Blizzard Time Fun or Torn Between Two Roads

Well, this past week has been uneventful for the most part... Worked a lot, hung out with Erin, and went with Jay and Megan to peruse some stores (McNally and Wal-Mart) where I exchanged my extra copy of "America: The Book" for "The Annotated Brothers Grimm" and "Rushing to Armageddon" and picked up a handful of shitty kung fu movies. Today is my first day off in 3 weeks, so I'm very happy.
We had a crazy blizzard last night, which essentially shut off all roads out of the city. Most of the buses were cancelled so I had an easy night of work. While on the subject of work, I've been debating something for a while now. You see, this time of year sees work hours slashed at Greyhound. Currently even more than usual, as the company is cutting back. Should I want, I can take a "lay off" and come back when work picks up. A bunch of people are doing just that. If I choose to follow suit, then I could go on EI as I look for something else. Being paid to not work would be fun. The only thing is that I'm not sure ifI need to... it might be that enough people are taking the lay off to put me in a position where I might actually get shifts! Where I'm worried is that I have no way of really knowing... It could be that I still get jack shit. If that is the case then I might as well take a lay off and do something else... I mean, either way I need to find a job that can maintain consistency all year round, but I'm not sure what path will make me the most coin... Taking EI for a while, or being an "on-call" employee and waiting for shift scraps. UGH! In my mind, this choice is representative of a larger issue. Do I stay in a somewhat comfortable position and coast along the present path, or do I do something riskier and maybe achieve greater things? I can picture myself on EI having more time to work on some film ideas and maybe even get my foot in the door in that industry... Then again, it could be that I get nowhere and end up just infinitely sending out resumes... But then it's not like I can't do that while still working the occasional shift at Greyhound... It's not like I'll be working 30 hours a week or anything... I'll be lucky if I pull in 15... Ack! Is this choice some sort of life altering decision that 10 years from now I'll look back on and say "That was the defining moment!" I wish I had some idea of what to do! All I can think of for now, is to go down to EI on Monday and talk to an advisor and see what kind of bread I'd get on it and compare that to what my chances for work at Greyhound are. Either way, I need to rest for a week or so and get back to my own head for a while. I've been too busy this Xmas to really have had any time to think. Work has consumed far too much of my spirit lately...
Oh yeah, I'm supposed to go to a cabin for New Year's with a bunch of people but I'm not sure that status of that right now... what with the crazy amount of snow we got and the nutso highway conditions.... Hmmmmmmm.....

Utilitarian Xmas or Pee Wee!

Alright, so Xmas has come and gone and I don't have a ton to report. I pretty much only got things that I needed, ie) boxers, gloves, etc. with the exceptions being some awesome books (Hello I'm Special, The Rebel Sell, and Planet Simpson). I had to go on boxing day to pick up some of the DVD's that I had wanted, but not received. I got both Pee Wee box sets, the first Seinfeld one, the 4th Futurama one, and Demolition Man (for 5 bucks!). All in all, it was a pretty good haul!
I went with Erin to see "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou" last night and all I can say is "meh." Definitely not Wes Anderson's best film. Not terrible, but not exactly good either. It was super weird... I can't even really describe it....
When this Friday comes, it will mark only my third day off all month. The first two were at the start by the way... Sooooooooooooo tired.

Overtime or My Mom is Pissed

So I got asked to work overtime on both Xmas Eve and Xmas Day and I decided to take the two shifts. It's really hard to turn down double time and a half AS WELL as Stat pay... I think I'll be pulling in something like 45 bucks an hour... My mom was SUPER pissed that I did this, despite me having warned her OVER a month ago that this might happen. She had planned all the family stuff to take place during those times. I'm not all that big on family things, let alone Xmas, so it's not a big deal to me, but it sure is to her. Oh yeah, I also have to work boxing day from 12 till 8:30... so not only do I miss out on any chance to score something cheap, I miss ANOTHER family gathering. That makes me 0.5 for 3 this year! (I was at a previous gathering for like an hour and a half before having to work.)
On the plus side I took Erin to lunch today at the Star Grill as it was her birthday and all. While the food was hella good (as usual) the waiter totally hated me. He was so rude and snooty! I felt like a total wad when I ordered a dinner entree and he said "It's Xmas Eve sir, the chef is home with his family and we are not serving the dinner menu." I felt worse when asking for a dessert menu and he said "All the desserts are in that glass case over there sir, we don't have a menu." Ouch! I showed him though, I left a massive tip! (Hey, it makes sense in my mind...)
But hey, I did manage to only have to work for an hour and a half today, despite getting paid for 4. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least! Now I'll actually have some time to listen to my old Sesame Street Christmas record that I've been wanting to listen to for 15 years! It's a Christmas miracle!

