Trip Is Cancelled

Well, it looks like my trip to Newfoundland is cancelled after all. We're not going, on account of my grandmother's illness. So it looks like I'll head up to Barry's Bay on Monday instead, to check in on things. I can't say that I'm not disappointed, but I completely understand. I just feel bored and listless though. I was looking forward to being out of my own skin for a week. I guess maybe next year.

Trip May Not Be Cancelled?

Well, it's day to day on the Newfoundland trip front. I'll find out finally tomorrow is the trip is on or not. It appears that my grandmother is doing better, but is still in the hospital. I shouldn't sound so selfish about the Newfoundland trip -- I guess I just naturally assumed that my grandmother is the Keith Richards of grandmas and that she will ultimately pull through this one.

In fact, I'm no longer really looking forward to Newfoundland. I'm wondering if my place really is in Barry's Bay for the next few days. If my grandmother is indeed on her last legs, it would be good to see her one final time.

Cancelled Trip

Well, it looks like my trip to Newfoundland next week with my parents is looking like it is cancelled. My grandmother in Barry's Bay has taken ill and it seems serious. She could even pass away, from what my mother is telling me. Naturally, I understand why the trip would be cancelled, but I can't help but feel a bit disappointed. I was looking forward to the trip, and getting out of the apartment for a week. It really sucks.

I can't believe it has been nearly a week since I boarded a train for Ottawa. Time sure flies by at times, doesn't it?

Not much new to report here. I picked up the recent debut albums by Wavves and Japandroids on vinyl. I'm not too sure if the Wavves warranted a glowing review in Pitchfork, it is a little too garage-y for my likings. But the Japandroids is great! Good to see a nice Canadian band (by way of Vancouver) making exceptional music, and only with drums and fuzzed out guitar.

Plan B (or An Interesting Thing Happened To Me In Ottawa)

Writing this missive from the wilds of an Internet cafe here in Ottawa, which is sunny and beautiful. I couldn't be happier, and I'll have more on the particulars in a minute.

I rolled into town on Thursday and stopped by my friends' place, Anita and James. They were very welcoming and even had some mixed CDs that I'd made for them a number of years ago playing in the CD player. A nice touch. We had pizza for dinner and caught up on old times. Unfortunately, their son Dylan is teething, so he was a little crankier than usual. Poor guy. But, all in all, I had a good time with them.

Got to Jen Bruce's place, and we had a few drinks on the patio in nice weather and chatted for about two hours. Then I went to bed.

I woke up to a phone call from Geoff Waddington at an Ottawa company called Real Decoy, who wanted me to meet with him at 3 p.m. or so that afternoon. It was rather weird, because I wasn't expecting a call. I had e-mailed him that I'd be in town, but had gotten no response, so I naturally assumed he was busy.

After meeting with a few temp agencies and Sarah Brown at Ottawa magazine about freelancing in town, and getting the dirt there, I scooted over to Real Decoy. Geoff and I scooted to a nearby bar and had a few drinks. We caught up, and Geoff was interested in what I planed to do with my life if I moved back.

It was here that I got a bit of a shock. We were joined by fellow Real Decoy-er Richard Issac, and the pair of them offered me what they called a "Plan B".

Now I don't want to get too descriptive here, as A) I know Geoff reads this thing, B) I don't want to jinx things before they happen and C) it's probably not my place to say too much about things in a public forum. But, essentially, Geoff and Richard put a potential (and I say potential) job opportunity on the table. It wouldn't be permanent, but it would last awhile and allow me to eek out a living while I either freelance on the side or look for something a little more stable. There's a gentleman's agreement that if I do find something better that I would be able to shake hands with Geoff and Richard and leave without any hard feelings. Which is good.

So, needless to say, this is all rather preliminary and who knows what will happen. But I've been on a natural high ever since this meeting. Real Decoy is one of the companies I'd love to work for in Ottawa, and I even was in line for a job there last August (which I didn't get, as I wasn't qualified enough). I highly respect the people who work there, and really hope that if I do get the job and move back to Ottawa that I'd be able to do exceptional work for them. I want to really rock the joint and do kick ass work. Which I know I can do.

So that's all really exciting. I come to Ottawa to scope things out, and something lands in my lap. Nice!

Today was a bit more quiet. I had a two-hour coffee with the lovely Heather Ferrier, and we caught up on old times. Then I went to Jen's place and sat on the balcony for a few hours, having a few beers and generally just feeling good about myself. Tomorrow, I'll talk to Catherine Lawson of the Ottawa Citizen to see how the freelance market is there, and then I'll catch the five o'clock train home.

