I Miss My Sister

My younger sister, Teja, has been gone three months as part of an exchange trip. She just left Quebec, and now she's off to Mali for the remaining three months. The wonderful picture of autumn was taken by her before she left for Africa. Teja is one of those people who consistently shows me up in everything, including academics. She is super hard working, too wise, and a great friend. We need more people like Teja in our lives, that's for sure. But she ain't dead, she's just saving the world one day at a time. So let's stop talking like it's a freakin' eulogy.

Instead, let's make fun of her.

Ah yes...there's the Josh we know.

A long while back (three years ago?), we were taking care of our two much-younger siblings, and had just finished putting them to bed. She, of course, did most of the work, and I did whatever I felt like. In this case, it was playing Playstation. Anyone else have trouble pausing Turok to do chores?

"Hey, Teja," I said, as she came down the stairs after putting the kids to bed, "The dog needs to go out." I almost never refer to the dog by its name, Ginger, for fear that it might think I like it. And to think I spent HOURS arguing with my parents when I was 10 about how it was terribly unfair and outright dumb that we couldn't have a cute widdle puppy dawg to pway wif when we gots home from book-learnin'. But that fad died and the dog lives on. So here we are, 8 years later, and I don't even want to walk outside and watch it pee. Can ya blame me?

Sshh.

"Josh, you take her out. I'm going to feed her after."

"Nah..you can take her out too. I'm busy."

"I have a TON of homework to do and dishes aren't done yet!"

"Ok," I sighed. I can be reasonable. "Tell you what. We'll flip a coin. Heads, I win. Tails, you lose. Aight?"

"...fine. But if I win, you're feeding her--and doing the dishes too."

"Ok."

And so I flipped that quarter and let it land right on the floor so she would know I hadn't rigged this in any way.

"Tails. You lose."

"Gah!" she said, as she went to grab a leash.

I chuckled to myself evilly as I realised I was getting away with this.

(If you haven't figured this out already...this joke's on you too)

As she's heading out the door, she throws a glance at me and sees my suspicious smile. Her eyes widen and she gasps. "Wait a minute!"

Oh no, I thought. She's figured it out.

She walked towards me with an outstretched hand, brows furrowed. "Let me see both sides of that coin!"

Miss you lots!

Also...

*~^~^~50th Post~^~^~*

Booya.

The Value of Randomness

If you go somewhere expecting something meaningful or amazing to happen, something probably will happen.

Not that anything would have happened differently.

You would have just noticed it.

Or maybe, it would have happened differently.

I can convince myself that if i stand at a bus stop and keep waiting, I'll eventually find a reason why i needed to come here. If you can make an impromptu decision to go some random place, sit on some random bench, or call some random friend with the idea that it will be working towards some yet-to-be discovered goal or solution, you'll probably end up finding the meaning in that situation that was there all along. It's a fine line between self-fulfilling (if you expect it, you'll find it) and stopping to smell the roses ('it' was there the whole time).

When you have an urge to do something random, follow it with the understanding that you'll probably be able to learn something from it or gain something--possibly by helping someone else out. It's a cool thought, anyways. It makes life more exciting when you assume there's more going on than you initially perceive.

Just remember, Randomness is the name of this game.

I guess I've recently met a few people who seem to have really rigid and structured lives, and I'm just confronted with the idea that we should all relax a little bit, take a step back, and therefore notice a little more detail about whatever it is we fill our days with.

I'll probably come back to this idea later. Also, you can expect to see some edgy, opinionated posts that will make you want to steal passifiers from babies and break your grandmas best china that she only uses 'when important people come over' (well then what does that make me?) because it'll be so cynical. Actually, it won't make you feel like that at all (or at least it shouldn't)....but I wish my words had that kind of power. Because if I can't use the china, then no one can.

Spicy Song Of The Week

I'm not gonna lie. I'm still not over last week's Spicy Song Of The Week. Perhaps it's because it got a late start...more likely, though, is that Manchester Orchestra is SO AWESOME!

