Deep Cove: Kayaking

Today I hopped into my kayak. This may sound like no big deal to you, but let me tell you how mistaken you are. There are three ways to get into a kayak. One is to stand in shallow water, hold your oars across the seat for balance, and get in. The second is to get in on shore and have someone drag you into the water. The third is to throw your oars onto the back landing of the big boat that is tied to the dock, chuck the kayak into the water, draw it parallel to the boat, hop onto the boat, crouch down, put one hand on the back of the boat and one on the far side of the kayak seat, place both feet into the kayak, swing into it before you flip it over, grab your oars and off you go. So now you're thinking options one and two are the obvious answers. You are so wrong. Remember I live on the ocean rather than the lake. This means the tide goes in and out. This means that the dock is very very long. Part of the day, the tide is in and at the wall separating the ocean from my lawn. The rest of the day, the tide is probably 100m out. So in order to have the dock in the water all the time, there's a very long walkway between the lawn and the dock. Remember now that this is me we are considering. I look at options one and two and immediately think: "do i really want to drag the kayak ALL THE WAY to shore?" Obviously not! So i proceed to leap on the boat. The first few attempts at this maneuver, which will hereafter be referred to as "Operation Get in the Kayak," or "OGK," are quite difficult. Once you are on step "hold the boat with one hand, the kayak with the other, and put your feet in," you very quickly notice that the boat and the kayak are bobbing at different times, which throws your balance off (Or at least it does for land lubbers like me). Next, you realize that every time you try shifting your weight to your feet from your bottom (which is safely seated on the back of the boat) the kayak wobbles and threatens to toss you overboard. The secret to OGK is to keep your weight on your arms because they are holding you steady and the boats together. Then you shift your bottom from the boat down into the kayak as quickly as possible, because any hesitation results in more kayak bouncing and more time to panic. In fact, I almost named it "Operation Throw Yourself into the Kayak Before You Hesitate too Much and Throw Yourself Into the Water Instead," but that seemed a little excessive.

On with the story! Where was I? Oh yes, so today I hopped into my kayak. Technically the landlady's Kayak, but Margie is very nice and lets us use it at whim. The water below me (at the boat I was now alongside) was probably 6-10 feet deep. But perfectly clear! I decided at first to row myself under the dock walkways alongside the shore of the cove, for due to the tide fluctuations they are built very high up. As a rowed myself along I admired the underwater life. Most of the water and beaches here are rocky, and I admired the different colours of the smooth stones. The world below me was calm and golden from the sunlight. I passed over top of starfish, stretching themselves out in the warm shallow water. Little crabs scuttled about, and some bigger ones lay upside down, quite dead, their hard white bellies standing out from the rocks.I missed Dave the seal on this ride, though, probably because I started through the shallows rather than heading straight across the water as I usually do.

I went passed the marina at the end of the cove, and the water was deep. There was only one person at the gas station. I suppose it will be much quieter now without the summer tourists and vacationers. I turned left to head up Indian Arm, where some seagulls perched on floating logs. One of them started squawking at me and I nearly splashed it, but the boat guy from the marina was coming up behind me now and I didn't want him to think poorly of me. So the jerk seagull got away with his rude behaviour. Around this time I realized how deep the water must be. The arm is a 22km long fjord that gets quite deep (hence the cove's name), and I was probably on top of 500 feet of water. Remember, lake Ontario at its deepest point is just over 700 feet, and most of this area, much smaller, is over 600 feet at many points. Here the water is grey and blue and green and brown reflecting the sky and trees and mountains. But when I look directly down the water is so inky black I cannot imagine what might be lurking in. I started moving a little faster to avoid sea monsters. I calmed down a little closer to Raccoon isl when a seal poked its nose up to investigate me. I laughed as it played, then turned for home. The rest of the trip was lovely, I admired all the beautiful scenery and fresh air. I was almost alone on the water, excepting one motor boat that passed me and a tour boat far far in the distance. I went quickly at some places, testing myself and working on technique, and slowing when my arms tired, looking around me at the crazy cliffs and wondering who decided to build houses on them, having to go up and down six flights of stairs between the water and their houses.

