Robert Service's "Cremation of Sam McGee"

For my Canadian book report, I chose "The Cremation of Sam McGee and Other Poems" by Robert Service. The title of this book is also the title of one of the poems of hardship embedded among many other painful, sorrowful, hilarious, and captivating tales. Because this is not a novel, but rather a collection of poetically illustrated tales, the plots are very simple and the reader can easily connect the plot and conclusion. Not only do the plots of the individual stories wrap up nicely, but there is also a very consistent theme throughout the entire book. Earlier in the year, we were given a sheet illustrating common themes in Canadian literature. Service, through all his poems, connects all of the themes from this paper such as the cold, the space, the harsh and indifferent landscape, the mythology and lack of Canadian history, the isolation and loneliness, man as a victim, and distant and vague hope for a better future. As a classic Canadian author, Service uses Canadian writing traits such as humour, irony, and recognizing the average guy as a hero. This book, and more specifically the poem, "The Cremation of Sam McGee", is a favorite piece of writing passed down through the family. My grandfather loved, and still loves, this poem so much, he has it memorized and can, without difficulty, recite the 4-and-a-half page poem. I can imagine him sitting his kids down at the dinner table and reading it many times because my dad, uncles and aunts are all able to recite pieces of the poem. My dad has done the same for our family. Just as some families sit around the uncleared dinner table reading the bible for devotions, our family sits and listens to my dad tell the gruesome tale of "The Cremation of Sam McGee". This never sits well with my mom and brother because they "have much better things to do". But these stories live and thrive within my father and I. The stories in "The cremation of Sam McGee and Other Poems: by Robert Service are, without a doubt, my favorite stories - They never lose their charm.

The Final Inspection

The soldier stood and faced his god, which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining just as bright as his brass.
"Step forward you soldier, how shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek? To my church, have you been true?"
The soldier squared his shoulders and said, "No, Lord, I guess I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns, can't always be a saint.
I've had to work most Sundays, and at times my work was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent because the world is awfully rough.
But I never took a penny that wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime when the bills just got too steep.
And I never passed a cry for help, though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God forgive me, I have wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place among the people here.
They've never wanted me around except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here, Lord, it needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much. If you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne where the saints had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly for the judgement of his God.
"Step forward now, you soldier, you've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets, you've done your time in hell."

I Believe in Photography.

I believe in the power of photography. A single moment, less than a second in one's life, captured on paper, shown in ink that will last an eternity if not destroyed. Photos can help bring back the memories of what was lost. They can arouse feelings using colours, placement and perspective. They can express the mood of the photographer, a friend, a romantic dinner between a couple very much in love, or the broken, marginalized homeless man with his back against the wall. They may very well help us to better our understanding of our creator through the creating and capturing processes, the way we then view our creation, and the mood, memories, or feelings that my arise within us give us a sense of pride in what we have accomplished.

Generally, photography is used to capture a moment that you'd like to remember. My parent's never grew up wealthy. As a result, there were never many photographs of them. Although, the occasional pictures that were taken when they were young, always tell a story. My father has a small shoe box of old pictures that remind him of specific stories, events and trips from his youth. Pictures of his first car, first job, second job, friends, holidays, and family events. However, my mother wasn't as fortunate to keep or take many photos from when she was a child. But, once she reached college, her first big expense was a Polaroid camera which captured many pictures of my parent's lives as college students. Occasionally, these pictures are brought out and looked at. Many stories are shared around our small coffee table on cold, rainy days. Stories of pranks, vivid descriptions of friends, neighbors, siblings and teachers, stories that bring us to tears and stories that we can't help but laugh hysterically at. Which brings me to my next point.

Emotion. Feelings can be aroused in a viewer by setting the light, the pose, shutter speed, composition of colour and placement of objects. The light adds drama to the picture. More contrast or definition of objects and materials through light have a stronger, more dramatic effect on the viewer. The pose of a person shows the viewer their true emotion through body language, even if their face may not show much emotion. Shutter speed is the exposure time, when the camera's shutter is open. This can show the busyness of a city, or it can specifically focus on one subject being very still in the midst of an ever moving environment. To me, colours are very powerful and tell a story of their own. Orange represents excitement, red, the colour of love and rage, yellow, of happiness, blue, seriousness but can still be serene and nostalgic, purple, the colour of royalty and peace, and so forth. The placement of objects can really express what a person loves and cares for, or doesn't care for.

Photographs often express how the photographer sees things. His or her mood and opinion towards different subjects. As a observer, we are forced to see the photographer's view points and from what angle he is approaching a subject. Whether his photos express political outrage or the beauty of nature. The photographer always tries to make his art interesting to capture the viewers attention. He uses the drama and action of the picture to attract the eyes and the scene to make a statement.

After all these aspects of composing a simple photo that takes less than a second, we realize how complicated and diverse our creator's world really is. As a photographer, I'm only capturing a short moment, in one day, in one spot, of one situation. The creator not only shot it, he created it. So, when we're proud of what we've accomplished, imagine how he felt after it all.