Things are really looking up. Hope everything works out!

Even More Ottawa

Hi all. Well, tomorrow's the big day. I go to Ottawa to spend time with my friends and a few contacts. That means that this here blog will go silent for a few days. Hopefully, I'll have something new to report once I get back. Talk to you all later.

The 12:42 mile

Hi all again. Just wanted to (breathlessly) tell you that I ran a mile in 12:42, thus shaving 18 seconds off my old best time. I would have done the mile in 12 minutes, too, if I didn't have to slow down at the nine-minute mark. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow I might just smash this record. Here's hoping.

Ottawa, Yet Again

Well, it's two more sleeps until I make my trip to Ottawa, and I'm started to get a bit excited. Maybe a bit apprehensive, too. Will my friends be glad to see me, or will I just be treated like a nuisance? I guess we'll see.

Got some good news though. Just got a phone call from AltisSPR in Ottawa (!) about a possible contract to do Web content writing that is now on hold until, perhaps, mid-June. It might not be a big deal, but it might give me some hope that there's actually jobs for writers in Ottawa where you don't have to speak French. As always, I guess we shall see.

St. Lawrence Market Sundays IV

Well, today is Sunday and you know what that means. Time for the St. Lawrence Antiques Market Sundays. This time out, though, I didn't pick up anything. I was sort of eyeing a New Order collection, but the cost was a whopping $30. I figured my money is best spent next week in Ottawa, where I plan to pick up a few slabs of vinyl from The Turning Point on Cooper Street. I want to get some Chicago stuff and Todd Rundgren that they have there. So I keep my money in my wallet today and conserved.

Not much else is new today. Just watched the Jays beat the Chicago White Sox for their third straight win. Hoping that they do as well tomorrow. Basically, I'm just waiting for Thursday to arrive, when I can go to Ottawa and see some of my old friends and hit up some of my old contacts. I've been thinking about a return to freelance journalism and I'm rather excited by the prospect. I know a lot more media in Ottawa than I do in Toronto, so it just seems to be a non-started that I might move back there and eek out a career for myself. I was even looking at some of my old clippings today and was fondly remembering some of those stories. I have to wonder if I was a better writer then than I am now. After all, being out of the game all of these years might have made me a bit rusty. I used to be good at puns and turns of phrase. If you've been reading this blog, you'll know that my writing has become more workman-like. Just the straight facts, and no hefty turns of phrase or matrix-style leads. Still, maybe I'll warm up if I get back to it. We'll have to see.

Can things hurry up and go till Thursday? Argh! I can't wait.

Ottawa, Again

So it's finally a week away: my trip to Ottawa. I've already lined up many social engagements during my three day stay. I'll also be meeting up with some people who can point out how the Ottawa job market is. Should be a good trip. God knows, I've got to get out of Toronto for awhile. I'm just dying here.

Today was my last session at the gym with my personal trainer for three weeks. She's going on a vacation of her own: to Denmark and Africa. Should be an interesting trip for her. Now, the only challenge for me is being honest and going to the gym to work on my cardio. I'm trying to get the 12 minute mile on the treadmill, but all I've been able to work up lately is to the 15:40 mark on two occasions this week. It's hard getting to run at a speed of 5.0 on the treadmill. I usually crank her down to 3.0 for a few minutes rest before cranking it up again. So we'll see how it goes from here on out.

Ottawa Part Deux

So I'm really excited about my looming trip to Ottawa. I called a good friend of mine up there, Jennifer Bruce, and she has agreed to provide me with shelter once I get there. It was a bit of an awkward conversation, I hadn't talked to her in about nine months, but she's a really dear friend. Helped me through a really dark time in my personal history back in early 2007. I can't repay her enough for the help.

I barely got to sleep last night, I was that excited. More excited about this than my looming Newfoundland trip. That maybe tells you something, I don't know. Anyhow, I guess I'm off to buy my train ticket to Ottawa. I'm looking forward to being up there again, seeing all of my friends again. I hope they're able to see me, and are free that weekend. I kind of wish I was going this weekend, but with the long weekend and all, I thought that maybe nobody would be around. Argh. The wait. The agony.

Ottawa?

I didn't go to the St. Lawrence Antiques Market today, mainly because I'm still working my way through the past two weeks worth of vinyl hauls. I also wanted to sleep in a bit today.

