Vancouver Adventure: Day 7

Here it is, the last instalment of my Vancouver trip that happened 3 weeks ago.

First of all, when I woke up that morning, I couldn't really open my right eye. I noticed the night before it was feeling a little sore, and I kept poking it (if you think that is ever a good idea; news flash! It's not.). So I woke up with a swollen eyelid! Marvellous! But the swelling went down throughout the day, and by the time I got home I think it was pretty much gone. But, what a weird way to start the day! Still have no idea what the culprit was.

We didn't have much time to do much this day, since I had to be at the airport by 6:00pm, so we just went out for breakfast at a random sushi and breakfast/lunch diner. It was amazing! But it also just so happened to be May the 4th: unofficial Star Wars Day! (Get it? May the 4th be with you? I hope you do, or we can't be friends) And to celebrate this wonderful day of the year, Erin and I whipped open her Star Wars cookbook and made some Yoda Soda. It was delicious, but also possibly the most sugary beverage I have ever had. Then we just chilled out, played games before my departure.

It was sad. Having to say goodbye to Gambit, Erin's wonderful new cat, and to her humble abode that I have grown so fond of. And her boyfriend Kyle, who is really strange, but that's why he fits in with us so well. And of course, Erin, the greatest friend anyone could ever ask for. It was really hard, but I didn't want to admit it. I wanted to believe that I would be ok, and that going home was a good thing. I quickly came to realize that wasn't true, when I had to say goodbye for now at the airport. It has been a long time since I have had an overwhelming wave of emotions like that. I felt so empty, like I was leaving something behind. I didn't feel like that when I was leaving home..not at all. So, once I got home and had a good cry, I thought long and hard about it, and I really want to move there. I don't care what anyone says, or what they think about Vancouver. I don't want to move there because it's cool (and it is cool), I want to be there because it felt right. I have never felt so at home before, and especially with people that I love so much, makes it that much more like home. So...it won't happen for awhile, but it will happen. Someday.

And that concludes my week-long Vancouver Adventure. Feels good to finally have it all down so I never forget it.

Ps: Miss you guys! This seriously was one of the best weeks ever!

Such a handsome little guy!

Erin and Kyle at breakfast. This is the only normal picture of them.

Yoda Soda! (Erin has lots of Yoda stuff..)

Yoda Soda!

Last moments with Gambit. He clearly did not care.

I miss you, fuzzy butt!

Blood Rabbit

Black Rabbit, The Black Rabbit, and either of those with a hyphen were all taken as names for my new blog. Turns out that the people with these already existing blogs haven't even posted since 2003 or 2008! Get with it people! Other bloggers want to use those names too!

Anyways, enter Blood Rabbit! The next best thing to Black Rabbit (which is based off of Watership Down...I was so stoked!). Blood Rabbit, something I just came up with, and I am very happy with my brain sometimes. This is my new art blog! There, I will be posting my art, tattoos, and inspirational pieces from other artists, so check it out!

This blog, which has become way more like a diary, will stay as...a diary. I figured that separating my interests from my personal life will maybe help me with my artist block. It's all getting too muddled together, and I like the look of art blogs. Like my friend, Gwen's! Except that one of hers is all her artwork, her other one is art she likes and everyday stuff. I never really thought of managing more than one blog before, but now I think it makes sense. I'm excited!

So, click that link up there and follow the Blood Rabbit, if you so desire..

Vancouver Adventure: Day 6 and The Missing Day?

Oh geez, here I am again, being lazy and not keeping up with my posts. I need to finish my Vancouver adventure! Only two (or so) more days to go. Kind of sad that it has taken me like 3 weeks to post a weeks worth of happenings, but oh well. Deal with it.

Before I go ahead and resume, I have been thinking of maybe starting another blog. One for art and tattoos, nothing too personal. I just figured that some (or most) people might not care about what my life is like, and would probably be more interested in what I'm interested in. My friend Gwen has one, and that's what pretty much inspired me. Sorry, Gwen! I stole your idea! Also, I hope it will serve as a new source of inspiration for me, cause lately I have been having troubles even picking up a pencil outside of work. I'll post more about that as it happens! Possibly later today!

I was thinking about it, and I don't know how or why I can't figure this out, but I missed a day? On the Monday, we went down to Robson to do more shopping and met up with Erin's friend Willy. We hung out down there until I had to go meet my brother for dinner with him and his girlfriend Christine at their place. I haven't seen my brother for awhile, so I was very excited to hang out with them for a bit. I guess he was pretty busy while I was there, so I only got to see them once. But they cooked up a delicious dinner, and my brother bought some angel food cake for dessert. He showed me what he was learning and working on in school (video game design! Yeah, so cool!), and a new instalment in his short film series. It was very nice! But that's pretty much all I did on monday!

