various and sundries and overheard things

This is Trout Lake Park. I love and love and love and love Trout Lake Park. It was basically my backyard when I lived in the basement suite that was in a great area but sewage flooded and had no natural light. It's beautiful and beautiful and generally quite peaceful. I decided, despite the knees, to do a little jogging. The difference now is I do some yoga stretching after, which is amazing for my lower back and hamstrings. Very nice.
Overheard at the park tonight. Three young women were sitting on a bench as I passed (slowly).
"Like last summer," said one woman, "I was TOTALLY obsessed with women. Just like fucking."
Uh huh.
This afternoon in my afternoon Discussions Skills class with the students, Omar from Saudia Arabia informed me that he had fainted on the bus home yesterday and had cut his head, resulting in a lot of bleeding. He fainted, he said, because he had badpain from, well hemmorrhoids Eeek. He felt better today.
A Korean student, an unusually tall Korean man (so much so that I wrote "tall" beside his name to help me to remember who he is), mentioned today that he had had three American friends, all of whom had been in the army and had been sent to Iraq. He'd met them somehow when he was in the Korean army. He tried to track them down a few years back and was told that all three had been killed in Iraq. they were 21. Why did they go into the army, I asked him.
"Because army promise money." Oh, I said, were they quite poor. "Yes," said he. Then, "I hate Bush." said he, with the Korean accent so it becomes two syllables, "Bushee."
I'm basically required to keep my opinions to myself so all I could tell him was the correct pronunciation of the president he hates.
Oy.
I'm starting to freak out recently about the increasingly high cost of living in Vancouver. Internet and cable have just gone way up, as is my rent. My apartment is big and full of light, but right on the corner of two constantly busy streets - big trucks and motorcycles all day/night. And I'm having to get bed bug sprayed for the fifth time - not because I have them but because people in my building insist on repeatedly dragging in furniture from alleys. The thing is, rents are high all over and getting higher. I'm freaking out because while at this point I can afford to live, it is becoming increasingly hand to mouth, not to mention the slow work months of the winter. Oy. I've applied for a few co-ops, so really, it's a waiting game. Quite simply though, I can't afford this city. Where would I go and what else would I do? I'm not sure but I'm not sure how much longer I want to be throwing so much money away on rent. I can't afford to buy even the smallest of condos.
It is a conundrum for sure.
A roommate would potentially be fine if I could find one that is compatible.
Hmmmm.
Perhaps a part-time job to go with my full time job?
Hmmm.
In other news, tomorrow is Charleen's last day of work. She's off to work at a private school in Richmond, teaching grade 3's. I'll miss you Charleen, but you are on to better things! Break a leg.

long time, no post see

I suspect my wee fanbase may have gone by the wayside but that's okay, I'll write this for myself.
I tell you, ever since Facebook, I've gotten lazy on the old blog.
What's happening.
Well, I've rediscovered yoga and it's amazing. I took an Iyengar beginner set of classes about two years ago and didn't like it at all. not at all. I couldn't do a lot of the moves and the focus of the classes was to concentrated on one or two moves for the whole hour and a half. I just tensed up, not the purpose of yoga for me. plus, breathing wasn't at all focussed on. Not my style of yoga. I quit and gave up on it, figuring if it made me feel worse, it wasn't worth trying.
That's me, all or nothing.
A woman from work just finished her yoga training and is offering some classes near work, in the West End, twice a week for an hour.
After much thinking and analyzing and talking to her about it, I thought why not.
It was great and great and great. It was the most relaxing hour I think I've ever experienced. It's beginner and apparently more like Hatha yoga. Well, wowza. I've had longstanding lower back problems and during/after my back felt much much better. It was a pretty deep thing for me, this yoga. I even cried in class (not sobbing just some tears) and Sandra the instructor said that that is normal and happens. For sure, because I carry so much anxiety in my body and mind that having some of it released is an incredible gift. incredible. so, I'm getting a 10 for $50 punch card and going back. She's only renting the space for awhile and she has encouraged me to check out yoga studios. Once the strike is over (if?) I'm sure I can find some Hatha yoga beginner classes at one of the community centres.
Two days after yoga, I still feel the benefits. I'm also doing some of the poses at home. Who knew. I need a yoga mat though, that hardwood floor nearly killed my knees.
Amazing.
I am an extremist I realize - hate yoga, then worship it. But when I find something that releases some of my physical/mental anxiety - well, you get the idea. And oy, her voice is soothing and she comes around a couple of times and lays hands, moving your body.
What else?
Friend Tracy had a break-in at her house early yesterday morning. Scary. They took her $2000 Mac laptop. Now Tracy is newly separated, rather poor and the only way to make money for her is through graphic design with her computer. They also took a lot of her medication.
So she, has lived in the Downtown Eastside for years and knows some people, through a variety of means and ways and wild goose chases, tracks down her computer in Pigeon Park where all kinds of things are being sold. It took five hours of walking but there it was.
Amazing.
Oh and her homestay student's shoes were stolen too.
She is about the most resourceful person I know. Good on you, Tracy. i be proud. oh and in the WAY too much information section, I've been getting my damn period every two weeks. My shrink used to be a GP and she calmed me down about possible fears about impending disease. I'm off to my GP on the 28th (my doctor is either never there/booked up/sigh i need a new doc) for the pill. Gotta regulate this sucker. Oh and wee fan base, if anyone is still reading, again, no horror stories please about how this very thing happened to you/your brother/your aunt in Saudi Arabia and they very nearly died. thank you.
carry on.

