just a quick note to say that Geoff and I are in Golden again, and VERY stoked to be here! we've brought a mang along with us from the bush, and very soon this town will be overrun with people from our crew (as well as otha mangz) until shambles! it will be amazing and fun! Kaleigh (planter mang) and i will be hitting the thrift stores tomorrow and will start working on costumage! yeah, i'm pretty happy with the way things have worked out. planting was inexplicably crazy. only pictures could even begin to describe what went on....

love to y'all

we are back in Golden. Stella has failed us, we broke down about 35km east of Revelstoke. Seems transmissiony, maybe? this was almost anticipated, having an old vehicle n all. John is driving us to Revelstoke tomorrow (Stella was towed there) to see what the dealio is, chill there for the day and then greyhound it to Burns Lake from 7pm to 12:45pm the next day. goin minimalist tentin styles in the bush, which is just fine with us. If Stella's worth fixin' up, we'll do it, and John will use it while we're planting and we'll do some trekkin' around later on in the summer.

Life sure throws some curve balls sometimes. You can try to be prepared and make plans, but you can never anticipate when something will fuck up..... So it's always good to have a Plan B. Today, our Plan B was bust into the smokey scotch that has been around since before Joe's roadtrip. hahaha....anyway, that's how things have worked out. Time to head to bed and try this again tomorrow....

let's see...what do i have yet to do.....sew my army pants, fix legwarmers so they don't fall down....finish packing, go to the doktor, hah, uhhh my TAXES. yep, sure did procrastinate that one til the last possible day. good thing i don't have much to do today! i'm having quite the time deciding what clothing to bring, or rather, what to leave behind. having this van is making it too easy to bring lots of clothes. but is that a bad thing? also, should i bring my beloved pixie hoodie? i am thinking that i'll regret not bringing it, so i should just bring it, even though i won't wear it all de thyme. but at the same time, maybe it should just stay here safe and dry and clean. DECISIONS!

well, anyway, not sure what else to say in here. we're pretty stoked to hit the road. gonna make it to quesnel tomorrow, then to burns lake the next day, i reckon. since our starting place has changed due to cold weather in quesnel. have a grand summer, folks! i'm sure i'll update periodically, but not be able to keep up with your lives!

see ya @ shambhala! if you're there!

I just finished work....there are feelings of strangeness. i guess all i can say is.....it's funny how things turn out. it's never how you expect it, nor does it matter if you approve or not. things just work themselves out whichever way, and a lot of life is learning to cope with various challenges. another thing is, i am terrible at keeping track of time. it always seems to fly by when i'm looking the other way.

anyway, another chapter of my life is drawing to an end, it's on to new adventures....new and different challenges.

haven't been writing in here too much at all.....been keepin' relatively busy, mostly just spending time with these Golden folks before takin' off. it's been really awesome weather, we've barely gotten any rain (although we could use some), but I've been taking advantage of the sun / bicycle sitcho, as i'll be without my bike for 3 months! Our crew boss, Kevin, stayed here for 2 nights with his friend Jon, and that was a good time. It was great to meet him before headin out to work for him, he seems like a solid dude. Geoff and I just finished up taking a first aid course on saturday, and the transportation endorsement on sunday....learned how to deal with emergency situations, which is a good call. It was actually pretty fun, more fun than we had anticipated. It felt good to be in a learning envoronment again. I could see myself taking more courses in the fucha. Like a pottery course or something would be chill. or a class on how to make clothing better, since i don't know how to do anything properly it could be cool to learn, then maybe everything i make would turn out not fucked up more often!

Geoff is all finished werki now, and I have another week left. So sooooon ! Then camping and fishing for a few days before working intensely. planting will be insane. must get used to being uncomfortable all the time. as luxurious as living in the van will be, i will still be hurtin' in some way all the time. it's just a given.

GEOFF IS PLAYING OUT OF TUNE GUITAR AND ITS DRIVING ME INSANE. he is doing it on purpose because he knows it sounds terrible. isn't that hilarious? what a hilarious sense of humor! oh my god that's so funny playing out of tune! how about i just stab my ears?

ok.....i think he's done with that. although he's still being ridiculous. i couldn't even concentrate on what i was writing it was so awful sounding on my ears.

uhhh, anyway! it's been good times around here, until my bike tire exploded the other day. it was so loud! sounded like a gun shot or a firecracker. Joe has a tire repair kit so that's sweet.

I must phone Jodi and tell her to get a Shambhala ticket as they are 210 now, and that's enough already! holy moly! she should really get one before they get even higher.

anyhooooo i'm done writing for now. woop.

