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!)

I read an article about a week ago describing it as a disgrace, how Bush has been treated by the American people and media. I sat back and realized it’s been a LONG time since I’ve heard anything nice about George W. Bush. Regardless of how good a job Bush did, or did not do, when the American media starts bad-mounthing the President, it implicitly gives everyone else permission to due the same.

So the item all over the news of late is the Olympics, which are being held as we speak in Beijing, and will go on for the next week or so. Giving the games to China has been the source of controversy since the decision was made in 2001 - while China suggested it was the chance to show itself off as an emerging world player, the critics argued that China’s record, particularly on human rights, made it an inappropriate host.

A couple weeks ago, I got that vibe — the one that says “Run away for 6 or 9 months, explore the world, and ‘find yourself’!” It didn’t take long for my practical side to kick in and tell me that I really couldn’t run away; I have work now and school starts up again in September. That said, I do graduate from school next April and it’s looking like I might have a little down time then, so why not run off? The question remaining then is, Where to go?

Allow me to indulge in a little self-aggrandization — I was in the paper last Monday! I guess a reporter at the Edmonton Sun found a bill in her pocket marked Where’s Willy.com, took a look at it, and found my contact information on that website. A phone interview, a quick photo shoot, and a day later, I found my picture in the paper!

I sit down at my computer with an idea that’s been running around in my head for a week or two and start typing. An hour later, I examine my handiwork — it’s beautiful! But as I look closer, I start asking myself “So what’s the point, anyway? Why would anyone else care?” What good is a piece if it is nothing more than me rambling? I want people to be able to take something away from my ramblings…. The next question is, What do I do? Do I scrape this piece? Or do I rewrite it? Neither option presents an easy solution. I’ve been down this road a couple times now…

Garrrr! Why does good writing have to be so hard?!?