hmm. the past week and a half has been pretty dull. let's see...
-i had fun skype chats with nathan, natasha, and claire. i usually don't really love phone calls in general or skype itself, but i have been feeling pretty lonely here and it was nice to hang out with them that way.
-i posted this ad on the washington d.c. craigslist (in "strictly platonic"):
"craftster seeking letter writing partner - w4m - 25
I will be moving to D.C. for 10 weeks this fall. I would love to hang out with someone semi-regularly while I am there, and in the meantime, we could get to know each other by sending letters through the mail.
Show me your favorite parts of your city! My favorite hangouts include communal arts-and-craftsing (à la "the science of sleep"), conversing over tea, leisurely walks or bike rides, visiting museums, and (occasionally) watching movies.
I can't tell you much more - that will have to wait for the first letter I send you!"
i got a couple of nice responses, and i've already written them back with real letters. but i also got a mean jerk who wrote, "Have you ever considered discovering a place by yourself? You seem to be posting an ad to Craig's List, because you will be in DC for ten weeks, and need someone who will be temporarily useful to you." i wrote him back, trying to explain myself, but he told me to hire a tour guide if i wanted to see the city, and that i must think of myself as "daddy's little prize" for thinking it might be nice to write letters and then meet and hang out. he said a bunch more jerky things but i won't write about them. but, come on. why would someone do that? i can't understand it. oh well. i didn't write him back after that. and i still think it's a nice idea to write a stranger for a few months and then meet and hang out in person.
-my friend robin's art project, titled (something like), "the only thing i know for sure is that while i am looking for you, you are looking for me," ended. you can read about it here and here. basically, he found two people who were strangers to each other, and put them up in their own accommodations in vancouver for the month of july, and they had a month to find each other in the city. they didn't know anything about each other, except, well, what the title of the project says. they were also required to keep track of all the things they did to find each other. unfortunately, while the girl did a ton of neat things to leave a trail of where she was, the boy did nothing. boo. i felt bad on behalf of robin, and on behalf of the girl, and on behalf of myself because i was so looking forward to see what they'd each do and how they'd find each other. i won't give away how they found each other. you'll have to read the blogs yourself (start from the bottom!).
-i wrote a ton more letters.
-i went to the powwow at onion lake with my roommate/coworker nathalie.
-at my work, we had a saskatoon festival, which i kind of imagined/hoped would turn out like the strawberry social in "to wong foo thanks for everything, julie newmar" (ie. three flamboyant drag queens transforming a small community; everyone dressing in red & pink (in our case, blue and purple)). it didn't happen that way, though. it was mostly just old people buying pie.
-jordan was in the area for a family reunion, so he met me at my trailer after work and then i followed him to the community hall where the reunion was taking place. it was actually really fun. we kicked around a soccer ball a bit, which felt good because i hardly ever do that any more. then we sat on the grass and talked for a long time and ate candy, and then we went inside the hall for the dance. the music wasn't fantastic, but we had fun dancing to a few songs before i left. that night was the night when that crazy storm swept across alberta, and although we didn't get any trees down or cement falling on anyone, the lightning and thunder and car alarms going off still kept me up.

highlights of the last 11 days:
-canada day! it's my favourite day of the year! that's mostly because everyone is on the same team. on most of the other holidays, there seems to always be people fighting against the holiday or bitching about it in some way or another. people think halloween is too pagan, or christmas and easter are too christian, and nobody really knows what to celebrate on labour day and things like that. but canada day is awesome because pretty much everyone is in a good mood, and out doing fun activities in the community. also, every canada day i can remember has been nice and sunny. so, this canada day, i spent the morning waiting for and then walking in the elk point parade. my coworkers and i handed out 2-for-1 coupons for our site. (we handed out over 250, and only one came back. ugh.) just before the parade started, a CF-18 or some other fighter jet flew super low directly over main street and did some twisty turns. i LOVE fighter jets! seriously, the only thing that makes me as giddy as fighter jets doing tricks is magicians doing tricks. i get so so so happy, so fast. after work, i drove to my parents' house. i would have liked to have gone to edmonton, but i am so sick of driving and only had one day off afterwards, so i couldn't justify it. plus, last year i watched the fireworks with jordan from on top of the legislature, and i knew i couldn't really top that this year. as a consolation, bri and i made fun plans to eat cupcakes, go to hawrelak, and go to the shooting range sometime before the summer is up. she and i have ended up hanging out every canada day for the last 3 years or so, so we kind of think of it as our special day. it was sucky to not see her then but i will be glad if we make our hangout happen. at the end of the day, my parents and i drove into town and watched the fireworks from the fairgrounds. it wasn't spectacular, but it was nice.
-i wrote a TON of letters. like, i mailed 15 in one day. and these are full-lengthers, folks. watch for yours in the mail.
-i received a couple letters. thanks natasha, jess, and kelsey!
-i ordered 5 new sets of mix and match stationery. one has already come in the mail, and the rest will be coming soon. they're so cute!
-i went to the stoney lake rodeo with my coworker/housemate cameron. it was nice to get out of the house. i made brief eye contact with the lawnmower guy (from a few posts earlier, remember?). eek! we didn't talk, though. phew.
-my coworkers and i went to edmonton for work to get some behind-the-scenes tours of the ukrainian village and fort edmonton park. i love this stuff, seriously. it was crazy rainy that day, though, to the point that i couldn't see the cars in front of me or behind me when i was driving on the whitemud. another highlight of the trip was some deee-lish chicken and gnocchi soup from the olive garden. i love soup.
-visiting kelsey in calgary. since she had told me a few weeks ago that she would be moving to belgium for a year, we decided a visit was in order. the drive was kind of a pain in the ass, but the hangout was super fun. we longboarded, ate cupcakes, ate delicious food (chicken vindaloo! mueseli pancakes with blueberry vanilla compote!), had good discussions over tea, crafted, and watched "project runway" episodes on youtube. she also gave me a bike (she had two), which is not much of a looker but will be super fun to have up at my trailer. finally, i borrowed a ton of movies and books from her, and i'm excited to get to them all. oh, this picture is of the canada day hamburger she made me (out of sculpey? i'm not sure what, actually. anyway, i have a tradition of eating a hamburger with white onions and red ketchup every canada day. thanks, kelsey. the picture also shows the icelandic-style yoked wool sweater i made for myself this year. i'm working on another one in green. i love them!).
-switching from music to podcasts on my ipod. i've downloaded a couple podcasts onto itunes over the last year, but have never really gotten into them on a regular basis. however, it has gotten to the point that i am so sick of my music (because i only listen to new music every 4 years or so, and last year was one of those years so i have 2 more years left of old music) and so desperate to learn things (i get mentally antsy when i am out of school) that podcasts seemed the ultimate alternative. i mostly listened to "how stuff works" podcasts on my way home from kelsey's, but since then, i've downloaded a bunch on history, social sciences, and french language lessons. hooray!

sucky things about the last 11 days:
-mostly, the only sucky thing is that i am not at my best mentally/emotionally, largely because of my social situation. i think i function best when i am able to talk out the way i am feeling, and have someone understand and agree with me. since my geographically closet friends are 300 kms away, i am not really getting that ever. all my thoughts stay inside and i just kind of go crazy. at least when i was up north i had meghan and robin to talk with and craft with and hang out with. i sure hope i can make a good friend or two when i am in washington.