where the experience ends, the writing begins.

2505 words later...

so i lied... august 10 came a little early :oP

i just couldn't pass up the opportunity to share this with the world - what every stressed university student needs to do every once in a while. (adrienne, you couldn't have sent me this at a more appropriate time :oP)

it may take a little while to load, but trust me, it's worth it :o)

http://antics.icepox.com/metelev.php
(it's in spanish, but you'll know what to do... muuhahahahaha)

it's genius!

k, i'm outta here (for REAL this time!)

STOP! hermit time!

last week of school = 1 week before pure nerdage begins...

enough funny business. :o(

plan of action for tomorrow today:
- wake up at 7am SHARP (after blogging)
- trek it down to dp by 8:30am
- complete research phase till about 10:30am
- confine myself back in my room, bolt myself down at my desk and spend the rest of the day and night writing/starting my 3000-word poco lit essay due thursday (eeps! that's tomorrow!) at 4:00pm
- breathing and eating are optional

hmm. sometimes i forget that one can actually be unmotivated to go to class and still be motivated to get good marks - why is it that the word "SURVIVAL" only comes to mind?

i think i've burnt out one term too early - but i think it might be all due to my disgruntled frustration of having such a bum/partially moronic academic term this summer :o(

poops.

once the essay is done, it's onto exam bliss:

ENGL 247: August 6, 9:00am
RS 221: August 7, 2:00pm
ENGL 463: August 10, 2:00pm

oy. and thus begins the chaos.

until august 10, folks...

cinnamon gardens

...     "Why don't you behave like a lady," the Tamil woman said to Annalukshmi.
         "Yes, shouting and screaming like a street vendor," her companion added. 
         "It's terrible what the younger generation has come to," said the older man.
         "And what exactly are your relations to this man?" the gentleman added. "Are you married to him?"
          Annalukshmi flushed in anger and mortification at what the man was implying.
          "I thought so," he nodded knowingly. 
          Mr. Jayaweera now stood up. "Sir," he said, "there is no reason to speak like that." He turned to Annalukshmi. "I will settle this and go to second class." And, with that, he walked out of the compartment.
"No," Annalukshmi said, and she stood up. "Since you have forced this man to give up his seat for you, then I will have to leave with him and you will be guilty of denying a lady her seat."
          For the first time, she saw the gentleman become unsure of himself. She pressed her advantage. "You have also insulted my honour by implying that my relations are improper with this man who has been sent along to chaperon me."
          "Madam, I did not mean to say that there was anything improper -"
          "Sir, you implied it." She allowed a tremulous note to enter her voice. "You have insulted my honour in front of all these people, dragged me down from my position as a lady."
          "Yes, sir," the Tamil lady said, now switching sides in that way interested bystanders often did. "It was disgraceful to say that."
          "You are not wanted in here, sir," her companion added.
          "We are ladies and God knows who you will insult next."
          The gentleman saw that he had been worsted. He turned and left without a word.

-- from Shyam Selvadurai's Cinnamon Gardens.

and so engl 247 finally draws to a close

the funny thing about it: the ONE time i decide to attend the FULL LENGTH of class, it ends up being 1/2 an hour long. hehe. no complaints here, mind you.

the grand finale wrap-up: his name was matt, and he sang to the class - a song dedicated to the one girl he hitch hiked all the way to montreal for; but to his dismay, she wasn't home :oP catchy tune, if i do say so myself. t'was amusing when our prof turned 5 shades of red when he sang the line "and all i wish is to rest against your breast" ... dang. talk about actually putting creativity to the whole "creative" part of the assignment - he made my pass-off collage of magazine cut and paste look like small potatoes :oP

and of course, he had the entire female population of the class wrapped around his finger right after the first strum. *girly sigh* :oP there's just something about a guy and his guitar... even better when he knows how to play it... ;o)

and so yet another class bites the dust. one more to go... and THEN *dum dum dum* (suspenseful music) FINALS!

one more for the road...

current mood:


a mini woodlands gals reunion at booster juice in mississauga for sharon's pre-pre-send-off extravanganza before she leaves us for her masters' somewhere in the cornfields of iowa ... hmmm. good times. it's been almost too long since i've caught up with my girls, but it's always refreshing to know that some things just never change. even at the tender age of 23, we can all still appreciate the occasional giggle spurt sessions, find humour in the most mediocre of things, and love life for everything it is.