To all my friends

This may just be a copy and paste version from a message I sent on facebook of what I really feel but it came from the heart and, to me, this is what it means to have true friends.

kay, so this will be the third time I write this out for you guys. But I think it's really important and you have to know. So, I'll type it all out for the third bloody time. Kay, so Justin is now dealing drugs so he can pay his rent. And as much as I'd like to say "I don't care" that's not entirely true. At one point or another he was a good friend of mine and it's hard to just sit back and watch him make the same stupid mistakes a thousand times in a row. I found all this out on Saturday and I was really upset about it up until today. And I know you guys really didn't care for him and I'm sure you still don't, but I haven't spoken to him since just after we broke up. When we actually started talking, that's all he wanted to tell me. I was like, "I could put your ass in jail right now, yannow that?" and he was like, "oh sorry, I'm kinda baked right now" WELL NO SHIT!! Anyway, like I was saying, I came to a sudden realization today and I thought I might share it with you all.

What if I had stayed with him? That's the question.. If I had stayed with him, I would've been hard into drugs, beaten up, probably raped and treated like a material item..all just to think I'm totally cool. To tell you the truth, I have no fucking idea why I wasted so much of my time with him and not with you guys. I wasted 7 months of my life with an idiot-childlike-drug-dealer. Goodlord. Another thing that would have (or should say "wouldn't have") happened was you guys. I'm sure if I was still with him, I wouldn't have you guys and for that soul reason I'm telling you this. You all mean more than the world to me and I'm glad someone told me what they actually thought. If I was still with him, I wouldn't have Jordan who is my bestfriend (after you guys) and even more to me. I'm so happy now that I can be myself around you and that I can ask for help, appologize, tell you secrets, fears, instabilities, and stuff like that.

I'm really looking forward to having the whole gang together and I really love you guys. Thanks.

Febuary 8

Kay, so I'd like to keep everyone up to speed again..

I watched the olympic torch go by today. I realized something. It's only someone running with fire. Who cares?

I heard an amazing lecture this past Wednesday. It was about how bad plastic is for the environment. It just breaks down in the ocean. It doesn't float or sink. It's almost clear. That sounds like a terrible problem to me. I was waiting for the bus on Saturday night and the bench was covered in wrappers and it just made me mad. I'm not some sort of crazy environmentalist, but after hearing that speech, seeing all the crap that people "ever-so-carelessly" leave behind is starting to bug me. C'mon, do you have no decency? there's a garbage can right there. I cleaned it up and I'm waiting for the bus and someone just throws something out of their car. I wanted to yell. But, I know that'd be weird, so i didn't. But, the bus came and I got on, got off, was walking home and i look down.. more trash. What is this world coming to? Even when you see the exhaust in the morning, or the smoke from any huge vehicle.. imagine what that's doing to your ozone. People 19837192487 years from now will be digging, accidently stumble apon someones house and think "wow, they were complete savages. It obviously never occurred to any to keep the earth clean" Imagine what people could learn about us when they dig up our junk. Imagine if we dug up junk from 60 years ago.. What could we learn?

well, I'm still at mcdonalds.. But, since I started this blog something like a year and a half ago, I'd like to tell people what music I listen to.

I've definately grown up with my taste in music. I'm really into blues, indie, bluegrass, folk, jazz and classic rock.. all that good stuff. So, for the record, I still love the white stripes.

AC/DC, Adele, Animal Collective, Bedouin Soundclash, Bob Marley, Death Cab for Cutie, Feist, Granz Ferdinand, Hot Hot Heat, Jamie T, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Lily Allen, Lykke Li, MIA, Matisyahu, Menahan Street Band, Metric, MGMT, NERD, Neil Young, No doubt, Passion Pit, Pink Floyd, The Raconteurs, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rolling Stones, Santogold, The STrokes, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Sublime, Sufjan Steven, The Beastie Boys, The beatles, The Dead Weather, The Decemberists, The New Pornographers, 10cc, Mother Mother, Said the Whale, The Doobie Brothers, The Eagles, The Kills, The Mars Volta, The police, The Sadies, The White Stripes, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, The Who, The Shins, TV on the Radio. U2, Vampire Weekend, VanMorrison, VanHalen, Steppenwolf, The Ting Tings, La Roux, The Fratellis, Kid Rock, and so on..

I'm into art. ALOT. If I could do nothing but art for a week, I'd totally take the opportunity.

I have no conclusion for today, I'm just writing because I can.

January 26 Stop what you're doing and think again..

Lately, i've been more busy than you can possibly imagine.

Even the thought of the next days of the week tires me out. I've been trying so hard to get all my crap together and it's finally done.. only in time to do cast makeup for the big school production, "pack of lies". It's a 2 hour long play and i admire the people in it for their skill, time management, and perserverance. i had signed up to do makeup in October, but now that the time's finally come, i don't think I have the time. well, I know that i can make it, and let's just say that for the next week, I won't be bored at all.

