25.6.09
23.6.09
extrano
Things I miss about this photo:
Lee
Sacha
Cuba
My blonde hair
My gold shoes
Being 15 pounds lighter
Random excerpts from the weekend
On Friday evening (at 6:30pm) some little fourteen year old boys got on the skytrain wearing ed hardy wannabe studded hats and shirts just wasted out of their minds.
Word of advice: you're going nowhere in life if you tattoo your face. Especially if you're fourteen and it's a tear drop.
On Saturday, while walking to the bus with Kate Swanney, I fully ran over some one's foot on the street corner. I laughed in his face and he gave me a dirty look.
I am ever courteous
On Saturday night, Chanel and I went to the Roberts Creek Legion for reggae night, shook our booties, reminisced with classmates not seen for years, and watched another former schoolmate try too hard to get the attention of the one extremely good looking male in the building.
FYI: Nobody is a big deal in Roberts Creek and 'bend-and-snap-hair-flipping' techniques don't work past the tenth grade.
Did they work even then?
On Sunday, Chanel and I rented a double kayak in Gibsons. We paddled out to Keats Island, jumped off the government wharf, and then couldn't keep the rudder down on the boat. Thinking we'd broken the Kayak, we paddled back to lower G, turning our proposed 4 hour rental into 2. Upon our return, the rental clerk (for lack of a better term), Shane, informed us that, "That happens all the time. People come back and think they've broken the rudder, but it just gets caught right here...". Then he literally flicked a cord, and the rudder fell back down.
Thanks Shane, you could have told us before we went out.
He then only charged us $20, and invited us to a 'Neanderthal themed kegger' (next weekend), he just had to "check with his buddy".
All in all, it was a complete weekend.
Word of advice: you're going nowhere in life if you tattoo your face. Especially if you're fourteen and it's a tear drop.
On Saturday, while walking to the bus with Kate Swanney, I fully ran over some one's foot on the street corner. I laughed in his face and he gave me a dirty look.
I am ever courteous
On Saturday night, Chanel and I went to the Roberts Creek Legion for reggae night, shook our booties, reminisced with classmates not seen for years, and watched another former schoolmate try too hard to get the attention of the one extremely good looking male in the building.
FYI: Nobody is a big deal in Roberts Creek and 'bend-and-snap-hair-flipping' techniques don't work past the tenth grade.
Did they work even then?
On Sunday, Chanel and I rented a double kayak in Gibsons. We paddled out to Keats Island, jumped off the government wharf, and then couldn't keep the rudder down on the boat. Thinking we'd broken the Kayak, we paddled back to lower G, turning our proposed 4 hour rental into 2. Upon our return, the rental clerk (for lack of a better term), Shane, informed us that, "That happens all the time. People come back and think they've broken the rudder, but it just gets caught right here...". Then he literally flicked a cord, and the rudder fell back down.
Thanks Shane, you could have told us before we went out.
He then only charged us $20, and invited us to a 'Neanderthal themed kegger' (next weekend), he just had to "check with his buddy".
All in all, it was a complete weekend.
22.6.09
Unfortunate
Want to know what sucks about songza.com? You can't save multiple play lists. When I make a new one, it erases the old. This is unfortunate.
Berry nice. Berry nice.
To me, berries are quintessentially summer.
I spent every summer until I was about fifteen, picking berries with my mum. While she had mastered her craft and would pick bucket upon bucket of salmon berries (roadside), Raspberries (at Bob's), Blueberries (up the mountain), blackberries (roadside and at the Cromie's) and huckleberries (in my front yard), my, 'two for me, one for the bucket' method didn't get me very far and i would give up after about half an hour and just eat what I had. I was not a very productive berry picker.
My mum would freeze the berries so we would have them all year round and she would use them for jams, jellies, smoothies and also Blackberry vinegar which we would add water to, to make juice.
Needless to say, my childhood summers were rife with berries and so when I was walking down Lower Road yesterday and noticed the red and orange of salmon berries poking out from under big green leaves, I got the tingly feeling that I get in my stomach when something reminds me of being a kid, and I stopped in a moment of nostalgic bliss to eat the salmon egg-like (for which they are named) fruits. They were a little bit sour still, but give them a couple days, and they'll be ripe and juicy.
The bears too, seem to have noticed the, almost miraculous, appearance of their favourite snack and are rambling about Roberts Creek eating berries and, of course, garbage.