Wow! or You Mean it's THAT Easy?!?!

Wow, changing a tire is THAT easy?!?!?! Why is it that I didn't know how to do it before???

Heaven or Flat Tire

To me, heaven is a giant heat vent that blows super warm air.
Oh yeah, I found out that I had a flat tire today when I was attempting to go to work... that and my CAA membership had expired... I am not automotively inclined... Hey, Rob is here to help me change my tire!

Working a lot can be Draining or No Time for Anything

I've been working every day for the past week and will be working every day until Xmas eve. It's beginning to be a tad draining, as I have literally no time for anything else... Although I have attempted to make some space for friends and Erin. It was only last summer that I worked 2 jobs and ended up going for something like 26 days with no day off... so why is this so much worse? Maybe it's the whole manual labour thing....
Apparently Suprnova is dead... that sucks... That REALLY sucks.... Anyone know of any good alternatives?

The Polar Express or Chinese Food Aftermath

The past few days have been somewhat of a blur, but I can fill in a few blanks for those who need them filled in. I worked a lot. Hung out with Stobes, Ryan, and Erin a tad, and slept. The only real change was last night, when I saw "The Polar Express" with Erin, her friend Trish, Dave, and this girl name Paige. First of all, I wanted to see the film when I read Roger Ebert's review proclaiming it somewhat dark. It intrigued me to see how an Xmas film could be dark. In the end, the movie was pretty interesting. While being a fairly standard Xmas movie, it had some creepiness just lurking on the periphery that made it cool. The creepy hobo character, the weirdly nazi-like elves, the odd french waiter clones, and the strange fascism of the north pole all come to mind. The CG was pretty impressive too, especially the vistas. I would recommend seeing the thing, but it does contain some overly sugary Xmas spirit type of crap, so be warned. After the movie, we all went to Ken's Restaurant, a fairly famous late night Chinese food place here in town. Tasty stuff! The Kung Po Shrimp was a stand out, although after a while it became a thick paste. It ended up costing the 5 of us about 80$, which was not bad considering all the food we had. It's also open till like 4 am! Late night places are cool. Oh yeah, MSG always makes me feel funny inside... not the good kind either.
I must say that I was so "on" last night. The wise was most definitely cracked consistently and with much verve.

Full Time or In Need of Another Job

Well, school is officially done. I completed my courses and I'm free. All in all, it was a good enough time. Learned a lot and all that jazz. Now I guess it's time for some sort of attempt at entering into the real world. Ick... On that front, I had a job interview at Shaw today. I hope that it went well. I think I was pretty impressive on the whole, but the thing was just a preliminary type of deal. There will be an in depth interview later on, should I be deemed worthy. I really hope that I can get this job, as it would be not only steady, but also well paying. I would finally have something consistent that would allow me to have some actual bread to lay down. I'm totally convinced that I could do it too... I just need to be given the chance.
On the other hand, I managed to score full time hours at Greyhound for the next couple of weeks during the peak time. I will probably get some OT should I want it. An 80+ hour paycheck will really help out and totally give me some freedom to keep looking for something else without the aura of desperation. Knowing that hours will be next to nothing for the new year, I really need to score SOMETHING tangible to not be a broke ass EI guy. Then again, EI wouldn't be all bad as I could focus on something film related. That and play copious amounts of video games... I would prefer to have a job though.... I ain't no burden on society!

