well well well, I'm back for a short while!

Just for 2 days and a bit: enough time to catch up on emails, buy some stuff I need, and see the people that I don't get to see when I'm out in the middle of nowhere. Speaking of.....
I am really enjoying my work. When I am not playing piano on weekends, my job duties are incredibly varied. I am doing some retail work with which I am very familiar and comfortable. I have also entered the food service industry as both a bartender, waiter, and extremely short order cook which is new work for me, but I'm learning quickly and am comfortable enough with the work. On the other hand, I've been doing a little bit of manual labour, reminiscent of last summer; and I've even worked as an exterminator.
The work certainly is varied enough to keep me interested. I quite enjoy being a do-it-all kinda guy; a jack of all trades (master of none).
The people out there are wonderful, a great group of coworkers who make work enjoyable. Not just the coworkers, but my bosses (the owners of the lodge) have been wonderful, and they've made me feel at home and very welcomed. It sounds corny, but it's like I'm part of a family there, which is a nice thing when I'm away from friends and family in the city.
Aside from the people and the work, it's gorgeous out there! Everynight I'm treated to a beautiful sunset over the lake. My cabin is within a boot's throw of the lake, and knowing how I throw, that sure is close. Speaking of the lake... I went swimming, it's cold... very cold! But it was great and refreshing and wonderful. Soon enough it will be warmer in the lake, and I will be able to go swimming daily if I want.

While I'm up there, I have no internet access, but you can get ahold of me by my phone or voicemail or text messages. The good news is that I will be coming into the city every 2 weeks. We're going to be doing a 10days on, 4 days off schedule, which should be nice. It will probably always be mon-thursday ish.
Anyway, I have lots to do over the next few days, so bye for now, but I hope to update before I leave again.. if not, see you around June 12'th ish.

goodbye world!

Goodbye,
Im now heading out the door, fully packed and ready to go!
have a great summer!
i love you all, except for some, butI sohuldn't tell yout hat I hate you, momma always said "if you dont have anything nice to say, shut the fuck up!"

it's almost go time!

last minute packing... I tried to get my paycheque this morning, but there was noone in the office... so I don't know if I'll have time to go there again...eep it's out of the way!, but I need the money.. especially if I need a deposit on the appt. or something like that... I don't have many socks, where have they gone?!? I think I might need to buy some on the way out, really! where are they!?! gah.... and theres nothing I like better than fresh new socks... mmmm so cozy! oooh there's excitement in the air. I actually read the newspaper today, I went for tea in the morning before trying to get my cheque, and I read through the Free Press. gah, I didn't like it.
One article was about how our Maestro was ineffective. He made it clear that he wrote it from a non-musician's point of view, and I can understand that. he said he couldn't teel the difference betweent he orchestra under different conductors, and that he never really changed the style of concert as he said was necessary, BUT, having a good conductor inspired the players in the orchestra... which seemed to be the problem when they... say... were on strike when he first came here... so he did fix that up... but now what's going to happen ... oh welllllll

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Wowzers,
time has just flown by this last little while... and tonight...
I'm glad my mom started helping me pack.. I totally lost focus, but ya, stuff still got done.... all thats left is the clothes, which I'll do tomorrow morning.
I need to get my paycheck from the contemp dancers before I leave... tomorrow is payday... so I'm hoping it will be ready in the morning... or that they won't hate me for wanting it first thing... because I need the money. Im going to wake up early to drive my mom to work, that way I will be awake and functional and actually be prepared to leave in the afternoon.
Alas, I should be off to bed, tomorrow is going to be a long day!

I bought a brita water filter and a whistling kettle!
I also bought veggies, so I won't get scurvey right away when I move away!
Gah, finding boxes was a bit of a hassle.... neither of the LC's had them, so I got a few from JackAss, and I still haven't really started packing... oh well. My mom's being very helpful!