WHOA so life is slowly evolving shifting changing into a different phase. nostalgia of this most recent stretch of being is strong. there have been challenges and joys like every other point in existence....I look forward to when I look forward to coming back to Golden. a few more weeks to enjoy this mellow familiarity before being catapulted into the scary unknown...am I ready? as ready as I can be, I suppose.

cabin fever, anyone?

winter seems to drag on until that point where you can take no more (but i think it makes us REALLY appreciate spring!). i went for a good walk yesterday, and it smells like damp earth and wood and rain out there. there is some major thawing happenin'. i love the smells around Golden. lots of wood smoke and naturey smells. then i went to the Dysfunctional Cafe Theatre with John and had a fabulous time! the play was amazing! i love amature theatre, and the gypsy folk that put it on. it was also for cherity, which is grand. and they were bootlegging alcohol. i love under-the-table kind of stuff. it was a benefit for this dude named Mike, who suffered a spinal cord injury and lost the movement of his legs and partial movement of his arms 2 years ago while testing his invention for a 4-wheeled mountain bike for parapilegics, isn't that crazy and ironic?? anyway, he's a good and determined soul, and he and his trainer have been going to California to this walking clinic for folks in his sitch, and they want to be able to bring that knowledge back to Golden to help others in this area that are in the same boat. pretty awesome!

it is incredibly melty and wet today, and i'm enjoying it despite the wet pant cuffs. i guess that's what swear shoes are for....

watched this movie called 1408 last night, which is based on a Stephen King book (been on a King movie kick lately...), and i don't remember the last time i was actually scared from a movie, but that one was FREAKY. if u like scary movies, i recommend it!

it ain't spring quite yet, that's fo sho. we got another good sized dump of powder, which is awesome for those looking to go and ride the mountain! i am stoked for them, but i WAS looking to bust out Bessi (my bike). i love bike riding !

ummm....discovered a new fire toy....FIRE ORB. i want one. they are rad! i would also like to convert my hula hoop into a fire hoop. mmmm and fire fans for that matter. must get better at poi, and then i can graduate on to fire poi. poi is the most difficult. i saw an umbrella frame converted into a fire umbrella, and i thought that was sweet as well. in closing....must become more fire savvy.

got my new planting shovel in, and i have to pick up my caulk boots from the golden shoe store....stupid shellin' out multiple hundred dollars  on new equipment. oh well! it is key. i will make it all back, anyhow.

this is seriously the last time i will be a housekeeper. that job is shitty and i feel gross and grumpy by the end of the day. i don't mind hard work, but that kind of had work isn't for me. barf.

yoga date with kate tomorrow! woo!

been watching stephen king movies lately. storm of the century and the stand (which is 8 hours long so we watched over 3 or 4 days), and that is some awesome horror, let me tell ya. my fave is still pet cemetary though, i think. that movie scared me a lot when i first watched it when i was 11. anyone know any others that are a good time??

anyway, i'mma go do somethings elses.

I love this time of year...the smell of spring is in the air, things are beginning to shift and change in anticipation for the re-birth of life on the horizon. I can't wait until I see GREEN.

We have obtained another planting contract, which brings a great sigh of relief! the uncertainty was brutal! not sure where we'll be planting yet, i reckon it's around the same area. i've talked to our crew boss a couple times and he seems rad. it'll be good =). the forestry industry isn't doing too good, and it looks like planting will take a nose dive in a few years....so i will plant as much as possible until it does. it will be interesting to see how things develop.

yeah....went to Cranhole. it was a learning experience, to say the least.

i might be helping out with this play...not acting in it, just helpin out in one way or another. it's called Dysfunctional Cafe Theatre. it's a puppet show. there is a dinner thing happening afterwards and i may be serving/making drinks so i can see the play for free. i get to wear a costume.

anyway, time to troll along....i may go visit Jenny @ the head shop.

next time you think about going to visit Cranbrook, just DON'T. there is a reason people call it "Cranhole"........Geoff and I decided to cut right to the chase and just call it "Shithole".

HAH!

planting contract fell through....oh, life's curve balls. THAT is why my email to amber screwed up. it was not time, because things aren't settled yet. we have some potential hook ups, and we're looking into other contracts already. i'm not worried, there is planting to be done and it'll all work out.

so i ended up just giving christy all of my psy, which is like....a shit load of muzak. she'll love it though! yay i love infekting people with mang.

my plans are always so all over the place. one minute i want to do one thing and then i find something else i'd like to do and change my mind. WILL i go to burning mang this year? is that feasible? is it in the cards this time around? should i just wait until next year and take an eastern trip in the fall as originally planned? should i just get new glasses? (BORING). stupid....not being able to do what i want immediately. oh well, whatever happens will be a good time i reckon. maybe we'll get a puppy in the fall. i know i say i want a kittie like every day, but i don't think a kitty would be good with our current lifestyle of treeplanting and trekkin around and whatnot. and dogs are a really good time to take treeplanting and trekkin around...they live for that stuff. cats are good with places, dogs are good with places. it's not good to uproot a cat too much. but who knows what'll happen. I sure don't!

I guess I'll be workin at the hotel a bunch more now because the only other housekeeper isn't around anymore, which is lucky for me despite the unfortunate conditions under which she had to leave...i have been working a lot this week, which is necessary.

anyway.....

Quote from Reality Sandwich...pretty amusing comic, i do say.