It's been (unusually) hot and sticky all June (aside from the last couple of days) and yesterday Chanel and I went kayaking to Keats Island, jumped off the government wharf, and then ate sushi and gelato in Lower Gibsons in our wet clothes. Neither of us wanted to go back to the city, to the smog and where we have to put some effort into our appearances.
Sigh.
I have a good feeling about the next couple of months.
Welcome home summer.
Mr Searle
My dad is pretty cool.
He's like 6'4", and looks like Christopher Reeves and also, unfortunately, gets mistaken for Gordon Campbell on a regular basis (figure that one out).
One year, for Christmas, I got him a Gordon Campbell voodoo doll. It was amazing.
He used to be a cabinet maker, and an amazing one at that,
(One evening while at a friend's house which had been recently renovated, my mum came down from using the upstairs bathroom (which had not been redone) and proclaimed to my father, "Bruce, go upstairs and check out the cabinets in the bathroom! They are amazing!" to which my dad replied, "Thanks Yvonne, I made them myself.")
he is now the fire chief for the Roberts Creek Fire Department.
He built his own wooden kayak and also built our house from the ground up with his own two hands.
If he doesn't know how to do something, he reads a book and perfects the craft (when I asked who was going to teach him to sail his recently purchased sail boat, he replied, "Nobody. I'll just read a book. That's how I've learned to do everything else.").
My dad is witty, and smart and always up for a good laugh.
My first memory is from the first house we lived in. I must have only been a few months old (I have a wicked memory), i was lying in my crib, which was under the stairs, and watching him walk up the said staircase. I remember his work boots.
The smell of sawdust reminds me of my dad.
My dad is pretty cool.
He also has one of the most eclectic tastes in music I've ever witnessed (aside from my own) and burns and trades CDs with his friend Pete on a regular basis. (When I was a baby, he used to listen to all different kinds of really loud music so I would grow up to have a wide taste. It worked. I started making mix tapes for my friends in grade six).
And so I made him this short little playlist.
All these songs remind me of my dad in some way or another.
Some are songs I remember him listening to as a kid, and some just bring his face to my mind.
So sit back, or rock out to this playlist. And think of your dad. even if they wouldn't listen to it.
Cause today is the day of fathers.
1). Traveling Wilburys - Handle with Care
2). Yello - Oh Yeah
3). Timbuk 3 - Standard White Jesus
4). The Rolling Stones - She's So Cold
5). Talking Heads - Swamp
6). Grace Jones - Warm Leatherette
7). tom tom club - genius of love
8). Devo - Girl U want / Gates of steel
9). The Tragically Hip - Little Bones
10). Richard Thompson - 1952 Vincent Black Lightening
11). Paul Simon - 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
12). Dengue Fever - Ethanopium
13). Afrodizz - Yadsa
14). Young Canadians - Hawaii
15). The Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso
16). Devo - Mongoloid
17). Frank Zappa - Willie the Pimp
18). Tom Waits - Chocolate Jesus
I know Devo is on there twice, but how could I not?
He's like 6'4", and looks like Christopher Reeves and also, unfortunately, gets mistaken for Gordon Campbell on a regular basis (figure that one out).
One year, for Christmas, I got him a Gordon Campbell voodoo doll. It was amazing.
He used to be a cabinet maker, and an amazing one at that,
(One evening while at a friend's house which had been recently renovated, my mum came down from using the upstairs bathroom (which had not been redone) and proclaimed to my father, "Bruce, go upstairs and check out the cabinets in the bathroom! They are amazing!" to which my dad replied, "Thanks Yvonne, I made them myself.")
he is now the fire chief for the Roberts Creek Fire Department.
He built his own wooden kayak and also built our house from the ground up with his own two hands.
If he doesn't know how to do something, he reads a book and perfects the craft (when I asked who was going to teach him to sail his recently purchased sail boat, he replied, "Nobody. I'll just read a book. That's how I've learned to do everything else.").
My dad is witty, and smart and always up for a good laugh.
My first memory is from the first house we lived in. I must have only been a few months old (I have a wicked memory), i was lying in my crib, which was under the stairs, and watching him walk up the said staircase. I remember his work boots.
The smell of sawdust reminds me of my dad.
My dad is pretty cool.