The Final Countdown or Xmas Time is Dumb

Today is the day, my final day of University for the foreseeable future. After 2 somewhat meaningless degrees and 6.5 years of my life, it's time to move on. This half term was one of the hardest of my entire life... not because of the work load, but because of the severe lack of motivation. Not needing these courses made it insanely hard to want to do anything for them. The only high note was the fact that I wrote a serious intellectual essay on the Weird Al film "UHF." It rocked! I have one final class tonight where I have to pitch my screenplay to a panel and then POOF, that's it! Freedom. I don't mind the environment of the place and watching movies is always fun (oh yeah, and watching girls!) but I just can't do it anymore... So much for trying to match the Van Wilder streak of 7 years +. I guess I'm just not that hardcore... I am signed up for another course in January, but I'm going to drop it and take a break. The only scary thing is, this means that I will have to face the real world now! Time to buck up and get some sort of a job, that and try to get a film off the ground. College movie!
I seriously hate how people get at Xmas time. I was out at some stores with Ryan and Andrew the other day and people were doing the craziest things in the parking lot. Instead of waiting in the queue to turn right they would go up the opposite lane and cut in front of other cars, or just drive right into traffic and cause near accidents. This one guy in a van just drove out the in lane into oncoming traffic and then cut off a ton of people who were about the hit him. The stores were all a huge mess too, it's like people have no respect to put things back where they found them... I mean the amount of times I've NOT put something back where I found it at a store wouldn't fill up one hand. It's simple respect and cleanliness. Having worked in retail over the holidays I know that people are fuckwads at this time of the year. Tensions rise on all sides. On the plus side, this will mark my second year in a row of not working retail at Xmas time! Ask me if I miss it, go on ask me! The answer is NO WAY IN HELL!
If you are wondering why I was writing Xmas instead of Christmas there is a twofold answer. The first of which is the fact that I don't believe Xmas is about Christ anymore or ever was really. Last year I did a ton of research into the holiday and learned some really interesting things about the pagan traditions that preceded Christmas, the way the holiday was celebrated until just about 100 years ago, etc. I don't think that at this point in time there is any valid argument as to why it should not be Xmas instead of Christmas. Don't give me that "spirit of the season" crap either. You should not only act charitable to your fellow man in a certain month, let alone a month that's sole purpose is to sell more useless garbage. The true spirit of the season lasts a whole year, decade, century, lifetime... whatever.

DiG! or Why did I Eat That Burger?

Ok, so not a whole hell of a lot to report recently... I've been doing some homework, watched a couple of movies, and hung out with pals. I rented RKO 281 (a movie about the making of Citizen Kane) with Lee and Erin on Thursday. It was pretty dame good! The guy who played Joseph Cotton was terrible, but the dude that played Orson Welles was really good! James Cromwell, who played William Randolphe Hearst was uncanny in his imitation of the old man. Overall, I was most impressed with how they did not make either man out to be all good or all bad. They both had some serious problems and almost echoed each other. Thumbs up!
Friday morning I was woken up by my mom and had to go to the bank to sort out some RRSP and bond issues. I hate going anywhere with my mom, because she always talks to people about me like I'm not there. She also tends to assume that I cannot make my own decisions. I had purchased a Savings Bond, you know to invest in my country... but apparently I don't know that an RRSP has higher interest. Apparently the clerks didn't inform me what was going on. Apparently I hope to move out "someday." UGH. The whole experience was embarrassing and anger inducing.
Last night I saw "DiG" with Lee, Zee, and Erin. Not really knowing much (or anything for that matter) about either the Dandy Warhols or the Brian Jonestown Massacre, I wasn't all that interesting in going, but based on the great reviews, decided to check it out anyway. I was kinda disappointed. the reviews all painted the movie as being totally crazy and unbelievable... but I dunno, it was pretty tame to me... I've seen crazier... Sure the Jonestown guy was a nut and hopped up on goof-balls, but who hasn't seen that before? I didn't really buy everyone saying how much of a genius he was... The Dandy's didn't really impress me all that much either... I mean, sure they sound alright, but their lead singer is a twat. He's so lame. I would have been nice to hear more of the stories about him flipping out on people, but they kinda put those on the backburner... I'd say if you like either of those two bands, check it out, otherwise, don't bother (unless you've never seen "crazy" before).
After the flick we met up with Stobes and co. at a house party. I finally tried the DS, which impressed the hell out of me. Once it gets a few more games, I might just pick it up! Assuming I can amass sufficient cash. We then had some food at Montana's. The best part of that was how you get crayons to draw on the paper table cloths. I drew a funny picture of Ryan sucking off a bicycle. Trust me, it was funny... Then he went all grade 7 on us and drew Stobart sucking me off... Man, he's so immature! :) Anyway, I now regret eating the burger I had... mostly from the interesting concoction my stomach is now brewing.... What's that smell?????

Shatner Rules or Alien Hominid

I am currently listening to the new William Shatner album "Has Been." This album is amazing. Whether or not this is primarily due to Ben Folds' influence or not, I don't care... it's freakin' awesome. Funny as hell, but with soul. It's almost touching in a way...
Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 2 continues on in the great tradition that season 1 began... maybe not quite as solid overall, but definitely a ton of funny. The little girl yelling about something hard in the bald man's pants nearly made me do a spit take.... if only I'd had something in my mouth to spit...
I finally tracked down "Alien Hominid" for the Gamecube Tuesday... If you love old school 2D shooters, over-the-top violence, and insane challenge in your games, then by all means BUY THIS GAME. If not, then you should buy it anyway, if only to support the indie game makers movement.
It's nearing the end of term at school and I couldn't be happier. I think it's finally time to leave University and face the real world... I mean, I DO have 2 degrees after all...