But I don't want to hurt the feelings of this week's love, so we'll move along, like rebound relationship that actually ends up working out. This week I urge you more than ever to listen to this song. They are also in my top six favourite bands. They are a fall and winter band in mood. On Friday, I'll be seeing them play at SAIT!

Don`t Waste Your Breath
Pilot Speed

Caught By The Window

Described my most as heartfelt, melodic, and fervent, they speak to me. For the past four years, once the snow begins to fall, I start listening to these guys, and I lose myself in it. Granted, their most recent record is nothing special, but it doesn't take away from their previous work. If you can sit on the couch with a blanket around you, mug of steaming tea in hand, and listen to this song while staring out into the cold gray abyss that is settling over the city, your life will temporarily be complete. Now I understand it's a bit early to be talking of snow, and I apologize for that....however, don't be ridiculous. It's cold out there. Sersly.

The Crunching Of Leaves

I didn't really make plans with anyone today. Which is normally not a big deal, but this week has been a grand series of highs and lows and twists and turns. And no one likes to go on a roller coaster alone. Actually, I don't even like roller coasters.

I went for a slow walk with no destination in mind, and it turned out to be somewhat meditative. I walked along the very edge of the sidewalk, where all the windswept and yellowing leaves collect as they begin to fall from the trees. Every step became very rhythmic as one foot would land on concrete and the other would crunch the leaves. Such a satisfying feeling. It's like audible progress; every stride takes me further into who-knows-what. But the endpoint is not the reason I'm walking. It's for that crunch of every meaningful step forward.
Sounds like a metaphor.

I'm definitely a people person. I go crazy pretty quickly when I'm alone. It's not necessarily that I don't like silence, or that being alone makes me think about things that I'd rather glaze over with meaningless conversation. I could thoroughly enjoy that same walk if someone was walking along beside me in silence, making sporadic comments about a well kept tree on the left, or a old lady contentedly raking leaves on the right. Just sharing that random experience with someone can be rewarding for me. You know the way kids are with grown-ups, that they can say anything and it wouldn't be a big deal...but they just talk about the simple stuff.



Fall is an interesting time, isn't it? We go back to school, slightly pessimistic in a way, because we can't say things like "I'm so excited for summer!". We know that we are getting back into that grim life of homework and exams and studying. It can only get colder and grayer from here. After such a high which we call summer, it can be a bit depressing. But at the same time, going to school means meeting new people, learning and doing new things. We start playing our favorite sports in the mornings; we develop that routine. We have a chance to be productive again. It's almost like the death of summer is more or less a rebirth for people. September is that fresh start. It's optimistic in that sense, right? That 'go get em' attitude seems to prevail.

I feel that certain numbness coming on again, though. Like I'm about to 'check out' and coast on through. This last week was a week of grand possibility, one might say. But as we hit the weekend and head into the next week, it feels like we're a on that hamster wheel. On and on and on. Round and round. Maybe in your own way, you can relate. Because I'm sure this seems extremely vague.

What is it I'm looking for? Someone? Something? A goal? A plan? Novelty? A constructive routine? Jelly beans?

Yeah, that sounds about right.

I'll keep on keeping on, for sure. Don't get me wrong: I'm in no way miserable about life. I'm very excited to see what happens. I want to achieve and win and grow. I just have forgotten why we push so hard for success and perfection. I need a reason.

I guess for now, that perfect sound of leaves beneath my feet is reason enough to keep me ambling along. What a beautiful day!

Badoom Tshh

Do I win a prize for being the 1234th visitor to this site?
Darn right I do.
I get to meet the writer!!! Autograph session --and I even get to wear his pants. Oh Em GeE!!!11


Jealous?

Yeah...me neither.

A Dented Confidence.

It hurt a little.

...that's not a great place to start. Let's back up.