He also has one of the most eclectic tastes in music I've ever witnessed (aside from my own) and burns and trades CDs with his friend Pete on a regular basis. (When I was a baby, he used to listen to all different kinds of really loud music so I would grow up to have a wide taste. It worked. I started making mix tapes for my friends in grade six).
And so I made him this short little playlist.
All these songs remind me of my dad in some way or another.
Some are songs I remember him listening to as a kid, and some just bring his face to my mind.
So sit back, or rock out to this playlist. And think of your dad. even if they wouldn't listen to it.
Cause today is the day of fathers.
1). Traveling Wilburys - Handle with Care
2). Yello - Oh Yeah
3). Timbuk 3 - Standard White Jesus
4). The Rolling Stones - She's So Cold
5). Talking Heads - Swamp
6). Grace Jones - Warm Leatherette
7). tom tom club - genius of love
8). Devo - Girl U want / Gates of steel
9). The Tragically Hip - Little Bones
10). Richard Thompson - 1952 Vincent Black Lightening
11). Paul Simon - 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
12). Dengue Fever - Ethanopium
13). Afrodizz - Yadsa
14). Young Canadians - Hawaii
15). The Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso
16). Devo - Mongoloid
17). Frank Zappa - Willie the Pimp
18). Tom Waits - Chocolate Jesus
I know Devo is on there twice, but how could I not?
18.6.09
Inconceivable!
"That Vizzini, he can fuss"
"Fuss, fuss... I think he like to scream at us."
"Probably he means no harm."
"He's really very short on...charm."
"You have a great gift for rhyme."
"Yes, yes, some of the time."
"Enough of that."
"Fezzik, are there rocks ahead?"
"If there are, we all be dead."
"No more rhyming now, I mean it."
"Anybody want a peanut?"
"Fuss, fuss... I think he like to scream at us."
"Probably he means no harm."
"He's really very short on...charm."
"You have a great gift for rhyme."
"Yes, yes, some of the time."
"Enough of that."
"Fezzik, are there rocks ahead?"
"If there are, we all be dead."
"No more rhyming now, I mean it."
"Anybody want a peanut?"
17.6.09
12.6.09
summertime
one morning last week, after a fitfull night, i woke up with ella fitzgerald's "it's too darn hot" going around in my head. i decided to make a summer play list.
i omitted a lot of the cliched summer favourites, for example, schools out for summer -over played, and, not that good, but left in a few that were obvious. Lovin' spoonful? how could i not? some of these you won't have heard of (mad dogs and englishmen). some of them aren't even about really about summer (bob dylan - summer days) it's not necessarily in the order i would have chosen but i got tired of dicking around because it kept switching up on me. one very important song is missing from the list. popsicle by the talking heads but i couldn't find it anywhere on the internet. oh well. here you go.
feedback appreciated.
www.songza.com/mikeindia
1). The Lovin' Spoonful - Summer In The City
2). The Fall - British People In Hot Weather
3). Billy Idol - Hot In The City
4). Jonathan Richman - Ice Cream Man Live
5). The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon
6). Seals & Crofts - Summer Breeze
7). Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues
8). Cliff Richard - Summer Holiday
9). Noel Coward- Mad Dog's And Englishmen
10). The Beach Boys - All Summer Long
11). Ramones - Rockaway Beach
12). Surfaris - Wipe Out
13). Ramones - California Sun
14). Lee "Scratch" Perry - City Too Hot
15). Bob Marley - The Sun Is Shining
16). Van Morrison - Summertime In England / Common One
17). Jimi Hendrix Experience - Long Hot Summer Night
18). Bob Dylan - Summer Days
19). Ella Fitzgerald - Too Darn Hot
20). Frank Sinatra - Summer Wind
21). Sly & the Family Stone - Hot Fun in the Summertime
22). Mungo Jerry - In The Summertime
23). Jamiroquai - Seven Days in Sunny June
24).DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - Summertime -
25). Atmosphere - sunshine (2007)
26). Beck - Girl
27). Righeira - Vamos A La Playa
i omitted a lot of the cliched summer favourites, for example, schools out for summer -over played, and, not that good, but left in a few that were obvious. Lovin' spoonful? how could i not? some of these you won't have heard of (mad dogs and englishmen). some of them aren't even about really about summer (bob dylan - summer days) it's not necessarily in the order i would have chosen but i got tired of dicking around because it kept switching up on me. one very important song is missing from the list. popsicle by the talking heads but i couldn't find it anywhere on the internet. oh well. here you go.