And now, without further ado, day 6 (I think?)!

Erin and I did a lot on this day, we went all over the place. I really wanted to see the campus at UBC, where she goes to school, and she needed to go there anyway to get something, so we spent a good portion of the day there. And oh my god, is it ever a beautiful campus. And huuuge! It's surrounded by forest, and there are so many cool, old buildings too. There is this hidden beach area that you have to get to via staircase shrouded by forest! I felt like I was on a deserted island (or Hyrule), it was amazing! I also discovered how huge slugs can grow!

After the ever so tiring, but amazing, hike back up the staircase, we made our way to the Japanese Memorial Garden. We didn't get to see the garden in China town, so I was very excited to see this one. It was much bigger, and more serene than the last one! Every statue, rock, or bridge had a specific meaning, and they even had a replica tea house! This was definitely one of my favourite parts of the trip.

From UBC, we headed all the way down to Main to do some shopping. There were loads of antique and vintage shops down there, and I wanted to check them all out. We were on a tight schedule though, as we were scheduled for a dinner night with Kat. So, already exhausted from our trek at UBC, we walked up the long road. We found this amazing antique store, filled with taxidermy and skulls, and everything else under the sun! It was incredible. I was very determined to buy a fox skull, but I couldn't justify $200 at that point. Buy I did find a gift for my mom for Mother's Day. It was a tiny little ornate metal box, but it had it's hinge repaired so it was much cheaper than the other ones like it. It still had so much character, and the man said it was probably from the early 1900's-1920's, so it has some history! And my mom loved it, so I did good! Erin and I then searched out this store called I Found. It is a brand that we carry at my work, and it's all deadstock vintage. Mostly old jewelry and findings, but has never been used or sold. And this store had thousands of different charms, beads, and pendants. Lots of them I recognized from my store, and lots of them were new treasures. I bought a few skull beads for future craft projects. Then it was time for dinner!

Dinner took place at a sushi restaurant called The Eatery. I was expecting a traditional sushi place, but it was far from it. It was dark, and hanging from the ceiling were these huge paper mache (or some other material) characters. Among them were Astro Boy, Aquaman, and cthulhu, who was hanging above our table. And none of the servers were Asian! I know that doesn't matter, but they usually are, you know, at a sushi restaurant. And the sushi was amazing. For dessert, I had a deep fried Mars bar. If you ever get the opportunity to try one,DO IT!! It's sooo goood! After being stuffed full of sushi and Mars bar goodness, we headed out to Kat's house so I could meet her new kitten, Bear! And what a cutie he is! We played some Scribblish, and then it was time for the long trek home to sleep!

Whew. It's getting harder to remember exactly what I did and when, so I hope I finish these posts soon! Now, time to work out.

Erin and a very content Gambit.

Pidgeys!

The staircase at Used. I'm in love.

Beautiful UBC.

Erin's favourite view.

No martinis?? What an outrage!

Our decent into the wilderness..

The beach!

ENORMOUS SLUG! It was bigger than my finger!

One of the many lanterns in the garden.

Me under the cherry blossoms.

Erin by the creek.

So beautiful..

The tea house I wanted to live in!

I felt like I was in Japan.

Cthulhu!

Deep fried Mars Bar. MmmmmM!

Bear!

Erin faces off Looshkin.

Kat and Tyrel!

Well, It's Been Nice!

So tomorrow (technically today..) is Judgment Day! And you know it must be true because a million billboards and paranoid followers say so. Yippee! But now I'm starting to think that Judgment Day is only an American holid- sorry, its not a holiday? Oh, and here I was, getting all bummed out because I thought I was missing out on stat pay! Oh well, now no one gets paid extra! Haha! Take that, sinners!

Anyways, I think I'm going to take a break from my Vancouver Adventure posts (only two left!), and instead I'm going to talk about 'the end of days' and Sarah's unicorn glitter party! What a mixed theme that is, isn't it? Thought it would contrast nicely. Which should I start with? Certain doom, or magic and sparkles? I think magic.

So today was Sarah's birthday! I know two Sarah's that are obsessively in love with unicorns, and I have been waiting for at least one of them to think of this theme for their birthday. If neither of them did, then shame on them. But Sarah (work Sarah) beat other Sarah to it! En garde! So all the invitees were expected to dress accordingly, donning horns and glitter, and so that is what happened. Gwen and I made our horns together (sounds...weird), and they were much larger than any one else's, which was pretty funny. Sarah's even had ears, which was adorable. But I had a tail! Actually, I was a 'metal unicorn', all black with skulls lined around the horn, and a red tail (which was originally supposed to be my mane). It. Was. Awesome. And Gwen's was fantastic as well. She was the 'lighter' version of mine, and somewhat 80's inspired. See pictures!! So we figured, that since tonight was 'the last night ever', that we would all truly be the last unicorns.