a little San Francisco crammed into one day

phew. me tired.
So I got up around 7:30 a.m. and headed out to the F-train. A few minutes later I was at Union Square and waited in line for about half an hour and got a cable car up up up up the hill. Did I say up? very up. so up. really really up. It's a very touristy thing so lots of people but kind of cool.
A tiche hilly is San Francisco.
I saw another bookstore! Barnes and Noble, this time. In I went and out I came with another book. Yee haw.
I then figured out from my wee map (very proud of myself here) how to get to Coit Tower. this is a tall tower and for five bucks you go up up up in an old and rickety elevator with about 15 other people (eeek) and a fancies himself funny operator who keeps turning out the lights and there you are at the beautiful lookout. It was foggy this day but still a stunning view.
I nearly exhausted myself with the natural stairmaster up, so when I saw a bus, I hopped on it and went down. got off and had no idea where I was. That was cool cause I ended up in North Beach, a funky little area. I wandered aimlessly - I have this thing when I'm visiting a place, no matter how tired I am I walk and walk and walk. Yup, that nearly killed me in the Dominican Republic but in San Fran it merely made my calves hurt. I fond a funky health food store and brought a bit of food back to Washington Square Park. It's a small park. I forgot how wonderful Vancouver is for green space as San Fran and most American cities don't have much.
This is a fascinating play by play of my day. Wee Fan base, if you are bored, feel free to stop reading. I think this is more of a travel journal for me.
anyway, I hopped on a bus and went to Fisherman's Wharf. Well, yup. It is a shameless (and I mean shameless) tourist trap. I walked past Pier 39 to Pier 33 where I waited for the ferry to Alcatraz. I was quite lucky to get a ticket in the morning as there were some cancellations. Otherwise, it was sold out for the month! Crazy.
there was a line and another line and another line and then a 15-minute ferry ride and then Alcatraz. It was a cold and foggy day today so very good atmosphere. I found myself really exhausted so I didn't do the whole thing. It is a huge national park and has a fascinating history, which was shown in a short film. I went through what were the cell blocks and wowza. Lots of pictures, etc.
I'm not sure how just 4 years ago I travelled for 8 weeks through Europe, staying at hostels and going at the pace I went today almost every day. Not to say it wasn't interesting, it's just this has been very whirlwind and I have found myself mainly, well, simply, exhausted.
It's an interesting thing travelling around alone, something I've done on almost all of my trips. Careful now, wee fan base, try not to interpret this as self-pity. It's not. I've really enjoyed this trip in lots of ways - simply getting out of the city is nice. Just sometimes, doing everything in a city alone is well, lonely. I see people in couples or families, I really notice that lots of people don't travel alone (yes, lots do too). And I feel, well, like I'd love to talk to somebody. I'm very into talking to people and sharing observations, etc. A natural enough feeling I think. and i've been tired. And when I'm tired, well, you know the drill. And oops I've forgotten to take my Vitamin B for three days! Eeek.
I've also noticed that lots of American tourists dress the same way in America as they do around the world.
"It's odd," I say to Zoe and Danny during dinner, "I mean, I don't mean to be, but they look, um, funny. like they've forgotten how to dress or something. And I think, is that what I'm going to be like in 15 years?"
"No, I think they always dressed that way," said Zoe.
I've been very lucky of course to be staying with Zoe and Danny. They are a great and fun, funny couple. Right now Danny is helping Zoe with her architecture project, cutting up lots and lots of cardboard into little squares representing buildings.
"I'd help you,' I said, "but I actually can't cut."
Oh and they have two cats and two dogs, all of whom they rescued from bad situations. And they are in the process of adopting a couple of kids from Ethiopia.
I took them out for dinner tonight at yet another kind of cool restaurant. That makes three cool restaurants in three days. Nice. Now if my wee stomach would behave. aah well.
So there you go: the good, the less good and the good. I need to figure out this travelling thing for myself. the where, how, how much, etc. etc. etc. I really need a holiday where I'm hanging out with someone and I just read, maybe swim and shop, and chill. Chill chill chill.
What I do like is that now when I hear about San Francisco, I'll totally have a better idea about it. Travelling is very good that way. And it is a beautiful city. Wow, I haven't written in my blog for awhile so I'm really censoring myself. Eeek. Suffice to say that before I came out here my anxiety was high for some reason and so I think that some of that has spilled over. But last week on the bus to work I heard one of the regulars on the bus talking to her friend about how she sometimes travels solo. She's a woman in her 40s and single from what I gather. And she seems chill with it, doesn't seem to want to fall apart about it.; I liked that. Again, especially when I'm so tired, my thinking gets far more negative.
an interesting thing about San Francisco - their summers are cold. Sometimes warm and windy but often, like today, cold, windy and rainy. Zoe and Danny keep trying to explain it to me about the bay and heat rising and such, but i'm not sure i get it completely. apparently, september and october are the warm months.
Californ I A.