feedback appreciated.
www.songza.com/mikeindia
1). The Lovin' Spoonful - Summer In The City
2). The Fall - British People In Hot Weather
3). Billy Idol - Hot In The City
4). Jonathan Richman - Ice Cream Man Live
5). The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon
6). Seals & Crofts - Summer Breeze
7). Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues
8). Cliff Richard - Summer Holiday
9). Noel Coward- Mad Dog's And Englishmen
10). The Beach Boys - All Summer Long
11). Ramones - Rockaway Beach
12). Surfaris - Wipe Out
13). Ramones - California Sun
14). Lee "Scratch" Perry - City Too Hot
15). Bob Marley - The Sun Is Shining
16). Van Morrison - Summertime In England / Common One
17). Jimi Hendrix Experience - Long Hot Summer Night
18). Bob Dylan - Summer Days
19). Ella Fitzgerald - Too Darn Hot
20). Frank Sinatra - Summer Wind
21). Sly & the Family Stone - Hot Fun in the Summertime
22). Mungo Jerry - In The Summertime
23). Jamiroquai - Seven Days in Sunny June
24).DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - Summertime -
25). Atmosphere - sunshine (2007)
26). Beck - Girl
27). Righeira - Vamos A La Playa
music to my ears
so, i've decided to start sharing my playlists with the world.
as most people know, what i'm best at is sharing music. if you didn't know that, now you do.
i'll update it every couple days and post on here when i've done so.
i've got a pretty eclectic taste in music. probably the most diverse of anyone i know, so some of the stuff you'll love, some of the stuff you will have forgotten about, some of the stuff you will never have heard of and some of the stuff you will think "what the fuck is she on?".
that's okay.
it's what i love.
enjoy.
www.songza.com/mikeindia
as most people know, what i'm best at is sharing music. if you didn't know that, now you do.
i'll update it every couple days and post on here when i've done so.
i've got a pretty eclectic taste in music. probably the most diverse of anyone i know, so some of the stuff you'll love, some of the stuff you will have forgotten about, some of the stuff you will never have heard of and some of the stuff you will think "what the fuck is she on?".
that's okay.
it's what i love.
enjoy.
www.songza.com/mikeindia
Quotes by allison
#1 "You know what i struggle with? My identity."
#2 "I wonder what normal people are like."
thanks allie
#2 "I wonder what normal people are like."
thanks allie
11.6.09
surrriously
i had a dream last night that my mum was super hip and started spelling 'there', 'thurr'.
unrealistic.
that would never happen.
unrealistic.
that would never happen.
10.6.09
type?
i've had it pointed out to me that the current apple of my eye has a lot of similarities to a former potential.
a sign i should turn and walk away?
i haven't decided.
what has been decided is that i'm smitten.
and he has no idea.
a sign i should turn and walk away?
i haven't decided.
what has been decided is that i'm smitten.
and he has no idea.
east is the least (quiet)
i've been awoken at ungodly hours too many nights this week. mostly by drunken tom foolery.
shouting.
banging.
lots of banging.
loud banging.
on multiple doors.
it never ceases to amaze me how inconsiderate people can be when under the influence.
i guess that's part of what i signed up for when i decided to live on the east side of town.
tonight i'm hoping to get a full night's sleep.
wish me luck.
shouting.
banging.
lots of banging.
loud banging.
on multiple doors.
it never ceases to amaze me how inconsiderate people can be when under the influence.
i guess that's part of what i signed up for when i decided to live on the east side of town.
tonight i'm hoping to get a full night's sleep.
wish me luck.
murphy's law
who is this 'murphy' character that writes these 'laws'?
i'd like to get my hands on him.
is he irish? he sounds irish.
but then where does the saying 'luck of the irish' come from?
isn't that kind of contradictory?
not that murphy necessarily represents all of the irish, but he seems to have a lot of pull.
he certainly messes with my life on a regular basis.
not today in particular.
but he does fuck with things a lot.
maybe i should look at the end of the rainbow.
little irish bastard.
i'd like to get my hands on him.
is he irish? he sounds irish.
but then where does the saying 'luck of the irish' come from?
isn't that kind of contradictory?
not that murphy necessarily represents all of the irish, but he seems to have a lot of pull.
he certainly messes with my life on a regular basis.
not today in particular.
but he does fuck with things a lot.
maybe i should look at the end of the rainbow.
little irish bastard.
