' in double-O-seven at a better bar.

Hangin' With the Prez

We're at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. I think we're chillin' with George Washington, or Thomas Jefferson. I tried to pay attention to the historical references being thrown my direction but after hearing that Jon Stewart from The Daily Show went here, I was lost, imagining him and his George Bush impersonation. That guy is beyond funny.

Mika Visits!

My friend Mika from Osaka came all the way to Virginia to visit me over Christmas. Her boyfriend is also from the Richmond area so we managed to get some co-visiting in. We're at the Grand Illumination here. Lots of pretty deer and lights. It was a busy day. We drove to Williamsburg, walked around the College of William and Mary, hit the Williamsburg Winery (check out my grin, we'd just sampled seven wines), then chowed down on some Mexican food and capped the day off with some pool. I feel like garbage the next day and vaguely remember drinking a lot of beer and talking really, really loudly. Just a typical evening out with Meag.