Shockwave

So here I am packing my whole house up and wondering why on earth I am leaving the comforts of home for an unknown land where I'll be on my own...then it hit me...that's exactly why!

The house was a madhouse this morning. I awoke after barely sleeping the night before - coffee AND alcohol ain't good for me- and wish I had stayed in bed the whole damn day. It was a madhouse. Do you ever notice that the older sibling always has to put up with shockwaves while the younger ones get away with everything? To make a long story short, I ended up not being allowed to leave the house while my little sister, who almost got drunk at a party the night before ended up not being grounded. NOT FAIR!! Yes, it's another case of bad luck for me as usual and I'm almost afraid to imagine future events. I'm out of here in three days and as you can guess I'm looking forward to it even though I have no idea what to expect. I've learned not to expect things anymore, to step into something prepared for anything to happen. It's actually a theatre technique - you neutralize yourself so that you're geared for all action.

Wow that was therapeutic...this really can replace therapy...

--I know, I know, I'm complaining to some of you right now on MSN. Thank you all for the encouragement and for putting up with me...it's just a typical dark day...

Counting down

My phone's been ringing nonstop. I've been running all over the place, visiting friends, family, and doctors. The house looks like it's been struck by hurricane Kim. I've only got 6 days left in Montreal and they're gonna go by fast. Mom's freaking, sis' planning to knock down my wall as soon as I'm gone, never know what dad's up to, and my friends are trying to get me to pick up hot Mexican guys on the beach for them. Everything's gone wackos and I'm lovin it. I've turned my house upside-down, trying to pack everything into one suitcase...we'll see if I succeed...

Twisted Montreal

On Friday nights, St-Laurent street in Montreal is really a happening spot. I came out of Nexxt club this past Friday feeling exhausted but energized, as I usually am. I had to wait for a friend to drive by before I left. So we waited in the bus shelter in front of the club, and this is when I realized that some Montrealers really are scatterbrained.

This bus shelter was a nice, normal bus shelter with all four sides up and standing. The only thing that made me question the level of intelligence of the people who put it there was that this bus shelter was backwards.

Usually, you step out the bus shelter doorway, into the bus. On this one, the doorway was not facing the street, but facing the club, meaning to get to the bus, you have to get out from the back and walk around to the bus.

There is little convenience to this, and it could also be dangerous. Imagine some drunk person gets out of the club, waits for the bus, and when it does come, walks out the front the way people normally do, and boom, hits his head and passes out.

Or were the people who installed it there drunk and thought it was the other way around?

Another thing about Montrealers that perplexes me is the fact that there is a bilingual sign law, even if the word is spelled the same in English and French. We always see things like OUVERT and underneath, in smaller letters, Open.

In Montreal, there are signs that read SERVICE, and underneath, Service. Yes, the larger print is in French, while the smaller one is in English. Go figure.

That's Hot!

It's the first no-need-to-wear-a-jacket day in Montreal! I actually went out today, which is why I have things to blog about. I spent a large part of my day making complete strangers happy. Well sort of. I first went by the radio station to drop off gifts for the people who I worked with during my internship. It was a long, complicated semester, and interning there got me an A.

I then took my time walking down St-Catherine's in the sun and went shopping for summer clothes and other things I would need for my move. By the beginning of June I will have relocated in Playa del Carmen, Mexico to work as an animator at a resort. It's so soon and time's running out. My mom's freaking like mad; my friends think I've gone bonkers- poor them, but I'm enjoying their reactions.

After shopping for awhile, I needed to make my way back to the radio station for a meeting. I strolled past a bookstore having a sale, but didn't pay attention until the salesperson, a cute, upbeat, and obviously bored guy a bit older than me stepped out of the store when he saw me look past and was like "Sale! Sale! come in!" So I decided to humor him and walk through the store. "Yay! A customer!" he said. "Yay, whoo-hoo!" I cheered back. He told me he was really bored because since it was nice out no one was coming in. I told him he wasn't making enough effort and suggested he make a huge sign while shouting "booksale!!" I asked if he had any books on Mexico and checked them out. He asked if I was taking a trip there; I told him about the job I got, and he was interested to know how to get into that stuff. So I gave this poor salesman some info and encouraged him to get out of here.

The radio meeting went by fast. They ordered pizza for us interns; way too many since there were about three whole pizzas left over. They asked if any of us wanted to take them home. One of the interns did, but then realized he didn't want to carry it all the way home. Since we were already on the street, I suggested he give it to a homeless person. We walked a few blocks, came accross a man searching for empty cans in trash cans and asked if he wanted it. I've never seen anyone so happy at being offered pizza.

Ball and chain

Ice pellets in May. I almost fell off my chair when my mom came in to tell me that there were tiny bits of ice falling allong with the rain. We sort of had a 4-season day today- ice pellets, rain, sun then wind. Thank god the ice pellets didn't stay. I remember when we got snow in May about three years ago- I was so angry, it wasn't funny. I hope it never happens again.

Alright, I'll stop complaining about how much I hate snow. Let's move on. I hate driving. I have booked myself for another road test. I'm really getting impatient about getting my licence because I've failed the test about a gazillion times (hey, it feels like it). I'm only going for it because I need it; I can't always depend on people to drive me places, plus I hate public transportation (alright, I know I hate many things, but that doesn't make me a bad person.)

Driving is stressful. I'm not used to concentrating so much and looking everywhere at once. Taking the driving test is more stressful. First you wait endlessly for them to call your name, as you check out the evaluators and hope that the one who's coming out isn't going to call your name because he looks like an old-fasioned creep. You think about your previous tests and swear you'll shoot yourself if you repeat the same stupid mistakes this time. You wonder what else can go wrong, how many more times you'll need to do the test and wish for magical powers.

An interesting thought crossed my mind last time I took the test. What if a hypnotist has to take the driving test? If he's as bad as I am, I can just see what could happen. He'd get in the car, pull out his crystal pendulum and say to the evaluator "when you wake up, you will think the test is over and that I passed."

Hmm. Where can I learn to hypnotize...