9.6.09
brosse tes dents!
my roommate brushes her teeth for at least thirty minutes at a time.
like four times a day.
she can't look at dental recontstruction on makeover shows.
she's a little obsessed with oral hygiene.
i guess there are a lot worse things you can be o.c.d. about.
at least she doesn't lock and unlock the door six times or something.
sometimes i worry that she thinks i'm gross because i only 'brosse mes dents' for 2 minutes.
i think it suffices.
i don't have trouble when i go to the dentist (which i do on a regular basis)
truth be told, once in a while, i get a little lazy.
especially if i've been drinking.
or i run out of time in the morning before work.
and i only brush them once a day.
but more often than not, it's two to three times.
what can i say, i like a clean mouth.
just not as much as julie.
like four times a day.
she can't look at dental recontstruction on makeover shows.
she's a little obsessed with oral hygiene.
i guess there are a lot worse things you can be o.c.d. about.
at least she doesn't lock and unlock the door six times or something.
sometimes i worry that she thinks i'm gross because i only 'brosse mes dents' for 2 minutes.
i think it suffices.
i don't have trouble when i go to the dentist (which i do on a regular basis)
truth be told, once in a while, i get a little lazy.
especially if i've been drinking.
or i run out of time in the morning before work.
and i only brush them once a day.
but more often than not, it's two to three times.
what can i say, i like a clean mouth.
just not as much as julie.
8.6.09
we've got a yacht!!!
my dad bought a sailboat last weekend.
i feel so extravagant and overprivileged when i say that.
i'm not.
actually, growing up we were pretty fucking far from it.
okay maybe not THAT far from it, i've been pretty fortunate, but i did not, by any means grow up in a wealthy family.
i grew up in a family where most stress and arguments between my parents surrounded funds.
i kind of resent my parents for that. it's the last thing a kid needs to hear constantly.
about how there's only two dollars in the bank.
how this christmas isn't going to be like last year.
about how some sort of trade was going to have to be arranged to pay the violin teacher this week.
it's a lot for a child to take. i don't think parents realise how much children take on.
we always pulled through. i always knew we would.
i think i was made to believe (unintentionally) that we were a lot worse off than we were. we always made it, and i believe that's all i needed to know.
don't get me wrong, i think it was important for me to know that things weren't always easy and that my parents had to work very hard for what i had, and, i had a lot, considering. growing up surrounded by a lot of wealthy people in my community also didn't help the situation either for myself, or my parents. but i don't think it was necessary for me to be made to feel bad for wanting to do and have all the things my friends had.
my parents money qualms weren't always solely surrounding mine and my brother's material demands. it was not knowing where money for groceries was going to come from. or how they were going to fill the gas tank. i didn't need to know that. all i needed to know was that there was food on the table. and there always was.
when my dad was building our house (which he did all himself), my parents couldn't afford to rent a place as well as subsidise the construction, so we lived in a tent for two and a half years. all four members of my family. i was between the ages of 6 and 8. my brother between 3 and 5.
it wasn't, by any means a camping tent. my uncle is a locations manager for movies and owns his own company and has a number of quonset hut-like structures which are used on set to house and feed crew, so he gave my family one of these "tents" to reside in for the duration of the building. it sufficed. my dad is a wood worker and quite the handyman so he installed three plywood walls and a plywood floor. one wall was in the very front and one in the back of the tent to make for sturdier ends and then one in the front section as a divider to enable my mum to have a fully functioning kitchen. he even built a front porch. the tent came complete with one wall, which was more of a canvas flap with a zipper down the middle, already on the inside towards the back end of the structure which created a bedroom for my brother and i.
(we had one dreaded babysitter, wendy, who, once, was annoyed with my brother and i not going to bed at 6:30 when she requested, and so she tied one of the tassels from the living room rug to the zipper. a sort of makeshift lock. it ripped off and the tassel stayed there for the duration of our living in the tent).
quinn and i had bunk beds. i slept on the bottom and because the wall was not flat, but curved, and my bed didn't rest against it, i woke up on the floor between my bed and the tent countless times. my parents slept in the living room.
it wasn't huge, but it was cozy. we had a kerosene heater for winter and i still find comfort in the sound of hard rain slapping against canvas. my dad erected our old wood shed from our previous house next to the tent and installed a shower and hot water heater. every time i was forced to take a shower in the 'shower shed', i would throw a fit. my parents often reminisce on how 'difficult' i was.