On my return I still did not splash the seagull. I didn't want to get the wrong one. Finally I made my way home, completed OGOK (Operation Get Out of Kayak) (pretty easy, actually, I'm getting good at this), and resumed my lame-ass-getting-nowhere job hunt.

JULIE HAS A JOB!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY SWEET DEALIO!!!!!!!

Also, since you found work, I haven't seen any updates on your blog. Are they working you too hard?

Also, I WANT A JOB, TOO!!!! So keep wishing good luck at me!

How Disney has Ruined My Outlook on Life

Well, I'm 26 with no Prince Charming. This leaves several options.
1) I just haven't found him yet.
2) Really, I'm getting a little old. All Disney Princesses are in their teens, MAYBE 20's. I'm running out of finding Prince charming time. I'll be the old maid fairy godmother to the girls in my family.
3) It's too late! No happily ever after for me! I'm just not Disney Princess material! SOB! I fail at life!
4) Let's face it. I'm bound to be the evil stepmother, embittered by my loneliness.
5) I have to put matters into my own hands. Get out there, put my very life in peril--threatened by a heartless human--and lo! Prince Charming will come to my rescue!
6) Maybe I had it already, but due to my unwillingness to change my annoying personality, he vamoosed.
Thus, Disney has ruined my outlook on love (or at least my chances for it.)

Next, I have issues with the reality of nature. Watch a cat playing with it's prey, or an orca throwing a seal around for fun before eating it. A Komodo will poison a large animal and stalk it for days and days as it dies slowly, watching the Komodo watching it, knowing it's fate, until it can't move anymore and is slowly eaten. What the hell, man?! Only humans are supposed to torture animals! Not other animals! How do I deal with this? Way to lie, Disney!

What? Fairies aren't real??

More often than not, the bad guy actually wins in real life. (Hey! Maybe I SHOULD be an evil stepmother!) I realize that one person can actually make a difference, but rarely do people stand up for what they believe in. Disney doesn't show how power and influence prevail, or how people just don't care enough to do anything. All my life I thought I would meet heroes, or be one. instead, I got too comfortable, just like everyone else. Plus, I want a job with CSIS, and they won't hire you if you've been involved in political action or public protests. What the hell?! Do I keep sitting around hoping for an interview, for my dream job? And maybe one day I'll get it, and make a difference through my job? Or do I say that's bull, I'm going to get involved in things now? Disney never covered that. The right answers in Disney are always so easy.

Also, I can't understand animals when they talk.

Nice!

Looking at my last post, I guess I finally found the option to make new paragraph breaks! yay!

The Perfect Man (is in my mind)

These are the traits that make a perfect man:

-He wants to spend his life with me. No questions, no 'I'm not sure how I'll feel in the future,' just surety. Obv the perfect man wouldn't settle for any woman OTHER than me. Duh.
- Blue eyes. Or asian.
-5'10-6'4.
-Lean muscles. I don't like muscle men. Gross. Too much for me. But I do like to see every muscle bend and move. The Perfect Man has one of those statuesque figures that make me drool. Hockey players to soccer players to lacrosse to martial arts type figure.
-Minimal nasty body hair!! The P.M. is either naturally hairless or manscapes.
-Perfect teeth. The P.M. has probably worn braces.
-Dimples. I don't know what it is, but I melt.
-Smooth skin. Not feminine, rough hands is okay, but no dry hands or elbows etc.
-No facial hair. When we kiss, I don't want to catch your leftover dinner.
-Ph.D.
-Comes from money (what?! We're talking PERFECT here, as in IDEAL. as the title says, it's in my head.)
-Showers me with gifts. That doesn't mean money, he could pick me flowers on his way over, or write me a love letter.
-Always tells me how great I am. "I love your laugh" "You're so clever" "beautiful" etc. I have no self confidence and need to hear it.
-Since I'm totally fantasizing now, how 'bout an accent? I like Irish, Scottish...
-fluent in several languages.
-Adventurer. I want someone to travel the world with.
-Likes dogs over cats.
-Dresses well (no gangsta crap)
-good hygiene
-very patient with my antics
-will read me stories
-thinks I'm funny
-Makes me laugh and cry and have fun and be me.
-Brings out the best in me.
-Can talk to for hours
-Can sit without talking for hours.
-Not a fighter, but will fight for me.
-Good debates
-Gives me butterflies in my stomach
-Treats me like I'm important.
-Holds me when I'm sick, even though he might get sick too.
-Lets me dote on him.
-Doesn't do my laundry (aka then my nice stuff won't shrink.)
-Kills spiders.
-Thinks I'm beautiful even when I cry or have a cold and my face is swollen.
-When it comes to engagement, believes that Cartier is right: love has a colour and a name. =D