I was working at Safeway on Saturday. I drove to work so I could go straight from there to a friends house to help him record a song. Now, this van I'm driving doesn't have power steering. My dad has taken it in to get fixed several times, but they kind of shake their heads the way only brown people can, and with a sorry smile, they say "No, we won't fix this." Why not? "It's too difficult." It's too difficult? Usually they charge more, not piteously smile and shake their head. But what can you do? I will just pretend I've actually got the muscle to steer the van. (I think I've actually lost muscle over time. I'll blame this on the fact that I'm now living on my own, and when we run out of food, we'll usually go a week longer than we should before buying groceries. Starvation saves money, after all! Try it sometime!) So all this to say, that when I drive to work, there's only a select few parking spots that I can actually park in. Fortunately, today it's available. So I strain and pull and twist and struggle into the parking spot. I try to make sure no one can see me do this because they will clearly think that I'm having a stroke, or that I'm drunk, all hunched over the steering wheel. I try to keep a composed face, like I'm the coolest mini-van-driving-guy ever, you know?

I go into work, and proceed to hate life a little more every minute until I realized I've reached an unhealthy level of depression, so I take a break. Since I've only been at work for, oh, say..twenty minutes, I decide to make it a short one and call a friend. I sit outside the front of Safeway and chat. I randomly take a look at my car which is about 30 feet away.

"Hey...sorry, I gotta run. Yeah they need me to get back to work...Mhmm. Talk to you later. C ya."

Oh but I'm not going back inside. I've noticed something. On the back window of my car, someone has written something in the dust, and it doesn't seem to say "clean me." I casually walk a few steps closer, only getting close enough to read it. I mean, if it says "Hey Josh, you're a cool guy!" then there's no need to go over there and wipe it off or anything, right? But as I wander over, I finally make out the letters. It reads "ASS HOLE! " clear as freaking day. I stop in my tracks about 6 parking spots away, and look around as casually as I could in such a stressful and traumatic situation. No one seems to have psychically realised that I must be the guy who drives that van, so for now I'm safe.

I realised I needed to get this writing off. However, there is an old lady slowly walking towards my car, and it would be terribly embarrassing should she see me smudging it off the window. She'd pass by and yell "Young Punk! Don't be an asshole!" and then she'd report me to Safeway for being uncool. So I slowly walked behind her as she inched along. To the average passerby, I must have looked totally suspicious: with a pained expression on my face, following an old lady to the edge of the parking lot.

Just my luck, she opens the trunk of the car beside mine. Great. What now? And she totally sees me awkwardly standing 3 feet away from her, my eyes darting back and forth between ASS HOLE! and old lady. ggyyaahh....awkwarrrd.

It's decision time, I thought. I casually leaned up against the window of my car, looking slightly up into the sky, as if resting momentarily before continuing to a more respectable and cleaner vehicle that must be mine further along the row. And with deft skill of a deft, skilled fox, I swiped my elbow across the window, did a 180, and headed back into Safeway. HA! I thought I handled the whole situation pretty well.

I'll never know why someone felt the need to write such profanity and underline it. I think it was due to the power steering issue. I wasn't right in the middle of the parking spot. DEFINITELY not over the yellow line, but impolitely crowding the car next to me. But it's not even worth the effort to try and fix it. I'll tell you what, though...

It hurt a little.

He may not have dented my car, but he dented my confidence for the moment.

Come on! I try here. Sorry you bought too many groceries to fit them in your trunk, and so you had to use the back seat. Sorry you have a car with such massive doors and it made it difficult to get the groceries in without getting your soft new jacket dirty on my van. But no seriously, sorry about your new Jacket: It was ugly before it got dusty, anyways.

After work, I walked out to my car, and realised that after all my deft-skilled-fox-moves, I had missed the writing with my elbow while looking at the sky. As I stood there shaking my head at my poor coverup job, some guy walked by, his eyes darting back and forth between ASS HOLE! and my dejected figure. He laughed. Busted.

Spicy Song Of The Week

Checking this blog this week probably invoked the same emotion as logging into facebook and seeing no glowing white '1' in your inbox. I know, right? Worst feeling ever. And no matter how many times you hit 'refresh' this week for my blog, (almost) nothing happened. That is my fault. School is actually taking up time this year. I studied, too (I went to the library, and realised there were no white people). Don't hold it against me though, because this new Spicy Song of the Week is awesome and a half.

