Also, I forgot to mention the other thing that's been taking up time/worries is that my roommate Kailey is moving out. Eric and I have been looking for a new person to take her spot. We found a girl from Toulouse named Julie (a good omen, I think! Julie was my first ever room mate and I love her immensely). She seems okay but it's always a gamble. We'll miss Kailey a lot she's a very positive person. So Julie2 will be moving in on Dec 1. We raised the rent a bit so we can lower ours (also helpful when I need a job lol). She works at a bakery on Granville Isl and promises to bring home treats. (not that I need the extra fat since I bake so much but hey, no complaints.) I think we should get along pretty well since she seems relatively normal. She reminded me of me a bit, awkward and non-genuine. Lol kidding, she was a little shy looking at a new place but knows what she wants. So now that we have her on board it's one less worry, and one new path we will start on. I'm glad to have met and lived with Kailey though. She's a big personality for sure, but very positive, accepting, and meets challenges and change head-on. I hope to have taken some of that from her. Anyway really need to get going with my day! Kisses everyone :)
Oh and PS I will also be using all of my free time to work on my projects that I have started and never finished. Kyle-your three musketeers painting is now completely sketched out and would be half painted except that I can't find where i stashed the actual paint. But I anticipate it will be done within the next month. With the roommate changeover I can pull extra furniture out of the closet and get to my things in the back which I think is where the paint is at. For reals this time! Although your weight loss and new fit body have proved to be a pain in the ass because I had to re-draw you from the forehead down. I kept your feet too. But you look great, so I shouldn't complain too much.
And I'm working on my stories that I'm writing as well, so at least I am not a complete sloth.
And in very un-slothlike behaviour, I am actually hopping into the shower now.
21 November 2013
Update
Sorry for not updating in a bit, been in a funk. I got fired from my Hyatt job because "You don't have a genuine personality" and I'm "a bit awkward" so I've been down about that. Never been fired before. Spent the last week being lazy and feeling sorry for myself. Now I have to get back in the game and start putting out resumes. It's hard though because I feel like I've been taken down a notch and so I'm worried about what to look for and what to do. I'll be back to school soon so I'll need a part-time gig, maybe 4 days/week. I felt like I was finally on track with things in my life and it all fell apart on me. Giant pain in my asshole. But I really need to force myself to get back out there before I let myself get into a downward spiral. I'm even a week late with my library book for the first time since I moved here! When you sit around at home all day moping and don't want to go out or shower or whatever it gets dangerous. So into the shower I go and job searching is to be done! Everyone keeps telling me to look at it as a blessing in disguise, and I need to start doing that. Eventually I will find something I enjoy more and get back to working with people who aren't fake and irritating. Financially, my folks said they would help me out if I need it, so that's awesome too. It's motivating to know that people are able and willing to back you, because it means they know you are capable of getting your shit together. If I was a lost cause, I'd be one of those people with parents who are all "You messed up again? You are cut off!" whereas my folks said "those people are idiots! everybody we know thinks you are a lovely person! go get 'em, tiger!"
Also, thinking I should invest in a printer. Going to the library whenever I need to print out more resumes is a little bit annoying. But the question in my tiny living space is always where the hell would I put it?!
So send all your pleasant and lucky thoughts my way, I need it!
Also, thinking I should invest in a printer. Going to the library whenever I need to print out more resumes is a little bit annoying. But the question in my tiny living space is always where the hell would I put it?!
So send all your pleasant and lucky thoughts my way, I need it!
09 November 2013
Murder Mystery Party!
Today was crazy.
I worked from 6-230, then I came home and was exhausted. Took a nap for a couple of hours. Then I woke up (barely) and threw myself into the shower so I could wake up properly. By the time I got wet and soapy I was wide awake, I don't know why showers always wake me up, but then I was ready to go toooooooo (suspense as if you hadn't already read the title) my friend from Indigo's murder mystery party!! I was Takey Takerton, a first class mooch. Then I realized my getting showered had taken too long coz I didn't wake up quickly enough, and I missed the bus etc so I hailed a taxi. This is kind of a big deal because Van to North Van in a taxi is gonna be $40, but I didn't want to be half an hour late to a party that you can't really be late to. So I had a ride that was, all in all, much more pleasant and comfortable than the bus regardless of the price tag, and enjoyed being back in North Van (she lives right by Lynn Valley Library) since I haven't been up that way in some time. As soon as I walked in the door I realized I had no cell phone. So that put a damper on my night. Heliya lent me hers since she's the perfect hostess and so I phoned all the taxi companies in vancouver that are yellow in colour and they all told me I was crazy. Especially Yellow Cabs who told me that they wouldn't know anyway until Tuesday (monday 11 nov is a civic holiday in BC LOLZ)since the offices will be closed and in slightly (but not much) more polite terms told me not to bother them. So i was bummed out, but the party was super fun.
Everyone is given a character beforehand. You are given an idea of who you are and what to do. I will copy and paste my character info here in case you have not encountered a murder mystery party before (i had not).
HELPFUL HINTS ON HOW TO PLAY A MYSTERY PARTY
GUEST INSTRUCTIONS
You’ve been assigned a character and you’ve come to the party dressed in the most awesome costume and have been told to play your role. Now what?
The mystery is separated into three main rounds of party play. During the party, you will receive an envelope that contains the clues necessary for your character for the round. The clues for the characters at the party provide everything that you need to solve the mystery. However, during the investigation segment of the game, you will need to ask the right questions and pay close attention to everyone’s clues to get the whole picture of what has happened.