Book Review-"A World Without Ice"

"A World Without Ice" by Henry Pollack PhD. http://www.worldwithoutice.com/ Bad: He says cow farts release CO2 into the atmosphere. This is a myth. It is actually cow burps. Any other mistakes I can't pinpoint. Too sciencey. But he didn't say anything I haven't heard before, rather he explains things and how everything works; so I think the rest is good. Good: He covers pretty much everything you need to know about icemelt and the impact of global warming on the environment. Some of it is dry, but mostly pretty good reading. It's targeted at people who don't know the science, summarizing various studies made worldwide, arguments against global warming, why they're bull, and where we stand now. It's pretty bleak. But something we can't ignore. I think it could have benefitted from more maps. He mentions passages ships take and it would have been nice to see them marked. Overall I enjoyed it, learned a lot. Couldn't do it in one sitting though, after a few chapters it felt too textbookish. I liked how he covered everything from history to geography to biology to politics. I do recommend this book to anyone who isn't knowledgable in environmental sciences and wants to know more about how the planet is changing.

Husband

Dear future idiot who actually marries me, make sure I no longer have a facebook wishlist. you'll be poor. <3 Jackie

Deep Cove

Finally starting to get settled in. Vancouver is a little boring from a city perspective. It takes a long time to get anywhere, nothing is in walking distance, everything is far apart. The city is separated in several places by rivers and inlets and coves, and so to get from downtown to uptown or north or south you have to cross bridges and highways and it's a really odd layout. once you actually get downtown vancouver, it's mostly offices and cheap souvenirs, anyway. there's a few nice galleries, hair salons, boutiques, etc. the market is a 20 minute drive (if you have a car, longer with public transport). Oh but the art Gallery has the best name-Vancouver Art Gallery. Sounds normal now, but all the posters say "VAG." Heh. There are street busses, water busses, skytrain, etc, a great public transit system, but the city is so geographically all over the place it still takes hours to get anywhere! all this time i've been complaining about toronto's transit system sucking...well it does, but at least i can walk places!! and i miss the PATH. Toronto's military building means it's a city set up in a grid shape and SO EASY to navigate. I get lost all the time here. But this is nothing new, nor does it mean i don't like it here. I never liked Van much anyway tho. Just here looking for a job, eventually I'd rather be elsewhere in BC, either north or maybe the island. SO far I'm in North Vancouver, I can avoid the city centre and sit a little higher up the foothills where I'm right on the ocean and steps from the mountains. So I've started a daily routine. I spend the morning reading, then go kayaking or hiking. Then I come home and look for work and chill out some more. Eventually, I decide that I should go work on my suntan (which has gotten lovely). So i sit on the dock for a while reading and baking. When the seal annoys me (fishbreath really stinks) I go back inside to clean, launder, or whatever domestic/lifey chores I can find. Then i chill out and do nothing for the rest of the night, except maybe another kayak/hike, or motorboat ride, or walk into the tiny downtown of deep cove. Tomorrow I'm going to check out the deep cove library. Will probably update again tomorrow, wanted to talk about the book i'm reading. Good bye, my avid blog followers! (all, like, 2 of you... lol)

moving day

today i arrived at deep cove, in north vancouver. i have a lot of work to do. i need to find a job, get settled in, get my bc drivers license and health card, &etc. already miss people from home, but it's so beautiful here! so i'm going to be lazy aaaalllll weekend long, and come tuesday start getting serious. i'm looking forward to a fresh start.