we had (and still have) an outhouse in the woods at the back of our property. i hated using it because my dad, in its construction, had overlooked the need for a door. for nights we had a 'chamber pot' of sorts but if a 'number two' came along, we would wake up one of my parents (usually my dad) and he would (begrudgingly) lead us, flashlight in hand, to our outdoor latrine. i once dropped the flashlight down the hole. dad then told a story about someone he knew as a kid who did the same. his father wasn't kind enough to fish it out himself and instead held his son by his ankles and dangled him down the toilet to grab the torch. i never dropped the flashlight down the shitter again.
i grew up in the middle of the west coast rain forest and so windy nights weren't so safe for my family in our little canvas dwelling. my dad, being a carpenter/cabinet maker at the time, owned a large dodge ram van and so he and my mum would wake my brother and myself up, and the four of us would pile into the vehicle, sleeping bags in hand, and drive down to roberts creek beach where we would park the van and sleep in the cul-de-sac, with the sound of the wild ocean crashing against the rocks to lull us to sleep. we probably did this at least a dozen or so times in the two and a half years we spent in the tent. i remember the police coming on at least one or two occasions and pounding on the back door of the van, peering in with their flashlights, but once they learned what was going on, they left us alone.
i'm not exactly sure why i wrote about that. it was kind of off topic, but when i tell people that my dad bought a boat, i kind of feel the need to explain the situation. it's not something that they could really afford. my dad's dream always was to get an airplane. in recent years though, he's come to realise that it was a serious pipe dream and so he switched, still unrealistically, to boats. but, since the 'economic downturn', water craft has been hella cheap, and my parents both have pretty solid jobs, and this guy cut my dad a pretty sweet deal on his boat, yadda, yadda, yadda, and although i think my parents may have had to take a second mortgage out on the house, papers were signed...etc, etc, and now, as my dad said, "we've got a yacht".
(sorry bronia and donna. ken and dan, i guess the race is on?!?)
it's an older boat.
it needs a little work, but is, by no means, a fixer upper.
28' long.
room for four to sleep.
nice little deck at the back.
i like the curtains.
my family still isn't wealthy.
but they've come a way from living in a tent.
i don't know why i feel i need to make people aware of this fact.
but i do.
mum said dad is spending all his time at the boat (called the raven...mum wanted to change it to bob...thanks yvonne) fixing 'er up.
i don't remember him ever being this happy.
congrats daddy.
i hope i get to live at least one of my dreams one day.
i feel so extravagant and overprivileged when i say that.
i'm not.
actually, growing up we were pretty fucking far from it.
okay maybe not THAT far from it, i've been pretty fortunate, but i did not, by any means grow up in a wealthy family.
i grew up in a family where most stress and arguments between my parents surrounded funds.
i kind of resent my parents for that. it's the last thing a kid needs to hear constantly.
about how there's only two dollars in the bank.
how this christmas isn't going to be like last year.
about how some sort of trade was going to have to be arranged to pay the violin teacher this week.
it's a lot for a child to take. i don't think parents realise how much children take on.
we always pulled through. i always knew we would.
i think i was made to believe (unintentionally) that we were a lot worse off than we were. we always made it, and i believe that's all i needed to know.
don't get me wrong, i think it was important for me to know that things weren't always easy and that my parents had to work very hard for what i had, and, i had a lot, considering. growing up surrounded by a lot of wealthy people in my community also didn't help the situation either for myself, or my parents. but i don't think it was necessary for me to be made to feel bad for wanting to do and have all the things my friends had.
my parents money qualms weren't always solely surrounding mine and my brother's material demands. it was not knowing where money for groceries was going to come from. or how they were going to fill the gas tank. i didn't need to know that. all i needed to know was that there was food on the table. and there always was.
when my dad was building our house (which he did all himself), my parents couldn't afford to rent a place as well as subsidise the construction, so we lived in a tent for two and a half years. all four members of my family. i was between the ages of 6 and 8. my brother between 3 and 5.
it wasn't, by any means a camping tent. my uncle is a locations manager for movies and owns his own company and has a number of quonset hut-like structures which are used on set to house and feed crew, so he gave my family one of these "tents" to reside in for the duration of the building. it sufficed. my dad is a wood worker and quite the handyman so he installed three plywood walls and a plywood floor. one wall was in the very front and one in the back of the tent to make for sturdier ends and then one in the front section as a divider to enable my mum to have a fully functioning kitchen. he even built a front porch. the tent came complete with one wall, which was more of a canvas flap with a zipper down the middle, already on the inside towards the back end of the structure which created a bedroom for my brother and i.
