spending more than i make...

i think i can count on one finger the number of times in my life i've actually felt cool. like the time i went to graduation in a tux with teal polka dots, well... actually... that wasn't as cool as i thought i would be. but this picture is actually a lifetime highlight. i felt pretty cool when that was taken.

it's snowing in vancouver. it's actually the first time i've been snowed on in about three years. that's a long time for a canadian. i remember in the maldives two things people were alwasy fascinated about in photos was a) dogs (Muslim country, no dogs or pigs please), and b) snow.

This is also the first time i've stepped into a new/used (or any other kind) music store in two years. i walk into Zulu Records on Fourth, brush the wet snow from my stinky nepali yak-wool jacket and suddenly it occurs to me just why i spent the last two years volunteering overseas:

so i could learn as much as i could about British and Irish pop and new acoustic folk.

that, and thanks to my recent discovery of CBC3 podcasts, and suddenly i *know* the names of the indie and import bands arrayed in CD cases before me. no longer do only The Thompson Twins and Prince leap out at me like old friends (ah Prince, I never abandoned you. i still think 0+^)>&* is your best album), but now I see that Elbow has put out a new album.

Charged, I race and see that Turin Brakes has more CDs than just Ether Song. The Hippos, Doves, Artic Monkeys and Eels now mean more to me than just mammal, bird, exotic mammal, reptile. different sections don't deter! i'm racing through the isles, there's Four Tet and Goldfrapp in Electronica! The Roots, N.O.H.A. in Hip Hop! I'm not even sure if Modest Mouse or The Flaming Lips are indie or mainstream anymore but I don't care because *I* know who they are! I may not be Kloot, but I'm somebody now!

The Walls, Razorlight, Caesar's Palace, Radio 4, The Decemberists, The Go! Team. I don't even how they ended up in my iTunes, they're just there. More importantly, I've listened to them!

I go to the counter with The Stills and Metric. Cautious choices, I know, but I want to sustain this high.
I see that Ozomatli is playing tonight at the Commodore and wish I was going (and I see my good friend Allie Crowe is coming back to play on Dec 9th!). I ask if they have any God Made Me Funky.

"Who?" the guy asks.
nonplussed, I say, "I think they're a Hip-Hop... band? ... out of Toronto? they're really good."
"Never heard of them," the guy shakes his head.

I walk away, disheartened, until I realize that I... did... did *I* just out-band the music guy behind the counter??

where did this awesome power come from??? who is this archtype of cool that's replaced me? how did i graduate to this new level of dorkdom??

a little bit of kathmandu for ya...

so there's been a major storm in Vancouver for the last few days. The power's gone out a few times, traffic's been insane (highways closed), now there's a boil water advisory and i'm thinking to myself, i left kathmandu because...?

not a single starbucks in the lower mainland is serving coffee, as far as i know. i think that goes for all the major coffee chains.

i gotta say, though, in kathmandu there would be riots in the streets, police would be gunning down protestors, there'd be commercial and traffic strikes, a frikkin daytime shoot on sight curfew would be in place but you could still toddle down into Thamel and get yourself a cup of coffee.

the NINJA has landed

just like that, i'm back on the west coast. definitely the strangest thing that i'm getting used to is the traffic: instead of an equal mix of bicycles, motorcycles and cars, pretty much everyone here drives a car. And everyone here manages to form these neat, orderly traffic columns by staying within painted lines. Amazing! Astonishing! That and I haven't yet seen a wandering cow, calmly chewing its cud, in the middle of roaring traffic.
So, although the chances of being called out with a shotgun or hearing a bomb go off are now significantly lower, i still seem to be faced with various life problems: for starters, i have to find a job of course. the docs at UBC have been good enough to give me some work, which is great and will keep me busy presumably until find something more permanent.

On top of that, my 40 GB harddrive- which i so fondly referred to as "my life"- crashed. The casing has a sticker of wolverine on it, which i'm beginning to regret since it now sounds like that f**king mutant is dragging his claws across my disc. photos, music, stories, all the work i've done for the docs- it all flashed before my eyes. actually if it had done that i would've been able to save it somewhere, instead it just *blip* *crunch* disappeared.

but after a long, anxious morning, i did manage to recover most of the data. happily enough. and i have to say, the internet here is *fantastic*. it's so fast, i'm done checking my emails before i've even started the day! it's so fast i can faff around and find links and upload photos for my blog posts.

now i just have to get used to vancouver weather again...