In each of your clue cards, there will be some information that you can reveal in casual conversation with other guests. It is just like real life! You can elect to have some of those clues as information that you should be ‘asked’ by other guests in order to reveal. You can hide the truth but do not lie and make up clues. This could alter the mystery for the other guests. Some of the information in your clue cards might be for actions to perform during certain rounds or it might give you personal information to explain to you how your character feels about certain issues involving other characters or situations. This personal information is given to you to enable you to act as the real character. As in real life, each character should know a little more about their character above the rest of the group. Therefore, these types of clues do not need to be revealed to the other guests - unless you want to tell your secrets! Don’t worry, others will figure your secrets out on their own in later rounds if it is vital to the mystery.
Just as with any normal dinner party, most of the party play will involve mingling with the other characters and finding out about each other's characters and the clues you all have received. As the game progresses, you should have quite a bit of information to filter through to figure out the motive and whodunit! Read your clue cards thoroughly and take your time discussing issues with other guests. Make sure you speak to all guests in each round. Any guests that you feel might be hiding something - make sure to ask him or her loads ofor her loads of questions! You will be asked to submit a guess of ‘whodunit’ and why they did it at the end of round two. Watch out…YOU could even be the murderer and won’t know it until the end. Therefore, if you feel you are the guilty party by the end of Round Two – by all means, accuse yourself!
From this point forward, you are to remain in character until the mystery is solved. If you are playing a ‘hypocritical police officer,’ then that is who you are until the end! Undoubtedly, your host cast you into a character that you are comfortable playing. Some characters are designed to be played more reserved than other characters. Feel free to play your role in any manner that you feel comfortable. Embellish your character’s personality if you would like. However, if you are feeling more reserved tonight, you can opt to allow the other guests to approach you or you can simply listen in on others’ conversations to get your information.
your character: Takey Takerton has been unemployed ever since s/he inherited his/her great grandmother’s home years ago. Takey borrows money for living experiences and everyone is paranoid of Takey asking them for a loan. As ducks fly with ducks, Takey is rarely seen without his/her swarm of fellow mooches. This lazy group of friends has an irritating habit of getting joy out of impersonating animals.
costume:Too-sizes too small white sleeveless t-shirt with stains on it and jeans. An empty wallet as an optional prop.
round one clue: READ THIS BEFORE YOU COME!!
*Remember you are a lazy, unemployed moocher who borrows money from everyone…so have fun with that!
USE THE FOLLOWING TRIVIA QUESTIONS AS AN ICE BREAKER
Question: ‘Blackjack’ disease is caused by the felt on casino tables. What toxic substance is historically found in this fabric? Answer: Chromium.
Question: What is ‘CODIS?’ Answer: The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s database of DNA evidence.
CLUES TO REVEAL DURING THIS ROUND
During this round, mingle with other guests to discuss the following information with whomever you choose:
• Talk to everyone about how much you can’t stand Fiona Collins. She is annoying when she calls your house everyday and tries to sell you things. She should know you do not have any money.
• Ask everyone at the party if you can borrow some money or some items that they don’t need because you’re going to have another garage sale. Anything that they are not using is a welcome donation and a great cause.
• Confide in a few people about how you know that Betty Berger likes to blackmail people. She used to blackmail your late great grandmother before she died. You think the stress may have contributed to her death.
• This round, you (and your group) should randomly impersonate tarantulas and see if people can guess what you are.
PERSONAL CLUES TO CONCEAL You cannot stand Fiona Collins or Betty Berger. Do your best to ignore them. During the mystery, your character must be honest and not make up any potentially mystery-altering clues in addition to those provided to you. You do not, however, have to share the clues that you collect with other guests.
So that's pretty cool. The games are usually pre made and bought or you can find free ones online. A couple of things I found was that nobody really knew that much, for example me and some of the others didn't find out until later that we were supposed to be at a mardi gras party and that's how all our characters ended up together. Also there were no real 'clues' that we found, everything in the clue envelopes was basically telling you to confront someone or tell something about yourself (you gave us food poisoning! she's marrying my brother!) rather than getting to find clues around which would have been cool. of course all of us had a grudge with the girl who died (betty berger) so it was interesting trying to figure out who killed her. i got screwed up coz wil thought it would be fun to put fake blood on his face and i didn't know if it was part of the mystery or not so i said he did it but it wasn't part of the mystery at all. sigh. and yes, daddy, if you are reading this, one person did in fact blame the butler even though there was no butler. Heliya made us a feast of a dinner and desert which was amazing. she said not to bring anything so i brought an apple crumble. by around 1030 i was wiped and also anxious about my phone, especially since i couldn't text chris and pester him which is my general idea of fun most of the time. So i headed out.
The bus ride was great except between phibbs exchange and abbot st where all the drunkies were to get from north van to downtown. I was trying to read and they were noisy. Inexcusable.
Finally got myself home and hopped on facebook and checked my phone messages and lo and behold! Chris had messaged me worried because people were phoning him and Eric had left me a voicemail about having the taxi driver call him and return my phone! They were the last two I had texted so I guess the driver called them. And eric was worried about where I was and phoning Chris and Kailey and everyone was glad when I returned their messages. So it was a good feeling to be worried about, and I felt badly for putting everyone out, but was elated at the return of my cell phone/portable internet machine/alarm clock/game consul/everything in one device. i sent a message to the taxi company that their driver is great, not mentioning that he brought my phone to Eric because the dispatcher said I would have to wait til the lost and found office opened on tuesday and pay $50 for it's delivery; I think the driver just did it on his own and wasn't supposed to have. He asked Eric for $15 which sure beats the $50 and probably he can pocket all of it that way instead of the company. So i just wrote that he went above my expectations and he is surely a valuable asset to their company. Working in customer service teaches you how important it is to your job security to get good feedback.
So then I ate more halloween candy and need to be asleep by now. Tomorrow is karate and working at night, so another busy day. Today was great but I could have done without the hassle. But it worked out so no complaining and jinxing it, right?