*sigh* i'm feeling rather nostalgic and a bit on the sentimental side. it's nights like these that i'm truly going to miss when i go off to vietnam. but it seems like everyone's heading off in different directions come september, off to bigger and better pastures (and/or cornfields)... could it be that we're finally growing up and embarking on our long-awaited journey into adulthood?

nah. perish the thought. :o)

... there are days when it's just wonderful to be living. this one was definitely one of them. :oD

a li'l sump'in for everyone

when ya get tired of your mp3s at work or at school, or even when kazaa's being a poo, here's something to suit all of your online radio needs ;o)

theiceberg.com

recommendation: for all you cool cats out there, the golden age of jazz is one to definitely tune your ears to :o)

p n' p: day 2

phew. tuberculosis/diphtheria free and blood pressure's back to normal ;o)

gotta go back another day for follow-up sometime, but fortunately my doctor pulled off the whole "don't call us, we'll call you" liner - may take a while before i gotta go back for p n' p: day 3 :o) but that's perfectly fine with me!

other vietnam prep: yesterday night while chatting up a storm with mandy, she taught me how to say "hello" in viet. jao [pron. jow] :o) hehe. that's like 2 words out of like 500 000 000 000 (the other one being PHO [pron. fuh] of course!) - so, if i were to engage a conversation with a bowl of vietnamese soup, i'd at least be able to greet it properly... "JAO PHO!" :oP

taking a break from studying and "researching", i decided to take a peek into my vietnam prep reader... reading the following amused me:

You may have students offer to give you rides home on their motorbikes. In that case, you should wear pants to class - it can be difficult to climb aboard a motorbike gracefully and modestly while wearing even a long skirt, much less a short one...

so now i'm dreaming of (gracefully and modestly) riding motorbikes in vietnam... haha - WOOT! :oD

a midsummer night's dream

Hippolyta: This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.
Theseus: The best in this kind are but shadows, and the worst are no worse if imagination amend them.

(5.1.207-208)

saturday found me in stratford for the shakespeare festival. me (now a fresh burgundy-brunette as of friday evening), livi, audrey, rudy & co. had the wonderful opportunity to watch shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. the last time i went to stratford for the festival was for a grade 10 english class field trip to watch King Lear, and once again i was quite impressed. and i must admit, the "cirque du soleil" trained fairies were a very nice touch to the plot - ol' william would have been proud. :o)

hehe, and while the english geek in me was more than satisfied with stratford's rendition of the classic shakespearean comedy, the girl in me was rather smitten at how attractive the actor who played puck was :oP (he was like the vin diesel of the avon theatre LOL).

and as usual, what day in the life of estelle wouldn't be complete without a very valuable life tidbit :oP today's lesson: fischer-hallman does not connect to the 401, and probably never will :oS - this important lesson was learned while driving home from stratford in the dark, while attempting to follow livi home :o) always an adventure, i suppose :oP

but regardless, the weather was perfect, the sky was blue, and though my wallet now has a gargantuan dent in it from the $40 dinner each of us splurged on tonight (which was well worth it :oP), it was just a lovely day on the whole :oD

i am now happily pooped and ready to hit they hay - i'm determined to get as much sleep as possible before i once again turn into a hermit and shift gears into hardcore cramming and essay writing mode as the end of my 4A term slowly creeps upon me...

puncture n' probefest: day 1

i am very much


my doctor referred to the entire process as "mild" torture... pssshhh yeah right. with all the shots and tests i took today, you'd think i was being prepared for the military :oS

there's a reason why i've been trying to avoid having THE physical examination for the past 23 years of my life... and at 10:30am all my fears were justified.