Right now, I have my regular, 6 hour-a-day, classes, homework on top of that, a job at mcdonalds, mexico missions trip, and the play. It doesn't seem like alot. But I'm committed to them all and it's hard to keep track. It's been a long month, and it seems like people can't stop yelling at me. They don't really know what's going on right now with me, and it seems they don't want to hear any sort of explanation, even if it IS valid. Yesterday, I worked and I told my friend Kevin why I was having such a great day. It was because no one had yelled at me. I mean, it's hard to keep everything up to speed especially when you have no time in the evening to yourself. tonight's the first night that that's happened. Even my birthday was busy. So much for sweet 16. It's really no different except for the fact that your life becomes a spiralling pit of unceasing business. My Oma and aunts and uncles forgot my birthday, as did my sister. Today, they sent me a message on facebook explaining how they were sorry they didn't remember and then subliminally expecting me to accept some sort of peace offerring they call a birthday gift.

I spent a weekend in the "slums" two weeks ago. we were allowed to keep the clothes on our backs, a blanket, and two personal items. we lived in teams and ours decided that one of our items was to be useful for the whole team and the other item was for our own personal use. It was really hard, but you grow closer to eachother without even noticing. By the way, this was a weekend "retreat" for the mexico missions team. Friday, we arrived at the church. We didn't know what to expect, so we were all luxuriously packed and ready for a relaxing weekend with friends and preparing for our trip. Suddenly, we were shocked with the truth. We were to build a slum out of cardboard, duct tape, string and a table cloth. We were not to use any electricity at all and if we wanted water, we had to go outside and use the hose. Every meal, we ate mashed lentils and curry over rice, except for on saturday when we had beans and a thick porridge. Saturday came and all night, no one had slept. It was hard ground and we were all scared of the next day. Not to mention, it was also only 3 degrees inside. It was terribly cold. 6:30am came and we all raced downstairs and ate our warm lentils and rice infront of a heater. Quickly, everyone helped to clean up the food and we were out the door and on our way to Vancouver. Not to go people watching, but instead to run a childrens program. We came back to the church around 2pm and were allowed free time. Us, girls, decided to rebuild our slum fort and take a nap while it was still light. The guys, being guys of coarse, wouldn't let us sleep, but instead decided it would be fun to run around in their underwear and yell and bang on our door. Sooner or Later, it got really annoying and someone told the overall leader what they were doing. She took the shirts off their back and couldn't have them back until about 10. At ten, everyone went to bed. we were all so tired and not thinking straight at all. But, one of the guys noticed "hey, we have 10 hours to sleep. That's way too much" and, he was right. At 2am, someone came upstairs only to wake us up to a blazing siren and a megaphone. He was yelling, "this is the police. i wanna know who's in charge right now. The rest of you head downstairs now. go. go. go!" I thought it was real and had no clothes on because they were really itchy because of all the sweating we had done earlier that day. I just grabbed the blanket and ran. I got downstairs and I'm saying to myself, "this is real. I've got to get out of here." Eventually, everyone came downstairs and I asked, "am I going to need clothes for this?" everyone laughed because I always say stupid things when I'm tired. On Sunday, we got together with a group of people funding us to go and we weren't allowed to eat anything. At the end, we went home and 3 of the guys: steve, jordan, michael and I decided to go for pizza. I felt guilty eating this middle class food.

Now, it's affected my daily life. I hang with different people, I'm careful of the heat and lights in my house, what i eat is different and I have a totally new appreciation for food.

Before I had left for the weekend retreat, I was complaining about how my socks were old. While I was gone, my mom bought me new socks. When I came home, I looked through my "old socks" and had a new appreciation for them. I didn't throw any of them away, but rather put the new socks in my closet where I don't have to see them. I haven't looked at them since.

So, I'm telling you. That was a weekend, imagine a lifetime. Chill out. We don't really know what we have. We have toothpaste. we have doctors, we have dentists, we have education, we have a fair government, we have a wealthy country. People in 3rd world countries don't consider school a job, or mcdonald's a real job, or enjoying themselves in a play, or spending time bonding with people. Those aren't jobs, they either happen without any effort, or they are a privillage.

So, think again.

January 2?

I've lost track of the days, but i can tell you that i remember newyears eve. What a night. The parents went out with their friends to the bar, Leah stayed home with Jake, Maaike hung out with good friends. So, Jenessa, the friend from alberta, came to visit us for the new year. It was the red-haired trio, which consists of Maaike, Jenessa, Brianne. Later on, Brianne's boyfriend shows up. He's a nice guy so we don't mind that he's there. Then, later on, Peter and Bethany come and join us after their new years church service. We chilled as if it were normal even though we had a special guest in our presence. It was good. Just like old times but with a bit of a twist because our little Brianne is growing up. At about 10, we decided "hey, let's go get a bite to eat". So, we walked over to the mcdonald's in walmart but it was closed. "ahh, whatever, there's a Timmy's across the street" we said. So, we're walking and come across a shopping cart. However, we're all hyped up and not thinking straight, as always. We jump in the cart and ride down the hill. The faces of the people in walmart were absolutely stunned. It was good times though. So, we get to timmy's. and no one has money so we're digging around and manage to find enough for a coffee. So, the six of us split a large coffee and were, once again, on the journey home. So, we get home and Jenessa and i eat a box of alphabits without telling brianne (it's her house afterall). She didn't really care. But she didn't even know 'til we threw them at her. That was pretty messy. We had been teasing the couple to kiss all night. We didn't think they would. But as soon as the ball dropped in the Big Apple, well, you know what happened. : ] It made my heart happy. As well as a longing for what I'd never really had. "SOMEONE TELL ME WHERE MY SHOES ARE!!@!@#" *a pause* "AHHH, WHATEVER, WE'RE GOING WITHOUT SHOES." My foot was bleeding fountains and i hadn't even noticed. oh well. we made sure to wish all the neighbors another hell filled party year and went back inside. People left after an hour or so and the tri, once again, remained. I had to work at noon and i made a point that we had to be out by four. We were and I even had time to come home, shower, get ready for work and get there with 20 minutes still remaining. Everything worked out pretty good.