Merry friday to all and to all a good night.
I worked from 6-230, then I came home and was exhausted. Took a nap for a couple of hours. Then I woke up (barely) and threw myself into the shower so I could wake up properly. By the time I got wet and soapy I was wide awake, I don't know why showers always wake me up, but then I was ready to go toooooooo (suspense as if you hadn't already read the title) my friend from Indigo's murder mystery party!! I was Takey Takerton, a first class mooch. Then I realized my getting showered had taken too long coz I didn't wake up quickly enough, and I missed the bus etc so I hailed a taxi. This is kind of a big deal because Van to North Van in a taxi is gonna be $40, but I didn't want to be half an hour late to a party that you can't really be late to. So I had a ride that was, all in all, much more pleasant and comfortable than the bus regardless of the price tag, and enjoyed being back in North Van (she lives right by Lynn Valley Library) since I haven't been up that way in some time. As soon as I walked in the door I realized I had no cell phone. So that put a damper on my night. Heliya lent me hers since she's the perfect hostess and so I phoned all the taxi companies in vancouver that are yellow in colour and they all told me I was crazy. Especially Yellow Cabs who told me that they wouldn't know anyway until Tuesday (monday 11 nov is a civic holiday in BC LOLZ)since the offices will be closed and in slightly (but not much) more polite terms told me not to bother them. So i was bummed out, but the party was super fun.
Everyone is given a character beforehand. You are given an idea of who you are and what to do. I will copy and paste my character info here in case you have not encountered a murder mystery party before (i had not).
HELPFUL HINTS ON HOW TO PLAY A MYSTERY PARTY
GUEST INSTRUCTIONS
You’ve been assigned a character and you’ve come to the party dressed in the most awesome costume and have been told to play your role. Now what?
The mystery is separated into three main rounds of party play. During the party, you will receive an envelope that contains the clues necessary for your character for the round. The clues for the characters at the party provide everything that you need to solve the mystery. However, during the investigation segment of the game, you will need to ask the right questions and pay close attention to everyone’s clues to get the whole picture of what has happened.
In each of your clue cards, there will be some information that you can reveal in casual conversation with other guests. It is just like real life! You can elect to have some of those clues as information that you should be ‘asked’ by other guests in order to reveal. You can hide the truth but do not lie and make up clues. This could alter the mystery for the other guests. Some of the information in your clue cards might be for actions to perform during certain rounds or it might give you personal information to explain to you how your character feels about certain issues involving other characters or situations. This personal information is given to you to enable you to act as the real character. As in real life, each character should know a little more about their character above the rest of the group. Therefore, these types of clues do not need to be revealed to the other guests - unless you want to tell your secrets! Don’t worry, others will figure your secrets out on their own in later rounds if it is vital to the mystery.
Just as with any normal dinner party, most of the party play will involve mingling with the other characters and finding out about each other's characters and the clues you all have received. As the game progresses, you should have quite a bit of information to filter through to figure out the motive and whodunit! Read your clue cards thoroughly and take your time discussing issues with other guests. Make sure you speak to all guests in each round. Any guests that you feel might be hiding something - make sure to ask him or her loads ofor her loads of questions! You will be asked to submit a guess of ‘whodunit’ and why they did it at the end of round two. Watch out…YOU could even be the murderer and won’t know it until the end. Therefore, if you feel you are the guilty party by the end of Round Two – by all means, accuse yourself!
From this point forward, you are to remain in character until the mystery is solved. If you are playing a ‘hypocritical police officer,’ then that is who you are until the end! Undoubtedly, your host cast you into a character that you are comfortable playing. Some characters are designed to be played more reserved than other characters. Feel free to play your role in any manner that you feel comfortable. Embellish your character’s personality if you would like. However, if you are feeling more reserved tonight, you can opt to allow the other guests to approach you or you can simply listen in on others’ conversations to get your information.
your character: Takey Takerton has been unemployed ever since s/he inherited his/her great grandmother’s home years ago. Takey borrows money for living experiences and everyone is paranoid of Takey asking them for a loan. As ducks fly with ducks, Takey is rarely seen without his/her swarm of fellow mooches. This lazy group of friends has an irritating habit of getting joy out of impersonating animals.
costume:Too-sizes too small white sleeveless t-shirt with stains on it and jeans. An empty wallet as an optional prop.
round one clue: READ THIS BEFORE YOU COME!!
*Remember you are a lazy, unemployed moocher who borrows money from everyone…so have fun with that!
USE THE FOLLOWING TRIVIA QUESTIONS AS AN ICE BREAKER
Question: ‘Blackjack’ disease is caused by the felt on casino tables. What toxic substance is historically found in this fabric? Answer: Chromium.
Question: What is ‘CODIS?’ Answer: The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s database of DNA evidence.
CLUES TO REVEAL DURING THIS ROUND
During this round, mingle with other guests to discuss the following information with whomever you choose:
• Talk to everyone about how much you can’t stand Fiona Collins. She is annoying when she calls your house everyday and tries to sell you things. She should know you do not have any money.
• Ask everyone at the party if you can borrow some money or some items that they don’t need because you’re going to have another garage sale. Anything that they are not using is a welcome donation and a great cause.
• Confide in a few people about how you know that Betty Berger likes to blackmail people. She used to blackmail your late great grandmother before she died. You think the stress may have contributed to her death.
• This round, you (and your group) should randomly impersonate tarantulas and see if people can guess what you are.
PERSONAL CLUES TO CONCEAL You cannot stand Fiona Collins or Betty Berger. Do your best to ignore them. During the mystery, your character must be honest and not make up any potentially mystery-altering clues in addition to those provided to you. You do not, however, have to share the clues that you collect with other guests.