oy. without having to go into gruesome detail, let's just say that this experience was far from comfortable, and even the doctor took pity on me when a few teardrops fell onto my hospital gown. :o(

the needles were actually the least of my worries, and those of you who have had to sit through me agonizing over everything know how i'm ridiculously scared of them. nevertheless, i survived, and the needles never even came close to my bum, thank you very much :o) ... and to those who were placing bets on whether i would faint after my blood test, i didn't even after the fact i saw that they had taken 6 long test tubes full of my blood from my arm during the long and painful process. :oP

... and because i was running out of places to be punctured (well, not really. there were just some vaccinations and tests that couldn't be done today :oP), i must now go back on monday morning for more probing and puncturing goodness (as if 3 hours wasn't enough :oS)...

*sniff* owie.

enter chorus line...

seeing happy, river dancing, japanese samurais all in synch to the musical rhythm of salsa beats - this is what makes life worth living :oP

... didn't expect that at all!

i wanna be just like them. :o)

welps, i finally made it back to 'sauga in one piece, though there were times when my head would slightly droop over the steering wheel while on the 401 (a BIG no-no). guess that's what happens when you're body's been functioning on a total of 5.5 hours of sleep in the past 2 days... :oD but as always, i'm a trooper (or perhaps just too dang nocturnally stubborn) :oP

looking forward to yet another eventful weekend...
friday morning's forecast: severe puncture storm warning in effect.
(all part of my prep for vietnam *sigh*)

... if i still have feeling in my arm (as opposed to my bum) by the afternoon, expect a blog of my morning's adventures.

mama, i'm scared. :oS

life's simple pleasures

mmm... raspberry frozen yogurt from tcby makes stella a very happy girl. :o)

i came, i saw, i left during the break...

current mood:


even after having the pleasure of taking a 5-day long weekend, i still made a very sad attempt in being a good girl today and attending all my classes.

*sigh*

i tried... i really did. but i just couldn't bear it anymore after the first 1.5 hours of "how does this movie make you feel?"...

ugh. english 247 is the leprosy that gnaws away at my health, intelligence, and peace of mind.

more visual stimulation

with one day to spare till my essay is due, i've finished it!
and as a break, i've decided to post up some more highlights from the weekend.


me and my bro (with his new-found baldness) showin' some love :oP


yeah, sure... things look pretty innocent now...


what family camps are really all about :oS

more camp pictures can be found here.

---

tangent: conversation of the night...

R: why would she tell him these things? doesn't she know that i talk to him?!
me: i dunno. don't ask me to analyze girls... i don't even know how to analyze myself.
R: haha. what?! then analyzing guys would be so much harder for you.
me: ... IT IS!

(my far-from-freudal moment of the hour in helping a friend deal with the opposite gender)

back from barrie...

the whole hfbc clan - WOOT! (pjunn was MIA)
 

just the girls :o)
 

takin' a li'l dip in the pool
 

CHUBBY BUNNY!


yummy!

i was planning on blogging about the weekend yesterday, but i completely passed out and ended up waking up at 1pm this afternoon (oops!) but i'm finally in the recovering process from roughin' it in the middle of nowhere... well, if you consider "roughin' it" as staying in partially furnished cabins and eating potluck meals feasts non-stop for a full weekend :oP nevertheless, our church family retreat was nothing but a whopping 3 days of fun in the sun, laughin' it up, outlet shopping, *good* tears, good grubbin', good friends (old and new), and a whole lotta spiritual enlightenment.

it's times like these that really help me appreciate what truly matters in life...