Christmas time was also excellent. The computer died for almost all of the break so we HAD to talk to eachother. Not a problem with me, but you know how my mom gets. ahahaha. i enjoyed the company of family on christmas eve. But, christmas day.. that's another story. As a tradition, we always celebrate on christmas eve, which leave christmas with all of the cleaning. Well, we finished cleaning after church and we were on our way to the house of some long time family friends. After playing an old-school card runescape-like game for quite a while, we figured we'd better get going. Everyone loved their gifts and I enjoyed getting the gifts. My friend, corrie, and I did all of our shopping at value village.

on the 28th, my sister, my dad, other family friends of ours, and I went up to the mountain and put in a long day of snowboarding. that was a good day. it passed so fast, i don't really have much to say about it.

well, yesternight, the family went for dinner at "charlie don't surf" in whiterock. An excellent restaurant. The waiter looked like mr.tumnus from Narnia but he was pretty cool. after that, i was totally shot and just wanted to go to bed. HOpefully, one day soon I'll have a few more pictures up.

well HAPPY NEWYEAR EVERYONE. 2010 IS FINALLY HERE.

Oh, and by the way, I think that's a pretty good looking family of 5. : }

December 3

So, I'ma do a shout-out right now for my girl Bethy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABE! MANY MORE!

Okay. So, Travis Katzel is the kewlest and krewlest guy I know. He's one of those guys that's kind of like... rat fink. Totally disgusting and repulsive, but uber cool and stuff. So, there's my part that I promised, my friend, Travis Katzegagalow> ; ldksajflka sjdl. : D

So, Today, what happened? Oh, yes, grandparents day. This is never really a fun day for me, since my grandparents live far away. But, every year, I seem to be excused from class anyway. I always find someone's grandma to addopt. This year it was my friend's grandma. Thanks for addopting me mrs.VE. : D

Ed "big daddy" roth was a pure genious. I'm not even into cars really.. But, I think he would've been an awesome guy to hang out with. Yesterday evening, I just wanted to listen to the sadies and their music video to "The Horseshoe" has alot to do with rat fink. So, as I keep browsing, I came across an awesome movie called "tales of the rat fink". Like I said, I don't even like cars.

Ever since I got a job, I'm always looking at clothes. It doesn't even matter if I like them or not. I love having something new to wear. And, although I never spend more than 25 bucks on anything (except jeans and sometimes shoes) I'm drowning in all my clothes. They took over my room and expanded into the hall, bathroom, sister's room, mom's room, laundry room, you name it. So, I've decided to do all the laundry, wear my sister's clothes 'til it's all done and then see how much I really have. The messiness factor could be huge. But, for now, the bedroom is cleaned.

I don't have a clue where to put my clothes. I'm also swarmed with tacky colourful things and cool little objects.

December 2

So, If everyone was a vegetarian, the world would be totally overrun with animals. I don't mean to be preachy, but, if "in the beginning, God made animals. two of every kind" Why do humans have to distort that and only like meat? Animals are here to enjoy, not to kill, not to eat. What's this world coming to? And what's this sick species "homosapiens" also refered to as the "human-being"? everyday, millions of animals are being slaughtered for no good reason other than that people think "double cheese-burger tastes good". DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'RE REALLY EATING? The animals are so unhealthy. They live in crowded, unsanitary, diseased places. Not only that but they're fed hormones so they'll grow faster and multiply at an alarming rate. See, if there were only 2 healthy chickens, 2 healthy cows, 2 pigs, zebras, elephants, lizards, etc, and 2 healthy people, how is everything so messed up now? Everyday, 3,400 people are diagnosed with cancer and 1500 of people with cancer die everyday. That's only cancer. And, you know how we got cancer? Neither do i. But, I do know that we're doing something wrong in the way we treat animals. It's not just about cows, pigs, chickens, zebras, elephants, whatever. It's bad for you. It's like eating fake cheese. Does an organic cow taste any different than a hormonally adjusted cow? I don't know.. But, i'd think so. The cost is different. But, at least the cow was happy at one time or another. If we were to all become vegetarians, the meat processing companies would all fail and we'd have another economy lock-down. Cows will still never be the same as they were when they were created. Neither will the meat engorging homosapiens.