In My Teeth
Manchester Orchestra
Mean Everything To Nothing

This band opened for Silversun Pickups, and completely stole the show. Their radio single is 'I've Got Friends.' I reccomend Shake It Out, but wasn't able to upload it for some reason[EDIT: NOW UPLOADED TO PLAYLIST]...(There's also a new player at the bottom...and it plays automatically. It'd be awesome if you are reading this at work on in class and scrolled right down to the bottom...surprise!)

Anyways

The lead singer is like 250 lbs and has a massive head and beard of red frazzled hair. You half expect him to come trumbling out of the woods with a dead deer over one massive shoulder, and a can of gasoline in the other hand. Why gasoline? In case he gets thirsty, I assume. Or to light you on fire for not dancing to his songs. But here's the kicker. He's actually got this high pitched kiddish voice, which makes him a huge teddy bear, right? The keyboardist is black, tripping out on stage (and yet i'm 100% sure he wasn't on anything) and the drummer was bursting with originality. Listen to it loud...in fact, make everyone listen to it with you. Please go into the library with a stereo and blast this song at top volume. I think it would sound best there.

Some quick pointers: They are not an orchestra. And they are not from Manchester. So erase your expectation and prepare to be blown away.

Grr.

Freaking blogger isn't working right, and I'm angry with it. I'm giving it the silent treatment. But we're all the victims here.

The Power of New Socks

Did you know, that there is one feeling that can stop war, make enemies friends, get mustard stains out of jeans, and cause me to cartwheel uncontrollably?

This feeling is so powerful. It's uplifting, like church music. It kills camels--yes, that good.


This feeling is the feeling of NEW SOCKS. I once bought 24 pairs of new socks, and for that whole month, I got to wake up, shower, and put on a brand new pair of black, low-cut socks. I don't know what it is...The never-before-stretched elastics? Is it the (lack of) smell? The way the slide effortlessly across my floors? Well, dear friends, the answer is: all of the above.


And here's the kicker. You'll probably do better on tests, go for longer walks, and make more friend. It's just a proven fact that wearing new socks increases your chances of everything good happening to you!


Do yourself a favor. Go buy some new socks. You'll thank me later.

Go solve the world's problems, Obama! You can do it with NEW SOCKS!

Facebook can be really dumb

I've started cutting people out of my newsfeed on facebook. It's the people who love their boyfriends/girlfriends to death and feel the need to tell everyone and have long conversations with each other about who is more amazing. It's the people who play that farming game. It's the people who post photos of them and their love smiling or kissing or cuddling. Seriously, people, that's going too far. I don't need to log into facebook in class and everyone around me is thinking "WHAT is he looking at?". That's embarrassing. For me and for these clingy couples. Let me Facebook in peace.

Now, I don't mind the occasional "WOW i'm dating a cool person" status, 'cause it's good to know that there are happy people out there... but let's keep it short (and G-rated).

Aight?


Check this link out for another example of cringe-worthy facebooking.

Spicy Song Of The Week

I hung out with a lot of new people this week, and it was good times. New people is big on my list, and with new classes and new clothes, some new music was in order. Jon introduced me to The Kooks, which is a band that many people have probably heard, but couldn't identify. It's pretty happy music, reflective of my mood. So hopefully, this song helps me share my mood with those of you who like school not so much.

Naive
The Kooks
Inside in Inside Out

Good mood, why? Well because... there's this girl.

And she knows my name.

The Silver Rule and Musical Sandwiches

I wouldn't want to mess with the oh-so-very-true Golden Rule (don't screw with people, just cuz), so we'll consider this one the Silver Rule.

If you ask someone what kind of music they like, and they answer "everything", this actually means "everything but country".

Because, just so we're clear, Country Music is not music. Suuuree, they write some actually decent and poetic lyrics and even the music videos can have some artistic merit, and half the singers are considered hot by the average person....but that's like throwing together mayo, bananas, croutons, chilli and the random container of left overs that's been in the back of the fridge for too long and you're like "hey...was this from christmas?" and he's like "no we had ham at christmas, the turkey was from thanksgiving" and you're like "but it's yellow and blue now. not like turkey." and he's like "yeah, i dunno. just leave it there in case it comes in handy when we need to prank the neighbour for being too loud, or use it at some truth or dare party which we frequently throw." all into the same sandwich and chowing down: all those things certainly have value (even the mystery meat), and can be used in the right ways, but lets leave the food preparing to the experts -- i.e., anyone else.