So that's pretty cool. The games are usually pre made and bought or you can find free ones online. A couple of things I found was that nobody really knew that much, for example me and some of the others didn't find out until later that we were supposed to be at a mardi gras party and that's how all our characters ended up together. Also there were no real 'clues' that we found, everything in the clue envelopes was basically telling you to confront someone or tell something about yourself (you gave us food poisoning! she's marrying my brother!) rather than getting to find clues around which would have been cool. of course all of us had a grudge with the girl who died (betty berger) so it was interesting trying to figure out who killed her. i got screwed up coz wil thought it would be fun to put fake blood on his face and i didn't know if it was part of the mystery or not so i said he did it but it wasn't part of the mystery at all. sigh. and yes, daddy, if you are reading this, one person did in fact blame the butler even though there was no butler. Heliya made us a feast of a dinner and desert which was amazing. she said not to bring anything so i brought an apple crumble. by around 1030 i was wiped and also anxious about my phone, especially since i couldn't text chris and pester him which is my general idea of fun most of the time. So i headed out.
The bus ride was great except between phibbs exchange and abbot st where all the drunkies were to get from north van to downtown. I was trying to read and they were noisy. Inexcusable.
Finally got myself home and hopped on facebook and checked my phone messages and lo and behold! Chris had messaged me worried because people were phoning him and Eric had left me a voicemail about having the taxi driver call him and return my phone! They were the last two I had texted so I guess the driver called them. And eric was worried about where I was and phoning Chris and Kailey and everyone was glad when I returned their messages. So it was a good feeling to be worried about, and I felt badly for putting everyone out, but was elated at the return of my cell phone/portable internet machine/alarm clock/game consul/everything in one device. i sent a message to the taxi company that their driver is great, not mentioning that he brought my phone to Eric because the dispatcher said I would have to wait til the lost and found office opened on tuesday and pay $50 for it's delivery; I think the driver just did it on his own and wasn't supposed to have. He asked Eric for $15 which sure beats the $50 and probably he can pocket all of it that way instead of the company. So i just wrote that he went above my expectations and he is surely a valuable asset to their company. Working in customer service teaches you how important it is to your job security to get good feedback.
So then I ate more halloween candy and need to be asleep by now. Tomorrow is karate and working at night, so another busy day. Today was great but I could have done without the hassle. But it worked out so no complaining and jinxing it, right?
Merry friday to all and to all a good night.
26 October 2013
Halloween
Halloween is coming!! You know this in Vancouver because people start selling fireworks. (????) Gotta carve some pumpkins up! Or rather...draw something on pumpkins and make Chris to the work part. What? I get rashes when I touch them!
Working on chapter 2 of my story. Judgement of Paris. Paris always has two names in myth, Paris and Alexander (Alexandros in the Greek). I've decided that to make sense of this, he's Alex the shepherd, and once he finds out his true lineage as prince of Troy he regains his birthright and is given back his princely name, Paris. I don't know if this is right, I can't find anything, but it's how I make sense of two names. Now I just have to finish the dialogue between Paris (Alexandros) and Mercury. I haven't figured out what I want for Mercury yet; how serious/well spoken/youthful etc that he should act. So I keep rewriting it because I'm not happy with him. But soon it will be posted!
Work is going okay, hard tho. Long hours and early mornings. At least all my shifts are at the same time of day lately. That really helps.
Gotta figure out how to book time off too, so I can get to Boston for x-mas and by x-mas I mean January sometime since that's the closest time I'll get off probably. We'll see what happens. OOh and I gotta sign up for school soon too..So much to doooooooo!
Working on chapter 2 of my story. Judgement of Paris. Paris always has two names in myth, Paris and Alexander (Alexandros in the Greek). I've decided that to make sense of this, he's Alex the shepherd, and once he finds out his true lineage as prince of Troy he regains his birthright and is given back his princely name, Paris. I don't know if this is right, I can't find anything, but it's how I make sense of two names. Now I just have to finish the dialogue between Paris (Alexandros) and Mercury. I haven't figured out what I want for Mercury yet; how serious/well spoken/youthful etc that he should act. So I keep rewriting it because I'm not happy with him. But soon it will be posted!
Work is going okay, hard tho. Long hours and early mornings. At least all my shifts are at the same time of day lately. That really helps.
Gotta figure out how to book time off too, so I can get to Boston for x-mas and by x-mas I mean January sometime since that's the closest time I'll get off probably. We'll see what happens. OOh and I gotta sign up for school soon too..So much to doooooooo!
16 September 2013
Troy story opening
Dearest Muses, Goddesses wise, fill our hearts with passion, and our words with beauty. Sing to us of days long past, of great love and great hatred; of the bravest heroes and wisest men. Tell us of the most beautiful woman ever seen. Tell us of the Gods of Olympus and the war they wrought among men. Let not the tale be forgotten of the nine-year war at Ilium, called Troy.
“Are you going?” Eris demanded, eyes sparkling with anger.
“Yes, of course I am. Everyone is going.”
“I am not going.”
Ares, god of war, did not look up from sharpening his knife before responding. “Dear sister, why so angry now? This wedding will be the greatest we have seen in many years, and the greatest for a long time to come. It would not be proper to spurn them on this day. You really must go. If you don’t care to celebrate the bride and groom, will you at least come as a favour to me?” He put his knife down and reached for his sisters hand, holding her delicate fingers in his calloused ones. With her other hand Eris picked at her wings, preening, pretending indifference. She looked at her brother, at his stern, hard face, and sighed.
“If it means so much to you, Ares, that I come, then I will. For you, of course.”
“Thank you, sister.” Ares leaned back, relaxed, and sipped at his nectar. They sat in silence, listening to the night. After a few moments, Ares spoke again. “Out of curiosity, my lovely maker of strife, why is it that you did not want to go? Did Thetis offend you in some way? Or Peleus? It is unlike you to miss a good wedding.”