as part of my vietnam missions prep, my pastor thought it would be a good idea for me to sit in with him while he shared the gospel to a friend we had met during the camp - she had a lot of questions regarding Christianity and where her faith stood with God, and admitted she didn't really know how Jesus fit into the whole grand scheme of salvation. as weird (perhaps even ignorant?) as it sounds, i never really thought that there could be various levels of complexity and confusion when it came to faith - that it was just as simple as black and white: either they believed or they didn't. at times i just tend to assume what people may know or not know about the gospel and faith in God, and sometimes neglect the seriousness of the situation. though the discussion was really meant for her own spiritual welfare, there was so much that i was able to grasp out of it all. watching my pastor through the whole discussion made me realize how special and at the same time how serious my decision to serve in vietnam was/is, more importantly, how every word that may come out of my mouth could actually impact someone's life a certain way. i'm humbled at how much i still have yet to learn before i pack my bags and board that plane come september. for a while now, i've been harbouring these fears and insecurities about whether this was the right decision, or whether i was just being impulsive and jumping at the opportunity. but after yesterday, i've managed to lay all those fears and insecurities to rest, and finally gain some peace of mind with my decision to go, because really, God will never give me more than i can physically or emotionally handle, as long as i keep the faith - in the past 3 months, i've been discovering so many things i really need to work on before i head out to vietnam, and after this weekend, i'm adding complete trust and submission to the list. i guess that sometimes life's lessons come to you when you least expect them :o) our theme for this year's camp was "what on earth is our purpose for being here?" - something that i've been trying to figure out for the past 23 years. who knew i could learn so much from just a bit less than half hour of a little conversaion and a lot of prayer? :oP

there are far too many other things to be said/written about this past weekend, but the much needed getaway from the everyday was exactly what i needed.

however, i will mention this: my group rocked! YAY MISSIONS! WOOHOO! overall champs for 2 years running! :oP (BOOYAH!) hehe.

... and just when i thought that heading over to vietnam was going to be a challenge, i was elected camp director for next year's camp - eeeps! :oP

more pictures coming soon (i think!)

in other news: today marks the 2 week stretch before finals officially start. what the heck have i been doing these past 4 months?! geepers!

mcbarf

finally got to see Super Size Me tonight.

... good movie, but yeah, i don't think i'll be eating at mcds for a long while.

ugh. i think i'm feelin' a little mcsick!

tangent: in other news, the soap opera that is clayfield 11 has been unexpectedly put on pause for the next two weeks, as it appears that sf has gone back to where he came from. :oS

so long a letter...

I take a deep breath.

I've related at one go your story well as mine. I've said the essential, for pain, even when it's past, leaves the same marks on the individual when recalled. Your disappointment was mine, as my rejection was yours. Forgive me once again if I have re-opened your wound. Mine continues to bleed.

-- from Mariama Bâ's So Long a Letter

a lament for flip flops' passing...

a little...


after 2 years of loyal and faithful service, my favourite pair of black flip flops finally kicked the bucket this evening while walking over to bubbletease and made their long-awaited transcendence to flip flop heaven.

*sigh* let us pause for momentary silence in rememberance of my flip flops.

lesson(s) of the day:
- walking with one-strapped flip flops is much harder than it looks
- shoes were made to protect your bare feet from incidences like stepping on random pieces of broken glass (ow!)
- there are no benefits from insisting to walk with broken flip flops - not only does it slow you down, but everyone else too!

oy.

s-m-r-t indeed.

weddings and ya-ya sisterhoods

current mood:

(for once!)

'twas a great day for a summer waterloo wedding. it was also my first time singing at a wedding for people i didn't even know (things tend to be more interesting when you've never met the bride or the groom ... until after the ceremony), but all in all, everything was just lovely and beautiful as most weddings tend to be. i'm not sure whether this marks the beginning of my career as a wedding singer, but being a part of it all was just wonderful.

a few hours later, i find myself back at home in mississauga and spending some quality time with the women of the house. hours and hours of looking at old and new photo albums gave way to hours and hours of meaningful conversation. hmm. it was interesting to look around and see 3 generations of family women in the same room. nothing but laughter, smiles, and chocolate all around.

of course, when my brother and dad walked in, the dumbfounded looks on their faces gave the impression that they had absolutely no idea what was going on :o) it tends to happen a lot around here, especially with the excessive levels of estrogen floating around the house.

(hmph! men.)