December 1

So, I've decided today was the first REAL day of winter. The first day when you can see the frost cover you lawn of moss. The first day you really need to wear mittens but forget them laying on your floor. Today, is also the first day of December. Which brings me to a few points. one, Bethany's birthday in 3, 2 Christmas and Jenessa's birthday, 3, new years, 4 my birthday. It's my birthday in 42 days. I'm excited for christmas, birthdays, presents, newyears and all of that, BUT I'm exuberant about my birthday. It's a hard thing to ignore. The thing is, I have 42 days to decide what I want to do for my 16th birthday. I have no reasonable ideas.

So, before I hit the shower, i'd like to remind myself how corrupt the world is and why it wouldn't work for a thousand years if everyone was a vegetarian.

Goodnight again,

November 19

Well, now that we're done 2/3rds of november, I thought it'd be wise to write again. So, this month hasn't been the most pleasant. We're nearing the cut off dates for assignments and such, so life is pretty stressful. And, to top it off, I've been sick and miserable for most of it. Ever notice how a small cold or fever can totally weigh you down? Well, I'll tell you. It sucks. I've been working my ass off for the past week. I never thought it'd be so hard to come up with an opinion on the war of 1812. Who cares anyway? it happened 197 years ago. I never thought critical thinking, proper page formats or doing work in class ever mattered. But, I've learned my lesson. Do as much work as you possibly can in class and THAN you can socialize. I've noticed that I have alot of really good teachers and alot of cool people in my classes. Which really makes me notice which subjects I hate. I can't stand socials, as I mentioned earlier. I have one of the best teachers in the school, my class is good, my friends are in my class, and I don't have to worry about maintaining my "mature and cool" additude towards "cool and popular" kids because they're not in my class. I don't care about what happened 300 years ago, i don't care what happened 200 or 188 or even 100 years ago. And, don't make me do nieve worksheets "for my own good". I don't think anyone learns anything from them. They're just there to study from later on. If we really wanted to learn, we'd do some talking, debating, learning at the same pace. All classes should learn at the same pace and know exactly the same thing instead of giving different people different subjects. I'm not here to humor you and look stupid, I just have absolutely no interest and no intention of ever being interested in Canada's history. Again with the worksheets.. Don't tell me to look it up when I ask for help. You know bloody-well what the answer to my question is. Okay. Enough with the rant.

did some new art. WEll, old art made new. remember the canvases that i wrote about earlier? well, they're finally done and they're hanging up.

So many things are happening. That means good, awkward, and bad. Christmas is coming closer and closer. But you remember that it's only November. Why do the stores do this to us? Yeah, it's promotion. But, what about the inventory sale that lasts 3 years? Who does your inventory? Seriously.. But, what's the rush for christmas? We're already busy and we don't want to think about christmas in November. That's just filling everyone's heads with sugarplums and false hope. I quite enjoy the holiday season, don't get me wrong.. but does it ever seem excruciatingly long and too cozy for anyone else? as soon as christmas is over, take down the decorations, throw out the tree, stop lighting the fireplace (we DO have a heating system), put those CD's where they came from and do something with that repulsive fruitcake sitting on top of the fridge.

January 12 is my birthday, but no one really notices until the day before because they're still busy and occupied with cleaning up from new years and christmas and boxing day. And, when my birthday rolls around, I'm like, "thanks for this broken disco ball. Did you get it on boxing day and then use it and accidentally drop it when you took it off your ceiling after New Years?"

well, I'll write again when I think about it.

Oh, post script: Vallue Village is the new Gucci.

November 1

Happy Halloween! Well, Not quite, but you know what I mean. In my past posts, I haven't been in such a down mood but these past few weeks haven't been the greatest. I'm not gunna lie. I've been involved in more gossip and high-school/facebook/friend drama than you can imagine. Yeah, I realise that "it's just high-school drama and after high-school nothing matters anymore." But, everything seems so big right now. So, I've come to the conclusion (now that most of it has calmed down a bit) that high-school is only for you to build and base your opinions and critical thinking skills. High-school is a blessing in disguise. Imagine if we never had school. Imagine how we'd never grow in maturity level or learn to work with others. If we didn't have school, we'd be living in a world full of tall 5 year olds.

So, on a lighter note, I'm almost caught up on my homework, all the drama has settled down and I'm starting to get shifts again at McDonald's. Oh - I work at McDonald's by the way. For the past 3 weeks, they hadn't given me a shift until I put myself on call. I think it's ridiculous how they just don't care until they realise they're really desparate and need someone to come in. My favorite managers are leaving.. And, soon, I will be too. Next weekend, I plan to hand out a few resumes here and there and hope for a new job. I like SOME of the people at McDonald's, but the work load, the pay and the unconsistant hours aren't my style. I need a job that will schedule me regularily and pay better. I don't think I can take this job much further.

I've started to eliminate my friends. One, by, one. And, it sounds like a terrible thing to do, but, when it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Actually, these "friends" were never really my friends, but rather "buddies." Don't get me wrong, a few of these "buddies" are alright, but, when they start to disrespect you and just drag you down, it's time to part with these buddies.

And, yes, it's all high-school drama. Yes, I'll lose most of my friends after I graduate. Yes, I'll never have the PERFECT job. Yes, high-school is a blessing in disguise.

