Like a love letter to a stranger.

Well I must say, the past 10 days have simply been a whirlwind. A whirlwind. Jazz the Amazing Wonder Weiner Dog went on vacation, so I was left to my own devices for the past few weeks. What can I say? Jazz needed to get out of the apartment and out to the beach. The cabin is like his fat camp. Seeing as I was now alone and bewildered, I actually ventured out of my apartment and into something at the very least resembling a social life.

The Stamps/Riders game was pure, drunken debauchery. I got suckered into a blind date that day when I couldn't find anyone to give my spare ticket to. Nice enough guy, but perhaps a Rider game (a losing Rider game) is not the best place for me to make a good first impression. I am a loud, obnoxious Rider fan.
Clincher of the date: I'm not that bothered by the fact that he didn't offer to pay for the ticket, but the least he could have done would be to buy me a drink for Chrissakes.

Anyhoo... to summarize: karma ended, Riders lost, shout out to QT in green wig, streaker ran more yards than visiting team, prostitutes in crowd (maybe this is how the Stamps subsidize their budget?), tailgaters with meat slicer, Autumn drowns sorrows on her own dime. (And DAMN Stamps games are dull.)

Two days later I hopped aboard the biggest, laziest raft on the river and went floating for 7 hours. Although dinghys were passing us at full speed, we were the Caddy of the River. We managed to fit 7 people, 7 life jackets, 3 coolers, and 3 knapsacks on board this baby. It was an awesome way to spend the day. Only downer was meeting a cute pilot who I have tons in common with, only to be dropped like yesterdays drawers upon being introduced to the only flight attendant on board. They then proceeded to talk about flight pairings ALL DAMN DAY and then well into the evening. He was even British. (Sigh.) Blind date tagged along. Still no drink forthcoming from the guy.

The next day I wobbled into work at 4:45am, made it through my shift and then was on the road to sunny Saskatchewan. Again. But wait, you may be asking, why would you drive when you work for an airline?! Why, only to make the semi-annual IKEA delivery journey, of course! (These trips simply cannot go on. For starters, my apartment looks like an IKEA warehouse for months on end, and one of these days I am going to give myself a hernia loading all that crap into the truck. That, and I'm not even on the payroll.) Got to tour Mum's charming new abode - which will be a great place for her and the sis to settle into once they are all unpacked.

I find being home really stressful - 4:45am shifts are very dull in comparison to the work that is involved with being back in my hometown. So it was very fortuitous that my long-lost pal, Jenn was able to meet up for dinner one of the nights I was home. Jenn and I played ball together growing up - she's hysterical. I'm pretty sure she's the one who gave me the nickname 'Forrest Gump'. Totally warped mind - god love her. Her boyfriend, Russ joined us for dinner - he gets two thumbs up from me. (This from the girl who doesn't like anyone's significant others.) Russ even has the good sense to hardly cringe at all at the possibility of bringing up bodily functions at the dinner table - even if they involve corn, carrots, and peas. Good on ya Russ! I'm so stoked that both Jenn and Russ are coming out to Canmore this week - there is literally nothing better in this world than being around the people who know and love that you're just a silly asshole most of the time.

The remaining highlights of my short jaunt home would have to be visiting with Jenn's parents and touring the Casino Regina. The thing's been there for years, but I've never ever been inside. I now know that Satan cannot possibly be coming for my soul.

I wrote a really lovely haiku the other day on my way to work. I was going to post it on Haikus from Hell, but of course now I can't find the damn thing. I'll have to go digging through my recycling bin now. In other literary news I have just finished two fantastic books - the best reads of my summer so far. The first was "The Stolen Child" by Keith Donohue, which is a contemporary changeling tale. It was so calm and eerie, it absolutely terrified me - but not in a scary movie sort of way. More like when your imagination runs away with you as a child, and you make yourself believe all of the crazy shit in your brain is true. It was phenomenal. I literally just finished "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell - which is about a 13 year old boy growing up in Britain in 1982. This is absolutely nothing like David Mitchell's other novels - except that it is so fucking well written. There is something heartbreaking about the naivete of Jason (the main character) his emphatic trust in Margaret Thatcher, in the media, and yet his absolute distrust in all that affects him personally - his distrust in himself. I have no idea what to read next because I've just been so blown away by these two novels.

No big plans for this week - Mum's visiting and I hope to get out to Canmore for a day or two. Karma must be paying me back for the crap Rider games lately - I actually won a white-water rafting trip from fastforward! How cool is that?! I've always wanted to go white-water rafting! In fact, I was just saying that the other day - to pretty much anyone who was willing to listen! I'm so excited I just want to go right this minute! I don't know if I'd be able to wait until next summer!

I'd love to hear ya'll's suggestions as to what I should read next - I'm at a literary impasse. I've been listening to a lot of Depeche Mode lately - maybe follow that vein? Thoughts? Recommendations? Requests for me to quit yaking and get off my "damn literary high horse"?!