Home Cooking

  I whipped up some poutine for me and Yuki. Not half bad!

Sick in the Head

    I'm sick again. I woke up this morning feeling like I had been in an eight hour sleep-wrestling match with a submission hold specialist like a prime Iron Sheik. I get sick a lot. I must come down with some cold or flu-like illness five or six times a year. Makes me wonder. For a young, healthy, sexy guy like myself, I sure am sickly. It's nothing new though. Since I was a teenager I've felt like I've been sick half the time.

    Am I sickly or just a sissy? Everybody has days where they feel a bit off, not a hundred percent. Am I just not tough enough to deal with this and thus interpret these minor discomforts as being sick. I sure feel sick, but is this feeling just normal for everyone and I'm the only one groaning about it. I sometimes wish that I could just lend the sick feeling to someone for a minute so that they could either confirm or dismiss my claim to feeling bad. Maybe if they could feel what I'm feeling they could just shrug it off and tell me to stop being such a baby. I would then proceed to suffer in silence.

    On the other hand, they may experience it as an unbearable, crushing weight of illness and pain. This would make me into a hero/martyr (eventually) in their eyes. They would inform everyone they know as to my ability to live a semi-productive life while enduring frequent bouts of devastating illness. People would definitely see me and my limited accomplishments in a new light. My life would become apparent as the endurance struggle that it is. Everything I do would be seen as a triumph of the human spirit over the cruel prison of flesh and bones that we are all forced to inhabit. I would be cut some slack.

    Right now I do have a headache, muscle and joint pain,with minor dizziness. However someone else might just as well describe these symptoms as I'm sleepy, in my mid-thirties, and don't feel like doing anything today. I know what it feels like to me but I just wonder if I've been exaggerating all these years.

    Or I might have Lupus.

    

Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

Here's one of those reality based posts I warned you about. I hope I can clear all this news out of the way and get to some nonsense. A lot of things are changing for me as the year draws to a close. Just in time, as I was getting pretty dissatisfied with the status quo. Right on schedule, it seems, because I have never held a job or lived anywhere for much more than two years and the the magic two year mark was just around the corner.

So, I was looking for a job and I found a job. It actually came to me through my current job. They sent me to a private boy's high school as an emergency teacher. These jobs don't come along so often and are usually a "who you know" type thing. If being buddies with the right guy is the only way to get a job then I don't stand a chance. Never been good at befriending people I don't actually like. So, when the head teacher seemed to like me and the work I was doing, I told them to stop looking for a full time teacher. After a demo lesson and an interview they made it official. It's a bit of a dick move on my part, bailing out on my current job, so I'm going to stay with them until the end of March.( The school year starts in April, in Japan. I'll be full time after that) That means I'll be working two part time jobs from 9am to 9pm five days a week for the next three months. That's what I've been doing since October and I've gotten used to it.

The new job means a bit more money plus health benefits and pension and all that jazz. Makes a big difference because that takes a serious bite out of my paycheck now. Also, longer vacations!! 40 days in the summer, a couple of weeks at Xmas and in the spring. I work from about 9 to 5 instead of the current 1:30 to 9:30. Hopefully this will allow more time for painting and other pursuits. I know I have my mornings now, but I never do anything productive in the morning. Evenings are when I shine! That's when I make my move!

Next bit of news is that I finally had the ultimate sit down/face off with Yuki's parents. I wasn't as nervous as the first time because it seemed so beyond my control that it wasn't even worth sweating about. We ate a delicious meal and afterwards I gave a heartfelt and moving speech (in Japanese) asking for her father's blessing. It was granted. Her father seems like a pretty nice guy. Very reasonable. He asked me a bunch of questions about my retirement plans. Told him my new job has a good pension plan and didn't mention my dream of becoming a hobo in my golden years. I've already picked out a bindle. Asked what we would do if we moved to Canada. I was surprised because he didn't make a big deal out of it and seemed fine with the possibility.

Her mother, on the other hand, is a bit high strung. She's one of those people who is so obviously not saying what she really thinks that her polite facade seems almost aggressive. She was worried about telling everyone she knows. She doesn't want to be different. Her father dismissed all of her concerns. Nobody seems to take her mother's hand wringing all that seriously. So neither did I.

We will have a date picked by the end of this week (I hope) and you can all finally start making plans or excuses. the wedding part is going to be a headache. A lot of money and effort will go into something I don't want. Japan is the land of obligations so I just have to suck it up and get it done. The wedding, after all, is not really for the couple. It's for everyone else.

We're going to start looking for a place to live in the new year as well. I really miss having a proper kitchen so I'm really looking forward to moving into a bigger place. Living alone is the most expensive way to go so I expect to have a bit of financial relief once we start cohabiting.

As I think you've all heard, I'll be back in the Mtl for Xmas. I hope to see all my friends and avoid all my enemies. Should be a good time. Put the boreal in the fridge cuz I'm bringing a mighty thirst. For the first time in my life, I feel like I really deserve a vacation so I'm looking forward to kicking back, spinning some vinyl, and talking some shit. See you guys soon.

New Day Rising

   "I can't stop thinking about Dave. Where is he? What's he doing? Is he thinking of me?" 

I imagine these are the thoughts that distract you from your mundane daily tasks, the nagging questions that gnaw at you as you scuttle from one meaningless obligation to the next. Life is not fully lived, an experience not truly experienced until Dave's wit and critical eye  has come by to tuck it into bed. What should you like? What should you feel? What should you think? Who has the time, let alone the intellect and refined taste, to form a well thought out and authoritative opinion on everything?

"Not me." you say.

"Yes me." I say.

   I don't assume to tell you what to do or believe. I can't force you to agree or adopt my views. That would be presumptuous and rather boorish. I wish simply to "dictate"  your opinions on a wide range of topics. As a "dictator" of opinion I will state clearly and beyond contention what the best, and often only, view on a subject should be. Topics as wide ranging as music, boxing , the Habs, and art will be discussed and  final, comprehensive judgements will be made. Of course, while your feedback is not necessary, it may be read and, if particularly boneheaded, responded to.

  Also covered in this blog will be more humdrum details of my comings and goings, successes and failures, weddings, excursions abroad, and all the other stuff I barely even care about myself. Skimming of these entries will be encouraged.

  I hereby officially cut the ribbon, smash the bottle, and invite you into my shiny new blog. I extend a hand and welcome you with the words of O Osbourne:

"Take my hand, my child of love. Come step inside my tears

Swim the magic ocean I've been crying all these years"