Trying to get in the Groove

I keep waiting for things to get "normal". I'm not sure why I think that's even possible. When was the last time I knew what a week was going to look like? But it does seem like this month has been a little busier than usual.

We moved into our new-to-us apartment in the West End...all 500 sq ft of it. That's been a bit of an editing procedure but I really quite love it - aside from the Barbie and Ken-sized kitchen and that Kevin has to crawl over me to get out of bed. Somehow, I just really like the whole play-house-ness of it.

And of course I started my new job. That is too funny. I am the new intern at Vancouver Magazine. Being the new intern does not translate to being the young intern. Au contraire. I am the old lady that is in the position normally reserved for keen-twenty-something-year-olds not forty-eight year old ladies. Ah. But therein lies the beauty of it. I am old enough not to take any of it too seriously. This doesn't mean, I'm not doing my very-darned-best to be the best fact checker ever (!) and learn everything I can, but I am just not into the game of it. But hey, I remember what the burning-hot ambition felt like, so it's not that long ago....

I'm just back from the marathon event of the Surrey International Writers Festival. What an intense long weekend. Met some really cool people that I hope to see again. I'm going to stay on the SIWC RSS feed and hope to get involved in a weekly critique group. http://www.siwc.ca/rss.xml

The SIWC, and specifically, Darren Barefoot's - http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/ -workshop, is what inspired me to get back onto my blog. My goal is to keep this up on a more consistent basis.

Two of the books that I'm planning on picking up this week are as a result of this conference;
Save the Cat by Blake Snyder and Tell it Slant by Brenda Miller. The Snyder book was recommended by Wally Lane http://www.screenwritingtostandard.com/ and the Miller book by Cricket Freeman http://www.augustagency.com/

Just finishing my edit of the early retirement piece that will be in Homemakers Magazine some time in 2009. Working with Janet Rowe is a real treat and a great way to learn better writing skills.

That's it. I've done my first post since July. Going to finish up with some reading and call it a day.

Travellin' On

Looks like I have a travel plan. Not exactly a trip to Africa but it should be quite an adventure nonetheless. I am taking my 15-going-on-16-year-old nephew on a road trip down the Pacific Coast. We'll head to Vancouver on August 2nd to spend the night watching the fireworks with my lovely husband Kevin and then Sean and I will hit the road in the morning. Car camping/cheap motels and perhaps the odd hostel is the plan. Head for San Fransisco and then turn around and come back. Kinda cool that a woman I recently met on the Croatia cycling trip lives north of SF, so we can visit her for a bit. As well, Liza and Paul are living down there so there will be a couple of familiar faces. I love the Pacific Northwest Coast and I know Sean will think it's cool too. It'll be good to get him out of all that is familiar. Time to shake up his known world a bit...and mine too.

Croatia

It was only a couple of months ago. Actually late May/early June I guess...Looks so far away from here and now. Viola (on the left) looks so Kodachrome with the yellow sign as a complementary graphic to go with her shirt.

It was such a good trip.

Beautiful riding, cool people on the tour and great guides.

Here's a link to some photos from the trip...

http://picasaweb.google.com/colleenfriesen.colleen/CyclingCroatia

Catching Up

It's summer in Sechelt and I'm just finally going through our February photos from Morocco. Why is it that as soon as a trip is over, it is SO over? Gone. Gone. Gone.
Tagines, oranges, mint tea, dust, donkeys, minarets and rug salesmen...some of the stronger encounters still resonate.
I'm trying to catch up with what's happened this past year but I'm not really sure if it's possible or even necessary but I'm happy to at least add this entry.
Next plan is to throw on some photos from my Croatia/Italy trip this past May but first things first. It's a sunny evening. I want to make a little dinner and enjoy it on the deck.

Spring with Flurries

Spring is here-ish. The daffodils are almost finished, the tulips are coming on, the blossoms have just started on our backyard cherry trees and I've been weeding like a madwoman AND they are predicting snow flurries this weekend.

Yes. Life is like that. All or nothing. And then sometimes - everything at once. Is absolutely everything a metaphor for life with a capital "L"? I believe it is.

Haven't done this blog thing in a long time. So much has happened.

Cancelled the trip to China due to their ice and snow storms. Quickly rebooked for a month in Morocco ending with a week in Paris. Good thing I brought one tiny little stuff sack with cold weather gear cuz that's mostly what I wore the entire 5 weeks. So much for seeking warmth. Somehow it just didn't work. I'm beginning to find the whole mobile home in Florida schtick very appealing. Maybe I could learn how to lawn bowl or something.

I hate to whine but I'm really sick of being chilled and thick feeling. OK. The whining moment is done. The garden is starting to look pretty groovy and I've been playing with taking some photos of some of the stuff that is embedded among the plants. Like this photo of the old rusty underwood that sits beneath our arbutus tree between the bunches of salal and crumbling leaves.