... sometimes i wonder whether my dad and brother feel somewhat neglected whenever the ladies of the house get too wrapped up in our own ya-ya sisterhood brouhaha :oP

reality check.

my brother turned 19 today - he's legal now... wowsers.

in celebration of my brother's entrance into "legalhood", i decided to clean my room. well, not really out of celebration, but it just had to be done :oP but while spending some quality time with the dust bunnies underneath my bed, i came across a peculiar black binder. after blowing the years of dust off its cover, i realized that it was a trilogy that tess and i wrote together 10 years ago. we called it Emerald Heights. the novels revolved around a group of teens who lived in some beach community in Florida - Emerald Heights (of course, tess and i made the name up) - it was like a pg 13 version of Beverly Hills 90210, well, minus the sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. our inspiration for it all derived from devoted and endless hours of watching the mickey mouse club - they had their own series called Emerald Cove. tess and i thought we could have done a much better job with the plot development, and thus our trilogy was born. a huge part of what we thought was missing, was well... us. so we decided to make up characters for ourselves, and have them be the main characters of the story (it was only the right thing to do :oP).

reading through the first few pages of these stories, my head began to fill with so many good memories of being 14. at least twice a week, tess and i would have our own reading sessions, where after writing a few chapters, i would immediately call her up or vice versa and we'd spend hours on end just reading them out to each other. of course, i did most of the writing, which meant that most of the plot revolved around my character, but still, it's almost incredible how vivid both of our imaginations were back then. these stories were far from being governor general's award material, but simply enough, they made us happy. it was pure poop - but it was our poop. 10 years later, reading them over again kinda made me realize that it's been a while since i've been "simply" happy doing something i really enjoy.

i remember in the notebook (*ahem*) where allie (rachel mcadams) realized that she didn't paint anymore like she used to - the seriousness of life had somehow caught up with her, and she focused her attention on other things instead - school, marriage, settling down, finding stability, working, etc. and it made me wonder, is the same thing going to happen with me?

looking back, it's been a while since i've really written anything for pleasure or even felt really passionate about writing (which i know is rather ironic since i chose to be an english major). on my bookshelves at home, i have at least 3 journals, filled with pages of poem after poem, story after story, thought after thought. blogging seems rather disappointing when compared to the contents of those journals... hmm. life is but a funny thing. it's almost as if my poems, stories, scripts that gave me pleasure in writing have been replaced with a plethora of academic essays, reports, midterms, finals, and endless analyses that don't really give me the same joy. instead, it seems like i only write them because my academic career depends on it.

*sigh*

what ever happened to the days where i could just write crap and be content with it, without expecting something in return?

from eloisa to abelard

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;
Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;
"Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;"
Desires compos'd, affections ever ev'n,
Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to Heav'n.
Grace shines around her with serenest beams,
And whisp'ring angels prompt her golden dreams.
For her th' unfading rose of Eden blooms,
And wings of seraphs shed divine perfumes,
For her the Spouse prepares the bridal ring,
For her white virgins hymeneals sing,
To sounds of heav'nly harps she dies away,
And melts in visions of eternal day.

-- taken from Alexander Pope's Eloisa to Abelard

stella by starlight...

ahhh. the sweet sound of miles davis... i've always been more of a sax gal, but if anyone can melt hearts with a trumpet, it's mr. miles davis.

*sigh*

while miles davis is melting hearts, i on the other hand appear to be breaking them. this isn't the first time i've been labelled a heartbreaker, and just only a few minutes ago, i've somehow managed to live up to my infamous reputation. this is definitely something i'm not exactly proud of, nor am i feeling quite happy about at the moment, which could explain why i've been drowning my sorrows in jazz music and several rounds of hot blackcurrant tea.

after coming home from watching eternal sunshine with claudia, i checked my e-mail and surprisingly found a 5k letter from a friend, confessing his true affection towards me. ya know, they should really make a handbook or some sort of instructional manual on how to prepare someone for this kind of thing, because this completely caught me off guard. usually in this type of scenario, i would normally give the poor diluted soul the "subtle yet straightforward" brush off and continue on with my life, but things were different this time around because we somehow established a friendship in the midst of being "just acquaintances" over the past few months that we've known each other. oy. what makes it even worse was that throughout the letter he was praising me for things that weren't necessarily me - instead, he seemed to have concocted his own version of who i was, solely based on what he liked on the surface. all that was really missing were my wings and my halo (which both happen to be rather blemished and crooked at the moment).