So back off, country musicians, and let the other genres make the musical sandwiches. And if anyone dare say otherwise, YOU can eat the back-of-the-fridge delight. I dare you. (see it's value, now? A threat!)

As a side note, our neighbours are not too loud. In fact, we don't see or hear enough of them. As I was playing guitar on the steps today, singing away, a girl from next door walked over, beer in hand, and simply said "i'm coming to listen." She sat down, and I said, "cool...i'll play you a new song i've been working on." and then I did. Then we had a really nice talk about ranchlands, and a band called Kids Playing Heroes that we both coincidentally are friends with. Why can't things like this happen more often? This made my day.

=
Country Music

Today, I was Biking.

And no joke, a wasp flew in my mouth. But I didn't know it was a wasp until after. I was biking along, and it had been a long day. So I let loose an audible monster-yawn to let my neighborhood exactly how tired I was. (Yes, they need to know). Unfortunately, the winds caught this bug just right, and he flew into my mouth, storming around, and probably not enjoying the small space and relatively smelly atmosphere.


The best part was my reaction seen from afar by an old lady walking her dog:


YAWWWWWWNNNNN-----ahhckckckkckopppfffpfppftttt ---toooey!

I ziggzagged across the road, coughing and spluttering, and she had no idea why. Then she saw me spit something, shake my head, and carry on my way.

Or maybe the perspective of the cutish girl getting out of her car was more memorable. Just as I had finished gargling the still unknown bug, the girl opened her door and got out of her car. Timed quite perfectly, she probably saw me casually spit as I passed by. But it was unpolitely close to her, and she looked down to see a dead wasp hit the ground. No doubt she went inside to tell her housemates about this hardcore biker who spits wasps. who spits wasps, after all? Hard core bikers, I guess.

But I'll have you know, there was nothing hard core about this. Wasps taste TERRIBLE! Bitter, actually. Bitter like Scrooge on Christmas Eve. Bitter like Josh on a Camel in Morocco:


I know, right?


I'm just glad it didn't sting my tongue or anything.

Then I'd have to bite back.

First Day of School

So what am I, 21 years old now? Gosh, Josh, that's getting up there.

As we jump back into the 'real world', I've made a few observations.

First of all, I sincerely think the TA is getting extra close with the prof. They have these moments where the prof asks the TA to answer a question (since no one in the class speaks up on the first day), and after he does, they just gaze at each other for a slightly extended period of time, smiling. She may have bitten her lip.


awkwarrrdd.

Also, you're destined to run into people you haven't seen in a long time. Some of them you know fairly well, others might be friends you made from last years classes...either way, you'll be walking North, they'll be walking South, and you'll suddenly catch their eye. There are now two options. Some of you might squeal with glee at seeing them and run into their arms flinging books and bags to the ground in a passionate embrace.

If you're normal, however, you will probably be like.. oh..crap. did they see me? and did they see me see them? yeah...i think they did. now i can't pretend i didn't see them too. hoookay, here we go. You'll both carefully look at each other and smile at the same time, and walk towards each other. But here's where it gets tricky, right? Do you stop? Or do you just high five them/wave/say hi in passing? So the strategy is to slow down to a very casual walking pace, and read their body language.

If they also slow down, then they understand that there is the possibility that they might have to stop too (and they're open to the idea of it). This is a good sign, because it means they aren't totally unhappy to have ran into you. And then just as you are about 3 feet away from them, you'll no doubt make this move that I've seen countless times today. You'll actually half pass them, but then look behind you/to the side. If they've reciprocated this action, then you'll both turn fully towards each other and stop.

Once it's progressed this far, you're on your own. Good luck with that.

Other advice: It's so totally uncool to have to turn around. If you're walking down the hall, and suddenly realise you can't go on without a coffee, or you forgot your bag, or your going to the wrong class....I'd reccomend plotting a route that allows you to turn around without actually backtracking. I don't know...this is just what seems to be the norm. I'm just the messenger. Because every time someone turns around as if to finally admit their lost, they ALWAYS curse under their breath and look around nervously to see who noticed.


