Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Woke up this morning, ate breakfast, and then hit the road, with the goal being Las Vegas, Nevada, and I figure I’ll make stops in Fort Cole, St. George, Utah and at Hoover Dam.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Today was pretty quiet, as I just hung around Provo. I caught up to a couple of friends, and looked into a Grad program at the university in town. The program seems a good fit, and they surprised me when they told me if I can get my application put together in the next two weeks, I can get in for the fall! I’m excited, but it’s no easy task that’s been put before me. I guess when I find someplace with a phone and the internet, I’ll have to spend some time figuring it all out. The goal for tomorrow is Vegas!

Monday, April 27, 2009

The goal today is Provo, Utah, which is a pretty good drive (probably 11-12 hours), but there really isn’t much I want to see in between, and besides I have an appointment tomorrow in Provo.

Sunday, April 26, 2008

My struggle with going on anything like this is figuring out what I need, and then packing what I need without packing a ton of extra stuff too. As I left, I made sure I had my passport, and I figure I can buy just about anything else. There are a few things that didn’t make it into the van:

• shampoo and conditioner
• a baseball hat
• combination locks — this is really dumb because I bought them Saturday for this trip

At this moment, my life is full of excitement, and the good kind too! Last week I finished up exams and am now done my degree, and I have a grand adventure lined up for the summer — a working exchange in Québec.

Over the last week, the newswire has been flooded with stories about AIG, first about the retention bonuses it had paid out, and then about the angry backlash. Much has been written about what caused AIG to get in this mess in the first place, and whether or not American taxpayers should be bailing out the company, and so I won’t rehash that, but why is everyone so mad all of a sudden? I think the answer lies in the American Dream.

The on-going adventures that are life…. This week is Reading Week, which means no school (yeah!) for a week, which makes for a great opportunity to skip town for a little Rest and Relaxation and to make an attempt to catch up to both life and school. Our ultimate destination was the Canadian Rockies, but we had an overnight stop in Lethbridge (in southern Alberta) to pick up a friend (who happens to live in an all-girl arrangement). At first I figured I could just call up another friend and crash on a couch, but that didn’t pan out — a combination of not knowing as many people as I thought I did in town and several of those who I did know having decided to skip town for the weekend (crazy idea, I know…). Plan B, then, was buck up and drop the hundred bucks and get a motel room. Plan B, however, had one major miscalculation — this was the night of February 14^th, and EVERYTHING in town was taken; we drove around for an hour and even the places we were told to avoid like the plague had pulled out their “No Vacancy” signs. In the end, we parked near where we needed to be in the morning, pulled out the long underwear and winter coats, and hunkered down in the van for the night, running it off and on to stay warm. So the moral of this adventure:

If it’s Valentine’s Day, get reservations!

By nature, I am the type to keep a little to myself; I enjoy time out with friends and in public, but I too need moments from time to time to myself to re-energize and recollect. Over the years, I have grown to appreciate quiet moments with my thoughts, to contemplate the world around me and to better understand the world within.

A couple days ago we made a run to IKEA to get a little furniture to spruce up our place, and I came home with a painting to put on the wall (an unplanned purchase, but I like Paris, so why not?). The picture is called Printemps à Paris (Spring in Paris) and was taken by a lady from Alberta. I decided to make a video of us putting it up and it turned out hilarious!

Fifteen years ago, a grassroots political movement with the slogan “The West wants in” suddenly appeared within the House of Commons. Sick of feeling that the politics of this country (Canada) were run by backroom deals among the ‘king-makers’ in Ontario and Quebec, often to the determent of Western Canada, the people formed a political party and sent them to Ottawa. But even winning 80% of the seats in Alberta and British Columbia wasn’t enough to grant the party Official Opposition status; no, that honour went to a party who’s raison d’être was best summed up by de Gaulle in 1967 when he proclaimed “Vive le Québec libre!” (Long live free Quebec!)