So what would happened IF the world really went to shit? I personally think it's all a joke, just like Y2K was, and the first time this guy announced this day in 1994. Like, how can people really believe this is going to happen? What proof is there? The only thing I can think of is: zombie apocalypse. Yeah. Makes sense? The Centre for Disease Control has even posted an 'in case of a zombie outbreak' article on their website. This shit is getting serious! So, starting tomorrow, supposedly, I need to make a plan and shit. Cause, who knows? It could happen. And I'm definitely not prepared. Considering how many zombie movies and shows I have watched, how many survival games I've played, the guides I have read, it's not enough! If it does happen, I personally think I'm screwed. No use denying it. Also, if rapture is tomorrow, I have long since accepted the fact that I will be left behind. At least I will be with people worth spending time with! And I don't feel like I haven't done enough in my life, and there isn't much I really regret, so..I think I'm good on that. I have accomplished almost everything I have wanted to so far in my life. If anything, we all deserve it, and we torture ourselves and the world everyday, so why even bother with rapture? Just leave us alone and it will all work itself out in the end!

Anyways, tired, pooped, zonked. Bed now. Either way, love you all, and see you on the other side! Whether it be a sunny new day, or a flaming hell, I don't know. I guess we'll see!

Dino-corn!!

Gwen being magical

Unibeard

Megan, and Nicole with her glitter glasses.

The birthday girl and I!

(Note: how HUGE my horn is!)

The Last Unicorns!

Battling, or mating ritual? Or just pure friendship.

Vancouver Adventure: Day 5 & Daily Meltdown

I will get to day 5 in a minute, but first I would like to take a moment to vent about my day today.

Whenever I'm on the bus going to work, I always have to prepare myself for the unknown. Usually something shitty. Something that should have been done but no one did, in which case I'm usually the person to do it in the end. Ugh. Anyways. So I go to work, and Sundays are my first tattooing days of the week (obviously, it's Sunday), and 99% of the time I have to go in early to clean up after the artist that was there before me. Annoying factor #1. This includes taking her garbage out from the night before, so on an so forth. Then, it escalades when I am setting up for a tattoo and notice that something essential that I need is missing. The alan key for one of my machines that I use to tighten the tube was gone from my cupboard, so I searched around and failed to find it. So, I sent a text to said other artist, and she claimed it was hers so she took it with her on her trip. REALLY?! DO YOU THINK EVERYTHING IS YOURS?? That alan key came with my machine, and it is solely used to tighten the tube vise! Now I have to use a wrench! How professional of me! Commence breakdown. I get a text, but this one is from Troy, 'Can we do dinner tomorrow night instead?'. Commence meltdown. I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN TWO WEEKS!!!! FFFUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!! is what was going through my head at that point. Then I started to hyperventilate. Things just didn't seem to want to go right this morning. I haven't had a breakdown like that in a loooooong fucking time. It must be a bad thing then. But, I tell you, it felt great letting it all go. I've been bottling up so much over the past little while, and I just cant take anymore. I'd say it's pretty much time for me to move on, to greater, better things. I felt better after I got to tattoo a stoned piece of broccoli...and now I have a throbbing headache. So, without further ado, day 5...

Erin and I went on quite an adventure on Sunday. We started by going to the flea market, and spent a good chunk of the day there. I only found one thing (everything I wanted was either too big or too expensive. Or both), and it was a framed poster of Forbidden Planet for $20! Well, actually $25, but the guy really wanted to make a sale, so he practically shoved it in my hands and yelled "$20 FOR YOU!!". Um ok! Now how the hell am I going to get this home? Oh, I won't! Erin was nice enough to let me leave it at her place until the future when we shall meet again. Anyways, moving on. After the every so frustrating environment of the flea market, we headed down to China Town. Unbeknownst to us, it was already pretty late and everything was pretty much closed. We went to a random restaurant for food, these two guys sat at the table beside us (foreshadowing? maaaaybe), and I bought a few things that I probably could have got back home. Oh well! I now am a proud owner of 4 Maneki Nekos, and some Chinese lion guardians.

And what else is there to do after a full day of flea markets and a tour of China town? Go to the beach, of course! We dressed for summer, because it was supposed to be super nice, but by the time we got to the beach it was pretty frickin cold. But we sat there for quite some time, enjoying the sunset, and the half naked man playing frisbee (long story short; the frisbee landed in the water, so he stripped down to his boxers and went in to get it, but just continued to play in only his boxers. He looked like a Ken doll. Not my thing. Just sayin'). And that was day 5 of my Vancouver adventure!

I don't even know...

Me, along with my giant framed poster that I had to drag everywhere!

Erin having troubles, cause she's so damn tall!

She conquered!

Very. Cold.

Did we get transported to LA?