I've been giving some thought to moving back to Ottawa, and will be possibly going there for a mini-vacation in a couple of weeks. Just to feel out the market. Truth is, I don't think I'm going to find work in Toronto with the way things are going. Plus, all of my friends are really in Ottawa. The one thing that is holding me back from just dropping stakes and moving back is the whole bilingualism thing, which could prohibit me from getting a job there. However, I might be happier there. There's tons of bike trails, my friends and vibrant poetry scene happening there. I might be able to go back into freelancing. I have some contacts in the media scene in Ottawa. I also just generally have more contacts there than I have here. I feel anonymous in Toronto, which was what I was looking for when I moved here initially, but I know people and businesses in Ottawa. So it's starting to make sense to move back there.

We'll see how it goes, I guess, in a couple of weeks.

Star Trek

So I went and saw the new Star Trek movie this afternoon and it was awesome. I have to profess to not being a fan of the original series, or its spinoffs, but the reboot was solid for those who aren't being a fan. The special effects were great and seamless, Zachary Quinto of Heroes makes a good Spock, and all around it was just good fun. Certainly beats Wolverine last week.

Tonight I might go out to the Renaissance Cafe for their big closing bash. Their final day of operation is tomorrow, and I went to a few poetry events there in 2007 when I was just getting my feet wet in Toronto. Should be fun.

One of Those Days ...

I had a bit of a crappy day today. I met with a recruiter, and, suffice to say, it didn't really go all that well, in my opinion. Since I've decided to not get too personal here, lest anyone mentioned in my posts be reading this, I'll spare the gory details.

Things then just got maybe not progressive worse, but not better. I went to the gym to do some running, and found that I just couldn't do it because I was angry at myself for the way that things had gone earlier. Then, when I was in the change room putting on one of my few pairs of nice khakis, the button that holds my pants together decided to pop off. Thank God I was wearing a belt, or else I would have been holding the front of my pants together all the way home.

I'm hopeful that things will get better, and that I'll find a job soon. Things are starting to look dicey around these parts, and I've decided that finding a job in Toronto is about as hard as trying to find a girlfriend here. Lots of little nibbles, but no concrete bites.

In an unrelated note, I might be doing a music piece for Popmatters.com about the making of Fleetwood Mac's Tusk, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. I have it on vinyl, and it is so opulent that the inner sleeves actually have inner sleeves. I'm sort of looking forward to writing a piece. It'll get to show off my music writing chops, and get positioned in a main section of the Web site. Should be fun.

Nothing New

Sorry for not being more proactive with my blogging. Not much is new around these parts. Still unemployed. Still looking. Still banging my head against the wall. (Ouch! That hurts!)

I met with a recruiter yesterday, and he had some good advice for my resume and some glowing things to say about it. I meet with another recruiter tomorrow to talk about maybe finding work in PR. Hope it goes well. Truth be told, I'm a little nervous about this one, perhaps because she has said up front that she doubts she can place me. (She's more, from what I can understand, of an executive recruiter.)

I should have taken the afternoon off and gone to that Jays game. I think we won by a score of 10-6. Beats that drubbing we got last night. We were one strike away from winning that one. It was painful to watch.

St. Lawrence Market Sundays III and more

So I went to the St. Lawrence Antiques Market again today. It was a nice day, so they had it outside the building (assuming that the Toronto Book Fair took up the interior space).

Got a lot of stuff. Pink Floyd's The Wall. Siouxie and The Banshees' Once Upon A Time (which I'm listening to as I type this). The very first Psychedelic Furs album. Some more Johnny Cash. Bruce Springsteen's first album. The Who's Tommy. And I also picked up Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, but, disappointingly, I'm going to have to pitch that one. The first record has a warp in it, that I missed upon my inspection of it.

Other news: I went to the Jays game at the Rogers Center yesterday. Had a good time. The game went into extra innings so I got an extra bang for my $11. And we won. Again. How about those Jays this year?

On Friday, I went out and saw the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie. I was quite disappointed by it; it's maybe on par with last year's The Incredible Hulk reboot. Some of the CGI looked half-finished, particularly on Wolverine's claws in one scene in a bathroom. It just looked cartoony. Hugh Jackman does a good job, but he doesn't have much of a script to work with. I knew we might be in trouble when the first credit announced that it was taking place in Canada in 1845. Um, Canada didn't exist as a country until 1867. Obviously dumbing it down for the American audience. Either that, or someone in the script writing department didn't do their homework. And we're meant to believe that Wolverine has been around for some 160 years, but still manages to look like a buff 40-year-old guy. I know all about suspension of disbelief, but that was a little too much. And the ending is rather anti-climatic, with two extra post-credits scenes just tacked on to tie up loose ends and point in the direction of another sequel. I was not impressed. Oh well. Maybe next week's Star Trek movie will fare better.