Last day in the city

Tomorrow is moving day, which means that today is packing day.
I think I'm having to put everything I should have been doing over the last few days into today.... but packing is always best at last-minute... although I've only ever done it last minute, so that's good enough.
I need to find boxes to put things in. I need to wash lots of clothes today, then there's also the task of digging through the piles of clothes in my room to find my wardrobe for the summer. Shit, I really have no idea what to take, should I take a CD Player or not, and if not, should I bring cds incase theres a cd player up there? Should I bring my keyboard, will there be room in Deena's car, do I care to have it? How many towels do I need to bring?...if I use them after a shower, they're still clean then, so I don't really need to 'wash' them persay....
I'm still wondering.. he said there were pots and pans and stuff like that, so I'm wondering exactly how furnished the appartment is. I'm hoping there will be an iron.
Anyway, it's not too important to worry about these things now, my parents are coming for the Mother's day brunch, and they will be able to bring me whatever I realize I need once I get there, because we all know I'm going to forget something important.

I have a new friend!

For those of you worried about me being lonely and without companionship this summer.... Worry not!!
I bought a new friend today. He's fairly short, but he loves to smile and he will be a great companion. Fiona didn't get along with him today, but I think she's just jealous of my new friendship. I won't tell you much more because I'm going to make Deena wait until we get there before she can meet my new friend. One hint... he loves carrots!
Today was random errands and stuff. I bought new sandals and new shoes. I handed in the CD for the ballet dance and returned a library book to the Millenium Branch downtown. I think with those things done, I am stringless in the city; there's nothing left in the city that I have to worry before I run away for the summer. Everything else I have to do is to make sure I can survive out there.
I ordered what should be enough drugs for the summer, and the food will last for a while. Now it's just a matter of knowing what to take, and make sure I'll have everything I'll need without packing overkill. Anyway, bye for now.

Time is running out!

Today I sent out an email to a bunch of people to let them know where I'm going, so they don't get confused when they can't find me all summer. That pretty much puts me in official preparation mode. All the time I spend is either packing/cleaning or somehow preparing for my departure. It seems everyone I talk to, I'm explaining whats up for the summer, or spending quality time with them before I'm off.
Last night was a good night. We had the final concert of the year with the choir that I sing in. The concert went well, all things considered. Many people were under the weather, or for somereason not in good shape for singing. The concert was poorly attended, but I think the people that were there enjoyed the show. We performed Bach's Peasant Cantata as the closer of this all Baroque concert. People got a chuckle or two out of it due to one of our soloists who did a splendid job of bringing about the jolity and humour of the text... albeit not in an academically fitting Bach style.
After the concert, Deena and I dropped her car off at her place then I changed at my house and we went to Kyle's for his party.
At Kyles, there were the usual bunch of people. It's always fun to see people there. I wasn't drinking cause of Antibiotics and driving, that way Deena could.. and she certainly did! tee hee She is a very cute drunk, what with the rambling and random talking and commentary.
Another highlight of the party was the 'meeting' Jon and I had. We've been talking about a collaboration of sorts for a while. We both want it to happen, so we were trying to think of different ideas, but neither of us is particularly political, or has a major theme that we want to address in an artistic piece... so that's getting in the way. I think it might involve puppets!! or maybe some kind of artistic porn...
I'm going to do the music and Jon will do the visual aspects of the project. We're thinking a video.. but who knows. I'm going to email him now, i think.
The low point of the party was at the beginning.
THERE WAS NO FUCKING SPINACH DIP!!!!!!!! All the dumbass cunts whowere there ate it all!!!! FUCKIFUCKFICIKKCIFIKCIUCKMIFUCK! I told him I wasn't going to be there til later and to wait to put it out... but no!!!!
ARGHS!
And I couldn't even drink my sorrows away due to the soberness of my evening. FUCK!
ANyway, that was the evening. I will be bitter about the Spinach Dip for a long time.

Academically successful year.