Don't sit in the front row. i know, i know, it's cliche. But seriously, no one in the front row makes friends, and they don't get privelleged information for being close. They probably just get spit on by the frothing prof.

oh and don't stress. It's all gonna be okay. On the first day of grade one, my mom forgot to pick me up after school. I waited out front until the principal was on his way home. he noticed me and called my mom.

"Hi Karen, your son is still here."

"Where? Who is this?"


Yeah I was a touch bitter when she finally showed up. So, relax. If this doesn't happen, then you're in good shape.

Ok, good chat.

it's 2am

An hour ago, in a coughing fit, I took some Nyquil.


Hey guess what.

I didn't work.

I'm still wiiiide awake. Gotta get up for work in 3 hours.

Spicy Song Of The Week

Summer is pretty much on it's way out. the overwhelming color outside today is grey. I'm sorry to be so grim. But let's just use this as an opportunity to reflect back over the highlights of the summer. Here's some of mine (in one word):

Coldplay
Vancouver
Shows
Stampede
Lindsey
TheBurningofFeet <<---one word. FST Kids Frizollie Camping Shopping It wasn't my favourite summer by far, but all in all, it was pretty cool. It all really started with Coldplay. My earliest blog posts are tagged with Coldplay. So as a final bookend to this summer, the Spicy Song Of The Week is my favorite recording of a Coldplay song ever.

A Glass Of Water [Live]
album:
LeftRightLeftRightLeft

I remember a time when all I could do was listen to this album and sing and dance and wonder what the heck I was doing with life. This song will forever remind me of the good times of this summer. With It's chaotic rhythms and the intensity that only comes across in this live recording (I don't like the studio version at all), it sings to me, specifically. Thanks Chris Martin. I've heard you calling out to me. Cheers.

It's Been A While. I've Missed You.

Okay, so this post will quickly summarize my last week. why? Because if I just skipped over the seemingly meaningless events of the last seven days of my life and then next week i wrote a post all about this crazy gorgeous girl who came up to me and said "hey, that is one sweet jacket! You wanna hang out tonight?" you'd all be like "hold on Josh...what jacket is this? why weren't we informed?" and i would feel bad because the artistic measure of this blog would fall based on my inability to properly foreshadow my conversation with said gorgeous girl. so. are we on the same page?


First of all, i'm still sick. friiiick. Last time I was sick was May. The WHOLE month of May, too. I can't do that again. I have now taken:

Echinacea
NeoCitran
Advil
Nyquil
Vitamin C
Halls
and the aforementioned unmarked pills.

Quade has more medicine than one person should ever need. Ever.

But my slow death is not keeping me at home. Last week, I went shopping for new clothes. Hold on....that needs to be emphasize a little more.

LAST WEEK, I, JOSHUA MANERIKAR, BOUGHT NEW CLOTHES!

I never do this. I never go 'shopping' for 'clothes.' I may wander the mall, enter stores, pick out different shirts, pants, shoes, and the like, but I'll never try it on, and unless its a red t-shirt, I won't buy it. It's depressing. I used to shop with my mom. She'd pick out all this stuff and I'd be like 'mooooommm...seriously.' And then I'd try it on and 93.4% of the time, I'd love it.

Then I would go shopping with Leslie. Which means I paid for it. So I would never buy as much. But Leslie would pick stuff out and I'd be like "Okay." No argument. If she liked it that was good enough, since I didn't much care. It's not that I didn't want to look good. I just never knew what DID look good on me. I never see anyone out there in the world that reminds me of me, so I never have a fashion role model.

Enter Brynn from stage left, Jon from stage right. That's right. They surrounded me. Bombarded me. FORCED me to go shopping. (that's not really true). We went to the supposedly fantastic new mall north of Calgary, and the battle began.

Interruption: I will be paying for school this month, I was hoping to have a second job downtown by now, and bills are due. Hmm? Oh, no reason.....totally irrelevant information...continue.

