Solstice!

coffee mate + alcohol = caulking?!?!

yeah, that's the inside of my purse/bag/whatever...last weekend in Vancouver I took a little travel tupperware thing of coffee mate which inevitably spilled into my bag and of course I did not clean it up 'cause I am an idiot. Then I go out Friday night and put bottles of open booze in my purse to take to the Parks Canada offices. Fast forward 72 hours and you find me looking for coins to buy cat food and finding the crazyest mess in the bag.


strawberries from my garden! Last year my 10 strawberry plants gave me ONE ripened berry! This year I am getting a handful or two a day and they taste SO GOOD!! I just wish I had a dozen raspberry bushes as well...


summer time for veggie caffeine heads!

yeah. when my coffee is cold I add soy milk. This drink is divine to sip on all day long when it is warm!


Summer time for dog!

It blows my mind that animals do not drink coffee or tea, but I suppose this is super refreshing for a hot bitch. The only catch is the water is too salty to slurp up!


Abbey being weird. I love her.



orchids!

I have started running again and have just reverted back to my old runners (the ones with holes in the soles! hahah! when I run through fields I can feel blades of grass pushing up into my feet!) and am sad because I think the new running shoes I bought suck ass and make my body ache. I really like feeling healthier and being able to run for a half hour straight. At least my body is being looked after. My mind on the other hand is not very fulfilled these days. I realize I don't have that great a social life and that I am profoundly confused as to how to fit into this world without being a full-time student. I mean, I really love the relief of not having essays and presentations due all the time, but the lack of paycheques is getting to me. I should maybe try to get a temp gig as a legal secretary for a bit and save up money to go volunteer overseas. I don't think I will ever get a well-paying international gig unless I put my neck on the line and go do some weird shit with my own time and money. It boggles my brain how I will pull off such a plan with all the loans that need paying back.

So I am confused. Should I pursue a PhD. in some critical theory/liberal arts/philosophy type thing and be a stoner academic who can interact with tons of cool students and publish a variety of academic bullshit throughout life? OR should I dive deeper into public health and good governance and become some expert on HIV/AIDS in developing nations? I figure I could go do my master of laws in bioethics at McGill University and arm myself with crazy skills to work for NGOs or the UN and spend my career zooming around the world and trying to prevent the spread of shitty shit?

Quite the fork in the road, I'd say. In the meantime, I really wish I could summon the energy, inspiration and confidence to do some journalistic projects on my own. I really think I would make a great reporter/journalist and am just lacking the A-type personality to make it happen.

Tomorrow is the summer solstice and -maybe?- the full moon. Pretty cool cosmological deal! I will go with some buddies I have down to the beach for good food and drinks and conversation. Yay solstice!

And what is with humans jumping or running over bonfires? In Turkey, I have learned, there is a Persian/Kurdish tradition for the spring Equinox called Newroz where they jump over fires. And in the UK they apparently do this for the Summer Solstice? What is with our species? Or with North America for that matter (for not having such a custom)? The only time I have seen people get up to this running-over-fire business was at an outdoor party in Southern Ontario in the mid-90s where crazy ass bikers were doing it. That was also the night I witnessed the worst brawl in my life. AND, this party went down within a few days of Jerry Garcia's death. McDonald's service stations on the side of the Trans-Canada highway are hilarious on LSD in the middle of the night. Another lesson from that party - don't pick up empties the next day if burly men with dried blood on their faces are doing the same thing and seem to be pissy about you stealing "their" cans and bottles.

Hahaha...Freak Fest...I wish I had pics to post from THAT event!