September 21

Well, it's already September and I haven't done much blogging at all over the summer. I guess maybe it's been that I've been too busy. Maybe it's because I haven't been busy at all. Whatever the reason, at least I'm doing it now. In the beginning of summer, I really did nothing. Slept in, hung out with friends a couple times. It was just time to chill and relax after a long school year. After a couple weeks of that, my friend, Jenessa, came down from Crossfield AB to visit. We saw eachother a total of about 5 times during the 4 or 5 weeks she was down. While she was down, I was also in the midst of looking for a job. When I found one, and was scheduled to be working, Jenessa was supposed to stay with me. I couldn't take her in, my parents were gone. Now, that sounds awesome but, I couldn't do it. The thought of leaving her alone in the house.. I'd feel awful for treating someone that way. So, she stayed with one of our other friends. So, I worked that weekend. Let me tell you something, McDonald's is not a pleasant job, but, it has flexible hours and they work around my schedule. So, later that week, I took a trip up to Summerland with my family. The trip is amazing, but it's still not my favorite place to camp. I stayed with them for a night or two and then they brought me to Brookvale Campsite in Osoyoos. Brookvale is one of my favorite campsites. I usually stay with friends in Brookvale around the same time every year. It's alot of fun. The same people are usually there and we always end up meeting new people. We always find something new to do. Whether it's biking, playing hide-and-go-seek in the orchards or lighting stuff on fire; we always find some new unnecessary task to accomplish. That afternoon it was so hot. We said, "hey, let's go swimming". So, we did. But, when you put our two heads together, it can turn into some sort of barely attainable adventure. Osoyoos Lake, where we were staying, is right on the border of Canada and the US. We swam across the border and had to be rescued by our uncle Eric. This year, we slept on the beach. That was my first and last night there for the year. It was amazing. My bestfriend, Jessica, and I talked deep into the night. She started to get uber tired and started making flashlight signals to some of the guys sitting farther down the beach. They came over and we started talking. Somehow, it's much easier to make friends at 3:00 in the morning. We came back home to Surrey and I stayed with them for the next week. It was good. I only came back to their house to eat dinner, get my stuff, and occupy my empty house for a week. At the time, Jenessa was still down so I invited her and, my other friend, Bethany to watch a few movies at my place. We watched Jaws and King Kong. Classic. The next day, my boyfriend (now, exboyfriend) came over. That wasn't very pleasant at all. We watched a movie but, something was weird between us. He had been drinking before he came and brought some weird concoxion to get us both buzzed. I went with my gut on this one and was like, "uh.... no thanks". It worked well but after that day, I don't trust him. I went back to Jessica's house and that night we went to Jericho Beach and watched the fireworks. I told her all about what had happened that day and she told me that if he did it again, he wasn't worth it. I was totally blinded by love. My other friends started to say stuff as well. With all that gossip about my boyfriend, it got me to think. And I thought and thought for almost two and a half months. I finally broke up with him in the middle of August. I did it because I'm only 15, he was 18, he was taking things more seriously than I was and I'm still young and can't afford to lose my friends over some guy. Not only that, but I didn't trust him anymore and we didn't have mutual feelings for eachother. Shortly after that, my family and I took a trip up to Christina Lakes BC. I had just got my phone and was so happy. We got up there and there was no service whatsoever. Not a big deal... I had gone the past 15 years without a phone, right? There was nothing in Christina Lakes so every day, we'd go either to Salmo, Nelson, or Trail. Salmo was so small. Alot of amazing mosiacs though. Trail was also small but not as small as Salmo. There I spent 10 dollars on candy. What a waste. I also bought a couple of shirts for school. My sister and I took off from the family and went down to the river where we were greeted by a peaceful goose. We named him Marvin. He started to follow us and we were so thrilled that we might have a pet goose. He was nice. Every night in Christina Lakes was so cold. We finally gave up on not showering and the cold weather and drove 2 and a half hours to Ainsworth Hot Springs. It was amazing. The natural caves were my favorite. It was just what we needed. The hot springs followed by a nice hot shower. A few days later we went into Nelson and stayed the night. That night, there was some sort of festival happening on the main street. If I haven't mentioned earlier, Nelson is a very artsy town in the middle of nowhere. First, we went to a mexican place called El Taco. It was so so so good. Later, we walked down to mainstreet and there were booths set up everywhere. Lots of different sounds filled the air. There was a procussion band and they all dressed in black and red. There was belly dancers and the conductor looked like he was straight out of a comic book. We stayed in a motel that night. It also looked like it was from a comic book. The next morning my dad and I woke up at 4:30 and he drove me to the Greyhound station. I hoped on the greyhound at 4:50 and arrived in Calgary AB at about 7:30pm. The trip was fun even though it was with no one I knew. There was a guy that got on the bus with a didgeridoo, and during rests, he'd play it. No one really cared but I still think it was cool. In Lethbridge, AB, I made a friend. She was from the Philippines. We started to talk and talked the rest of the way to Alberta. Lethbridge is also where my grandparents met for the first time. Cranbrooke was another amazing town but nothing exciting happened there. Finally, I arrived in Calgary where Jenessa and her family picked me up and drove down to Crossfield. We did a bit of babysitting, a bit of shopping, alot of walking and slept. The first few days, we just chilled and babysat. We got paid a fair amount which gave us money to go shopping later that week. Every night, we'd go for a 45 minute walk to the Tim Horton's on the other side of the highway. There was a field of horses there and we stopped to feed them some grass. The third night, we did the same.. Just this time, we almost got attacked by dogs. We said, "maybe the guy left the gate open by accident". The fourth night, we were feeding the horses and we hear the dogs. We thought maybe the guy closed the gate but the dogs tore under the fence and started booking it our way. Isn't that an awful feeling when you think you're going to get mauled by vicious dogs? Now, we started to think that the guy was sending the dogs after us. But, we weren't doing anything. Just feeding his horses. We were quiet, kept outside of the fence and it's not like we were scaring the horses or anything. That night, we took a shorter route home but we layed in a wheat field for about an hour or so. One day, we went to the new Crossiron Mills mall in Balzac AB. It was huge!!! I saw a friend from Surrey there. It was kinda weird, I won't lie. It was like, "what are you doing here?!" "uhm... Stalking you". Haha. The last day I was there, we went into Calgary and found a little new age shop called The Divine Mine. It was quite nice. Lots of cool stuff to look at. Later, we went even further downtown and sat and walked and walked past a latino festival. We weren't allowed in, because we didn't have tickets, but, it seemed like fun. The next morning we woke up at about 4:30 again and I finally got on the bus at 5:40. Another long ride, but I was so happy to see the mountains and trees of BC again. The whole time, I was sick. When my family came to pick me up in Abbotsford, we went for McDonald's and I ate a bit too fast.... yeah, it wasn't pretty. I drank some water and I was fine for the rest of the night. Although, I was really tired by the time I got home. I went back to work the next day and got school supplies. A few weekends later, my friends and I went to a camp in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of people we know from youth group. It was good times. We dressed our body-builder friend up as a girl and did a twilight parody. But, now that I've had my fun, school is starting and I have to buckle down and study for a bit.