long story short, things ended on a sour note just as i had feared when he came online and immediately wanted to have the "i think we should take our friendship to the next level" talk. completely unprepared and unsettled, i know i said a few things that he probably hadn't intended on hearing tonight, and may have even put a wrench into our friendship. double oy. but thinking it over in retrospect, there's really nothing wrong with him as a person - he's intellegent, attractive, polite, a typical gentleman... just not for me. at the peak of our heated conversation he had the nerve to tell me that he would have never thought of me as someone who could hurt him so badly the way i did, and that he was totally wrong about me. perhaps he was.

am i sorry i was honest with him? of course not. but nevertheless, i still can't help but feel just awful about the way things ended. in an ideal world, everything wouldn't be as complicated, and hearts wouldn't be trampled on. but life just doesn't work out that way, does it?

tonight i come to the conclusion that i'm not one to take impulsive and spontaneous risks on dating or love, nor do i intend to start. the chances of me starting any form of "romantic" relationship on the fly are about zero to nil. and i am certainly not one to jump into anything out of obligation. as usual, my friends who think i'm rather messed up in the head for rejecting "yet another wonderful opportunity" don't seem to understand where i'm coming from. in all honestly, sometimes even i don't know where i'm coming from. but for me, this whole concept of "falling for someone" is a timely process that can only flourish the more time you spend getting to know someone and move past seeing whatever lies on the surface. it doesn't matter whether you think someone's smart, or cute, or funny, or easy to talk to - all those qualities should come second to how well you really know someone, and in turn how well they really know you; being able to accept all the little quirks that consist of your entire being. a few conversations on msn or icq, especially the odd 5k e-mail hardly gives anyone a hint of what really goes on behind the scenes.

and sure, there are times when i worry about my own stubbornness actually being responsible for leading me to my own demise in terms of finding that special someone. the term "love" is one that is used so loosely these days, no one seems to take it seriously. one thing for sure is that i don't plan on gambling away my feelings on some random guy who can easily flatter me with the obvious. i believe that the harsh blows that come with rejection are more likely to heal faster before than after jumping into something that neither person is prepared for. the last thing i would want to happen is me realizing that i'm capable of hurting someone to the extent where they would resent me out of their own regret.

i can't help it if the past relationships that i've been involved in have shaped my mind and heart into thinking or feeling the way they do, but this is how it's going to be for a long time until i can truly let my guard down. as cheesy as it sounds, over the years my heart has gone under massive repair and rennovation, and even the slight risk of it falling apart again seems like too much for me to bear at this point.

even after all has been said and done, i believe that there's definitely still some hope for me just yet. going with the flow of things takes matters out of my own hands - so far i'm happy with the way things are going in my love life, even if 99.9% of it is non-existent. everything has a way of just falling into place. if i ever do find true love, then it just all depends on how the rest of the plot unfolds. if not, then i can last another 4 years without someone, if not longer. if you think about it, it's the wait that makes you appreciate something (in this case, someone?) more. patience is truly a virtue... (also something that i'm trying to work on :oP)

quoting clementine from eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, "Look, I'm sorry if I came off a little nutso, I'm not really."

where the experience ends, the writing begins.

simple and true. i like it.

sometimes (if not all times?) experience is the best teacher of life's lessons.

looks like this one' s a keeper. :o)

bubbye rs 266

current mood:


welps, after a 1/2 hour of writing my final, i am done!! kinda sad to see it over and done with so soon, but i think that i'll definitely be renting a few bergman films here and there just for kicks before the end of the term ;o) and now that my mondays and wednesdays (on top of my usual fridays off) are free, looks like i'll have more time on my hands to watch more movies, take long walks, check out the stratford festival sometime, bum around waterloo, play dynomite, spend countless hours with my good ol' buddy gamecube, and oh yeah... catch up on the rest of the rest of my courseload that i've been neglecting since the end of may *sigh*

it's all good :o)

at least now i can relax more and focus on the more important things in life - like watching supersize me and eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (again) on wednesday evening. anyone who wants to join me, please feel free to do so :o)

montreal and all that jazz...