here I be, in San Fran

No pictures to put up here yet, they are in my digital and i'll download (upload? load?) them when I get home next week. I'm going to put most on facebook, so check there too if you like. I have about 50 so far. No people in them yet, as I've been travellling around on my own. I'm staying with my friend Roma's daughter Zoe and her husband Danny. They are lovely and very busy people. Zoe is in an architecture course and she is having finals. Danny works in high tech.
Very cool story. Roma is in my writers' group. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was thinking of going to San Francisco but didn't know anyone there. Stay with my daughter! says Roma. Zoe, who turns 30 on Monday, grew up with a mother who had wayward strangers in to her home all of the time. She raised many kids other than her own. Street kids, etc. etc. So Zoe is used to this people coming in type of thing. I was rather nervous about it, staying with someone I hadn't met but it has worked out fairly well.
My flight was Friday morning at 7, so I got up before 4 a.m. I got to Zoe's around 11 a.m. and crashed for a bit. I then walked around the neighbourhood. They live on the cusp of about five cool hoods - The Castro, The Mission District, the famous summer of love Haight-Ashbury. I like the feel of this city. The people are friendly and laid back, the architecture of the houses is neat and cool and interesting shops pop up everywhere.
Wow, I haven't eaten nearly all day. Must be why I'm tired. Ooops.
This morning I went to the Union Square area for a little shopping. Well, if ever mammon is worshipped, it is there. Amazing though. Holy Cow. Me being me, I spent most of my time in Borders bookstore and bought three books. The dollar being so good now, it's worth it. I bought some lovely underwear (5 for $20) at The Gap. I wondered briefly into the shopping centre downtown (Neiman Marcus, etc) and walked right back out. Well, first I had my photo taken with the beautiful black male model, whose job was to stand shirtless at the entrance of Abercrombie and Fitch. "Yes, yes, touching" I said as I briefly caressed his perfect six-pack. "Guess you have to stay in shape for this job."
I was going to check out a cable car but the lineup was a bit crazy. I'll go tomorrow and go where Zoe says there is less of a lineup. Also tomorrow: Fisherman's Wharf.
The weather is sunny and sometimes warm but often, with the wind, it's downright cold. The wind blew right through one ear and out the other. ha.
Gotta go.
maybe more later.