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An Ethiopian Birthday
1. The First Day is BrilliantI don’t know exactly what specific combination of thoughts, ideas and events I experienced to make me feel this way, but I’ve been an emotional basket case all day. Without deigning to go into the corrupt details of my suspicions about what melded my emotional state together today, partly because to a certain degree ( Read more... ) -
THE MAP/"The Drunken Man With Low Self-Esteem"
SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 - DAY TWOOnly in the grand theatre of extreme coincidence, the kind that feeds UFO conspiracy theories and Hollywood blockbusters, could I ever have expected to find myself one night standing in the middle of the street, grappling with a drunk Ethiopian who wanted nothing more than my encouragement. It only makes sense then, ( Read more... ) -
HELLO NEW WORLD
1. KINGDOM COMEThere’s no real explanation as to why I stopped writing in my journal almost two years ago. Looking back over the archives, there’s a clear, steep tail off in both quantity and quality of writing. What used to be measured, introspective or thoughtful entries were quickly overrun by enigmatic, cryptic and otherwise superficial ( Read more... ) -
The Laundromat/"No ID? This is Sunshine Law!" [October 27, 2006]
The aftermath of the trip to Bahir Dar included a mild case of pneumonia for Allison, a mild case of humiliation for our driver, and a mild amount of dirt and grease on my white jacket. The drive there was far from what could be called ‘smooth’ or ‘clean’. About two hours into our ten-hour trip, my jacket fell off the seat beside me for a moment ( Read more... ) -
The Arrival/Central Shoa No. 3 [September 18, 2006]
Crouched in the baggage claim at Bole International Airport, tucking passports and cash into money belts and secret pockets, Robyn and I were steeling ourselves for the expected onslaught of pickpockets, beggars and unscrupulous taxi drivers. It was a grim Monday, our first in Ethiopia, and we were still slightly dazed from our circuitous route ( Read more... ) -
Ethiopia
A long long time ago I started this journal. Not so long ago, but what does seem like eons ago, I left Toronto to take a temporary job in Ethiopia. That was four months ago, and the contract finishes at the end of March. Clearly a lot has happened between my last post and this one, not just the whole off to Africa thing, but for now it's easier ( Read more... ) -
Too Many Muppets Today
Today was the longest Saturday since the last weekend I spent in Amsterdam, which was really just a dragged out recovery from the hideous Friday before, which was by far the worst day of the year, and possibly the century. Today was spent with Eric so his parents could get out for a bit. No real trouble (although my diaper skills have noticeably ( Read more... ) -
Love Boat Engagement Cruise
Things I Never Want to Forget About Tonight
1] "You've got Elbow Gonorrhea." Then proceeds to demonstrate how one gets Gonorrhea of the Elbow. WERD.
2] "They've all got the same sandals."
"Yeah, and they all got the same gitch too."
3] They tap elbows instead of hands. It's cool, "[u]nless you've got gonorrhea."
4] "I thought you said we ( Read more... ) -
Pop Princesses
1] My brother had another stand-up show tonight. Went down well again...in true pop princess fashion.
2] Question That Really, Really Needs An Answer #17: Why was this song not included in Madonna's original 'Immaculate Collection'? You're telling me 18 tracks was one too many for the disc? Even if that were the case, I would gladly have traded ( Read more... ) -
they reminisce over you...
I just watched Lost in Translation. It’s one of those pieces that aren’t really pieces of art as much as they are pieces of a broken mirror in the street, and when you walk up on them, you’re surprised to see your reflection doesn’t move even when you do, stuck on the glass. A concise, personal statement. It was Berlin all over again, a ( Read more... )