April 22

Meh, today, nothing special.

...Just another one of those days. That's alright.

We are finally in the new school and ready for comfort learning. I'm getting sick and tired of people complaining about everything. ALWAYS on facebook, it's like, "So-and-so hates the new facebook".. You should know how it goes. And, just like the new school, it's all this bitching about it. Stuff like, "Oh my gosh. I hate the new colours. The classrooms are shaped like that old tacky McDonalds on Fraser Highway" I'm tired of it. Yeah, it's just another school and everyone can find SOMETHING to complain about, right? But, I don't mind it. It's obviously better than the last one.. Black mold on the ceiling in the science room. Yeesh. Not good. But, I love the windows. Nice views of................................ stuff.. The only thing that I have a problem with are the lockers. We went from FULL SIZED BEAUTIFUL RED AND WHITE LOCKERS to half sized grey and blue lockers with no room. There is also a shortage on lockers. Luckily I'm in the principles advisory.. See? Do you see now how having friends with power is an advantage?

So besides moving into the new school, it's been lovely outside for the last week and a half. Took some pictures, fooled around. Andrea came home from Chile. I'm so happy that I have someone to talk to in class now. I missed her spanish-ness. She comes over to my house on Sunday and she's like, "GUESS WHAT! They lost my luggage and now I have no clothes. Here's a souvenir." She pulls out a small cloth bag with wirey looking things and she's like, "Pick one. I bought them off some hippy on the beach for 0.2 of a cent. They also have some sort of voodoo shit on them. I can't remember what the different colours mean. Oh well."...Yep, that's my Andrea.

While she was gone, we took good care of her "Mya-bird". My mom loved him. Yes, that's right, him. Now, she wants to get a Mya-bird.. a decendant of the devil. Actually, I quite enjoyed having him around.

I can't make this too long but I've been doing some other paintings and they're not quite finished. Actually, I haven't even started painting yet, they've been sitting around for the last week. Maybe I'll get around to it later. But, I also have to play bass.

...Oh how I enjoy the outdoors.

March 29

Wow, it's already the end of March and haven't even written anything. I'd better do this quick, my sister wants to go on like there's no tomorrah. Anywho, I've been really busy with, y'know, stuff. Stuff like painting and such. These pictures I had to paint for a school project. They are meant to generally copy the style of the Group of Seven. I've also keep forgetting to write. I'll see if I can dig up some pictures..

I resently have become RE-obsessed with youtube. : ]

...and pissed off with parade-makers. It seems that WHEREVER I go, there is always a few more than one.


I should try and write more tomorrow. We'll see how that turns out.


OH! I ALSO TOTALLY HAVE A NEW APPRECIATION FOR REMIXES. : ]

Febuary 9

OKAY!!! So, yesterday we went into Vancouver (We, being my family and I). Granville Island to be exact. Anyway, so, we were looking through the market and I started to get chlosterphobic so, I said "Let's just sit down for a bit and have a cup of coffee or a drink or whatever." So, we found this booth thing that was full of cookies and sweets so we got a few and sat down and drank coffee and watched people... Life is good. Afterwards, we walked outside and there's this street performer. Well, you know me, I had to watch. ☺So, this guy is just talking normal (which I really appreciate. Because, sometimes when they're concentrating, it sounds like they're taking a dump) and he's juggling fire and knives while standing on some sort of contraption. He was pretty funny too. I didn't have my camera on me at the time. But, if I did, I would've taken a picture. Luckily, my sister, Leah, had hers. It's a piece of crap. BUT IT'S STILL A CAMERA.