“No reason, War-maker, to cause any alarm,” Eris said delicately. Ares laughed.
“Now I know you have something planned. What is it? Why did you want to miss that wedding?”
“It’s silly, really, now that I think about it. But I had thought to miss it because I was not invited,” she smiled innocently. Ares laughed again.
“So, darling Discord, you used me! Now you have given me your word that you are coming, and you would not break your word once given. So tell me--what is your plan?”
Eris smiled dryly, knowing her brother was smarter than that. He had smelled her trap the moment she invited him over, walking into it willingly. The God of War could not be fooled by the tactics of others, but accepted or rejected them as he pleased. She wondered why he would go along with her now? Did he feel he owed her a favour, or debt? Was he growing bored of things and hoping for a little amusement? Perhaps he was just being nice. It was a rare thing, for Ares to have no other motive, but she was his sister, so occasionally he did humour her. Still, Eris thought, something felt different about this. Ares was too comfortable, too happy. Could her will to play a little trick at a wedding possibly lead to something bigger? She could not see how.
“It’s just a small thing, brother, that I would like to do. I won’t ruin the wedding, or harm anyone, I promise. Peleus and Thetis have invited everyone. Every god, every halfling, every celebrated mortal. Absolutely everyone has been invited except for me,” Eris said bitterly, stamping her little for on the floor for emphasis. “What were they thinking? Is there a worse way to offend a person? My pride is hurt. Clearly, Thetis was hoping to avoid trouble. But to spurn me? I can’t allow that. Perhaps I am not so cared for as you, brother, nor as popular as most of out kin; but I am not to be trifled with and mean to impress that fact upon her. Thetis wants this day to be all about her, and thinks that I am a threat to her. I will teach her who the real threats are in Olympus.”
“Very well,” Ares replied, “I see you do not wish to tell me your plan, if you have one. In that case, sister, know that i wait in suspense to see what you come up with.” Now it was Eris’ turn to laugh. Her brother’s good cheer spread through her, quickly abating her anger. Perhaps he was just having some fun after all.
As the evening grew darker and the moon brighter, Ares made his excuses and left rather than stay the night. He was eager make his report to Zeus that Eris would plant the seed at the wedding. Ares shivered with anticipation. He had sat idle for too long, and was ready to bring war to men once again.
***
The wedding went smoothly as Thetis, daughter of Neptune, and Peleus, son of Aeacus, son of Zeus, took each other’s hands and swore to honour each other as long as they might live. The Nereid’s silver feet glistened on the sandy shores as they led the way to the banquet, her chin held high with pride at the thought of the elaborate feast they would have in her honour.
It’s match could only be met in the houses of gods. Servants carried in tray after tray of roasted lamb, boar, and venison. The guests chatted and gossiped about the stories they had heard of Peleus’ hunting party. They say he took down a boar all alone. Perhaps this is the one? The meat was flavoured with garlic and spices from the east, served with lentils and chick peas. The tables were heavy with barley bread, olives, grapes, and honeycomb, cheeses, sweet dates, and plums. Wine flowed quickly and freely.
Each of the guests, god and human, took their turn to congratulate the newly weds, laying glorious gifts at their feet. Tapestries, wine, livestock, armour for Peleus and dresses for Thetis. They in turn played the gracious hosts and returned the favours with gifts of their own. Gold and silver goblets, bowls, and pottery. The ambiance was so perfect and so festive. Ares had a faint smile on his lips as the line for gift giving grew shorter, sure his sister Strife would act soon. And as the guests resumed their seats for another toast, he saw a movement among the shadows--barely perceptible if one had not been watching. A moment later, from behind a pillar at the end of the hall, came an apple, rolling across the floor into the centre of the room.
How very simple, Ares thought to himself. An apple, symbol of fertility, youth, and health. He sat back and waited. The room turned silent as one by one the guests noticed the apple sitting in the middle of the floor. It was perfect. Not a scratch or bruise. And it wore a golden skin. Clearly, a product of Olympus, and a fitting gift for such a wedding. Finally, Aphrodite stood from her cushions and went to retrieve the shining object. She picked it up, gracefully, of course, and held in sensually in front her lips as she inhaled its sweet smell. Ares wondered if it came from the garden of Hesperides.
“Oh my,” she said. “I have never seen anything quite like this.” She turned it slowly in her hands, examining its perfection, and was about to hand it to Thetis, but then she stopped.
“What is it, sister?” Ares asked, quite intrigued now.
“There’s an inscription,” Aphrodite replied. “It says, ‘to the fairest’ on one side.” Ares allowed himself a small smile. Clever, Ares thought.
“Then it can’t be meant for me,” Thetis said humbly, although everyone in the room knew it to be false modesty, a way to pretend to reluctantly accept a wedding gift without offending the gods. She thought, perhaps, that it was a couples gift from Peleus, but when she looked at her bridegroom his face was puzzled. Thetis’ modest approach did not work with Aphrodite.
“Then clearly it was meant for me!” the goddess replied, giggling.
“For you?” came the challenge. Athena. “How ridiculous. You may govern love, and lust, and beauty. But fairness, dear sister, comes from within. It is mine.”
“Fair of complexion, of manners? These things I am, Athena, and you are lacking in them. All you do is hunt and fight. I govern fairness, not you.”
“Outside of my golden armour, I too am fair. And I believe my complexion is nicer than yours.” A few feet away, Thetis leaped to her shining feet. She may only be nymph, but it was her wedding, and not to be ruined. But before she could speak, someone else did.
“Enough!” A cool voice echoed through the halls as Hera stood, tall and strong, her golden hair hanging in curls down to her fair arms. “I am wife of Zeus, stronger, more beautiful, more lovely than either of you. If that apple belongs to anyone, it is mine.” Aphrodite’s eyes narrowed as she looked to Zeus. Only one man could settle this now. Ares had to hide his grin behind his goblet.