Wow,
I'm impressed with myself and partially surprised, but mostly proud.
This is the first year in my university carreer that I haven't recieved a mark in the B area. This is because, I am a straight-A student this year. Not only that, but I recieved two A plusses! Only two of my marks haven't been posted: major practical and chamber music, both of which are going to be A's.
I am very happy!
Today was super busy, but now I'm officially done with Ballet for the year. The senior level class that I play for on sat. mornings.... I'vr been playing for them for over 2 years now... and some of them are moving away and not coming back next year.. or not returning for some reason or another. At the end of the class today, I told them I was leaving for the summer, and they decided to maul me with a group hug. Poignant moment. More than anything, I was actually aware of my role as an educator today. I don't think you really notice that you're teaching people until they are on they way out, and you can look back upon what they have taken from you. This is not even necesarily what they can tell you they've learned:
(Story time)..........
When I started playing for this group of dancers, it was fairly unintimidating because they really didn't care what i played. They never really noticed if I made mistakes or stylistically wrong music choices; the musicality(or lack thereof) they showed was unwavering. Musical jokes that i love (such as hinting bluntly at well-known themes) passed by them completely unnoticed, If they didn't understand the accents in terms of the ballet movements, there was nothign that my music could do to help them.
Today, and this year, it has become a different story. Choices of music and style that I make actually do make a difference in their movements. A girl had been humming/singing "Somehwere over the rainbow", and when I slipped it into their developpé exercise, their was a quiet uproar of giggles.
....................(end story)
It was an incredibly rewarding day at the ballet. For the other class, I still have to rerecord the piano version of "You are my sunshine", as the counting wasn't quite what it should have been. Other than that, the teacher said she really liked what I did with the song, so I should just fix up the one section and it would be great.
AFter ballet, there was a dress rehearsal, which went fine, but it was tense because we might not be able to use the organ for the concert..... eek!
When I came home, I left again quickly to pick up my bound books of music.... finally all finished, so I'm happy enough. I tried shopping for sandals... but frick! 60$ for sandals?!? I think not!
I went to Cara's kickboxing fight tonight. It was great! unfortunately, her opponent didn't show up in town, so she did an exhibition against someone she knew. She was dissapointed, but I still think she was awesome.
Anyway, I'm so very very tired, I'm going to bed far earlier than normal, and I'm gonna love it!
I have SOOO much to get organised and done before I leave, and nowhere near enough time.

So this book slicing up and reorganizing task has proved more complicated and stupid and frustrating than I had planned... actually I knew it would be this way.
I took out of each book, the songs that I want to use. Now I am combining those 5 alphabetically... just a few letters at a time. Sounds simple, but remember that none of the songs are individual...and they rarely lack to a connection to another song - on the flip side of the page. Sometimes I am using the song, sometimes not. The big problem comes when I have a solid chunk of songs being used from one book spanning letters f-h, and then another chunk spanning e-i: so my alphabet goes A B C D E F G H I F G H J K L M.... and so on...
this problem occurs all over the place... so the alphabet is only going to be loosely represented here.. meaning that I will have some major troubles trying to actually find any specific song in my vast collection. Nevertheless, I will find a way, and yes, it will be fun.
Even just getting the book cut apart was a bit of a hassle. One of the places said they only bind the books from start to finish, so they wouldn't just cut it for me..... I was expecting that this had something to do with copyright laws, but no... apparently they just didn't want to help me out. Another place had a 24 hour wait on all jobs... even though it would have taken 2 minutes and I would have left them alone after that... but oh well, they didn't mind losing my business. The store I had called before said they did it.. so all was good, but I went to a differnet location which didnt have the cutter required... so I had to go to the location I called to get it done.
All in all, I will finish this organizing very soon and then take it to be spiral bound into two books this afternoon, and then I can worry about the other stuff I have to do before leaving.
For example:
I need to go to Value Village or elsewhere to buy more semi-respectable clothes so I look somewhat classy as the pianist.
Shit, I just remembered I need to record the music for one of the ballet classes for their end of year performance.
I need to figure out exactly what to bring, and start packing/ or at least getting organized.
I need to photocopy all the classical music I need to learn for next year so I dont have to lug the originals out there.
Eek, I know theres still lots more, but I can't think of it... I'm making a list. this weekend is so busy, I have things going basically constantly:
Tonight, going to an opera and then Nachos at Papa Georges.
Tomorrow, Work in morning, dress rehearsal in afternoon, then Cara's fight in evening.
Sunday, Concert in the evening, then Kyle's party at night.
I have to find time to record that piece SOON, cause ya, that's a necessity and I really should have had it done for tomorrow, but that's not going to happen, so oh well. Maybe I'll do a rough copy to double check the counts, and then record a better version later. ya, thats a plan.
Anyway, now realizing all the crap I need to do, I'm off to get doing it!