It might not be so exciting for most people to hear me ramble on about stuff like this. Especially because people must see stuff like it everyday. But, when you live in a boring community and go to a boring school, like me, it's fun to go into Vancouver and just watch people. That's why I'm so excited for summer.

Febuary 7

Well, as you might know, I went quite a while without internet.... So, yeah, I couldn't really put up another post. Oh well.. Anyways, while I was without it, I took a few pictures and edited them... I don't mean to sound cocky or anything but they ARE pretty nice. ^^

Anyway, I have to talk about christmas because I haven't written since then. I definately enjoyed it. I got a new bar for my industrial piercing... (I've had my eye on it for quite a while now) and my sister, Leah, made me some sort of art thingy.. OH YES! And the new CD from The Killers. I was going to go to the Metric concert but things came up and we couldn't go. But, that's okay. They'll always be back.
My friend, Brianne, was in the school play. So, my friend, KRY$TEe and I went to go see her and cheer her on. One thing's for sure, I couldn't keep a straight face if I were to perform. It was a good time.

Oh, on January 10, I was at my "half-sister"'s house and I came back home and now I have a new bed frame. It's pritty :). Also, she's going on vacation to Chile for 5 weeks so I have to take care of her crazy bird that won't die. Apparently, if he escapes, you have to knock him out to put him back into the cage, otherwise, he'll attack you. She comes to school yesterday and says to me, "This morning I woke up and Mya-bird was eating a cheesy on my head"... ahh, good times. :Z I'm kinda scared of this beast, Mya-bird.

We got a new TV and such last weekend. Everything is put up nicely but I can't figure out which remotes I'm supposed to use.

Anyway, I have to wrap this up soon because I think that I might take Scott, the bunny, outside becuase IT'S FINALLY KIND OF SUNNY. Okay, I will be sure to write again soon.

P.S. I got new plugs for my stretched ears. People are like "ew, why would you even do that? Doesn't it hurt?". Yeah, it kinda hurts a bit but not as much as people think. But, they're really pretty. Kinda a murky glass that reflects whatever colour is behind it.

November 20

Okay, I have a few stories to tell, but, I'll start off with something kind of happy. I started to read "The Garbage King" a few days ago. And, now, I really like reading again. On Monday, I told this guy to shut up and stop being such an a-hole. I think my teacher really appreciated it. My friend and I told the principle about his extreme perverted-ness, and he got suspended yay. Oh, another story, on Saturday, I had an urge to paint. Some people actually know what they're going to paint. But, me, no idea. I just started to paint and it turned out very nicely. Of coarse, it's an abstract. Everything of mine kind of turns out that way. Haha. And, another story. ... yesterday, I was getting something out of my bag (which was by the front door), when I hear "meow". So, because I'm really crazy, I yelled "meow" back to the cat. Now, this went on for about 5 minutes before I actually opened the door to see who it was. I opened the door, and my friend, Mi-Gato, was sitting right on the front step "meowing" at me. So, I sat down and gave him some milk and played with him until like 9:30. (That's kind of late for me, I like to sleep) ... Anyway, that's all I have for now.

November 13

Okay, Hi, my name's Maaike, I decided I want to start a blog because I really enjoy reading other peoples' blogs. Anyway, I should tell a bit about myself. Well, like everyone, I have some weird interests which may slip out through my writing. Uhm.. I'm into alot of different music, but I really love reggae and classic rock... also alot of blues [like Jimi Hendrix, Led zeppelin, Kiss, etc.]. Some of my favorite bands (or artists) to listen to are Led Zeppelin (like I mentioned earlier), Vampire Weekend, Eric Clapton, Matisyahu, Iron Maiden, Bob Marley, The Fall of Troy, Lamb of God, The Mars Volta, Neil Young, The Strokes, Ozzy, Pink Floyd, Queen, The Raconteurs, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Rolling Stones, Guns n' Roses, and definately The White Stripes. But, I don't just like to listen to one type of music. Some people might hate me for saying this, but, oh well. I also like Brittney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Daft Punk, Ghostland Observatory, The Gorillaz, Metric, Michael Jackson, Mindless Self Indulgence, N.E.R.D. , Retard-o-bot, Santogold, Shwayze, and Cypress Hill. Okay, that filled alot of space.



Hmm... maybe I should name a few interests. Well, I am strangely obsessed with piercings. I don't have many myself but I love to look at them. Tattoos also fall into that catergory. Some tattoos everyone has to think are crazy. (Crazy, as in bad). But some are nice. I'm not so much for cartoons. I don't think I want to be a tattoo artist when I'm older. Maybe, it's because it's pretty much art all day. I get tired of art after a while. It frustrates me. Anyway, I think that I might like to be a paramedic when I'm older. But, I might change my mind, because there's other cool jobs waiting to be discovered. Uh... yeah. I really like hanging out with friends and stuff... i'll continue this later