i couldn't have asked for a more wonderful weekend - a very much appreciated escape from the drama and chaos of school and poopie roommate situations in "waterpoo". it's been a long while since the "crit-kids" got together, and the past 3 days definitely made up for lost time.

the journey began on wednesday night after watching eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (good movie!), followed by an overnight pit stop at my place in good ol' mississauga. 6am the following morning, we set out to cristina's and picked her up. 6 and a half hours later, we settled down at the residence "tower" at the university of montreal, ran into "dickie moore", which gave me ample time to practice my reverse and downhill driving on campus :oP after retrieving a map from the cute circulation desk dude, we unpacked, and then headed over to le métro and trekked down to la place au jazz where the festival was.

the jazz festival was awesome - to keep to our "struggling student" cost-efficient budget, we mostly stuck to the free concerts, but we were not the least bit disappointed. the music was so incredible that the four of us soon forgot about the numbing pain in our derrières from sitting on concrete for so long. d'gary with his incredible guitar strumming and the dude with the "metal box filled with gravel" was quite the sight (for those of you who are reading this and are scratching your heads with slight confusion, you just had to be there). but the definite highlight of the entire festival was a man by the name of celso machado: the "one-man orchestra" - a man of many talents, voices, and animal noises beyond compare. simply genius! the only thing i regret was that we couldn't stay for the whole week's festivities from start to finish. *sigh*

each day was indeed an adventure - the long (yes cris, this is quite the understatement lol) walk(s) around the city and up the mountain was a feat all on its own. and though cristina and i made a valiant effort to keep up with the spontaneous "wolfmen" who were determined to hike up the mountain of st. joseph's, we failed gracefully - and me, pulling yet another classic "estelle" move, decided that it would be faster for me to fall down the mountain than hike back down. sometimes it amuses me at how much of a "princess" i really am even though half the time i try to deny it. tee-hee. a valuable lesson was learned after our little "excursion" - it is almost impossible to "unaccidentally prone yourself" (oy. yes, go english major!) but all in all, despite the battle scars and mud-stained pants, it was just lovely :o)

as if our adventure couldn't have gotten any more crazy, on the drive home after leaving cristina's house, my left rear tire popped while driving on the 401 to waterloo - guess there's a first time for everything. oy. 'tis but an interesting thing to be on the 401 at midnight with a popped tire. however, my knights in shining armour, jb and jp came to my rescue (well, they really didn't have much choice since they were in the car with me :oP) - at least that definitely woke us up the rest of the night's drive back to 'loo. the night continued on with a 3/4 "crit-kid" bonfire till 4 in the morning. *sigh* all that was really missing (other than cristina) was celso machado and bacon-wrapped marshmellows roasting over the fire, but there's always next time ;oP

hmm. it's a shame that weekends are so short.

montreal is such a beautiful city - from the people (ie: sexy hazel-eyed hot-dog dude and curly-haired circulation desk dude), to the architecture of the houses and old buildings, one can only stand back in complete awe at everything the city has to offer. spending the past 3 days absorbing all the culture of downtown montreal, to sitting on the steps of the st. joseph cathedral on the mountain, to walking along the cobblestone streets of old montreal, and of course hearing all the amazing talent at the jazz festival, only made me realize how much i really missed out after moving to ontario at such a young age - when you're 5 years old, your whole perception and apprecaition for the things around you is so limited. 18 years later, walking the city streets at 23 felt like i was looking at everything through a completely different perspective, and yet i couldn't help but feel nostalgic all at the same time.

so many old memories remembered, so many more new ones made.

and so ended yet another amazing crit-kid weekend full of good weather, good music, good laughs, good times and great friends.

after a weekend such as this one, there's really only one thing left to say:

Heeeyyy... Yaaaaaaa..
Heeyy Yaaaaaaaa!