Zeus thought, carefully, catching Ares’ eye as he did so. Finally, he spoke. “I cannot decide between you. If I choose, I risk the wrath of my wife and my daughters. My friends and brothers may be offended as well. If I choose you, Hera, they will say it was an obligation, that the contest was not fairly judged. Yet if I do not choose you, you will never speak to me again! This is not a fair question to ask of me.”
“Then who on earth and in heaven could possibly decide fairly between us?” The women demanded.
“We will have to choose an outsider. Someone small and insignificant, someone who does not risk your wrath, or mine, but will be rewarded for doing us this favour so long as we promise not to seek vengeance on him for his choice.”
And thusly was Thetis the river nymph forgotten on her wedding day, and Eris pleased with her vengeance.
***
The gods found a shepherd in the Troad who minded the livestock for his parents. The boy was young and beautiful, and sat in the shade of a tree playing the lyre to himself. He was stubborn, proudful, and a little too self-centred; but had a reputation for being fair and unhesitating to do the right thing.
Ares recommended the young man to Zeus, telling the Cloud-gatherer of his recent escapade as a bull. The shepherd, Alexandros, had a prize bull more beautiful than any in the Troad. This bothered Ares who wanted the bull for himself, and thought a mortal should be less proud. So he challenged Alexandros to a contest saying that his bull was nicer. They set the stakes so that the winning party would keep the loser’s bull. Ares won, of course, but was startled by how quickly Alexandros admitted defeat and handed his prize bull over to Ares. Most men would have argued and tried to get out of the deal altogether rather than lose such a prize animal; and Ares had not forgotten the fairness shown to him by the mortal Alexandros.
Zeus decided that Ares’ candidate won out the others, and promptly sent Hermes to escort the women to the poor shepherd who would undoubtedly face the wrath of the losing goddesses, despite all their protestations.
“Are you going?” Eris demanded, eyes sparkling with anger.
“Yes, of course I am. Everyone is going.”
“I am not going.”
Ares, god of war, did not look up from sharpening his knife before responding. “Dear sister, why so angry now? This wedding will be the greatest we have seen in many years, and the greatest for a long time to come. It would not be proper to spurn them on this day. You really must go. If you don’t care to celebrate the bride and groom, will you at least come as a favour to me?” He put his knife down and reached for his sisters hand, holding her delicate fingers in his calloused ones. With her other hand Eris picked at her wings, preening, pretending indifference. She looked at her brother, at his stern, hard face, and sighed.
“If it means so much to you, Ares, that I come, then I will. For you, of course.”
“Thank you, sister.” Ares leaned back, relaxed, and sipped at his nectar. They sat in silence, listening to the night. After a few moments, Ares spoke again. “Out of curiosity, my lovely maker of strife, why is it that you did not want to go? Did Thetis offend you in some way? Or Peleus? It is unlike you to miss a good wedding.”
“No reason, War-maker, to cause any alarm,” Eris said delicately. Ares laughed.
“Now I know you have something planned. What is it? Why did you want to miss that wedding?”
“It’s silly, really, now that I think about it. But I had thought to miss it because I was not invited,” she smiled innocently. Ares laughed again.
“So, darling Discord, you used me! Now you have given me your word that you are coming, and you would not break your word once given. So tell me--what is your plan?”
Eris smiled dryly, knowing her brother was smarter than that. He had smelled her trap the moment she invited him over, walking into it willingly. The God of War could not be fooled by the tactics of others, but accepted or rejected them as he pleased. She wondered why he would go along with her now? Did he feel he owed her a favour, or debt? Was he growing bored of things and hoping for a little amusement? Perhaps he was just being nice. It was a rare thing, for Ares to have no other motive, but she was his sister, so occasionally he did humour her. Still, Eris thought, something felt different about this. Ares was too comfortable, too happy. Could her will to play a little trick at a wedding possibly lead to something bigger? She could not see how.
“It’s just a small thing, brother, that I would like to do. I won’t ruin the wedding, or harm anyone, I promise. Peleus and Thetis have invited everyone. Every god, every halfling, every celebrated mortal. Absolutely everyone has been invited except for me,” Eris said bitterly, stamping her little for on the floor for emphasis. “What were they thinking? Is there a worse way to offend a person? My pride is hurt. Clearly, Thetis was hoping to avoid trouble. But to spurn me? I can’t allow that. Perhaps I am not so cared for as you, brother, nor as popular as most of out kin; but I am not to be trifled with and mean to impress that fact upon her. Thetis wants this day to be all about her, and thinks that I am a threat to her. I will teach her who the real threats are in Olympus.”
“Very well,” Ares replied, “I see you do not wish to tell me your plan, if you have one. In that case, sister, know that i wait in suspense to see what you come up with.” Now it was Eris’ turn to laugh. Her brother’s good cheer spread through her, quickly abating her anger. Perhaps he was just having some fun after all.
As the evening grew darker and the moon brighter, Ares made his excuses and left rather than stay the night. He was eager make his report to Zeus that Eris would plant the seed at the wedding. Ares shivered with anticipation. He had sat idle for too long, and was ready to bring war to men once again.
***
The wedding went smoothly as Thetis, daughter of Neptune, and Peleus, son of Aeacus, son of Zeus, took each other’s hands and swore to honour each other as long as they might live. The Nereid’s silver feet glistened on the sandy shores as they led the way to the banquet, her chin held high with pride at the thought of the elaborate feast they would have in her honour.