"Hey Josh. So here's how this is gonna work. I'm going to hand something to you," said Brynn, "and you are going to put it on. Okay?"

"Aight." She has no idea how hopeless this mission is, I thought.


They gave me things like pink t shirts, and v neck sweaters.

Hold on, I'm Josh, and I don't do V-neck. Why? Because I'm not this guy

This guy sports the V-neck and skinny Jeans. He listens to screamo and has a girlfriend who threatens to run away from home because her dad won't let her get her tongue pierced. This guy's room is always a mess and he writes sad lyrics on tiny scraps of paper. He probably likes his mini-wheats soggy, too.

I'm not that guy.

Hold on said brynn. We aren't done.
And she handed me a white button up shirt and then I was this guy:


Well--besides the whiteness and the jockiness, and the "I'm probably an ass in real life-ness"

But Frick, I thought. I don't know what guy I am. And if awesomely cool people like Brynn and Jon think this looks good, then I suppose other awesomely cool people I'm sure to meet will also like this. So, screw it. I'll try something new.

Then I bought another t-shirt, and Jon picked out a long sleeve shirt and jacket. Everybody loved it. It was probably about $200 all together. That part, I loved not so much.

That night, we went out to a show at a coffee house, and I saw this girl. She worked there. (I know right? ANOTHER coffee girl.) I was wearing my new jacket, and so I was pretty hot. Not "good looking hot", necessarily, but it was toasty in the coffee shop. And I caught her eye, and she smiled (very pretty smile) and walked towards me......Oh I'm not even going to finish this story. It's as anti-climactic now as it would be at the end of the story.

Whatever.

FST:

Free Spaghetti Thursday was a mini-success. Mini because there weren't a lot of people here. Success because that's what I wanted, and the people were 100% quality. A few randoms from a previous show (so we played them some tunes that night), and friends of friends. Good times, top notch noodles. There's now a facebook group, so it's freakin official. Search :Free Spaghetti Thursdays.


Guys. It's Sunday. School is on Tuesday. Who will run away to Mexico with me and forget all the troubles we know we are up against this semester? Like...Who's going to shovel my sidewalk when it snows. And all the money I can't afford to spend on hot London Fogs and Chai Teas once I bike to school in the cold early morning.

PS. Side note. We emailed Pilot Speed asking if we could open for them for their calgary show on October 3rd. Todd personally replied! He said no, there's too many bands that night to add another, and that he'd check out our songs! AMAZING. Could that have gone any better?

.......

*Star struck*

My [below] average train of thought.

Setting the scene: I've just left the safeway parking lot, driving home after buying some NeoCitran for my cough.

> I'm so sick, I feel like death

>Hey look, there's some popcorn spilled on the road.

>Mmmm. popcorn.

>I want some popcorn.

>I should watch a movie, then.

> I'll rent 'Death At a Funeral.'

And then I did....fairly entertaining, not entirely unpredictable, but the acting was pretty impressive.

Cheesy titles aside, you gotta love the Cochrane Times.

This was written in the Cochrane Times about my band's upcoming music video...

Taking A Backwards Route Into Filmmaking
By Sara Francis

Trying to imitate the feel of Iceland here in Alberta will pose an interesting challenge for a new young Cochrane filmmaker.

Eric Weisner is shooting a music video for the new rock band Walking Backwards based on a song two of the band members wrote after visiting Iceland, an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Cochrane High grads Weisner and Walking Backwards guitarist Darcy Cordell have been friends since attending Cochrane’s Holy Spirit Elementary School together. And while they went in slightly different directions, their paths converged to work on this project.

“It was a perfect time to collaborate,” said Weisner, 21, who graduated from the Vancouver Film School this August.

This will be Weisner’s first big independent project outside of film school.

The song “Lost” is about escapism — something lead band members Cordell and Josh Manerikar did for four months last fall. They traveled through parts of Europe, Africa and Asia with their first stop being Iceland.

“The song mostly just talks about getting away, escaping,” said Manerikar, 21. “It’s more focused on the feel you get from the song — the big emptiness captures Iceland very well. It’s huge, but it’s not because you are seeing so much, it’s the lack of what you are seeing that impacts you so much.”