So, I heard back from the guy from the summer job today.
I asked him the main questions which were my concerns:
Practice time - I can use the piano in the restaurant 5 days a week between restaurant closing at 8pm and the lounge/hotel closing up at midnight. In theory, this will work out.
Room and board - I would live in a bachelor type appartment with a kitchenette, 200$/month.. so it's cheap. I have to pay for food... 35% off the restaurant food (at cost), but that's still costly, so I will try and live off groceries as much as I can. I really don't crave variety in my eating, so I think I'll do well with living off cheerios and peanut butter.
Wage - they offered me a starting wage of 12$/hr with a guaruntee of 40 hours a week. With R&B considered, its the same as a 8-9$/hr job in the city.
Random other considerations - if I don't have a car out there, I won't be spending lots of money on gas as I have been lately. I will become one with nature out there in the wilderness.

I'm going to treat this as a summer of cleansing. Over the years I have become lazy, overweight and less active mentally and physically by my own volition. I am going to exercise regularly and eat better. With the beautiful scenery and the lake, I'm sure I will have opportunity to go for walks and swim often. I am going to bring lots of books to read, varied books. I'm going to use books as my entertainment. I won't have tv or the computer, so lots of reading.... maybe I can encorporate the reading and the walking...

Investment / Frivolous spending ?

If you know me, you have probably at some point been subjected to my love of School House Rock. Today my love was taken to a new level. Let me tell you the tale.
I went to the music store to make an investment today... I needed more lounge music... and there was a noticeable hole in my "Best of the (insert decade here)" series... I had the 50's-70's.... so today I bought the 80's and 90's. So much more music.. and I'm actually more familiar with most of this stuff! I also found a discount rack and clearance bin... so I bought some other random stuff... mostly individual songs that I might be able to encorporate into my lounge act.... such as Britney's "I'm a slave 4 U" and so on and so forth... theres a reason they were on clearance....
BUT the highlight of my day was when what did I find in the discount PVM racks..... but the sheet music for selections from School House Rock.... thats right... I can go to "conjunction junction' anytime I want now... and I can consult "Lolly lolly lolly get your adverbs here" too! Actually conjunction junction is scored in the DVD for a really awesome sounding quartet of voices... I'm thinking next year at a noon-hour recital....
All in all, I spend close to 100$ on music today. If this job works out well, I can justify that to myself as an investment... if not... I'll cry myself to sleep tonight.... again.
So heres the thing.. I now have 5 books in the decades series... and I am only going to use about half the songs in each(at best). That could make for a large pile of music beside the piano....
At the same time... the binding of the books is done with glue... so they don't lie flat on the piano... meaning it's damned near impossible to play from them....................
::::::: Festival accompanying... David.... book closing.... argh..... eeep!!!:::::::::::::
My original thought was that I should have them rebound... simple enough... they just slice off the glue and then stick a coil binding spiral in it. BUT this is my plan-
I will get them to cut the glue bound bit off.. then I will take out just the songs I want... organise them alphabetically into 2 or 3 books that I can use rather than 5! Once they are organised, I can take them back to be bound together in neat books that will suit my needs quite nicely.
At the same time, it's going to be a fair chunk of effort on my part... right now, I'm figuring out which pieces I want to use from each book.... I'm discriminating based on whether I know the piece or not as well as whether or not it would be appropriate for background music.
Fun Fun Fun!