It’s match could only be met in the houses of gods. Servants carried in tray after tray of roasted lamb, boar, and venison. The guests chatted and gossiped about the stories they had heard of Peleus’ hunting party. They say he took down a boar all alone. Perhaps this is the one? The meat was flavoured with garlic and spices from the east, served with lentils and chick peas. The tables were heavy with barley bread, olives, grapes, and honeycomb, cheeses, sweet dates, and plums. Wine flowed quickly and freely.
Each of the guests, god and human, took their turn to congratulate the newly weds, laying glorious gifts at their feet. Tapestries, wine, livestock, armour for Peleus and dresses for Thetis. They in turn played the gracious hosts and returned the favours with gifts of their own. Gold and silver goblets, bowls, and pottery. The ambiance was so perfect and so festive. Ares had a faint smile on his lips as the line for gift giving grew shorter, sure his sister Strife would act soon. And as the guests resumed their seats for another toast, he saw a movement among the shadows--barely perceptible if one had not been watching. A moment later, from behind a pillar at the end of the hall, came an apple, rolling across the floor into the centre of the room.
How very simple, Ares thought to himself. An apple, symbol of fertility, youth, and health. He sat back and waited. The room turned silent as one by one the guests noticed the apple sitting in the middle of the floor. It was perfect. Not a scratch or bruise. And it wore a golden skin. Clearly, a product of Olympus, and a fitting gift for such a wedding. Finally, Aphrodite stood from her cushions and went to retrieve the shining object. She picked it up, gracefully, of course, and held in sensually in front her lips as she inhaled its sweet smell. Ares wondered if it came from the garden of Hesperides.
“Oh my,” she said. “I have never seen anything quite like this.” She turned it slowly in her hands, examining its perfection, and was about to hand it to Thetis, but then she stopped.
“What is it, sister?” Ares asked, quite intrigued now.
“There’s an inscription,” Aphrodite replied. “It says, ‘to the fairest’ on one side.” Ares allowed himself a small smile. Clever, Ares thought.
“Then it can’t be meant for me,” Thetis said humbly, although everyone in the room knew it to be false modesty, a way to pretend to reluctantly accept a wedding gift without offending the gods. She thought, perhaps, that it was a couples gift from Peleus, but when she looked at her bridegroom his face was puzzled. Thetis’ modest approach did not work with Aphrodite.
“Then clearly it was meant for me!” the goddess replied, giggling.
“For you?” came the challenge. Athena. “How ridiculous. You may govern love, and lust, and beauty. But fairness, dear sister, comes from within. It is mine.”
“Fair of complexion, of manners? These things I am, Athena, and you are lacking in them. All you do is hunt and fight. I govern fairness, not you.”
“Outside of my golden armour, I too am fair. And I believe my complexion is nicer than yours.” A few feet away, Thetis leaped to her shining feet. She may only be nymph, but it was her wedding, and not to be ruined. But before she could speak, someone else did.
“Enough!” A cool voice echoed through the halls as Hera stood, tall and strong, her golden hair hanging in curls down to her fair arms. “I am wife of Zeus, stronger, more beautiful, more lovely than either of you. If that apple belongs to anyone, it is mine.” Aphrodite’s eyes narrowed as she looked to Zeus. Only one man could settle this now. Ares had to hide his grin behind his goblet.
Zeus thought, carefully, catching Ares’ eye as he did so. Finally, he spoke. “I cannot decide between you. If I choose, I risk the wrath of my wife and my daughters. My friends and brothers may be offended as well. If I choose you, Hera, they will say it was an obligation, that the contest was not fairly judged. Yet if I do not choose you, you will never speak to me again! This is not a fair question to ask of me.”
“Then who on earth and in heaven could possibly decide fairly between us?” The women demanded.
“We will have to choose an outsider. Someone small and insignificant, someone who does not risk your wrath, or mine, but will be rewarded for doing us this favour so long as we promise not to seek vengeance on him for his choice.”
And thusly was Thetis the river nymph forgotten on her wedding day, and Eris pleased with her vengeance.
***
The gods found a shepherd in the Troad who minded the livestock for his parents. The boy was young and beautiful, and sat in the shade of a tree playing the lyre to himself. He was stubborn, proudful, and a little too self-centred; but had a reputation for being fair and unhesitating to do the right thing.
Ares recommended the young man to Zeus, telling the Cloud-gatherer of his recent escapade as a bull. The shepherd, Alexandros, had a prize bull more beautiful than any in the Troad. This bothered Ares who wanted the bull for himself, and thought a mortal should be less proud. So he challenged Alexandros to a contest saying that his bull was nicer. They set the stakes so that the winning party would keep the loser’s bull. Ares won, of course, but was startled by how quickly Alexandros admitted defeat and handed his prize bull over to Ares. Most men would have argued and tried to get out of the deal altogether rather than lose such a prize animal; and Ares had not forgotten the fairness shown to him by the mortal Alexandros.
Zeus decided that Ares’ candidate won out the others, and promptly sent Hermes to escort the women to the poor shepherd who would undoubtedly face the wrath of the losing goddesses, despite all their protestations.