Weisner plans to capture the calm, serene feeling the musicians experienced by focusing on nature such as a stream trickling by or the grass blowing in the wind.

“I have a feeling it will seem like it’s taking place in Alberta, but it’s more the feeling and intrinsic part of Iceland we want to communicate with people.

“Iceland is a barren place so we won’t be shooting in big cities or in big forests. We’ll be shooting the rolling sky and to get the vast infinite expanding feeling of Iceland as opposed to the actual physical characteristics of Iceland,” said Weisner.

While Weisner has never been to Iceland himself, he is confident he’ll be able to capture the mood based on the pictures and stories the two musicians shared with him.

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“It’s a very isolated country and it has so much open space you can sort of feel lost even though you are in such a small place,” said Weisner.

The budget for the project is next to nothing. Weisner plans to get video equipment and props donated based on his connections.

“When you get out of film school you have to rely on who you know and what you can do with what you have available,” said Weisner. “You have to work with whatever you have available around you as opposed to starting with a vision and making that vision happen.”

This week the band will meet for pre-production to confirm actors, hammer out shots and select locations around the Cochrane area and south of Bragg Creek.

The shoot should take no more than five days and then Weisner will take the film with him to Vancouver to edit. Everything should be finished and put up on video sharing sites such as UTube and Vimeo in a month.

Weisner plans to enter the music video in film festivals and TV stations such as Much Music and MTV.

“We can push the Canadian content side of things and try to get it aired,” said Weisner.

While Weisner plans to pursue his film career in Vancouver he hopes to visit Cochrane often and do some more projects out this way.

“It’s got a beautiful landscape and people I know who can donate equipment,” he said.

Meaningless Facebook Chat

ah the random meaningless conversations that are only possible through facebook chat.

Life....oh that four letter word.

This post is all about home.


So I've spent the last few days mind-numbingly sick. Quade forced some random unmarked pills down my throat today, so hopefully by tomorrow i'll be feeling a bit better.


And yet in spite of my deathly sickness, i've been in a really good mood. Part of it is because when I went to bed at 8:30pm last night, it was dark. Like Winter-Style. It's coming guys. sorry. but it is. I'm not at all ready for the snow and wind, but i like the dark. It makes the house feel warmer, the indoor lights shine brighter. Sunshine, butterflies, and rainbows: no thanks. NEEDING a hot cup of tea as soon as I stumble in from the biting cold...mmm.

I'm also in a good mood because I'm feeling good about my situation right now. After an interesting and inexplicable weekend of viewing life in a more long term and "anything is possible" and "where will I be in three years" kind of way, I realised that , I could name four friends who had called me, talked to me, messaged me, or texted me in the last 12 hours. and quade was happily playing a new song he had written downstairs. Tonight, I thought, i'm happy. I can't try and predict where I'll be or what I'll be doing in even a year. I'm in school (with a degree in mind), i'm in a band (which has only recently become a very positive experience), and I'm attempting to meet new people and get a 'real' job. I'm even writing music again. That's good enough for now....if only I could stay healthy. Pass the unmarked medication.


Wait...hold on. I have to back up the part where I said I've been in a really good mood. Scratch that. I've only been in a really good mood when I'm at home. Every day when I go to Safeway, I suddenly get extremely bitter and frustrated about everything. My co-workers are now seeing a side of me that I didn't even know I had. I don't exactly know why EVERYTHING is sending me into an angry rage, but I don't like it. I'm usually the happy carefree guy. not the guy who throws a half box of asparagus across the cooler into the garbage because someone couldn't bother to put out a WHOLE box of asparagus. you can ALWAYS put out the whole box of asparagus! And why did Bob (the manager) order 7 cases of CABBAGE? CABBAGE!! It'll take weeks to sell that much! GYAH!

brreeaaaattthhheee...


but as soon as I get home and hear Quade telling lame jokes and watch Darcy crunching the latest financial statistics about how much money we are spending, I can relax. West Swine Nile flu or not, I'm living a good life....for now.