'With the inauguration of Barack Obama just behind us and 2012 looming in the not-so-distant future, writer, artist and designer Dan Goldman recently published a hilarious comic titled "YES WE WILL."

In six distinct frames, Mr. Goldman extrapolates a scenario on December 21, 2012 where Obama, looking like he jumped out of an Alex Grey painting, "finally delivers on his campaign promise" of change we can really believe in.  As a noosphere of joined thoughts merges across the planet, the president gives his "Singularity Address," helping global citizens transition from the Fourth to the Fifth World, "a turning point in human evolution" where "we won't need nations or wars... or presidents."'

haven't we been here before?
continuing to end up at the same conclusion, but ignoring it because of the comfort zone. procrastination; we are all guilty (ok, maybe not highly-motivated individuals). ignoring the obvious answers until it is too late. i REFUSE to do this. no regrets. act on the moment. conscious impulses.........is that an oxymoron?

also, it seems the 'rents are still misinterpreting my intentions of why i am encouraging them to kick the cigarette habit. i won't take it personally. i know peoples' defensive attitudes towards their addictions. it is the nature of addiction. it's hard to bring up, it's a touchy subject. which is WHY i have to bring it up! like.....sorry, this isn't going to stop. i will continue to bring you back to reality and look at it's ugly face until you DO something. at the risk of sounding "bossy".

been feelin' fishbowly around here lately. it is imperative to get out of the valley every once in a while to not go insane. day trip??? hot springs?? maybe we could go this weekend!! OMG!! AAHHHHH!

also, here is me with dreadzis:

the prospect of furthering my education has been on my mind a lot lately, and an option I'm seriously considering is getting a BA in psychology, potentially continuing on to getting an Honours degree in psych. Psychology is something that has interested me throughout most of my (post-childhood) life, and something I feel is realistic for me. i realize that it would be a lot of work to go into this area of education, but i feel i'm up for that kind of challenge. i want to go ridiculously into debt obtaining an education in something that deeply interests me, and which is practical for pursuing a career after it's all over. i feel like i'm a good listener (many friends have told me this), and that i'm perceptive to people's situations and the emotions involved. i'm thoughtful, contemplative, a keen observer, and I also have had a personal relationship with psychological disorders and the mentally ill as far back as i can remember (which could be why i find interesting) but also makes me a good candidate for getting into psychology, as it's something i've been exposed to since a young age, and it doesn't make me uncomfortable to be around mentally ill folks. SO.....i want to be a therapist. i think i would be good at it. not only that, but i find it interesting to learn about, i do so on my own time already. i would like to talk to others who have gone to school for this and see what they think.

the other thing that has been on my mind is WHERE to do this. i have been drawn to go to school in my home province, and my man is drawn to his own....he doesn't want to live in wpg because it's fucking freezing 80% of the time, and i don't want to live in ontario because it's hella far from the places my heart loves (manitoba and BC). and the truth is, neither of us want to leave BC. we have talked about moving to Vancouver and going to UBC. i realize it's expensive to live there, but it's a huge city, and people seem to do it. i figure if we hook up a similar sitcho to what we have right now (as in getting a place with a few other people), we might be able to pay a comparable amount in rent to what we currently have. i'm not sure if food in Vancouver is more/less expensive, or around the same. i could see it being less expensive.....but what the hell do i know??

anyway, this is just a vague outline of possibilities. not sure if it's feasible, but i feel us slowly inching our way to having realistic plans and goals. i believe that by the time i go to school, i will be 100% up for the challenge. life is challenging no matter what, it's just a matter of finding suitable challenges for the individual.

thoughts are surely welcome =)

Alaska. Why the fuck do the Americans get Alaska??....jerks!

i've got major planting details confirmed....Geoff and I will be planting around Fort St. James, which is like northern-interior BC! It's more "hilly" than mountainous in that area....so although it won't be as epic as planting 'round these parts, it'll be more manageable, but also less pay....so...whatever? it all works out. from lookin at pictures, it's still a beautiful area, despite the lack of intense peaks. I AM SOOOOO STOKED TO GO BACK OUT TO THE BUSH!!! I can't wait to spend 3 months having adventures in nature! Yeah....i'm never missin a planting season again. it sounds like we'll get 3 solid months, from the beginning of may until the end of july. so that rules out the possibility of going to MB for a visit, but what can ya do. maybe we'll hit up Brinkman's august plant to hit up some tree sluttage Ontario stylez. But I could also see us just wanting to relax in August, and maybe pick fruit in the fall? we'll see what happens.....and don't worry, we're definitely still going to Shamb!

I must say....I am currently addicted to a forum. I've never been addicted to anything, so this is a first. i find that i log on to the site, and before i know it 3 hours have gone by. i don't like it! sure, it's entertaining to read, but there's a lot of garbage compared to actual interesting content. so, i can only go on like twice a week MAX, or it eats my life. hahahaha, yeah, ridiculous. freakin' bluelight. how about, instead of going onto bluelight if i feel like doing so, i go for a walk! or work on dreadlocks!