11 September 2013
Life Stuff
So I'm getting used to the Hyatt. It doesn't suck as much as it did on my first day, where I was cranky and migrainy and nauseous and couldn't get my locker open for five minutes and wanted to cry lol. Now it just stinks because I'm the bottom of the food chain, and I hate being on probation for the first three months of new jobs, and I still don't know everything and have to ask people stuff all the time. I'm also doing two jobs there now. Got the hostessing thing going, and then also serving for room service. That's descent too, pays better and gets tips, but I'm really slow at it. A) I'm no good at carrying those heavy trays and opening doors at the same time, and B) I'm still triple checking everything constantly to make sure I get everything right. This slows me down big time. But, it's also earned me big points with the guys that work it (they've been there 23, 24, and 27 years respectively; wtf, eh?) because they notice that I'm not making any mistakes. Slow and steady wins the race indeed, as long as you learn to do things quicker down the line haha. Pretty much, I'm good at both jobs, but still get flustered and a bit lost when things get really busy and I have trouble keeping up. It'll get better, I know, it already is, but...not there yet. Also, I really miss working around books. It was dusty, but I really enjoyed it. Damn you, Indigo, for not paying well! Oh, and C) Do you know how superstitious I am? And do you know how often I knock the salt over on these stupid trays?! Not the glasses of water, not the wine or beer or food, it's always the salt I spill. My shoulder devil should be crying for a month with the amount of salt I threw in his eyes. I wish I had some of the same days off as Chris gets, though. I really want to do fun things with him like hiking and see the Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge (we did the Cap bridge with Kyle, that was sooo awesome I forget if I blogged about my Ewok experience or not), and walking along the sea wall, and visiting museums and gardens. Once I've been at work a bit longer I can work something out but I don't want to ask for things yet it's too early still. Couple more weeks and I will try to get Tuesdays off, since Chris' schedule is changing from weekends off to Sundays and Tuesdays off.
The new housemate has been here for a couple of months now and all is going well. I like her, (Kailey) she's really chill. My only complaint is that she doesn't clean enough, so that's fine. Could be much worse.
Eric on the other hand... I can hear from my living room the smooching noises coming from his bedroom. Can't he close the door? I came home earlier and went to say hello and walked into his room and almost said "Wow, you cleaned it! Looks great!" and noticed just in time that there was a girl there and I kept the comment back haha didn't want to ruin the date for him by implying that his room is usually messy. Oh...there goes the door! (They closed it) hahaha mentally sending out my thanks to Eric.
Just finished book 2 of the Dragon Brigade series by Margaret Weiss and Robert krammes. Super fun and exciting, but I then realized that book two just came out in July. So I have no idea how long until book 3. Grrrr.
Side note about work, had a funny moment when one of the servers was complaining that I was giving her too many tables (I said the other girl has more than you do, there's nothing else I can do but give it to you)and being bitchy and five minutes later she spilled a tray of drinks on herself. I was like (in my head of course) "ooooh, karma's a bitch!" and then realized I was being a bitch by enjoying someone else's bad moment and immediately regretted thinking that because I don't want to be a bad person and I don't want to get bad karma for thinking that.
Zsuzsi is moving to Vancouver (the girl from Ottawa who was dating Krisztian for a while a few years back)! She's been doing arty things for school in California and is now done and coming here to look for work because apparently has better opportunities for design or whatever it is than Toronto does. That will be awesome. She's one of those people who is always cheerful and kind and has nothing bad to say about anybody, but has always let me rant and rave about my crap. She's a truly kind and wonderful person and I'm excited to be able to hang out with her again.
I think I was going to make a clever comment about something else too but I'm sleepy and forget. Tomorrow gonnae try to get my eyebrows threaded and go to karate, and enjoy my day off. Hopefully it will be nice weather again because usually it rains on my days off and is sunny on my work days. I want to go to the beach a couple more times before it's too late!
Over and out.
The new housemate has been here for a couple of months now and all is going well. I like her, (Kailey) she's really chill. My only complaint is that she doesn't clean enough, so that's fine. Could be much worse.
Eric on the other hand... I can hear from my living room the smooching noises coming from his bedroom. Can't he close the door? I came home earlier and went to say hello and walked into his room and almost said "Wow, you cleaned it! Looks great!" and noticed just in time that there was a girl there and I kept the comment back haha didn't want to ruin the date for him by implying that his room is usually messy. Oh...there goes the door! (They closed it) hahaha mentally sending out my thanks to Eric.
Just finished book 2 of the Dragon Brigade series by Margaret Weiss and Robert krammes. Super fun and exciting, but I then realized that book two just came out in July. So I have no idea how long until book 3. Grrrr.
Side note about work, had a funny moment when one of the servers was complaining that I was giving her too many tables (I said the other girl has more than you do, there's nothing else I can do but give it to you)and being bitchy and five minutes later she spilled a tray of drinks on herself. I was like (in my head of course) "ooooh, karma's a bitch!" and then realized I was being a bitch by enjoying someone else's bad moment and immediately regretted thinking that because I don't want to be a bad person and I don't want to get bad karma for thinking that.
Zsuzsi is moving to Vancouver (the girl from Ottawa who was dating Krisztian for a while a few years back)! She's been doing arty things for school in California and is now done and coming here to look for work because apparently has better opportunities for design or whatever it is than Toronto does. That will be awesome. She's one of those people who is always cheerful and kind and has nothing bad to say about anybody, but has always let me rant and rave about my crap. She's a truly kind and wonderful person and I'm excited to be able to hang out with her again.
I think I was going to make a clever comment about something else too but I'm sleepy and forget. Tomorrow gonnae try to get my eyebrows threaded and go to karate, and enjoy my day off. Hopefully it will be nice weather again because usually it rains on my days off and is sunny on my work days. I want to go to the beach a couple more times before it's too late!
Over and out.
10 September 2013
Happy Trails
Sometimes when I'm walking home at night I see the trails of snails and slugs on the sidewalk. At times I see the slug too, and at times it's just the slimy tracks. I've noticed that they aren't usually in a straight line. In fact, when I see one that is a straight line, I generally stop and stare for a moment, silently commending the slug who dun it; but usually it's a squiggly line that bends and turns and makes many figure eights and no conceivable sense. Sometimes, I get really confused when I can see the track suddenly leave off somewhere. Where'd the snail go? Get eaten up by a birdy? Then, once in a while, i see a track that has TWO ends, and no slug. Shit, son! What did them snails go and do, invent teleportation?! Well I would too if I was that slow. I believe we need to study these creatures more closely.
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