(we had one dreaded babysitter, wendy, who, once, was annoyed with my brother and i not going to bed at 6:30 when she requested, and so she tied one of the tassels from the living room rug to the zipper. a sort of makeshift lock. it ripped off and the tassel stayed there for the duration of our living in the tent).
quinn and i had bunk beds. i slept on the bottom and because the wall was not flat, but curved, and my bed didn't rest against it, i woke up on the floor between my bed and the tent countless times. my parents slept in the living room.
it wasn't huge, but it was cozy. we had a kerosene heater for winter and i still find comfort in the sound of hard rain slapping against canvas. my dad erected our old wood shed from our previous house next to the tent and installed a shower and hot water heater. every time i was forced to take a shower in the 'shower shed', i would throw a fit. my parents often reminisce on how 'difficult' i was.
we had (and still have) an outhouse in the woods at the back of our property. i hated using it because my dad, in its construction, had overlooked the need for a door. for nights we had a 'chamber pot' of sorts but if a 'number two' came along, we would wake up one of my parents (usually my dad) and he would (begrudgingly) lead us, flashlight in hand, to our outdoor latrine. i once dropped the flashlight down the hole. dad then told a story about someone he knew as a kid who did the same. his father wasn't kind enough to fish it out himself and instead held his son by his ankles and dangled him down the toilet to grab the torch. i never dropped the flashlight down the shitter again.
i grew up in the middle of the west coast rain forest and so windy nights weren't so safe for my family in our little canvas dwelling. my dad, being a carpenter/cabinet maker at the time, owned a large dodge ram van and so he and my mum would wake my brother and myself up, and the four of us would pile into the vehicle, sleeping bags in hand, and drive down to roberts creek beach where we would park the van and sleep in the cul-de-sac, with the sound of the wild ocean crashing against the rocks to lull us to sleep. we probably did this at least a dozen or so times in the two and a half years we spent in the tent. i remember the police coming on at least one or two occasions and pounding on the back door of the van, peering in with their flashlights, but once they learned what was going on, they left us alone.
i'm not exactly sure why i wrote about that. it was kind of off topic, but when i tell people that my dad bought a boat, i kind of feel the need to explain the situation. it's not something that they could really afford. my dad's dream always was to get an airplane. in recent years though, he's come to realise that it was a serious pipe dream and so he switched, still unrealistically, to boats. but, since the 'economic downturn', water craft has been hella cheap, and my parents both have pretty solid jobs, and this guy cut my dad a pretty sweet deal on his boat, yadda, yadda, yadda, and although i think my parents may have had to take a second mortgage out on the house, papers were signed...etc, etc, and now, as my dad said, "we've got a yacht".
(sorry bronia and donna. ken and dan, i guess the race is on?!?)
it's an older boat.
it needs a little work, but is, by no means, a fixer upper.
28' long.
room for four to sleep.
nice little deck at the back.
i like the curtains.
my family still isn't wealthy.
but they've come a way from living in a tent.
i don't know why i feel i need to make people aware of this fact.
but i do.
mum said dad is spending all his time at the boat (called the raven...mum wanted to change it to bob...thanks yvonne) fixing 'er up.
i don't remember him ever being this happy.
congrats daddy.
i hope i get to live at least one of my dreams one day.
creative genius
the shoes allie and mikhaila built for amber for her 24th birthday.
handmade for a special little girl.
amber's reaction to said shoes.
she wants to wear them to baseball.
we put feathers on the back so she could fly.
amber and the artists.
supposed to, unsuccessfully, showcase her new footwear.
that's okay though.
we're all beautiful.
although i look a little half cut.
photographic genius, eric amberg.
not amber's eric.
handmade for a special little girl.
amber's reaction to said shoes.
she wants to wear them to baseball.
we put feathers on the back so she could fly.
amber and the artists.
supposed to, unsuccessfully, showcase her new footwear.
that's okay though.
we're all beautiful.
although i look a little half cut.
photographic genius, eric amberg.
not amber's eric.
6.6.09
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